Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 262 The Death of the Five Elders!

"What an amazing vitality," Dragon exclaimed, completely ignoring the bleeding wound on his arm.

After a slight pause, his brow furrowed, and he said, "Even mythical beasts shouldn't possess such surging vitality. Is this the reason you've maintained 'immortality'?"

Dragon, as Garp's son, was also a rising star in the Navy and had met the Five Elders.

However, that was many years ago. When he met the Five Elders back then, they already looked very old, but to this day, they haven't changed at all.

According to the records of the World Government, the positions of the Five Elders have remained unchanged for nearly a century.

Satan Saint appeared there during the God's Canyon incident. At that time, Figaland Green Saint was still a young man, and Satan Saint looked like this back then.

Even though Grimm has grown into an old man, he still looks the same.

It was as if time had truly stopped for him.

"Mere mortals, beings as insignificant as insects, dare to presume to pry into the secrets of the gods?" Saint Satan sneered, speaking with utter disdain.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of Egherd Island, Bane and Karp had secretly sneaked in at some point.

They didn't dare use their Observation Haki to investigate, as it would be easily detected. So, Bane and Garp were both lying on the roof of a small building, with half their heads sticking out, each holding a telescope, observing the situation over there.

"I knew it. That old man must have some special way of contacting Mary Geoise. It must be a Devil Fruit ability," Bane whispered to Garp beside him.

Karp nodded, observing the situation through his binoculars as he said, "You're quite the shrewd one."

"Your eldest son is right there, aren't you going to go up and teach him a lesson?" Bane teased again.

"I've already come to cooperate with you in plotting to kidnap and control one of the Five Elders to obtain intelligence, so what right do you have to criticize Dragon?" Garp said resentfully.

"You're making it sound like I'm forcing you. Whether your grandson is being controlled by them or not, we'll find out once we can get Satan out of his mouth," Bane retorted.

Even at a time like this, these two still have the mood to bicker; that's unbelievable.

After muttering a few words, Bane patted the black box he carried with him and said, "Next, it's time to test the effects of this thing."

"If we still can't sever his connection with Mary Geoise, should we still take action?" Karp asked Bane.

"Things have come to this point, and we have no choice but to act. There's no room for hesitation. At worst, we'll just have to turn against Mary Geoise. In any case, we have to keep that guy under control and prevent him from escaping with those mysterious abilities," Bane said decisively.

"In that case, I'll take a gamble with you!" Garp said, clenching his fist.

Bane nodded first, and was about to activate the black box when he suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Let me make this clear beforehand, you old bastard, watch out when the fight starts, don't fucking include me in it every time!"

"Hahaha," Garp laughed awkwardly, "I'm used to going all out. Anyway, you can heal yourself, can't you?"

"Although I can heal myself, you saw what happened to Satan just now. His healing is even faster than mine. He can recover from broken arms and legs in the blink of an eye. Don't seriously injure me and make me temporarily lose my fighting ability, and he'll be fine in the blink of an eye. Wouldn't that be like hurting your own teammate?" Bane said cursingly.

"I know, I know," Garp said reluctantly. "I'll be careful."

Without further delay, Bane took a deep breath, opened the black box, and then gently pressed a red button.

With a click, the box was activated.

Then, in an instant, the signals that were already blocked on the island fell into an even deeper slumber. The next second, a dark aura erupted, and countless black lines shot into the sky.

This speed is many times faster than Doflamingo's original Birdcage. Almost in the blink of an eye, the black lines began to descend in all directions of the island.

Before the people on the island could react, the line plunged directly into the ground at the edge of the island, and continued to penetrate deeper, forming a closed loop at the bottom of the island!

Not like Doflamingo's inverted slam, but a complete sphere!

Almost the instant Bane activated the device and dark energy and lines appeared, the experts on the island noticed the change and all turned their gazes toward this location.

"What is this? Is it some kind of technology by Dr. Vegapunk?" Borsalino asked, looking at the situation with some suspicion.

But as the commander of the science unit, he had never even heard of such technology.

After sensing it for a moment, he found that nothing seemed to have changed. Nothing had happened because of this change.

Then, he looked at Dragon, only to find that Dragon was also staring in astonishment at the eerie black line that covered the entire island.

However, before Borsalino could even ask what was going on, Satan, who was standing behind him, suddenly changed his tone from arrogant to extremely flustered.

"What have you done!? What is that thing?" Satan asked, his expression unusually filled with fear.

Borsalino turned around and immediately realized that Satan Saint's situation was completely wrong!

His already aged appearance rapidly decayed; the skin on his face began to sag, his massive body trembled incessantly, and the condition of the skin exposed outside his clothing changed constantly.

First comes aging, as if decades or even centuries have passed in an instant, and you can even vaguely see the bones collapsing after the skin and muscles have decayed.

However, the surging life force within him was rapidly repairing this situation, causing his state to shift between these two states in a very strange way.

At this moment, Saint Satan was truly terrified, because in the instant after that incident, he felt that his connection with Mary Geoise and with that great man had been completely severed.

Therefore, he suddenly felt the presence of death, and when faced with this presence, he felt genuine fear.

The surging life force within him seemed to have lost its source, yet it was constantly being consumed in order to maintain his condition. Under these circumstances, he couldn't hold on for long!

Faced with death, he no longer cared about things like the Doraga or the Poneglyphs. With a stomp of his foot, a pentagram teleportation array quickly appeared.

All he wanted now was to get back to Mary Geoise as quickly as possible, reconnect with that man, and escape the shadow of death!

However, although the ability was activated, the teleportation range was restricted. Satan Saint could sense that he could only teleport within the island of Eighard and could not break through the island at all!

It's like there's a birdcage here, locking him up!

"Saint Satan, you!?" Borsalino asked somewhat uneasily.

Why does this feel like things are getting worse? Seriously? I'm just an employee, why do I always run into these kinds of unexpected situations?!

"Quickly resolve this situation! Dragon, I can pardon all your sins. I can give you anything you want, quick!" Satan Saint completely ignored Borsalino and said to Dragon with a terrified expression. His tone was no longer that of a high and mighty 'god', but even had a hint of pleading.

Dragon was completely dumbfounded. He had thought the commotion was caused by the World Government, but it turned out that the Five Elders were the ones who couldn't stand it the most.

"I don't know what happened!" Dragon said with a serious expression.

If it's not him, not the Navy, and not the World Government, then it means that there is a third-party force hiding in Eghard!

This is undoubtedly a crisis for him as well!

"Who!? Who is it!?" Satan Saint roared in a panic, standing rooted to the spot. "Come out! What do you want!?"

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Just then, Borsalino suddenly realized that the five vice admirals of the navy had somehow surrounded him and Satan.

"You guys..." Borsalino keenly sensed something was wrong and was just about to say something.

Zoro, with one hand on the hilt of his sword, raised an eyebrow and said, "Looks like it's working. As expected, Dr. Genus never disappoints."

"We're both ability users, so why don't we feel anything extra? But he seems like he's about to die?" Fubuki pointed at Saint Satan and said in a completely disrespectful tone.

"Is it you!?" Satan Saint looked at the five lieutenant generals, including Zoro, in shock and anger, and said, "What have you done?"

Just then, Borsalino and Dragon both looked in a direction not far away, and then their expressions turned very surprised.

"Father!?"

"Bane!?"

"It was me. Long time no see, Saint Satan." Bane, dressed in a black suit and wearing a Navy Justice Cloak, slowly appeared before everyone with Garp.

"Weren't you still in Melvure this morning?" Borsalino asked, quite surprised.

"Bane, what are you doing here? Quickly, dispel this situation!" Saint Satan, without bothering to figure out how Bane suddenly appeared, hurriedly gave the order.

"You look like you're not feeling well?" Bane said with a grin.

To be honest, he hadn't expected this to happen, but at this moment, he already had some guesses.

It's likely that the immense life force upon which the Five Elders rely to sustain their lives, and even their so-called "immortality," is entirely provided by that guy Im.

Therefore, their lives and possessions are all in Im's hands, so they must obey Im's orders, otherwise they may lose their immortality at any time and turn into bones.

This reminded Bane of the death of Saint Satan in the original story, who turned into a skeleton and died on the spot after being questioned by Im.

Looking back now, it's probably because Im developed a great dissatisfaction with Saint Satan, and then forcibly stripped him of the surging life force he had bestowed upon him. Without the blessing of life force, Saint Satan, who should have died of old age long ago, naturally passed away on the spot.

Following this line of reasoning, the current situation is probably because the black box, which combines the abilities of the Dark-Dark Fruit and the String-String Fruit, completely severed all connections between Satan Saint and Im, preventing Satan Saint from receiving a continuous source of life force.

He can only rely on the life force he has left to prolong his life. Once this life force is exhausted in the process of fighting aging, he will probably die on the spot!

"What exactly do you want?!" Saint Satan gritted his teeth, forcing a smile despite his fear, and said, "I have treated you well, why are you doing this to me?"

Bane didn't answer the question at all, but instead said in a deep voice, "Now I'll ask you questions and you answer them. Was Mr. Garp's grandson kidnapped by you? Also, what kind of abilities does Im possess? And what about the rest of you Five Elders?"

"Where did you learn all this?" Satan Saint suddenly realized what was happening and questioned him sharply.

Then, he immediately changed his attitude and said, "I can tell you anything, quickly release me."

As he spoke these words, his body began to age rapidly, as if his surging vitality could no longer support him in resisting the great power of time.

"You bastard..." Satan Saint knew it was too late. His eyes were filled with intense hatred and a desperate desire to live. He couldn't even finish this sentence before his body rapidly collapsed and decayed, turning into a pile of withered bones a moment later.

(End of this chapter)