Chapter 370: Ancient Coffin, Speculation
Roy remembered very clearly.
The intelligence on this Admiral in front of him was recorded in quite detail within the Marine files—with Roy's current level of clearance within the Marines, he naturally could view everything related to it.
He also remembered that after this Admiral was ultimately killed by Rocks, because he was killed while protecting Mary Geoise and guarding the Celestial Dragons, his corpse was even specially permitted by the World Government to be buried in the Holy Land. A rather formal funeral ceremony was also held, with the Marine Fleet Admiral at the time personally acting as a pallbearer.
Of course, it's said that there were also Celestial Dragons who were very displeased with this—as always, acting not quite like humans, they even believed that this Admiral Doman not only shouldn't enjoy the treatment of a hero, but instead should be punished. This was because from beginning to end, the time he stalled Rocks was extremely brief, reportedly being instant-killed within the span of a single strike.
But regardless, one thing was certain.
And that was...
"He should indeed be a guy who's already dead."
Beneath Rabbit's mask, Roy watched the Admiral in front of him.
"No heart, and no heartbeat... no matter how you look at it, he is akin to a corpse. But judging from the strike just now, he can still activate his ability to stop my mind and thoughts, and his Haki is also quite astonishing."
"Compared to when he was alive, he might have become weaker, but he certainly hasn't become too much weaker."
"An ability that can resurrect the dead... Shadow-Shadow Fruit? No, that doesn't seem like it either..."
Rabbit thought rapidly in his heart.
At the same time, he heard Doman in front of him slowly open his mouth.
"You know my ability and identity... saw it from the files? You guys have an insider within the Marines, and of a very high rank?"
"And the ability just now—wings of flame, a Mythical Zoan fruit... I see, the ability of the Phoenix Fruit? But as far as I know, there should already be a 'Phoenix' ability user named Marco in this era. The abilities of you Zodiacs are indeed problematic."
This former Marine Admiral didn't seem to have much emotional fluctuation after seeing Rabbit's body reshape.
It seemed just as recorded in the files—this Admiral who controlled mental abilities was very calm.
He stared sharply at Rabbit, his words thoughtful.
As the other party observed him, Rabbit could sense a powerful ability seemingly prying into his spirit—even though Rabbit used Haki to block it, the other party clearly could still see fragments of his thoughts.
[Mental Fruit LV5]
[Fruit Awakening · Lord of Mind—can forcefully perceive anyone's inner thoughts, and can control the other party's mind and thoughts, making the other party enter abnormal states such as "sluggish", "numb", "slow thinking", and many others. When facing powerful Haki, it is impossible to completely sense and shield the other party's mind, but it can still be partially effective, sensing part of the other party's thoughts and ideas]
"What a displeasing ability..."
Rabbit's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I roughly understand why Rocks eliminated you so decisively."
For people like him and Rocks, who had many secrets in their hearts, this guy's ability was indeed very dangerous.
After hearing Rabbit mention Rocks's name.
"Rocks..."
Doman's expression clearly changed, and hatred and anger flashed in his eyes.
Very clearly—although a "corpse" resurrected by some unknown power, he still retained his memories from when he was alive.
"Whether it's that foolish pirate who sought death and vainly attempted to challenge the gods, or you Zodiacs, all are things that should be destroyed."
"God awakened me from the coffin precisely for this moment..."
While saying this, he also raised the giant sword again.
"Coffin?"
Hearing this word, Rabbit frowned.
This word instantly reminded him of what Shanks had mentioned before, one of the ancient technological devices hidden in Mary Geoise.
"I remember one of the facilities was called by the God's Knights... the Ancient Coffin?"
Could it be that this Admiral Doman was exactly the one who completed his resurrection after the "processing" of that technological facility, and transformed into the "Death Disaster" currently on Onigashima?
"The effect of the Ancient Coffin is to resurrect the dead? Looking at this meaning, it seems to also have the effect of altering cognition—otherwise, at least according to the intelligence in the files, this Admiral Doman shouldn't have been a person who worshipped Imu so much when he was alive."
Rabbit pondered.
And clearly, fragments of his thoughts were once again captured by Doman.
Thus, the Admiral's expression changed drastically: "You actually know of the 'Ancient Coffin', who dares to be so presumptuous, to inform you, a rebel, of God's secret..."
Amidst a low roar, his knees abruptly bent.
VMMM!
Pitch-black Armament Haki wreathed the large sword. The next moment... he leaped up!
BOOM!
Massive power instantly crushed the rocks deep underground below this Onigashima, his figure swift as a cheetah.
"No-Mind Style..."
Accompanied by his low roar, invisible power once again invaded Rabbit's mind.
He was attempting to erase Rabbit's thoughts of "dodging" or "reacting".
Just like how a scorpion always uses the stinger on its tail to make the other party lose the ability to resist when hunting—it was exactly this ability of Doman's that earned him the codename "Red Scorpion".
But...
"That's it?"
Just the next instant, the suddenly sounding voice made Doman's confident expression freeze on his face.
His figure stopped almost instinctively, and the motion of swinging the giant sword in his hand also paused for an instant—because right now, the speed of Rabbit's voice speaking was very rapid, clearly completely unaffected by his ability.
Not only that.
Doman also distinctly felt that the "mind" his ability touched had undergone a drastic change at this moment.
If originally his ability erasing others' thoughts was somewhat akin to snapping a thin wooden stick.
Then now he felt that the thing he was trying to snap was not as simple as a wooden stick—that continuously gathering mind actually felt like an iron pillar as massive as a mountain, and heated red-hot.
Let alone his ability snapping and bending the other party, even just touching it would give a feeling of searing heat.
"Kill!"
"Subjugate the evil dragon, liberate this country!"
"I want to avenge my parents and wife!"
"Kill all those scumbags, it doesn't matter even if I die!"
That searing hot, pure to the extreme fighting intent seemed to carry the shouts of tens of thousands of people.
That was strikingly exactly the mind of all the resisters in the entirety of Wano Country.
[Liberation Fruit · Additional Fusion Effect · Veins Linked to Freedom]
[For the fighters who obtain "liberation" through the power of the Liberation Fruit, a portion of their strength and Haki can be fed back inversely into the ability user's own body through the drumbeats of liberation, comprehensively enhancing the ability user's attributes]
[The more people liberated, the stronger this effect]
Yes.
Under the effect of the "Liberation Fruit", every warrior with the "Unextinguishable Fire" burning on their body was a part of Rabbit's power.
Their fighting spirit, their souls, their fighting intent, would all turn into flames burning within Rabbit's body.
And right now, what Rabbit's flames burned with... was the "entirety of Wano Country".
"Do you know?"
The next moment, accompanied by flames completely blocking Doman's path.
Rabbit's body stepped out from the flames, his calm voice stating a clear fact.
"Ever since your death, the Marines have undergone adjustments—the requirements for the Admirals' individual strength and Haki mastery have become higher, and training has become more rigorous."
"The Admirals of the previous generation and this generation are all powerhouses far surpassing the Admirals of the past era... The reason is that the Marines believe that Admirals must have the qualifications to put up a fight when facing the strongest 'monsters' of the sea, or at least they shouldn't be instant-killed in a short time."
"And I unhappily tell you..."
"You, who couldn't resist in front of Rocks when you were alive, when facing me... it's no different."
While speaking, Rabbit had already calmly raised his fist, and then threw a punch.
"Are you kidding me..."
Doman almost instinctively raised the giant sword in his hand, and then...
BOOM!
He saw Rabbit's flames, along with his sword and his body... being pierced together.
Whoosh!
Before Doman could even react, the scorching flames had already abruptly burned his body to ashes.
After Doman's body crashed to the ground and was burned into charcoal amidst the flames.
Rabbit's gaze looked at the other party.
"Mm... didn't resurrect again."
After confirming that Doman had no intention of standing up again, Rabbit said thoughtfully: "Looking at this meaning, the resurrection of the 'Ancient Coffin' should be directly resurrecting the corpses of the deceased from the past, rather than truly letting them be reborn."
While stepping towards that secret room in front of him, he secretly guessed the effect of the "Ancient Coffin" in his heart.
"As long as the corpse is destroyed, or the corpse doesn't possess complete limbs and a way to display abilities, then the resurrection highly likely cannot be completed or is meaningless?"
He appeared somewhat solemn.
Because even if his guess about the Ancient Coffin really had certain limitations as he thought, it was still a "weapon" powerful beyond imagination, and completely sufficient to change the entire situation of the sea.
And the most important point was...
As he said just now, although the "Red Scorpion" Doman naturally couldn't be considered a so-called "clerical Admiral", in reality, his ability was indeed more functional than combat-oriented—especially after the Marine reforms in recent decades, if this Admiral were placed in the current era, there was actually a high probability he would only be an "Admiral Candidate".
"If someone really came to attack Onigashima, they must have definitely made preparations to face Kaido directly before coming—having the resolve to fight Kaido head-on, they definitely wouldn't lose to Doman."
In other words, making Doman the "trump card" of Onigashima was clearly unreasonable.
Then the only explanation was...
"Doman is mainly responsible for intelligence gathering and surveillance, as well as handling affairs... His ability is indeed relatively suitable for handling such situations."
"Then, what about the other 'Death Disaster'?"
Roy naturally hadn't forgotten the fact Yamato mentioned earlier, that the "Death Disaster" seemed to be two people.
Then the question came.
"According to Yamato's intelligence, that Death Disaster has a quite massive physique and quite exaggerated power."
"He is highly likely the true defensive barrier of Onigashima... if he is also an existence resurrected from the 'Ancient Coffin'..."
Thinking of this, Roy frowned deeply.
Combining these characteristics, a guess had already involuntarily risen in his heart—he was certain the other party should similarly have died in Mary Geoise, and his corpse was highly likely also obtained by the World Government.
If the truth was really as he guessed, then...
"Facing that person, even with the power enhancement of the Liberation Fruit... Ace and Yamato might not necessarily be able to hold up."
At the same time.
"Yamato, are we there yet?"
Yamato and Ace were hurrying along inside Onigashima.
Looking through the cavities of Onigashima at the firelight igniting everywhere below, Ace asked in a low voice.
After getting along for a period of time, his and Yamato's relationship was already quite good; the two could even be considered friends.
So right now, he spoke quite casually.
"One more floor, we'll be there soon."
Yamato, carrying the kanabo "Takeru" on her back, responded in a deep voice right now.
"Heh, I already can't wait."
Ace squeezed his fists forcefully, letting out crisp "cracking" sounds: "The guy who tormented this country and the villagers of Amigasa Village, I'm going to beat him up severely later!"
"Don't try to snatch him from me when the time comes!"
He felt the unprecedentedly powerful strength within his body, his heart clearly full of confidence.
At this time, it could also be seen that he and Luffy were indeed brothers who grew up together since childhood—that fighting intent and expression were indeed inherited from the same line.
"That won't do."
Hearing his words, Yamato also smiled, her words rarely carrying a hint of arrogance: "I've also endured this island for a long time, when the time comes 'Takeru' won't hold back."
She clearly also had considerable confidence in her current strength.
"Then let's each rely on our own abilities."
Ace wasn't surprised by Yamato's attitude. He grinned, but then his smile withdrew: "However, the outside has already become this chaotic, yet 'Death Disaster' still hasn't appeared... Is this guy's Observation Haki that bad?"
He looked somewhat frowningly at the floor above their heads—that was already the highest floor of Onigashima besides the roof.
According to Yamato, the room specially built for that "Death Disaster" was on that floor.
But the problem was... with the slaughter on Onigashima reaching this scale right now, even a person living on the highest floor, as long as they had mastered a little bit of Observation Haki, should at least notice something, right?
But the fact was, that Death Disaster hadn't appeared at all up until now.
"This..."
Hearing this, Yamato similarly frowned.
But just as she was about to answer.
"!!!" *2
Her and Ace's figures paused simultaneously, and their expressions both changed drastically.
Because right now, they had both caught it.
That massively extreme, even terrifying "sense of threat" coming from above.
"Elbaf's Spear: Sovereign Spear!"
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