“Rumble!!!”
With a deafening roar, this once glorious and austere building was as if erased from the world, leaving not even the slightest trace.
The moment the Pangu City Research Institute disappeared, time seemed to pause for a moment.
Dust filled the sky, obscuring people's vision, with only a desolate ruin silently narrating its former existence.
Blackbeard stood in the center of this ruin, the once bustling ground beneath his feet now a scene of devastation.
The dark power of destruction still lingered on his body, the inky aura emanating from him, annihilating everything.
“Zehahaha…”
A wild laugh burst from his mouth, his voice deep, adding to the shocking scene he had created.
His laughter echoed in the ruins, as if mocking all the past glory and those self-proclaimed rulers who thought themselves high and mighty.
Blackbeard spread his arms wide, as if welcoming everything he was about to control.
He slowly stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the scene, "Your collections, I will reluctantly accept them all!"
The research results, Devil Fruits, and advanced technology that the World Government once considered classified were all stored by him using the "Dark-Dark Fruit" in a dark space that only he could enter.
The air still carried the residual heat of destruction, but Blackbeard's face, in the center of the battlefield, was filled with greedy satisfaction.
Every ounce of power, every weapon, filled him with immense satisfaction.
However, behind the ecstasy brought by the spatial power, Blackbeard also faintly sensed changes in his body.
His fingers trembled slightly, feeling a strange power flowing within him.
This power was not the Devil Fruit power he recognized; it was deeper and more peculiar, as if a being with mysterious power was roaming within him.
His brow furrowed slightly, and a hint of unease flashed in his heart, but after further sensing it, he laughed again, throwing that unease to the back of his mind.
Just as he was laughing wildly, the guards of Mary Geoise and the Marines had arrived after hearing the news.
Their footsteps were hurried and heavy, forming the World Government's first line of defense.
In an instant, countless cold gun muzzles were aimed at Blackbeard, each soldier's eyes filled with anger and fear towards this "destroyer."
“Bang!”
A gunshot pierced the air, followed by a dense rain of bullets pouring down on Blackbeard.
Smoke and dust rose, gunshots roared, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder. All the soldiers, without exception, focused all their firepower on Blackbeard, intending to completely destroy him with a storm of attacks.
However, as the gunfire gradually ceased, and the smoke had not yet cleared, a familiar and grating laugh suddenly echoed in the air—
“Zehahaha…”
Blackbeard's confident and contemptuous laughter echoed once again within the ruins.
“Do you think these little tricks can tickle me?”
The smoke gradually dissipated, and Blackbeard's figure gradually emerged.
He still stood there, without a single scratch on his body, the bullets seemingly swallowed by the dark maw surrounding him.
His dark power seemed to be greater than before, even emitting a chillingly intense aura.
The deadly attack just now seemed to have had no effect on him.
The soldiers' faces turned pale instantly, their eyes filled with horror and disbelief.
They all knew Blackbeard's strength, but this encounter exceeded their expectations.
The Blackbeard before them was no longer the "Warlord of the Sea" they knew.
His power had stepped into an unknown realm.
Blackbeard grinned again, his eyes flashing with madness.
He stepped forward, the dark power emanating from his body seeming to obliterate everything, gradually absorbing the surrounding light.
He muttered, "It seems… this harvest is less than I expected."
Blackbeard stood on the devastated ruins, the breeze blowing through his disheveled black hair, his expression becoming blurred and eerie in the shadows.
He could clearly feel the new power within him slowly awakening.
When he ate that fruit, his actions were almost driven by instinct, but now he knew that this power was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.
He looked down at his hands, his fingertips trembling slightly, feeling an unfamiliar sensation.
His skin had become exceptionally soft and elastic.
He took a step forward with his right foot, and immediately felt his entire leg suddenly lengthen, his toes almost crossing a distance of dozens of meters.
“Gum-Gum Fruit…”
He murmured, his eyes narrowed, with a hint of probing and suspicion.
This ability completely transformed his body into rubber, giving him powerful resistance to impacts, but this did not seem to be enough to explain why his instinct had guided him to swallow it at that moment.
He did not believe that the potential of this fruit was merely this.
He tentatively waved his arm, and his arm instantly stretched like rubber, sweeping across a dilapidated stone pillar and shattering it instantly.
His rubberized body exhibited amazing flexibility and strength, even giving him an unexpected sense of pleasure.
Although this power did not seem as gloomy and profound as the Dark-Dark Fruit he had swallowed before, Blackbeard knew that the truth of power was often hidden deeper.
“This fruit… definitely has other potential.”
He mused to himself, a cruel smile rising at the corner of his mouth.
The rubber ability brought him new combat methods and gave him different defensive capabilities, but deep down he was still full of curiosity about the secrets of this fruit.
However, now was obviously not a good time to study this power.
Around him, the Mary Geoise guard and Marine soldiers were still staring at him, their weapons ready to be fired, ready to launch the next round of attack at any time.
Although the gunfire just now had not caused him any substantial damage, Blackbeard understood that the World Government would not let him go easily.
His eyes swept around quickly, the tense atmosphere around him making the air seem to stagnate.
The wreckage of the research institute, the scattered rubble, and the trembling researchers all showed his destructive power just now.
But he knew that next, he had to buy himself more time to explore this new power.
“This place is not suitable for me to quietly study the fruit's abilities…”
He raised the corner of his mouth slightly, thinking about his next plan.
His legs suddenly lengthened, his steps so light that it was difficult to detect, quickly distancing himself from the enemy like a rubber slingshot.
Every movement was full of agility and weirdness.
The guards looked at Blackbeard's bizarrely elongated body, and for a moment did not dare to act rashly.
The rubberized body in front of them seemed to possess unlimited potential and flexibility, exceeding their understanding.
Blackbeard smiled coldly, and his rubberized arm suddenly rolled up like a whip, instantly throwing a soldier who tried to approach him to the ground a few meters away.
The soldier fell heavily to the ground, letting out a painful groan, and the surrounding soldiers retreated a few steps in horror, the weapons in their hands limply lowered.
“Zehahahaha!”
Blackbeard laughed loudly, the rubberized body giving him an unprecedented sense of control and pleasure.
He knew that today's battle would not end here, but he also knew that he must seize every minute and every second, leave here as soon as possible, and find a safe place to truly discover the full potential of this fruit.
“I will be back… just wait and see.”
Blackbeard muttered to himself in a low voice, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.
...
