The originally grinning Deadpool suddenly froze in his tracks.
As if he had sensed something utterly terrifying, he abruptly let go of Kuzan and retreated frantically.
"That is..."
On Deadpool's mask, the white eye patches shrank to the size of needle points.
A hundred meters away.
Abel, who had been silently gathering his strength, slowly raised his right hand.
Resting in his palm was a spherical object only the size of a fist.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Deadpool's voice became sharp and grating, like fingernails frantically scratching a chalkboard.
The arrogant, overbearing aura that had wanted to devour an Admiral moments ago vanished completely the instant he saw the red and white ball in Abel's hand.
Replacing it was a bone-deep terror.
He looked incredibly ridiculous at this moment; his massive, bladed form was curled up, and he stumbled backward, leaving deep craters in the ice with every step.
"Damn you, Abel! Have those old geezers on the O5 Council gone mad? How could they authorize you to bring this thing out of the containment site?!"
Deadpool roared while frantically looking left and right, seemingly searching for an escape route.
The cold wind howled.
Kuzan knelt on the ice, his chest heaving violently.
With every breath, it felt as if countless tiny ice blades were cutting into his lungs.
He stared at the red figure retreating frantically, then turned his head to look at the black-haired man standing to his side, who had been watching coldly all along.
Is it finally over?
If this dragged on any longer, even a Logia-type user wouldn't be able to withstand that bizarre life-draining effect.
That feeling was awful.
It was as if his stamina, Haki, and even his life force were flowing continuously through his wounds into that monster.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Deadpool clutched his head with both hands, his two bone blades flailing wildly against the ice, shattering the ground into pieces.
"How dare you bring this thing out?!"
"That violates the convention! That is a trampling of human rights! I will file a complaint with the O5 Council! I will go to the Ethics Committee!"
Bai Yu controlled Deadpool, portraying that hysterical fear to perfection.
He even controlled the muscles on the surface of his body to spasm irregularly.
Just as if he had a premonition of the impending doom.
"Run! Must run!"
Deadpool turned abruptly, the muscles in his legs bulging.
Boom!
Ice shards flew everywhere.
He transformed into a streak of red and black light, fleeing frantically in the direction away from Abel.
The speed was so great that it even left a long shockwave in the air.
This was a true flight for his life.
Without any hesitation, without any reservation.
"Want to run?"
Abel watched the rapidly receding back with an expressionless face.
He slowly raised his right arm, aiming the red and white ball in his hand at Deadpool's back.
His movements were as standard as if he were performing a sacred ritual.
"Spatial anchor locked."
"Containment procedure... execute!"
With a low shout.
Abel exerted force with his wrist.
Whoosh!
The seemingly ordinary red and white ball left his hand.
It traced an arc in the air that wasn't particularly fast.
Kuzan even felt that he could catch a projectile moving at that speed even with his eyes closed.
But this ball seemed to have eyes of its own.
No matter how Deadpool changed direction or swerved, the ball stayed locked onto his back.
The distance kept shrinking.
"No!!!"
"I'm not going back! There's not even a single person to talk to in that damn subspace!"
Deadpool let out a shrill scream.
He even pulled out his Desert Eagle in reverse and pulled the trigger frantically at the ball flying behind him.
Bang, bang, bang!
The bone bullets coated with Sea Stone powder hit the sphere accurately.
But a terrifying scene unfolded.
Those bullets, which were capable of threatening a Logia-type, simply vanished the moment they touched the surface of the sphere, as if sinking into the ocean.
Not even a single spark was struck.
Kuzan's pupils contracted sharply.
One hundred meters.
Fifty meters.
Ten meters.
The red and white ball finally caught up to the sprinting Deadpool.
Pop.
A light, crisp sound.
The sphere struck Deadpool's back, which was covered in a hard, horny layer.
The next second.
The sphere bounced off and hovered in mid-air.
Click.
The sphere split open from the middle.
A red light, so dazzling that it was impossible to look at directly, burst out from inside the sphere.
The red light instantly engulfed Deadpool's massive body.
"Ahhhhhhh——!!!"
The shrill scream came to an abrupt end.
Kuzan and Smoker in the distance widened their eyes simultaneously, witnessing the most mind-shattering scene of their lives.
That terrifying monster, which possessed an immortal body, strength rivaling an Admiral, and could even devour everything.
The moment it was engulfed by the red light, its body actually began to twist and stretch.
Just like a wisp of smoke caught by a vacuum cleaner.
The massive body, originally several meters tall, transformed into a mass of red energy in an instant.
Without any power to resist.
Whoosh!
All the red energy, along with those shrill screams, were sucked into that small sphere.
Clatter.
The sphere closed again.
It fell from mid-air and landed on the cold ice.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The sphere bounced a few times on the ice and then came to a rest.
Only the circular button in the middle was flashing with an eerie red light.
The entire ice field fell into a deathly silence.
The wind stopped.
Only Kuzan's heavy breathing echoed.
He stared fixedly at the sphere, which was only the size of a fist.
Is it over?
That monster, which he couldn't defeat even with all his might, was contained by a ball just like that?
Is there any justice left?
Hum——
The sphere on the ground suddenly shook violently.
Kuzan instinctively stepped back half a pace, cold air surging from his body.
What is going on?
Did it not contain it?
"Don't be nervous."
Abel remained standing where he was, arms crossed, his tone indifferent.
"This is a normal phenomenon during the compression process."
"The target's life energy is too vast, and it is currently impacting the subspace barrier, attempting to resist the dimensional suppression."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Hum——!
The sphere rolled violently to the left.
Kuzan's heart jumped into his throat.
Hum——!!
The sphere jumped violently to the right.
The red indicator light flashed faster and faster, as if it would explode at any moment.
Bai Yu watched this scene in his consciousness space, feeling overjoyed.
This damn Poké Ball judgment mechanism.
Even when catching himself, he still had to go through the motions.
Ding.
A crisp and pleasant prompt sound came from the sphere.
The red light, which had been flashing wildly, instantly turned into a steady green light.
The sphere stopped shaking and lay quietly on the ice, just like an ordinary red and white plastic ball.
"Containment complete."
Abel stepped forward, his military boots making a tapping sound as they hit the ice.
He walked over to the sphere and bent down to pick it up.
His movements were as casual as picking up a stone.
"Hoo..."
Only at this moment did Kuzan let out a long sigh of relief.
He felt his legs going a bit soft.
Not because of his injuries, but because of the exhaustion from the near-death experience.
It was finally over.