Chapter 111: Observation Flaw, Golden Pillar.
While Roman held Nami and flew ahead to collect the spoils.
The battle in the forest below had already begun.
Boom!
A cannonball was fired at close range, but the 'Blue Sky Knight' Shura, riding a giant bird, snorted coldly. The bird 'Fuza' under him flapped its wings elegantly and easily dodged the cannonball.
Shura's spear instantly thrust at a Shandia warrior, who barely blocked it with a shield. However, Shura's spear then spewed a column of fire, engulfing the warrior in flames.
"Everyone be careful, this is 'Blue Sky Knight' Shura!"
"In his area, there are nearly invisible but extremely tough rope clouds. Don't get close to him—"
Whoosh!
However, a long flame, over ten meters long, answered the Shandia warrior. One of the four priests, Shura, had his giant bird 'Fuza' spew a long flame across the battlefield, forcing the warriors to retreat. But in doing so:
"There's an opening!"
With a dive, Shura's spear, like a cold gleam, instantly pierced through the stomach of a Shandia warrior dodging the flames! As the warrior struggled to attack, Shura swung his spear, throwing the warrior away.
"Damn, the area is full of 'rope clouds', our speed is greatly reduced here—"
Bang bang!
The Shandia warrior leader Braham, holding dual guns, fired two 'flash shells', blinding everyone with intense white light! He tried to obstruct Shura's vision, but from within the white light came the roar of another leader—the Mohawk Mantis wearing sunglasses.
"Don't use flash shells..."
Splat!
"Hahaha, fools! You weaklings without 'Mantra' dare to use a method that blinds everyone to limit me?"
Shura's mocking laughter and the sound of flesh being pierced came from within the white light, signifying another Shandia warrior had fallen!
"I'm not a fool," Braham, who fired the shots, remained calm. "You're the one who fell into the trap."
In the blinding white light, a figure rushed towards Shura at high speed, holding a shield in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other! It was their leader, Wyper.
"Did you think I didn't notice?"
However, Shura merely snorted. His 'Mantra' had long detected the rapidly approaching Shandia great warrior.
Confident in himself, he thrust his spear straight at the opponent without dodging! But because his eyes were blinded, he didn't immediately 'see' the opponent abandon the shield and weapon. So:
Splat!
The sound of the flaming spear piercing flesh made even Shura pause.
With his shoulder pierced by the spear, Wyper reached out and grabbed Shura's shoulder tightly! His other hand pressed against Shura's chest.
"Impact Dial?"
Even so, Priest Shura didn't think he would lose. He had already used his free arm to block the opponent's hand. Just a mere Impact Dial's damage, to him—
"Wrong, it's a Reject Dial."
---
In a deep, hoarse voice, an unstoppable force surged forward! It was like the roaring of rivers, like the collapse of mountains. Before Shura could react, there was a dull, thunderous sound of flesh colliding.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the bones in Shura's arm, which he had raised to block, instantly broke. His shattered arm was pressed against his chest by Weber's hand, causing a series of cracking sounds from his ribs. Blood spurted from his mouth, and his whole body was thrown to the ground like a cannonball.
Boom!
As the priest named Shura hit the ground hard, the impact created a crater the size of a house! The unconscious figure in the pit was the first loser of this 'celebration'.
This is the first flaw of Observation Haki: So what if you can predict the attack? You can't block this strike!
"Wyper, your arm..."
"It's nothing!"
"Just a shoulder," Wyper casually wiped the wound on his shoulder, ignoring the bowl-sized hole. He picked up the weapon on the ground and charged into the forest.
"Don't be careless, there are still three other priests!"
——————
"Where is this place?"
Luffy, who had slipped and fallen somewhere, stood up. Seeing no one around, he picked up a stick and threw it randomly:
"Alright, this way."
...
The paper bird circling in the air almost fell, causing Nami, who was being carried by Roman, to spread out the white paper in her hand.
'What's going on?'
'Found Luffy, but... let him play for a while.'
Roman shook his head. Taking advantage of Enel's attention being on the battlefield, he decided to check out the Golden Bell first. Of course, Roman couldn't move the Golden Bell itself, nor did he intend to. His target was the two pillars beside it, the ones Bellamy later offered to Doflamingo.
Thinking about it, with Bellamy's temperament, it's hard to believe he would have obtained these golden pillars through 'peaceful' means...
'The top of that vine.'
On this island, there was a vine as tall as a skyscraper. It pierced through the ruins of Shandora and Enel's shrine. Everyone, including the residents here, believed it was the highest point, but:
'Actually, there's something even higher—'
Following the coordinates at the top of the vine, Roman finally saw a flash of light in the nearby clouds.
'Over there!'
When Roman and Nami flew to the cloud, a huge, vine-covered bell appeared before their eyes!
"Wow..."
"So magnificent!"
To humans, bigger is better, bigger is beautiful!
And this giant bell was not only huge, but from the golden color beneath the vines, it was clear that this was a structure made of gold! Even after four hundred years, its luster had not faded; even in this high altitude where even the Sky Islanders wouldn't go, it stood proudly, quietly waiting to be rung.
"Go——"
*Snap*,
Roman quickly covered Nami's mouth, and a line of text appeared rapidly on the white paper in his hand.
'Be careful, that god will hear us.'
'Calm your mind, don't get too excited. If he senses something unusual and comes to check, we're done for. —— Nod if you understand.'
Nami nodded frantically!
'So, our target is those two pillars over there.'
Roman released Nami. Even the decorative golden pillars nearby were so huge that it would take several people to encircle them. With the tragic displacement of the Golden Merry, even one pillar might crush it.
Although these golden pillars weren't as valuable as the golden artworks Luffy found in the snake's belly, just these pure golden pillars alone would be worth tens of billions! If it were the golden bell nearby, it might be worth hundreds of billions... but let's not be too greedy.
Roman nodded to Nami on the other side, and Nami opened the "Thief's Ultimate Art" at her waist, aiming the large iron mouth at the golden pillar in front of her.
Munch-Munch-Gluttony!'
——————————
"Why are there cloud balls everywhere?"
Luffy walked through a forest filled with floating cloud balls of various sizes, looking helpless. "It was supposed to be a rare adventure, but it turns out this place doesn't like making friends."
"And I accidentally got separated from everyone. I feel like Roman's resentment is always lingering around me."
...The birds flying in the sky didn't want to talk.
?
*Swish*,
Luffy dodged a floating cloud ball with a swift move and adjusted his straw hat.
"I have a bad feeling about getting touched by these balls..."
"Hehehe, very sharp intuition."
The voice from the side made Luffy turn his head in shock!
"The ball can talk?!"
...
"I am one of the four priests under the god's throne, 'Forest's Great Satori' Satori."
"In the name of the god, I judge you sinners! Welcome to my 'Trial of Balls'——"
"A ball can be a priest too?!"
...
"I told you, I'm a person, not a ball!"
With a sudden slap on the cloud ball in front of him, the cloud ball immediately flew towards Luffy! Of course, this straightforward attack was easily dodged by the disdainful Luffy. But:
"Scary ball."
As the missed cloud ball collided with the cloud ball behind Luffy, it immediately turned into two moving cloud balls. After a series of collisions, the sky was filled with flying cloud balls.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
Cloud balls were colliding randomly everywhere, causing chaos in the forest. And right in the center of these cloud balls was Luffy.
"Hehehe, take my move 'Surprise-Kill Formation'."
"These 'Surprise Clouds' contain explosions, swords, flames, beasts... all kinds of attacks. As long as you get touched by them——"
Facing the flying cloud balls, Luffy just pressed down his straw hat.
"As long as I don't get touched, right?"
?
"Hehehe, people from the Blue Sea really like to brag~~"
The sky was filled with ball-shaped clouds moving chaotically, colliding with each other at different heights and sizes, constantly fluctuating. They would occasionally bump into each other, creating unexpected changes. A slight mistake, and you'd be hit!
The dense ball clouds were flying around like a dozen people attacking one person. But Luffy just stood there calmly, observing everything around him with his awakened Observation Haki. His whole body was like rubber...
No, Luffy's body was rubber.
So he could make all kinds of impossible joint bends and limb stretches, dodging easily like a soft blade of grass dancing in the wind, letting the dense ball clouds crash and bounce around him. They couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes!
"Is this... 'Mantra'?"
For a moment, the round priest Satori was stunned. He thought it would be easy to capture this Blue Sea person, but who knew he also mastered the 'Mantra' skill that only their priests could learn.
"I'm tired of this dodging game," Luffy's voice came from the flying clouds.
"Don't you have any—"
"Other tricks?"
!?
"Watch this!" Satori pulled out a string of 'explosive clouds' the size of an adult, and with a flick, a fish line dragged the explosive clouds like a flying dragon towards Luffy.
"Amazing-Dragon Ball."
Facing the rushing Dragon Ball, Luffy first jumped up, then stretched his arm to grab the fish line controlling the Dragon Ball, and dragged it towards the priest Satoru! He looked like he was ready for a 'mutual destruction' stance.
??
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Don't come over here!"
Luffy responded with a grin.
Boom!!!
Amidst the continuous explosions, the round priest Satori leaped out of the explosion area, his hands in front of him, still in shock.
"Madman! Luckily, my 'Mantra'—"
"Hehehe~~"
When? The laughter from behind startled the priest Satori, but before he could turn around, two rapidly extending arms wrapped him up tightly.
"Observation Haki, I've heard Roman talk about it so much that my ears are getting calluses."
"Let go of me—"
Luffy squatted down, gathering strength! Then—
Boom!
Luffy jumped up, holding the priest tightly from behind! After the elasticity was exhausted, under Newton's law, they started to fall freely, head down.
"Gomu Gomu no-Lotus!"
"Ahhh~~ No!"
Thud!
With a dull sound, the round priest Satori's head was buried in the ground, leaving only his twitching short limbs. He really looked like a ball.
And Luffy had already patted his straw hat, picked up the stick on the ground, and continued his 'adventure'.
This is the second flaw of Observation Haki: even if you can predict the attack, so what? You're still going to get hit!
---
PS: The Straw Hat crew's training is starting to show results. Let's have a moment of silence for CP9.~~~
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