The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

“Fungal mats and parasites”.

A voice, so calm it was almost eerie, rang out.

Suddenly, "The Cursed Doctor" Samuel Kronos appeared behind Blackbeard.

He raised a hand wearing a strange glove and gently pointed at the four seraphim.

Without warning, countless strange gray-white mold-like mycelia suddenly grew on the surface of the four Seraphim bodies!

Ignoring the flames and defenses on their surface, these hyphae spread and coiled wildly, tightening around their joints and covering them like living creatures!

The seraphim's movements instantly became sluggish and stiff, their attack trajectories deviated, and their power greatly reduced!

"Invisible Slash - Chaos".

Almost at the same moment the mycelium appeared, Shiryu's figure vanished as if it had merged into the air.

In the next instant, four sharp, almost invisible slashes, condensed to the extreme, flashed across the necks and joints of the four Seraphim at the same time!

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Amidst the piercing clang of metal, deep slash marks were left on the sturdy armor of the Seraphim.

Although it wasn't completely severed (the defense remains formidable), the immense impact and the destructive energy accompanying the strike...

This caused them to completely lose their balance and stagger backward.

And just as they were bound by the mycelium, slashed and repelled, and the flames behind them flickered momentarily due to energy disturbance...

“ICE AGE.”

A very familiar, calm voice rang out.

An endless chill, originating from the figure of Kuzan who had silently appeared in the center of the laboratory, erupted like a tsunami of absolute zero!

It swept across the entire space in an instant!

Walls, floors, ceilings, equipment, even the dust floating in the air...

In an instant, everything was dyed a crystal-clear ice blue and covered with a thick, incredibly hard layer of ice!

Those four Seraphim, which had just been so ferocious and had Sanji and the others helpless...

At this moment, they are like four exquisite ice sculptures, completely frozen inside the huge ice pillars!

The flames behind them were forcibly frozen and extinguished, the red light in their eyes dimmed completely, and they remained in a final, frozen posture, unable to move.

From Blackbeard's arrival, to Kaku's assassination, Sanji's severe injury, Jinbe's defensive counterattack, the four Seraphim being bound by mycelium, the invisible slashing attack, and finally being frozen by Absolute Freeze...

The entire process was seamless, showcasing the breathtaking teamwork and overwhelming strength of the Blackbeard Pirates' core members.

Especially in the face of the absolute power of former Marine Admiral Kuzan, these "strongest weapons of war" that once gave Sanji, Jinbe, and CP0 a hard time are no match for them.

At this moment... it's like child's play!

Blackbeard walked up to a frozen Seraph (S-Hawk), tapped the hard ice surface, making a "knock-knock" sound, and his smile grew even brighter.

"Zehahaha...Kuzan, your abilities are always a pleasant surprise!"

“So… what’s next?” Blackbeard turned around, his eyes narrowing.

"Shouldn't you tell me where Vegapunk and the Straw Hat Pirates are?!"

Chapter 657 Blackbeard Hunts the Straw Hat Pirates

Meanwhile, in the lower middle section, there is an abandoned laboratory from the old era.

Usopp, Nami, and Chopper were trapped on the other side of the alloy partition.

After a period of anxious experimentation and collaboration, they finally succeeded in using Usopp's specially made "Diamond" ammunition.

With the combined power of Chopper's Arm-Strength Enhanced Form, a narrow tunnel that extends deeper and deeper was successfully drilled through the thick alloy partition.

"If Usopp hadn't wasted so many opportunities before, we wouldn't still be fighting our way through the tunnel."

Usopp didn't refute Nami's complaints.

After all, he had indeed wasted a lot of the "Diamond Star" ammunition he had brought in order to guess the gate.

"Go, Chopper! Almost there! I feel a breeze on the other side!"

Nami urged him on, gathering a faint current of air in her Clima-Tact as she tried to sense the end of the tunnel.

Chopper transforms into his human-beast form, his hooves turning into two heavy hammers.

The metal walls, softened and broken by the "Drill Star," were struck repeatedly, producing a dull roar.

Debris flew everywhere as the tunnel gradually expanded and extended.

However, just when the tunnel seemed about to be completed, and Chopper was preparing for the final blow...

"Wait!! Stop!!"

Usopp suddenly let out a sharp cry, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

His body trembled violently, and beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Those eyes, which always carried a hint of exaggeration and timidity, were now wide open.

"Usopp?" Nami immediately stopped what she was doing.

She was perceptive and immediately realized something was wrong.

Usopp's Observation Haki is the most acute among his crewmates, even allowing him to "see through" objects to a certain extent.

Seeing his expression, Nami's heart leaped into her throat. "You...you sensed something?!"

Chopper stopped flailing his hooves and looked at Usopp with concern: "Usopp! What's wrong? What did you see?! Is there danger ahead?"

But Usopp seemed not to hear their questions.

He stared intently at the thin metal wall in front of him, which was about to be pierced through, his lips trembling violently, but he couldn't utter a complete sound.

He wanted to say something, but it felt like an invisible hand was gripping his throat.

In his Observation Haki, behind that wall... was indeed a passage, but...

The blurry images I perceived, the chilling, deathly silence, and bloody atmosphere that emanated from them…

And then there were those familiar, yet faintly faint, almost extinguished, life outlines of his companions…

All of this pierced his heart and brain.

He didn't know how to describe it, or how to tell Nami and Chopper.

The scene was so shocking and unreal that he even hoped his Observation Haki had malfunctioned.

"Usopp!!" Chopper became even more anxious when he saw Usopp's distraught appearance.

A strong sense of unease welled up within it, especially when it thought of Sanji, Jinbe, and the others who had been separated from it...

York's betrayal left them wondering if their sent-away companions had also encountered some danger!

"Never mind! Let me see what's ahead!" Chopper gritted his teeth, his instinct to save lives overriding his caution.

Taking a deep breath, the muscles in his beast form bulged once more, and his strengthened hooves gathered all his power, aiming at the location Usopp sensed as abnormal.

"boom!!!"

A powerful blast!

This time, instead of widening the tunnel, they blasted through the final obstacle!

Debris flew everywhere, and smoke filled the air.

However, the anticipated passage or enemy did not appear.

The first thing to rush in was not smoke or dust, but a blast of cold air that instantly caused the temperature inside the tunnel to drop sharply!

Immediately afterwards, in the gaps where the smoke and dust had not yet completely dissipated, a dark red liquid flowed in through the breach, soaking the ground beneath Chopper's feet.

"!!!" Nami instantly covered her mouth, her azure eyes filled with extreme fear.

That color, that smell... it's blood!

Lots of blood!

Usopp swayed, almost losing his balance, and his lips trembled even more violently.

Chopper, who was closest to the breach, froze on the spot as if struck by lightning the moment the wall was blasted open and the cold air and the smell of blood rushed towards him!

The pupils trembled violently at the sight that came into view!

Along with the fragments of the wall, what fell in front of it was neither an enemy nor the wreckage of any equipment.

It's... Sanji.

His eyes rolled back, losing focus and vitality. His face was bloodless, dried blood remained at the corners of his mouth, and the slight rise and fall of his chest was almost imperceptible.

Like a discarded rag doll, its body covered with eerie, writhing, rooted grayish-white mycelium.

"Sanji... Sanji..."

Chopper raised his head, his gaze passing over the fallen Sanji, and looking towards the larger, colder laboratory space behind the hole.

The sight that came into view almost made its heart stop beating.

Not far away, on an abandoned equipment control panel, CP0's card was nailed to it in a twisted position.

And right in the center of the laboratory...

Jinpei.

At this moment, however, several thick, crystal-clear ice spears cruelly pierced through the palms of his hands!

The other end of the ice spear was driven deep into the ground and ceiling, suspending him in mid-air in the laboratory!

Blood dripped down his arm and the ice spear, pooling on the ground into a small, glaring dark red puddle.

He lowered his head, his body remained motionless, and his breath was extremely faint.

"Jinbe... Boss!!!" Chopper let out a heart-wrenching cry, tears instantly streaming down his face!

"Sanji! Jinbe!" Nami also saw everything. Tears blurred her vision, and the immense grief and fear almost suffocated her.

Usopp finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground, clutching his hair tightly with both hands.

What he sensed... was actually true...

"Black... Blackbeard..."

Just then, an extremely weak and intermittent female voice came from behind the wreckage of a collapsed instrument in the laboratory.

The three of them turned their heads sharply and saw CP0's Stussy, covered in wounds, struggling to crawl out of the shadows, barely breathing.

Looking at the horrified Straw Hat crew, she mustered her last strength and uttered a few words in a hoarse voice.

"Blackbeard... went to find... Straw Hat... Straw Hat Boy..."

She gasped for breath, her eyes unfocused.

"You...cannot...be separated...quickly...gather together..."

After saying that, her head lolled to the side, and she completely fainted.

The laboratory fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the faint sound of cold air flowing and... the "drip-drip" of blood falling.

Chopper knelt on the ground, looking at Sanji, whose life or death was unknown, who was close at hand, and Jinbe, who was strung up in the distance.

Thinking of Luffy and his other crew members who were missing, a huge sense of powerlessness almost overwhelmed her.

Nami, fighting back tears and trembling, gripped the wall tightly.

Why is another one of the Four Emperors here? Is their target Luffy?!

Moreover, Sanji and Jinbe were injured like this... Just how strong was the enemy?!

Usopp struggled to his feet and wiped his face.

Although his face was still pale, his eyes gradually became firm.

He knew that now was not the time to break down. As the only pillar of the trio, he had to enter a state of desperation he hadn't entered in a long time.

"Chopper!" Usopp's voice was hoarse but unusually clear. "Quick! Save them first! Check on Sanji and Jinbe's injuries!"

"Nami, stop spacing out! We have to get them out of here right now, and then... find Luffy!!"