Chapter 112: The Ingenious Use of the Submarine

Thinking of this, Buffon utilized the Soru of the Six Powers to instantly shift to a position not far from Issho, then said to him earnestly: "This island emerges only once every thousand years, serving as a sanctuary for these Millennium Dragons to breed. They have already laid their eggs now; if we continue to fight here, I fear..."

Before he could finish, Issho interrupted him: "Understood. I shall do my best to try!"

Having said that, Issho drew his cane-sword, and immediately a ring of purple energy manifested above his head.

"Gravity: Ten Thousand Divine Pull!"

As he uttered the name of the technique, the island beneath their feet began to tremble, and then it started to sink at a slow pace.

Seeing that his plan was working, Buffon continued: "Bring down two meteors; I will go and distract Kizaru!"

"I will not assist you in attacking the Navy," Issho said sternly.

Hearing this, Buffon added: "As long as Kizaru stops, and the island sinks back down, the Millennium Dragons will leave on their own. We can settle our scores then!"

Issho considered this and found it reasonable. He sheathed and unsheathed his cane-sword, and moments later, a meteor trailing black smoke flew rapidly toward their position.

Xue Ju, who was moving toward Buffon, assumed that Issho and Buffon had started fighting. Possessing the pride of a swordsman, she halted her steps.

"It is just as well to have that blind old man wear you down, just as you once used him to wear me down!"

But the scene that followed made her rage soar instantly. She saw Buffon leap into the air and kick the meteor toward the warship they had arrived on.

"Blind old man, was that on purpose?"

Attracted by her roar, Kizaru also glanced in the direction the meteor was traveling.

"What a terrifying kid!"

Kizaru muttered to himself, then his body transformed into countless particles of light, flashing toward the warship.

If he could not stop it, the Marines who had just retreated would likely perish beneath the impact.

But right on his path, a figure suddenly appeared to block him: "Borsalino, I hope you haven't forgotten your promise!"

Kizaru sighed inwardly. His true form flashed out for a brief moment as he spoke quickly: "My stance has never changed." Then, he vanished again.

"Buffon cannot be captured for now," Betty whispered, then stepped aside.

Seeing Kizaru's actions, Xue Ju felt relieved. At this moment, she had no more illusions left. A crimson slash arced toward Buffon and Issho.

Issho chose to dodge, while Buffon switched his Devil Fruit state to the Shadow-Shadow Fruit. Utilizing the goalkeeper’s ultimate technique, Pendulum Shatter, he evaded the slash and charged toward Xue Ju.

Seeing Buffon advance instead of retreating, Xue Ju mocked him in her heart: "Fool!"

But once Buffon closed the distance, Xue Ju realized his intent. This guy had set his sights on the fact that her weapon was subpar, so...

Buffon's fist did not strike Xue Ju's body but instead collided directly with the blade she had picked up at random.

Although Xue Ju had imbued it with Ryuo, it was far inferior to Senbonzakura. Under Buffon's strike, the sword shattered into countless pieces instantly.

Without a weapon in hand, even with Ryuo and the Six Powers, Xue Ju's strength was a notch lower. Fighting someone of a lower caliber like Baggio was fine, but against Buffon, it was a struggle.

After a few exchanges of blows, she clearly felt that her defense could not keep up with the rhythm of Buffon's offense.

At that moment, the Millennium Dragons that had been on the offensive began to descend, seemingly intending to accelerate the hatching of the dragon eggs.

With the cover of those giant creatures gone, a beam of sunlight shone directly onto the two of them, and Buffon's shadow happened to envelop Xue Ju's entire body.

Buffon shifted his focus and, with his back to Xue Ju, activated the Black Hole ability of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.

The moment the suction appeared, Xue Ju sensed trouble. It was exactly the same situation as the final moment of her first battle with Buffon!

"Buffon, you shameless bastard!" Her voice echoed across the entire battlefield!

Hearing these familiar words, Issho was instinctively stunned. Feeling the seawater that was about to submerge his feet, he shouted: "I am a Devil Fruit user! Someone, save me!"

At this moment, Xue Ju’s body was entangled in swirling cherry blossom petals, revealing only her beautiful face. Even so, her exquisite figure was still faintly displayed.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Buffon bolted toward the edge of the island and dove into the sea, vanishing from sight.

Back at Kizaru's end, after being obstructed by Betty, he had missed the prime opportunity to use his ability to shatter the meteor by the time he reached it at light speed.

The meteor was now mere inches from the warship; trying to shatter it now would result in debris causing significant casualties to the Marines on board.

Weighing the pros and cons, Kizaru made his choice: he would use his own body to block the meteor.

As a Logia user, Kizaru had rarely been struck in his body over the years. However, possessing both types of Haki and the strength of an Admiral, he remained confident.

Kizaru covered his entire body with Armament Haki. Less than 10 meters from the ship, he successfully intercepted the meteor with his body.

However, Kizaru had clearly underestimated the power of the meteor. The three-meter-wide rock already possessed immense kinetic energy from gravity, and after being accelerated by Buffon’s ultimate kick, the impact had increased exponentially.

The long-forgotten pain made Kizaru serious. With his ability unable to help, he reinforced his Haki-imbued body with Tekkai.

"What a damn kid, and that blind old man following Kou-hime—strong, yet always helping the wrong side!" Kizaru grumbled while tightly hugging the meteor with both hands.

The moment his body made contact with the warship's deck, he finally managed to neutralize the impact.

After a long sigh of relief, Kizaru said with a touch of arrogance: "You wretched kid, you think you're the only one with kicking skills? I bet you've never been kicked at the speed of light!"

Of course, he could no longer find a trace of Buffon. This light-speed-enhanced kick could only be vented upon the meteor.

Perhaps out of irritation, he failed to control the force and direction, and the meteor flew toward the cluster of stranded warships.

The Marines who hadn't boarded were stunned. Even though the island had sunk and the ships could sail again, but...

Moments later, Xue Ju, carrying the extremely "weakened" Fujitora, arrived near the fleet. She picked up an ownerless blade and unleashed a Thousand-Flower Slash!

In the blink of an eye, the meteor was sliced into countless pieces!

After neutralizing the threat, she glared with hatred in the direction Buffon had disappeared, swearing viciously in her heart: "Buffon, you shameless bastard! From now on, there is no chance for you to survive at my hands."

As the island gradually sank, the gathered Millennium Dragons scattered and flew away, and the body of the Dragon Elder disappeared into the sea along with the island.

At this point, Juventus and his crew had returned to the *Juventus*, which was inside Laboon.

Bon Clay and Saul, who had been guarding the ship, called out loudly upon seeing them: "If you hadn't returned, the *Juventus* would have sunk!"

"Damn! How did I miss that!" Buffon mocked himself and dashed toward the *Juventus*.

Floating in Laboon's gastric juices, the *Juventus* was on the verge of destruction due to the corrosive "ocean" of stomach acid.

The ship itself didn't matter much to Buffon, but if the laboratory and the equipment used for genetic modification were damaged, there would be no way to replace them for a while.

Thinking of this, Buffon dove into the acid "ocean," performing the Fish-Man Karate Ultimate: Buraikan, creating a massive water sphere that sent the *Juventus* back into Laboon's steel esophagus.

Seeing this, the giants hurried over to help, using their bodies to secure the ship.

Saul had a sudden inspiration and said to Buffon: "Captain, what if I use my fruit ability to coat the ship in a layer of wax..."

Before he could finish, Buffon said: "Do it. The task of reinforcing the hull is yours!"

"Tai-la-hi! Leave it to me!"

Saying this, Saul opened his massive hands, and countless amounts of wax sprayed out, quickly forming a solid wax shell around the entire bottom of the ship.

"It seems a good shipwright is indispensable!"

Thinking this, Buffon instructed them to return the *Juventus* to the acid ocean, and the crew went to rest.

The trip was mainly to find Apis, and now that the goal was achieved, they had even brought back a Millennium Dragon cub, which could be considered an over-fulfillment of the mission.

Just then, Buffon heard two resounding dragon roars.

He looked up and saw that inside Laboon’s stomach—which Crocus had painted with a sky and white clouds—there were two more Millennium Dragons!

"The cub's parents?" Buffon asked Apis.

Apis nodded with a smile: "Yes! They are willing to follow us and stay with the Dragon Elder as it grows!"

"Alright, now we have an air force. Though the numbers are limited and thin, it's better than nothing!" Buffon thought, then said aloud: "You can't call it Dragon Elder anymore; you need to give it a new name."

Before Apis could think of one, she was interrupted by the ringing of the Den Den Mushi on Reiju’s person. She took out the one with blonde hair on its head, glanced at it, and her brows furrowed slightly.

She stood up and found a secluded spot before answering the call.