One Piece: The Salted Fish Fruit

Chapter 82 Powerless! A demon that is difficult to annihilate!

"Salted Fish! Cut Through the Void!"

"Huff, huff!" Mabi, kneeling on the ground, gasped for breath, longsword in hand. Gazing into the abyss before her, she could clearly see the clouds below, illuminating the island, through the thick layers of rock. Crimson blood dripped from her palms, flowing down the hilt and blade of her sword, falling onto the diamond-like ground below, where it was heated and evaporated. Her body was covered in countless small, smoking rocks, emitting the smell of roasted meat. Looking at the mountain-like black rocks on the crystal-clear diamond ground, she saw the remains of the demon, destroyed once more. Unlike Smoker and Ace, who, even in their elemental form, retained a physical form and needed to be bound to particles to solidify again, this demon vanished upon shattering, leaving no particles behind. It would reappear after a while, assimilating the surrounding diamond layer. After dozens of destructions, the demon's regeneration rate slowed with each attack. However, its attacks also grew stronger with each battle, no longer engaging Mabi in close combat, but instead using diamond walls and flaming spears to block and kill her.

The slashes he swung could no longer easily break through, and the chance of killing again was becoming increasingly slim. He had to fight tooth and nail to get close to survive. Even the Salted Fish Thrust only made the opponent stun in a Salted Fish state for a few seconds before regaining mobility. This was the first enemy he hadn't had to use Salted Fish Thrust to remove the self-recovery effect. Thinking of this, Mabi shook her head. This thing was too damn powerful! It could attack at both range and close range, and its strong defensive capabilities made it really tough to deal with. She took out a medicine bottle, scraped off the last bit of ointment, applied it to her body, bringing a slight coolness to her aching muscles, and then tossed it away.

"Shock!" Suddenly sensing the movement of the air, a sign that it was about to condense again, I launched myself forward, striking first while the opponent's body was at its weakest before it could solidify, and shattered it! But for this kind of demon that had no physical form and was in the form of diamond powder, I could only slow down its condensation and give myself a chance to catch my breath and recover my strength.

"Ah! Mabi, your body! I'll help you heal!" Angelia, who was the first to fly over from the sky, noticed Mabi's location and landed down. She was shocked to see the numerous wounds, large and small, on Mabi's body.

"Don't come down yet!" Maby shouted as she reached out and supported Angelia's slender waist as she landed.

"What's wrong?" Angelia asked, puzzled. But then the heat from her boots and the carbonization of her white dress made her realize what was happening, and she flapped her wings, trying to take off.

"Take off first, be careful! Perform remote treatment!" Mabi instructed, seeing that Mabi understood. Once they landed, the rubber shoes would melt and stick to the diamond ground below.

"Remote treatment? Oh right, I have this thing I just found that can enhance my treatment method." With that thought, Angelia took out a foot-long white stick from her spatial storage, with a white gem the size of a ping-pong ball embedded in it.

"Divine commandment!" With a wave of his arm, a golden sphere enveloped Mabi, healing her broken wounds.

"Green moss head, get down here!" Sanji swayed left and right, trying to throw off the person he was climbing on.

"You perverted cook, just give me a ride once! My feet will burn if I get off!" Apparently, Zoro had only been running in for a short while when his shoes melted from the hundreds of degrees of heat and he couldn't wear them anymore, so he ran onto Sanji and used his special shoes to support himself on the ground.

"Damn it! Get down here! My broad and sturdy back is only suitable for a few beautiful ladies!" Sanji, carrying Zoro on his back, looked at the female companions who wanted to come in but were blocked by the scorching diamond layer below.

"I won't get off!" Zoro, barefoot and perched on Sanji's shoulder, replied without hesitation.

"Miss Mia, I'll throw away my green algae head and help you right away!"

"Whoa! It's hot! It's hot! Maggie, we're here to help you knock it away!" Luffy shouted, jumping up and down in his wooden clogs, but he didn't give up and ran from a distance to meet Maggie!

"Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! I'm going to destroy it! This many diamonds are enough for me to live on for a lifetime!" Nami held a diamond the size of a human head in her hand and rubbed it on her face, her eyes sparkling with the light of the diamond.

"Hehe! Collecting all of these would truly be a great fortune!" Robin picked up a diamond, examined it, and laughed.

"Is this what Mebius did?" Mia stared wide-eyed at the undulating diamond world before her, radiating a rainbow of light, with countless abysses crisscrossing and stretching into the distance!

"We can't get through! Our paw pads are burnt!" Jack exclaimed, lying on Chopper's head and sticking out his thick, soft paw pads, which were now covered in scorching marks that emitted white smoke.

"Ahhh! What to do! What to do! This environment will damage Mabi and the others! I, the doctor, have no choice but to stay here!" Chopper ran back and forth on the scorching diamond ground, the intense heat baking his horned hooves.

"Chopper! You can make some burn ointment and give it to them," Robin reminded him, seeing Chopper's panicked state.

"Ah! Healing potion! Yes! I can prepare it first! Angelia's recovery spell can only restore, not improve the body's immunity or repair function!" After Robin's reminder, he hurriedly took out a bunch of herbs from his space, which soon piled up into a small mountain next to him.

"Robin, help me pound the medicine!" He took out a set of pestles and instructed Robin. No one was more suitable than Robin for such an easy task as pounding medicine.

"Alright! Sixteen rounds of flowers bloom!" Robin stretched out his arms, conjuring sixteen arms, each holding a pestle, and waited for Chopper to distribute the herbs before getting busy with the preparation.

"Huff, huff! I finally made it!" Usopp gasped for breath and collapsed onto a rock, panting. Seeing Jack standing next to Chopper, he immediately shouted to him without even taking a break.

"Jack, summon the turret for me! How can a sniper be left out?" Usopp said confidently, holding a white cannonball.

"We've finally caught up with you! My benefactors, we're here to help you!" shouted the pirates who had caught up from behind.

"Wow! Wow! It's so hot here! So hot! Captain, cool us down!" The pirates, eager to see the intense battle in the distance, rushed in, but their shoes were melted and stuck to the scorching ground. They jumped up and ran back to the cool ground.

"I'll do it!" Maureen, who had already solidified into a physical form, shouted. Her arms etherealized into two water columns that stretched towards the sky. The clouds that had been dispersed gradually reappeared under her influence and drew closer to the group.

"Fall down, you slug!" the other party shouted, looking up at the sky.

"Slug?" Nami asked, tilting her head.

“In my hometown, there’s a small, round animal that makes a sticky discharge!” Maureen explained, continuing to wave her arms.

"They really are slugs!" Nami stared at the thick clouds in the sky, where round spheres tens of meters in diameter bulged up and then fell downwards due to gravity! From a distance, they looked like countless giant water spheres suspended in the air. The thick water vapor rushed towards them, and even the burning flames seemed to fear their natural enemy, shrinking by half to reveal Mabi and the others fighting hidden in the flames.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!" As the giant water sphere fell, waves of heat and white steam rose from the ground and swept towards everyone.

"Cloud Wall!" Jack saw the wall of heat waves rushing towards them expand instantly! Two huge claws swung out layers of clouds, forming a giant cloud wall tens of meters high and hundreds of meters wide to protect everyone!

"Water Wall Shield!" Upon noticing the heat wave penetrating through the thick clouds, Maureen once again waved her long arms to create an interception between the group and the clouds!

"Angelia! Zoro, come down!" Looking at the dense water spheres in the sky, Maggie didn't know what was going on, but that didn't stop her from wondering what would happen when scorching steel plates and cold water clashed together! The steam generated was enough to cook everyone alive, so she shouted to Angelia, who was holding Zoro in the sky!

"Roger that! Angelia, hold on tight!" Zoro heard Maggie's shout and told Angelia, who was holding him, to hold on tight! He drew his sword, put it in his mouth, and bit down firmly. The other two swords were placed parallel to each other, forming three parallel lines in the shape of the number three!

"Three-Sword Style! Thousand Hundred Eightfold Phoenix!" With Zoro's roar, layers of air condensed on the blade! With a powerful swing, layers of air, like the cry of a phoenix, rushed towards the huge figure in front of them! Angelia folded her wings and the two of them used this recoil to rush towards Luffy, Maple, and Sanji! With their companions by their side, there was no need to worry about them getting hurt.

"Damn it! What a hard shell!" Zoro cursed under his breath as he looked at the diamond wall that had been summoned, which only caused some scattered debris to fly out.

"Deep-fried assorted platter!" Countless shadowy figures appeared below to intercept the flaming diamond spears flying towards Zoro and Angelia, allowing him to pass smoothly.

"Break the Sky!" At the same time, a falling fiery rock in the sky broke apart and scattered into the distance!

"Gum! Gum! Balloon!" Luffy, who was guarding on the ground, instantly expanded to catch Zoro and Angelia as they fell, but the next second he sprang up like a deflated balloon!

"It's so hot! It's burning! My throat is on fire! Water! Water!" Luffy, his mouth flaming, darted around shouting!

"Here you go!" Mabi took out a bucket of water and tossed it over! The rubber body's Devil Fruit ability is truly powerful; even after absorbing so much high-temperature air, it only got a little scalded!

"Salted Fish Barrier!" Mabi waved her hand, forming a barrier around the area. Although this move couldn't stop the demon's attack, it was enough to block the incoming waves of steam and heat.

"You pervert! Is this the original form of those Devil Fruits you were talking about?" Zoro asked, sheathing his sword and standing on a rock summoned by Maple.

“Yes! I don’t know why this demon doesn’t use elemental form. Once it stops fighting us in close combat, an elemental demon is simply not something we can handle at our current stage! Unless we find its weakness!” Mabi nodded in reply, then became puzzled. It had always fought in its physical form, and only then did the others have a chance to fight it. Its ethereal form only appeared after it shattered.

"Hahaha! I don't care about elements! How dare they bully our comrades! I'm going to beat them to a pulp!" Luffy, his throat full of water, swallowed hard and shouted as he raised his fist.

"A divine command!" Inside the barrier, Angelia had Luffy, Mavis, and Zoro sit back-to-back on a wooden plank to receive treatment for their wounds and prepare for the upcoming battle.

"Haha! With Angelia here, I can take on ten of them!" Luffy laughed heartily as he felt his wounds healing.

"Miss Angelia! Please accept my sacred love! In this sweltering heat, only Miss Angelia's healing can calm my burning body!" Sanji knelt on one knee, his eyes sparkling with hearts, and shouted.

"Get lost! Don't bully our little sister! She's so young!" Maggie drew her sword and swung it at him! This bastard actually dared to lay a hand on her fifteen-year-old sister!

Angelia looked down at the little bundle wrapped in her white dress and retorted in a voice barely above a mosquito's buzz!

"Mebius, I'm not a kid anymore!"

Chapter 83 The Altar Appears!

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Altar Appears!

"Mabi! It's coming!" Angelia, who was on lookout, shouted as she saw the figure bursting out of the layers of mist!

"Understood!" Maby stood up and stared at the fluctuations in front of her.

"Get lost! Salted fish! Tremor!" Mabi stretched out her arm, blue veins bulging high, spatial abilities attached to it, and swung it out fiercely! It struck the diamond pillar that was rushing towards her!

"Crack!" Countless sparkling diamonds scattered! The entire arena was swept away into the distance with violent tremors! It shattered everything in sight, revealing the giant diamond hidden behind it.

"Humans! Damn it!" A deep roar resounded, the opponent's body dissipating dozens of times, yet the muffled roar remained, devoid of any anger!

Immediately afterwards, a black shadow appeared from behind Maple, accompanied by a strong gust of wind, and passed over Maple. With Luffy's roar, the black shadow, carrying unparalleled momentum, rushed towards the opponent's body in the sunlight.

"Gum-Gum! Giant Rocket Launcher!"

"Banquet Table - Kick Set Meal!" The black figure spun like a windmill, wildly sweeping through the surroundings as diamond spears suddenly appeared! With each step, countless spears flew in all directions, carving deep trenches into the distance!

Zoro, who had appeared behind the other party without anyone noticing, bowed slightly and stared at his target!

"One-Sword Style: Iaijutsu - Lion's Song!"

No one held back their strongest attack!

The powerful punches and sharp slashes were transmitted without reservation, relentlessly destroying the opponent's solid body.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

Hearing this sound, Mabi looked at her shattering diamond body, puzzled. Why was it so easy this time? Previously, she had to rely on being injured to perform a Void Shattering attack, completely shattering herself in an instant to kill him. These sustained attacks, the opponent only needed a moment to repair itself? What happened this time? She was hit by the impact without repairing, enduring the attack head-on! Could it be that Luffy has used a cheat code again, making her forget she can repair herself under the influence of the world's will?

"Whoa! Haha! Maggie, I beat it! Haha!" Little Luffy laughed loudly as he saw the shattered diamond fragments lying in Angelia's arms.

"Don't get cocky! Logia-type users can reassemble their bodies at any time! Like Smoker, who's hard to kill without special methods!" Maggie reminded him, staring at the pile of broken diamonds.

"Haha! If it appears again, I'll beat you up again!" Luffy didn't care at all, waving his little fists and laughing loudly.

"Swish!" Mabi picked up a fist-sized diamond and held it in her palm. The warmth was transmitted to her senses. As her muscles rippled, the hard and crystalline diamond turned into tiny diamonds that flowed out between her fingers.

"Alternating hot and cold! The body is becoming brittle!" Seeing this, Mabi immediately understood why she had become so weak earlier! The hard diamond baked by the high temperature was subjected to the cold water, causing it to expand and contract. All the forces were concentrated together, and the fact that it didn't explode earlier was enough to prove that the demon's control was all on her! She simply didn't have the energy to repair herself!

“Nilco! I have an idea!” Maby shouted to the soul inside the arm guard.

"what?"

"Let the altar do the work!"

"Little Tantan? He doesn't know how to fight!"

"We don't need him to fight! We just need his pillars to cast elemental spells." Mabi said confidently. All they needed to do was stall the demon. The rest of the time, they could use the altar to alternate between hot and cold spells to either break it or completely imprison it for refining and see what kind of Devil Fruit it was.

"···"

"Okay! Make sure to protect his safety!" Neilco instructed, as this was the only creature left from his original era to accompany him, and he couldn't afford to be careless.

"No problem!" Mabi said confidently. Killing enemies was difficult, but blocking attacks was no problem.

Then he turned to his companions and ordered, "Luffy! Zoro! Sanji! Angelia! You guys hold them off for a bit, I'll be right back! I've found a way to wear it down!"

"Haha! Maple, go ahead! I'll definitely knock it away!" Little Luffy laughed as he stood on the ground, seemingly still recovering from the aftereffects of Gear Third.

"Be careful!" Maggie warned before turning and leaving. The opponent would be resurrected soon, and time was of the essence.

"By the way! Mabi, I've noticed that this demon is different from the ones I've dealt with before. This one is so rigid! It's like a pre-programmed sequence of mechanical attacks and defenses!" Nielco, who had been observing the battle, reminded her. As a soul, he didn't have any combat abilities, so he could only help Mabi retrieve items from her spatial storage and take the opportunity to browse through medical books in the storage to retrieve some herbs to temporarily make potions.

"Mechanical? You didn't mean your researchers disassembled the demon's soul and rewrote it into a robot, did you?!" Maggie said incredulously after hearing his words.

"···"

“It’s possible, depending on the situation! Or perhaps the body was extracted eight hundred years ago and the demon’s soul has long since been annihilated. Now it’s just the body’s instincts that are controlling it, and it’s only acting according to its will in life. After all, these demons were a menace to the region back then, so they were completely destroyed,” Neilco replied.

"A resurrected zombie? Fighting purely on instinct has left everyone in a sorry state! Terrifying!" These are situations not found in the original work! Without Haki, dealing with these Logia-type opponents is truly the most powerless battle!

"Nami! Help me out!" Mabi, searching for her companions, jumped down and pleaded urgently when she saw a group of figures running towards them. The monster demon would soon solidify again, and without her as a source of damage, she didn't know how long it would last.