Chapter 442: Escape
The moment he felt those soft lips press against his, Ian’s mind went blank for a second.
How should he put it? Women’s thoughts were really hard to guess. Earlier, when Ian touched Reiju to confirm her identity, she had lightly slapped him. But now, she was the one taking the initiative to kiss him. He really couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.
Although Ian knew that Reiju was helping him absorb the residual toxins in his body, experiencing such a alluring method of detoxification firsthand still made him instinctively tighten his arms around Reiju’s body.
In this darkness, neither of them could see the other’s face, but both could feel the other’s body temperature rising.
A suction force came, and Ian felt something in his body being drawn out. The dizziness in his head vanished instantly.
The toxins had been absorbed. Sensing Ian’s lingering reluctance, Reiju smiled slightly, raised a finger to his lips, and stopped him from pushing further.
Ian sobered up a bit, realizing this wasn’t the time for flirtation. So he immediately hugged Reiju tightly and moved toward where he sensed the others were.
In this strange space, perhaps because Teach had sucked in air along with the objects, Ian and the others had no trouble breathing. But no one knew when the air here would run out, so they had to hurry.
The second person Ian found was Dorry. The big guy was flailing his arms and legs. When Ian grabbed him, Dorry was startled and almost attacked Ian, but he quickly came to his senses and obediently let Ian pull him along.
One by one, Ian found Ace and then Matthew. But when he finally tried to find Robin, he discovered she was being pulled toward the center of the vortex.
Having been in this strange space for a while, Ian had gradually realized that the vortex here was caused by a gravitational force. The closer one got to the center, the stronger the gravity became. Eventually, this gravity would turn into a crushing force, pulverizing anything caught in it.
So Ian didn’t dare be careless. After noticing Robin’s situation, the five of them quickly joined hands and moved toward the center to rescue her.
Ace wasn’t used to this dark environment. He freed one hand, trying to use his white flames to add some light to the space. But although his ability worked, the white flames burning on his palm eerily emitted no light at all!
Robin’s situation was already dire. The immense pressure from the gravitational force was starting to affect her, and she was finding it hard to breathe.
She could feel herself being pulled toward the center. If she went deeper, her entire body would be crushed.
Was she going to die? Robin thought, slowly closing her eyes.
She was calm. Perhaps from years ago, she had already learned to face death with equanimity.
But just then, Robin suddenly felt something wrap around her waist, pulling her upward.
It was Ian. Fortunately, among the things Teach had sucked into the Dark Passage, there were plenty of dirt and building materials. Sensing that Robin was too far away, Ian had a flash of inspiration. He absorbed the iron-rich sand from the surrounding debris, condensed it into a whip of iron sand, and swung it out, finally pulling Robin back.
Robin breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it was Ian who had grabbed her. But when she tried to say thank you, she found she couldn’t make a sound.
This strange space was indeed bizarre, seemingly absorbing all light and sound.
But no matter what, the six of them were finally together.
Gathered as they were, the situation was still grim. They continued to be dragged toward the center of the vortex.
Ian extended the iron sand whip and looped it around each of their waists, ensuring they wouldn’t be separated again. In the darkness, Ian couldn’t see the gravitational center, so he used his psychic field to sense the movement of the debris, dirt, and stones to estimate the vortex’s location.
Raising his hand, Ian fired a Black Dragon Wave straight at the center.
But the Black Dragon Wave disappeared without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.
Ian’s heart sank.
Based on his understanding of the Dark-Dark Fruit’s power, the center of the vortex was where gravity was strongest. Everything sucked in would be compressed and crushed there, making it extremely dangerous. But at the same time, it was also the most likely place for an exit to open. If the six of them wanted to get out, they had to go there.
As long as the gravity in this strange space didn’t disappear, Ian and the others couldn’t avoid being pulled. In other words, they would inevitably be dragged to the vortex center, with no way to escape.
Ian’s mind raced. This strange space created by the Dark-Dark Fruit reminded him of the Door-Door Fruit and the Surgery Fruit.
The Door-Door Fruit belonged to Blueno, a CP9 agent, while the Surgery Fruit belonged to Trafalgar Law. Both had the ability to manipulate space.
The Dark-Dark Fruit’s ability shared similarities with both. The strange space in the Dark Passage was also controlled by Teach.
But it seemed that this control was limited. Otherwise, Teach could have shrunk the space to its smallest size, crushing them the moment they fell in, instead of letting them descend slowly.
If that was the case, then Ian and the others still had a chance.
Ian had initially tried to use a Black Dragon Wave to see if he could destroy the structure of this strange space, but it didn’t seem to work.
Maybe one Black Dragon Wave wasn’t enough energy, or maybe this space couldn’t be destroyed from the inside.
If it was the first case, they might still be okay. But if it was the second, then Ian and the others had no choice but to wait for Teach to open an exit and “release” them.
Either way, it was worth trying more.
When it came to spatial power, Ian knew a bit himself. The Great Serpent’s Black Particle technique involved pushing a fragment of space at a target. With that in mind, Ian took a deep breath, infused a large amount of psychic power into his palm, and pushed forward.
Release・Exorcism!
He used maximum output, sending out a disk-shaped space fragment much larger than usual.
This space fragment flew in a dreamlike trajectory straight toward the vortex center. When it reached the center, it immediately reacted!
Teach probably never dreamed that Ian also had some control over space. Especially since Ian was using spatial power within the space Teach had created. It was like Ian tearing off a fragment of Teach’s space and throwing it back, almost like using Teach’s own spear against his shield.
The center of the vortex suddenly trembled slightly. This was caused by the collision between the space fragment Ian had fired and the space at the vortex center.
Spatial fluctuations were subtle. If Ian hadn’t been the one initiating the attack, he wouldn’t have noticed the tremor.
Sensing that it was effective, Ian perked up and pushed out another space fragment.
The tremor he felt here was very slight, but outside, Teach suddenly shuddered, and blood started flowing from his nose!
“Wh… what’s going on!?” Teach wiped his nose with his hand and saw blood on his fingers, panicking.
In truth, the space created by the Dark Passage was actually inside Teach’s body! To put it simply, just as Akainu, as a Magma Fruit user, had flowing magma inside him when he turned into his elemental form, Teach’s body was now filled with a pitch-black shadow. These shadows formed a special space, and everything sucked in was essentially inside him.
The damage Ian was causing inside was reflected on Teach’s body.
No one knew the exact scientific principles behind this, but Teach realized he was in trouble. He had already thought that Ian and the others wouldn’t die so easily after being sucked in, and now things had exceeded his expectations. He had no idea what method Ian and the others were using to damage his Dark Passage!
Teach’s body trembled again. This time, blood seeped from the corners of his mouth and his ears.
“C… Captain!?” Lafitte and the others were shocked to see Teach like this, unsure of what was happening.
“D… damn it!” Teach shouted in panic. “I… I have to let them out! If this continues, I’ll die!”
With that, a wispy shadow rose from his body, and a large cloud of black mist spread out, opening a hole.
Whoosh! As Teach released them, the first things to spew out of the shadow were large amounts of debris. But by now, these buildings had been reduced to countless pieces of rubble and wood.
These chaotic objects poured out like mercury spilling, and Van Augur and the others watched closely, gripping their weapons tightly.
Teach was also watching, eager to see how Ian and the others would appear.
But just then, a strange flame suddenly burst out of the shadowy hole!
This flame was a bizarre mix of white and black fire, intertwined together. As soon as it appeared, it struck the ground.
Boom! A massive explosion followed. As it erupted, the white and black flames turned into surging waves of fire, devouring everything around them. The five members of the Blackbeard Pirates were caught directly in the blaze, screaming as the blast wave sent them flying.
Above the port city of Rabanastre, a mushroom cloud rose into the sky…