“Dang…”
Jin An's long sword sliced through the air, colliding with the Five Elders' claws before him, igniting a deafening roar.
The powerful impact forced him to quickly retreat a step, the ground beneath his feet cracking with a long fissure due to his movement.
Without any unnecessary movements, he quickly steadied himself, his eyes still fixed on the hideous opponent before him.
Despite the intense battle, Jin An's mind never ceased for a moment.
His thoughts raced, analyzing the various anomalies of the enemy before him.
The Five Elders' transformations were clearly not ordinary combat techniques; these distorted appearances, extreme power boosts, and even the aura they emitted carried an unspeakable sense of evil, all somewhat resembling the abilities of a Devil Fruit.
“Devil Fruit abilities… no, that's not right.”
Jin An's brow furrowed slightly, the blade of his sword flashing coldly as he repelled the Five Elders' claws that came at him.
His gaze was sharp, faintly perceiving some unusual details.
“If it were truly Devil Fruit abilities, the performance among these Five Elders shouldn't be so consistent.
Moreover, such a large-scale assimilation… impossible.”
The thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind as his body moved quickly, dodging the claws of another Five Elder swinging down.
His gaze swept around, seeing that not only were the Five Elders in front of him in this state, but even the enemies surrounding Loki and Whitebeard were in the same form.
“Just what are these guys…”
Jin An's gaze deepened, feeling a faint sense of unease.
With a large number of Five Elders simultaneously exhibiting such a form, if it wasn't a Devil Fruit ability, then it was very likely related to some kind of technology or experiment.
His thoughts were interrupted by another wave of fierce attacks.
One of the Five Elders swooped down from the sky, blood-red eyes staring intently at Jin An, filled with endless killing intent.
Its claws were like a giant iron hook, grabbing straight towards Jin An's head, as if to tear him to pieces.
“Get lost!”
Jin An roared, his blade light like lightning, quickly slashing out a crescent-shaped arc of sword energy that collided with the Five Elder's claws.
The moment the sword energy erupted, the massive shockwave stirred up the surrounding dust, the Five Elder's attack was forcefully blocked, and its body was shaken back several meters, but that hideous smile still remained on its face.
Jin An did not relax in the slightest, quickly seizing the gap, his blade sweeping horizontally, forcing back another approaching Five Elder.
His movements were as fluid as water, but the pace of his thinking never stopped.
“If these forms are the result of some kind of technology… then do they have weaknesses?”
Jin An muttered to himself, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
He quickly glanced around, observing the Five Elders' movement patterns, trying to find flaws in them.
On the other side of the battlefield, Whitebeard was wielding his long blade, unleashing powerful shockwaves.
The huge energy fluctuations sent several surrounding Five Elders flying, but they quickly stood up again, their distorted bodies like tireless fighting machines, pouncing on Whitebeard again.
“These guys are really troublesome.”
Whitebeard's gaze was cold, but a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“However, that's all they are.”
He raised his long blade again, swinging it violently, the massive impact tearing everything in front of him, directly sending two Five Elders flying.
However, he also noticed that the Five Elders' recovery ability was exceptionally rapid; even if heavily damaged, the distorted form of their bodies could quickly recover.
“It seems this isn't ordinary power.”
Whitebeard murmured, a hint of vigilance appearing in his eyes.
Although his movements were still sharp, he was silently analyzing the enemy's anomalies in his heart.
Not far away, Loki was also surrounded by several Five Elders.
His power of the Overlord Color Haki stirred up strong air currents on the battlefield, each strike accompanied by a huge roar.
Despite this, his brow remained furrowed.
“These guys… they can recover immediately after being injured.”
Loki coldly watched one of the Five Elders before him, its shoulder having just been smashed by him, but in just a few seconds, the bones and muscles grew back at a strange speed, as if it had not been injured at all.
“If they can recover infinitely, dragging this out won't be to our advantage.”
Loki sneered, gripping his war hammer tightly in both hands, exerting force again.
His movements became increasingly swift, trying to completely crush these troublesome enemies with absolute power.
While fighting, Jin An observed the situation on Whitebeard and Loki's side.
He quickly discovered that the recovery ability of these Five Elders did not seem to be completely without limitations.
Although they could quickly repair most of the damage, after suffering a certain degree of heavy damage, their movements would become sluggish and even expose brief flaws.
“Found the key…”
A glint flashed in Jin An's eyes, he quickly glanced in the direction of Whitebeard and Loki, and said in a low voice:
“Continue to maintain the suppression, but don't rush to win.
These guys' recovery ability requires a huge amount of energy; we need to wear them down.”
His words were transmitted to his teammates through battlefield signals, and Whitebeard and Loki quickly adjusted their tactics.
Instead of rushing to kill them head-on, they continuously consumed the Five Elders' energy through sustained high-intensity attacks.
The battle situation began to show subtle changes.
Although the Five Elders' offensive was still fierce, their movements gradually became stiff, and that violent aura also began to weaken.
“Looks like our victory is only a matter of time.”
Whitebeard said in a low voice, a cold smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
Jin An gripped the hilt of his sword, took a deep breath, and locked his eyes on the Five Elders before him like a hawk:
“Whether you are cloned monsters or products of technology, today, you will be ended!”
On the battlefield, the bodies of the Five Elders were shrouded in twisted black mist, the blood-red light in their eyes like the ghost fire of a hellish abyss, chilling to the bone.
Their expressions completely lacked human emotional fluctuations, replaced by a cold and deathly madness, as if mechanically executing a single, unwavering command: destroy.
“They've lost their minds.”
Loki looked at the crazed Five Elders, his brow furrowed, his voice low.
“They don't care what we say, and they don't care about defense at all… they're going all out.”
The Five Elders' charge was like a storm, disorganized yet carrying absolute pressure.
Each of their attacks was reckless, knowing they would be injured, even knowing they might be completely destroyed, yet they still fearlessly pounced towards Jin An and the others.
The long sword in Jin An's hand waved rapidly, his movements precise and sharp, each swing of the blade bringing a surge of sword energy, forcing back the Five Elders charging towards him.
But even so, those Five Elders still surged like a tide, one after another, completely ignoring their own injuries.
