Chapter 756: Azathoth
The Float-Float Fruit was Golden Lion Shiki's Devil Fruit ability, allowing him to negate the gravity of non-living objects upon contact, making them float and fly.
This ability shared similarities with Fujitora's Gravity-Gravity Fruit; both could make objects "fly," but they were fundamentally different in nature.
Regardless, at this moment, Golden Lion was essentially another Fujitora, and one who acted without restraint! He directly slammed an island weighing over ten thousand tons down toward Castom!
One could imagine the immense disaster that would befall this nation if the island were allowed to land, with tens of thousands dead being a conservative estimate!
By the time Golden Lion appeared in midair, the Blackbeard Pirates and Doflamingo had already slipped away. This was part of their prearranged plan, so they knew exactly what to do. They were there to seize the Soul Fruit, not to fight Red-Haired Shanks to the death. With their goal achieved, they naturally used Golden Lion Shiki's cover to retreat.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Castom were already in chaos. When disaster strikes, no one can suppress their fear.
The Red Hair Pirates had not yet evacuated. Under Ben Beckman's command, their members had already spread out across the nation. Beckman knew Shanks' personality well; he understood that Shanks would never abandon the innocent people of this country and flee alone. So he had already guessed what Shanks intended to do.
The island fell from high altitude, its cone-shaped base plunging toward the ground like a nail. The only saving grace was that Golden Lion Shiki seemed to want to give Teach and Doflamingo time to escape, so he didn't let the island free-fall. Instead, he used his Devil Fruit ability to control its "flight" downward, which naturally slowed its descent.
This also gave the Red Hair Pirates time!
On the ground, Red-Haired Shanks gripped his sword with one hand, staring intently at the island growing larger in his vision, while steadily gathering his strength.
He was confident he could shatter the island, but falling debris was unavoidable. Now, he could only trust his comrades, hoping they would block the falling rocks afterward...
Estimating the distance, Shanks suddenly let out a fierce roar when he felt the time was right. He swung his sword upward, unleashing several slashes in rapid succession!
Each of these continuous, powerful sword strikes rivaled Hawk-Eye Mihawk's world's greatest slashes. Under Shanks' command, they danced wildly toward the island's base!
Boom! Boom! Boom! The deafening sounds echoed continuously. The falling island trembled, crumbled, and massive cracks appeared everywhere.
The final slash struck, shattering the last connecting part of the island. Amidst the billowing dust, the once-intact island finally split into pieces!
A torrent of rubble began raining down on the city, but its size had been significantly reduced. At the same time, the Red Hair Pirates leaped into the air, intercepting the scattered debris mid-flight.
However, with their limited numbers, they couldn't stop every piece. They focused on the larger rocks, while smaller fragments crashed down, smashing through the city's buildings!
Many people were struck by the falling debris, resulting in casualties. But the greatest danger had been averted by the Red Hair Pirates.
Though the city was filled with wails and a grim atmosphere, Castom had at least avoided total annihilation. The survivors, while tending to the wounded, expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Red Hair Pirates they encountered.
But when the smoke cleared, Golden Lion Shiki's figure had already vanished...
"Captain..." The Red Hair Pirates regrouped around Shanks, all looking disheveled and covered in dust. Ben Beckman said to Shanks, "It seems these ambitious bastards have all joined forces..."
Shanks nodded and replied, "Looks like they're getting desperate too..."
Yasopp said with some shame, "Sorry, Captain. I couldn't stop that bastard Teach from eating the Devil Fruit..."
Shanks waved his hand and said, "It's not your fault. I'm still amazed. Didn't that bastard Teach already eat a Dark-Dark Fruit? How can he eat a second one without being torn apart?"
Ian hadn't told Shanks about Teach's abnormal constitution, so Shanks was also very surprised. However, he was certain that whether it was Golden Lion Shiki, Doflamingo, or Kaido of the Beasts, this time they were fighting over the Soul Fruit just to feed it to Teach. These greatest villains in the world had somehow reached some agreement and united. This forced Shanks to be on high alert.
"It seems I need to find Whitebeard and Ian..." Shanks thought to himself.
What he didn't know was that the Red Hair Pirates weren't the only victims of this incident. Out on the open sea near Castom, the Marine fleet engaged in battle with the Beast Pirates was about to face a massive crisis.
Back on the Beast Pirates' ship, Teach, though panting heavily, couldn't stop his triumphant laughter.
"Damn it, shut that ugly laughter up!" Doflamingo said to Teach. "If you're going to do something, do it now. The Marine warships have already destroyed quite a few of the Beast Pirates' vessels!"
"Don't worry, watch me!" Teach stood up, grinning with his gap-toothed mouth, and raised one hand.
A mass of black shadow floated in his hand, growing larger and larger. But at that moment, Teach suddenly raised his other hand and plunged it into the black shadow!
The next moment, a strange sight appeared. The black shadow in his hand suddenly took on an anthropomorphic face!
This face looked incredibly evil. As soon as it appeared, it let out a series of cackling laughs!
"Your name shall be... Azathoth!" Teach said with satisfaction, looking at the creation he had made by injecting darkness elements into the Soul Fruit. He named this mass of shadow.
Just as BIG MOM had once infused souls into lightning and fire to create Zeus and Prometheus, Teach had now created a true monster. This dark shadow named Azathoth, like its form as a massive, shapeless mass of darkness and chaos, constantly twisted its own shape.
Teach's body was an unprecedented, special anomaly. He had three hearts, originally capable of housing three different types of Devil Fruit powers. But because Ian had "killed" him once, destroying one of his hearts, he could now only accommodate two Devil Fruit powers. This forced him to reconsider his choice for the final Devil Fruit power.
The best plan would have been to seize Ian's Pay-to-Win Fruit power, as he felt it was even more formidable than Whitebeater's Tremor-Tremor Fruit. But the problem was that thinking was one thing, and doing was another. He had been defeated by Ian time and again. Forget killing Ian; just surviving was already lucky.
But this time, the sudden appearance of the Soul Fruit gave him an opportunity. Thinking it over, the Soul Fruit seemed like a good choice.
And as it turned out, he was right. By combining the Dark-Dark Fruit with the Soul Fruit, he had created a brand-new elemental creature.
Even Doflamingo and Golden Lion Shiki stared in amazement at Azathoth floating in midair.
"Go ahead, let's see which is stronger—this thing you've created, or the Zeus and Prometheus that BIG MOM made back then!" Doflamingo said.
"Zehahaha! Watch closely!" Teach laughed, pointing at the distant Marine fleet and said, "Go! Azathoth! Destroy them!"
"Yes, master!"
This strange mass of dark clouds, Azathoth, drifted out. It rapidly approached the Marine fleet and began to expand continuously!
"What is that?" Vice Admiral Momousagi Tsuru was the first to notice Azathoth in the sky and looked up in confusion.
But before the Marines could react, Azathoth's body transformed into boundless darkness, enveloping the entire Marine fleet...