One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 281 I Saw You

"You are..."

Satan certainly recognized the figure that suddenly appeared in the sky.

After all, the other party's wife died during his research, the other party's daughter contracted an incurable disease because of him, and even the other party's life almost came to his.

Those were the descendants of the race that Satan hated, pawns he should have controlled but who had slipped out of his grasp.

"Bartholomew Bear—how could you?"

So Satan stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

At that moment, many things connected in his mind.

Just when it seemed that the bear was about to fall into his control, the other party suddenly disappeared on Egghead Island. After that, neither the bear nor the other party's daughter were ever seen again, and Vegapunk remained silent about it.

"You're a member of the Zodiac, and so is Vegapunk?"

Upon realizing this, Satan felt an indescribable rage at being deceived.

"You damned insects, how dare you fool this old man!"

But he didn't finish his sentence.

Because at that moment, he had already seen the bear's movements.

"As you said, I am the 'Di Tu Hao' of the 12 constellations, and Vegapunk is the 'Bi Shui Yu' of the same constellation."

As for the insects…

The bear's words seemed unusually mischievous: "Mr. Satan, you seem to fit that word better now, don't you?"

As he spoke, he looked at Saint Satan, whose body resembled a spider.

"You..."

At that moment, Satan Saint glared fiercely—an invisible blade of light pierced the bear.

But the bear simply raised its hand slightly.

"Snapped!"

The invisible shockwave was deflected by the fleshy ball in his palm, while the bear's gaze turned to Satan.

At that moment, many things flashed through his mind.

Some of them are parts of his memory.

For example, his father, the kind father who taught him to be optimistic and hopeful, and the way he died.

"The world will be free, bear."

At that time, the father, scarred from a long period of slavery, was wearing shackles as he danced the Nika dance, a tradition passed down through generations of their people, for his son.

But
"It's so noisy, those slaves over there."

"boom!"

Accompanied by the displeased voice of a Celestial Dragon, the sound of gunfire and crimson blood fell, along with the thud of a corpse hitting the ground.

"Hey, hey, these are the Bakania people whom the Five Elders specifically instructed to be enslaved and passed down through generations. Don't kill them all."

"Isn't there another one? It's perfect to keep it as an exhibit, isn't it?"

"Hahaha, slaves of a race that committed heinous crimes. How much would it cost to collect them?"

No one cared about the father's death, and no one even knew his name.

This is not an isolated case.

In the non-member states exterminated by the government, the people lived in poverty and destitution.

Those who were oppressed and humiliated by the Celestial Dragons, those who were beaten to despair by the realities of the world.

The bear had witnessed far too many tragedies like this throughout its life.

The next moment, he remembered something he had never heard from Yang Kou not long ago.

For example, the origin of Bonnie's 'jade scales', and the ordeals Ginny suffered.
then
"I'm usually quite easy to get along with."

This gentle man, whom Vegapunk even called a 'good guy,' spoke with coldness and anger for the first time.

Kind people are always gentle and polite.

Kind people always long for peace.

But even kind people can get angry.

He clenched his fist.

"but."

"It's you, however, that I find hardest to forgive—and that I don't want to forgive!"

As the words fell.

"laugh!"

Satan's spider legs were already stabbing towards him, dripping with venom.

But
"Snapped!"

The bear raised its paw again and slapped Satan's appendages away.

"You rascal!"

Satan, who was already in a state of extreme panic, hadn't even uttered his insults yet.

The bear has already swung its fist!

"boom!"

In that instant, the Paw-Paw Fruit in his hand bounced through the air, unleashing a power that almost exceeded the limits that the giants could withstand.

Its speed was so fast that it was like a giant cannonball accelerated by jet propulsion.

"boom!"

That punch, powerful enough to shatter mountains, struck Satan Saint's face in the next instant.

Satan's face instantly caved in.

"This punch is for Kulap—my father!"

The bear murmured.

then
"This punch was for little Tommy, who starved to death in the Kingdom of Arathi."

"This punch was for Father Anka of the Kia Church."

"This punch is for Miss Mirola's daughter from God Valley."

The bear spoke of the people he had encountered and experienced in his life.

Although their names are long forgotten by Satan—neither he nor the world will remember the insects' names.

But the bear remembers.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

One punch! One punch! One punch! And another punch!
Bear unleashed his full power in every punch, each one striking Satan directly in the face, leaving Satan no time to recover.

"You..."

At this moment, Satan, who was being punched repeatedly and had no time to recover, showed horror and anger in his beastly eyes.

Of course, the bear was not a snake and had no chance of killing him.

But for Satan at this moment, the real danger lies below.

No, no.

As Satan watched the figure holding the Autumn Water slowly approaching from the ruins of Instein Island below, his fear grew even stronger.

He tried to struggle, but Kuma's masterful control over the Paw-Paw Fruit left him with no chance to resist.

He could only watch as his figure, under the bear's attack, drew ever closer to the snake.

And finally.
"This is for Bonnie and Ginny!"

He heard the bear's last words.

And then there was the punch that came rushing towards them, compressed to its extreme by the Paw-Paw Fruit.

Satan could almost feel the pent-up resentment that had been building up for years within that punch! "Boom!"

Satan's figure then plummeted downwards!

Ironically, he, who viewed everyone as insects, was at this moment like a spider that had been swatted down.

He crashed into the earth, creating a huge crater beneath the surface.

"Buzz!"

The power of the Abyss Contract allowed him to recover quickly, and he struggled to climb out of the deep pit.

But
That has lost its meaning.

Because when he looked up, he saw the black knife that was being held high.

It was a scene like a nightmare.

The next moment, the black blade fell!

"what!"

With Satan's screams, his body was split in two, starting from his head, and the Abyss Contract within him was severed once more.

"Lord Im!"

"My lord, please save this old man!"

Satan Saint let out a low growl.

His only response was a single slash, slash after slash, an endless barrage of blows!

"Fierce eyes. Ugh!"

"Venom Spray"

Satan Saint's attempts to save himself were futile, and the situation quickly turned into a one-sided affair—the Serpent's sword relentlessly slashed at Satan Saint, while the latter's body's regeneration rate slowed down more and more.

"really."

At this moment, the Snake even began to ponder with great interest.

"Judging from the current situation, if we remove the factor of the contract, the Five Elders and the Knights of God are mostly 'trash'."

"They are completely incapable of fully mastering the power Im has given them; they are just idiots who blindly wield their blades because of their immortality."

He even felt a little sorry for Im.

In truth, the Five Elders are certainly not weak.

They are all very powerful, and they all possess various abilities derived from powerful Conqueror's Haki and bloodline factor energy.

And to be honest—although the Serpent gained the ability to kill them after creating the first 'Star Fruit,' it also strengthened itself through the 'bloodline factor energy' transmitted from its contract and main body.

Even so, it only leveled the playing field to a 'fair' degree.

The Five Elders are not without the ability to fight.

After all, although the 'Sword God Fruit' is a completely new Devil Fruit that transcends this world, it is true that it can kill the Five Elders.

However, the contracts binding the Five Elders still allow them to perform a few limited 'resurrections'.

Compared to them, the Serpent is even at a disadvantage – Roy has very little bloodline factor energy left, and can only revive the Serpent once or twice at most.

So if it really comes down to a fight, the Five Elders actually have the potential to kill the Snake.

If the Five Elders are truly as powerful as the Four Emperors or the Three Admirals, possessing such willpower and combat skills, then they would still be formidable opponents for Serpent, and Roy might have to consider other methods.

However, the Five Elders are clearly not like that.

Upon realizing they might die, their first instinct was to retreat.

Upon discovering that his colleagues had retreated, Satan Saint's first instinct was to flee.

Weak, cowardly, and despicable—once the disguise of 'immortality' is torn away, the so-called Five Elders reveal their ugly and uninteresting souls.

"Im must have realized this, which is why he is seeking change."

Roy understood this.

He was even more certain that after this battle, Im's dissatisfaction with the Five Elders would only grow stronger.

Of course, that's all in the future.

For Roy now
"laugh!"

With another slash, Satan's figure was cut in two.

The snake then saw that Satan's body suddenly emitted a jet-black glow.

then
"Ahhh!"

Blackness spread across Satan's eyes, nose, mouth—everywhere on his body.

"No, it's me, an old man."

He wailed, but his body continued to decay, as if burned by flames.

at last.
"Boom!"

His body turned into bones and fell to the ground.

"Did they choose not to 'descend' but instead abandon Satan?"

Seeing this, the Snake thought to itself.

Yes—at this moment, the 'Abyss Contract' on Satan was finally shattered completely.

He was no longer Im's 'contractor'—so the essence of the 'Abyss' and the source energy of his bloodline factors contained within him no longer took effect, no longer maintaining his 'immortality'.

Time began to flow through him again, causing him to decay and die instantly.

This disappointed the Snake.

To be honest, he was quite looking forward to that 'god' bestowing more power upon him.

but
"This is enough to make up for my losses this time."

At this moment, the Serpent's gaze fell upon the corpse of Saint Satan.

['Bloodline Factor Source Energy - Wish - Evil' has been detected]

[Should it be absorbed immediately?]

Without hesitation, the Snake immediately responded in its heart.

"Absorb immediately."

And that was accompanied by his inner response.

"Buzz!"

All around Satan's corpse, the 'bloodline factor energy' that seemed to be being collected by Im along invisible veins was suddenly intercepted by some enormous force.

Then, they all began to surge into the body of the snake.

Meanwhile, beneath the mask of the Snake.

It seemed that Roy had also formed a connection with that 'Lord Im' in some mysterious way.

He could almost see inside the 'flower room'.

Lord Im, who was clutching his chest, had a cold gaze that seemed to gather all the malice in the world.

But at this moment, Roy was not flustered.

He simply pointed to his eyes, then to Im.

The significance is very clear.

I see you.

So said the master of the stars.

The god who was once mysterious and hidden in the darkness is no longer mysterious to him.

He has found the power that can threaten the gods—even though only one 'Star Fruit' has been born, and even though he has only just begun on this path.

But he could already see the other person's shadow.

All he needs to do now is catch up and then surpass the other side.

(End of this chapter)