Time Modifying

"Piranhan Rose!"

Watching the two escaping, Aphrodite's mouth curled slightly, channeling his cosmo into the black rose in his hand. With a light wave, the thorns on the rose carried curses and death, shooting towards both sides.

Feeling the intense sense of danger behind them, the fleeing pair's hair stood on end.

"Soru!" Hugmore stomped his feet, easily evading all the roses.

Despite his average strength compared to other prodigies of his age, being a CP9 agent meant he had decent abilities, allowing him to avoid Aphrodite's roses with relative ease. Furthermore, he was over forty years old and had reached the rank of Rear Admiral through years of effort, making his escape more manageable.

However, it wasn't as simple for Poi!

Although she had been a member of CP9 for some time, her natural talents were only slightly better than Hugmore's. Her strength had barely reached the rank of Captain, and facing Aphrodite's roses left her somewhat embarrassed. As a last resort, she had to use her Devil Fruit ability.

"Meow!"

In an instant, Poi transformed into a blue-eyed Persian cat, calling out before swiftly dodging the numerous Piranhan roses with incredible agility.

Unfortunately, she was still grazed on her hind leg.

"Meow!!

Poi let out a miserable cry as the rose's thorns tore through her fur and flesh, consuming the tissue.

Despite the pain, she couldn't afford to stop and forcefully endured it, continuing to run.

At the same time, Hugmore turned around and saw the scene, a strange smile appearing on his face.

Why would he inform Poi that he was leaving?

Did he have a sudden change of heart?

Impossible!

It was merely because if the two were running, the one who outran the other would be safe.

Based on his years of experience with CP9, Hugmore would sacrifice or use any means necessary to survive, even if it meant sacrificing his own teammate!

As for confronting the people on the island...

He had never even considered it!

After spending so much time on St. Martin Island, he had a clear understanding of the strength of the personnel there. Even though Arthur had left, taking half of the Gold Saints with him, there were still six Gold Saints left on the island. Hugmore didn't want to court death!

"A bit of a headache!" Watching the fleeing pair, Aphrodite remarked that he had a headache but still wore a faint smile on his face.

Just as Hugmore had thought, Aphrodite's first choice was indeed Poi.

There was no other way; Poi was weaker!

To find out their origins and objectives, they had to leave at least one person behind, and Poi was undoubtedly the best choice!

Aphrodite pushed off the ground and rushed swiftly towards Poi on the right.

As Poi transformed into a Persian cat, she landed on all fours and ran at high speed. Despite trying to escape, she couldn't resist glancing back, and that single glance caused her pupils to contract in extreme fear and terror!

Because Aphrodite was chasing after her!

What should she do?

Fighting? Definitely impossible!

Otherwise, why would they have chosen to escape in the first place?

Running away? Not a good idea!

The reason why they chose the Harbor Town was mainly because there were ships here, which would allow them to escape. Both of them were Devil Fruit users and could perform Moon Walk, but relying solely on Moon Walk to cross the sea was simply unrealistic.

They were not like Garp, who was a freak in martial arts. They would probably fall into the sea halfway through Moon Walk. Therefore, they could only choose a place with ships to escape.

But now, Aphrodite was chasing her from behind. How could she go to the harbor?

Surrender? Not an option!

Even if she surrendered, it was uncertain whether the future organization would spare her, let alone whether the current St. Martin Kingdom would spare her!

At this moment, her mind raced frantically, trying to find a way to survive, but she couldn't come up with anything!

"Piranhan Rose!"

Before Poi could think further, she felt an intense sense of danger coming from behind once again. Her cat hair stood on end, indicating that Aphrodite's attack was coming.

"Soru: All Fours!"

As a Persian cat, Poi's four limbs used the technique "Soru" simultaneously, allowing her body to move almost instantly. She narrowly avoided all the Piranhan roses.

"Fast!"

Seeing this, even Aphrodite behind Poi couldn't help but praise her.

"Soru: All Fours" was a technique developed by Poi by combining her Devil Fruit ability, an extension of the "Rokushiki." It involved separately calculating the steps taken by each foot within 0.36 seconds, resulting in the ability to take numerous steps in quick succession. Because of this, it was called "All Fours," as it was four "Soru" techniques performed simultaneously!

However, due to this, the pressure on Poi's four limbs was several times greater than when using the standard "Soru" technique.

"Meow---"

Immediately after using "Soru", Poi felt a slight ache in her limbs. But sensing Aphrodite's breath getting closer, she had no choice but to keep running.

"Piranhan Rose!"

Not waiting for Poi to think, a strong sense of danger surged from behind. Poi's cat hair stood on end; it was evident that Aphrodite's attack was coming again.

"Soru!"

In her desperation, Poi had to use the technique once more.

"En... Humph!"

Poi let out a muffled sound, and her limbs began to ache severely. Her steps became unsteady.

"Hehe!"

Aphrodite's face showed a playful smile. He had a certain understanding of the "Rokushiki," and after witnessing Poi's skills twice, he had already figured it out.

When Poi used this move, her limbs endured tremendous pressure!

So, what else was there to say?

"Piranhan Rose!"

With a wave of his hand, he fired again.

"Soru!"

"Meow---"

Almost in the next second of evading, Poi's four limbs began to tremble.

"You're still standing? Then, let's try again!" Aphrodite said with a smile.

"Piranhan Rose!"

"Soru!"

"Thud!"

"Ah---"

This time, Poi managed to avoid the attack, but as soon as she dodged, she transformed back into her original form. Her body uncontrollably rolled over more than ten meters on the ground before finally stopping. She let out a miserable scream and lay sprawled on the ground in agony, her limbs twitching continuously.

"Keep running! Continue running!" Aphrodite walked up to Poi, looking down at her.

"Huff... Huff!"

Poi didn't speak; her expression twisted, and she gasped for breath heavily, her limbs still twitching. Clearly, she had no strength left to respond.

Seeing this, Aphrodite didn't say anything more and directly took out a Seastone handcuff from his pocket, clasping it around her wrist. Poi's body went limp, and she stopped twitching, looking like a puddle of mud.

"Wait here patiently. Once I capture him, I'll come back immediately!" After saying these two sentences to the limp Poi on the ground, Aphrodite turned around and rushed in the direction he had come from.

There was still another person there!

However, since he had already captured one, whether the other one lived or died no longer mattered!

But when he rushed back, he discovered a bizarre scene.

The area near the harbor was covered in frost, and the sea outside the harbor was frozen. The previously sunny weather seemed to have turned into harsh winter.

Of course, none of this seemed strange to Aphrodite. What truly surprised him were the two people within this area.

One was the mechanic Hugmore who had fled earlier, and the other was Aquarius Camus.

Both seemed to be enveloped in an intangible domain, while Aphrodite stood outside the domain, watching them as if they were acting out a scene from a lagging movie.

Camus effortlessly threw various punches.

"Light Speed Fist!"

"Frozen Air Fist!"

"Diamond Dust!"

In an instant, the sky was filled with fists and frozen air, turning the surrounding land and seawater into a frosty wasteland with the temperature plummeting several tens of degrees.

Hugmore struggled to defend against Camus's attacks.

"Armament Haki!"

"Rankyaku!"

He barely blocked one attack.

"Soru!"

He dodged another attack.

"Ah---"

Before he could defend, he was directly struck.

Hugmore let out a scream as his body stiffened from the freezing. Suddenly, the scene within the domain froze, and time started to rewind. His body slowly thawed, and the environment returned to its original state.

Standing outside the domain, Aphrodite watched this scene and estimated that it had rewound about ten seconds.

Then, the previous attack scene played out again.

This time, Hugmore seemed to anticipate it, easily dodging the attack and even counterattacked, though it seemed that he was somewhat exhausted!

"Rankyaku: Black Cutter!"

After avoiding the attack, Hugmore released both Busoshoku Haki and Rankyaku simultaneously, kicking out a huge black slash toward Camus.

"Diamond Dust!"

Camus's hands waved continuously, and one after another, frozen air, like snowflakes, beautiful like stardust, fell like jade, freezing and crushing everything in their path.

"Bang!"

The black slash collided directly with the frozen air, causing a violent collision and creating a massive explosion and shockwave.

Camus's face turned serious as he looked at the enemy before him.

In the previous few exchanges, he had already understood that the overall strength of this opponent was inferior to his own. But for some reason, this person could effortlessly dodge his attacks every time and even counterattack with strength.

Such combat ability was completely inconsistent with this enemy's actual strength!

"Since you're so good at dodging, let's try something you can't dodge!" Camus thought to himself and then unleashed a large-scale attack.

"Kol'tso*!"

Her whole body emitted powerful freezing air, transforming into a massive ice ring that spread outwards.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

In an instant, the temperature around plummeted by several tens of degrees. Everything touched by this icy air—soil, buildings, rocks, trees, plants, seawater, and more—froze instantly.

Seeing this scene, Hugmore's eyebrows twitched.

Danger!

Extreme danger!

Just as he was about to step back to create distance, another wave of danger approached.

"Bloody Rose!"

Aphrodite waved his hand from outside the domain, and a snow-white rose instantly flew out, piercing directly into Hugmore's chest.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Hugmore let out a scream, but then Camus's chill arrived, freezing him entirely, and the scream abruptly stopped.

At this moment, the scene focused on the pocket watch on Hugmore's chest.

The second hand on the pocket watch, suddenly reversed by two marks.

The previous scene replayed.

The scene within the domain started to rewind, and the white rose on his chest slowly retreated until it was outside the domain, transforming back into a small cosmo and returned to Aphrodite.

"Huff, huff!"

Hugmore couldn't help but gasp heavily. He looked exhausted, but he dared not linger. He repeatedly stomped on the ground, running without looking back.

"Soru!"

Although Camus felt extremely puzzled by the situation, he couldn't let Hugmore escape just like that. He immediately chased after him.

Watching this scene, Aphrodite's expression turned serious.

He had realized that Hugmore's ability was related to time!

Capture him alive!

That was Aphrodite's first thought!

After all, time and space abilities were powerful abilities in any world, with some even claiming that time was supreme and space was king!

Of course, in the world of pirates, there were also many Devil Fruits related to time and space, but the users' strength varied.

However, that wasn't the fault of the Devil Fruits; it was entirely because the users were too unskilled, lacking the creativity to fully utilize the fruit's power!

But speaking of which...

There weren't many Devil Fruits around. If he killed Hugmore here, who knew where his Devil Fruit ability would reincarnate?

If he captured him alive, he could find a bunch of fruits to feed him, and maybe he could preserve this ability!

Aphrodite followed closely behind Camus, but he kept a distance, not too close, in case they both experienced time reversal.

"Icebound Fist!"

Camus struck out with a punch as he chased Hugmore. The cold fist directly went towards Hugmore's back, causing his hairs to stand on end. Just as he was about to dodge...

"Piranhan Rose!"

A series of flying rose thorns blocked all of Hugmore's evasion paths.

In the next moment, the Icebound Fist struck him directly, and his body froze once again.

Helplessly, Hugmore had to use his Devil Fruit ability again.

"Repair-Repair Fruit: Time Modification!"

The second hand on the pocket watch reversed by two marks again.

"Huff, huff!"

Hugmore's body became even more exhausted, his footsteps unstable, and he nearly stumbled.

"A perfect opportunity!"

Camus's eyes lit up, and the armor on his arms took the shape of a water jug.

"Aurora Execution!"

A colorful absolute zero freezing air poured out from the jug's mouth. At this moment, it seemed like even time had been frozen. Hugmore didn't even have time to think before being frozen on the spot.

Meanwhile, at the St. Martin Kingdom's palace.

Mary had also fainted.

Although she managed to withstand the beating for a few minutes thanks to her robust body, in the face of the exquisite cooperation between Gilgamesh and Artoria, she eventually fell, subjected to a frenzy of blows!

If it weren't for Smoothie's decision to interrogate her later and pull the two away, Mary would probably have died right there today!