One Piece: The Cryo Doctor on the Straw Hat Ship

But for some reason, he felt an unbearable heat inside his body at that moment.

Even the regenerative abilities bestowed upon him by Lord Im could not withstand it.

Chapter 229 Death Cycle

"What……"

The masked man's voice came through the gas mask, hoarse and trembling, filled with disbelief.

He didn't even have time to turn around.

He couldn't even see his opponent.

A fatal wound was already imprinted on his body.

the other side.

Zoro's figure streaked across the sky like a white meteor, his body, imbued with six layers of power and carrying a destructive pressure, crashing straight into the Qiongqi that Thatcherz Maffei Palace had transformed into.

"Three-Sword Style: Purgatory Dragon Slash!"

The blade flashed and exploded.

The dark green slashing wave, carrying the all-piercing bone power of the Sword-Spear Dragon, was like a giant skeletal dragon leaping from the abyss of hell, opening its massive maw full of sharp blades and slamming head-on into the Qiongqi's enormous body.

*Sizzle!*

Blood splattered everywhere.

The ferocious ancient beast let out a shrill roar as a deep, bone-revealing wound was slashed across its chest.

Moreover, the edges of the wound were wrapped with a layer of pale golden carapace patterns, as if some kind of living insectoid life was taking root and spreading in her body, constantly eroding her recovery ability.

Black blood fell like raindrops, scorching the ground with hissing marks.

The Maffei Palace was thrown backward by the impact, crashing into a pile of ruins and kicking up a cloud of rubble and dust.

however--

The very next second after she hit the ground, those deep, bone-revealing wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. Broken bones reconnected, torn muscles regenerated rapidly, and even the spilled blood, under the pull of some strange force, seeped back into her body.

However... the speed was noticeably slower than before.

"Ugh... Ahhh!!"

Mafi Palace let out a painful and furious roar, and its Qiongqi-shaped body stood up again, its vertical beast eyes burning with flames of resentment and madness.

"You can't kill me...you can't kill me..."

Her voice was hoarse and trembling, carrying a sense of madness on the verge of collapse:

"The immortality bestowed upon us by that lord... even you monsters cannot truly kill me!"

Zoro narrowed his eyes and landed on a protruding piece of ruins, gently twirling three swords in his hands.

"...Undying?"

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips—a smile that carried the arrogance of a lion and the bloodlust of a sword-wielding dragon.

"Then let me see—how many times can you be cut down?"

Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared from the spot again.

The terror bird suddenly flapped its wings, its body like a white meteor, carrying the pressure of sixfold power, and once again swooped down towards the teetering Qiongqi.

On the other side, Sanji's battlefield presented a completely different and bizarre scene.

There was no earth-shattering collision, no deafening roar.

Yes, there were only muffled thuds as flesh was pierced, one after another.

puff-

puff-

puff-

The masked man's body was like a puppet suspended in mid-air, constantly being pierced by invisible attacks from all directions.

He couldn't catch a glimpse of Sanji at all—no, he couldn't even sense Sanji's presence.

The blond, straw-hatted chef seemed to have vanished completely from the dimensions of this world, leaving only the deadly blows that appeared out of nowhere to prove that he was indeed still on the battlefield.

Each penetration precisely hits the vital organs—the heart, lungs, aorta, and spine.

None of these are superfluous.

No shot is wasted.

"Damn it...damn it!!"

The masked man's voice came through the gas mask, hoarse and manic.

His body was covered with countless holes, each with charred edges and a pungent, burnt smell.

Each penetrating wound leaves a wisp of scorching energy within his body, gnawing at his life force like a maggot clinging to his bone, making his recovery extremely slow, or even almost stagnant.

"What...what kind of power is this...?"

His voice began to tremble, filled with unprecedented fear.

In the void, an invisible door gently closed.

Sanji's figure appeared silently as if emerging from the water, standing less than five meters away from the masked man, with the nearly burnt-out cigarette still dangling from his mouth.

He tilted his head, looking at the unhealable wounds on the masked man's body, a meaningful smile playing on his lips:

"Immortality granted by Im? That sounds pretty impressive."

He exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice carrying a lazy, mocking tone:

"But—if even wounds can't heal, what's the point of staying alive?"

"You—how do you know Lord Im!?"

The masked man's voice suddenly rose, filled with an unbelievable rage.

However, just as he opened his mouth, another tearing pain shot through his chest—another invisible attack had precisely pierced his heart.

puff!

"Ugh!!"

He let out a muffled groan, staggered back several steps, and knelt on one knee.

Sanji stood still, without even moving a step.

He looked down at the figure kneeling before him and slowly took a drag of his cigarette.

After awakening his Shrinking Fruit ability, his cigarette also shrank.

"Immortality?"

Sanji repeated the word softly, as if savoring a joke:

"If you are truly immortal, why are you looking at me like that?"

His voice came like a ghost:

"Because you—are afraid."

The situation on the battlefield has completely fallen into a strange stalemate.

Zoro cleaved Mafi's body in two with each strike, each strike carrying the wild power of an Ancient Zoan and the liberating essence of Nika's power.

The saber-shaped blade pierced her lungs, the tarantula's claws tore through her bones, and the mysterious power of the Nika form left an indelible energy mark within her body.

Sanji pierced the masked man's chest time and time again.

The hummingbird's extreme speed, the precision of the Track Fruit, the concealment of the Shrink Fruit, the undetectability of the Invisibility Fruit, plus that door leading to the dimensional rift—make his attacks completely unpredictable, undetectable, and undefendable.

Every attack is fatal.

Each attack inflicts near-death pain on the opponent.

But each time—they would get up again.

Because they are immortal.

Because one cannot truly die.

Thus, this battle turned into a suffocating cycle.

Crush—Near death—Recover—Stand up—Crush again.

Penetration—Near death—Struggle—Stand up—Penetration again.

The pain is accumulating.

Fear is spreading.

His will was crumbling.

These two members of the Knights of God are gradually having all their pride and dignity worn away in this endless cycle of reincarnation.

Although the battle was intense, it all happened in the blink of an eye.

The rest of the Knights of God were completely terrified by the power displayed by Zoro and Sanji.

Meanwhile, Shamrock Saint, who was entangled by Luffy's Sevenfold Nika Power, was also caught in a fierce battle.

Compared to the Nika Power used as a binding agent within Zoro and Sanji, Luffy's Nika is much freer and more magical!

Chapter 230 Angels and Death

"Damn it! Stop them!!!"

Saint Shamrock risked being used as a jump rope by Luffy, forcibly breaking free and shouting.

For once, a twisted rage appeared on his usually icy face. Shock and fury churned in his unfathomable eyes, like magma gushing from an abyss, scorching away all his pride.

The moment the words left his mouth, the other members of the God's Knights, who had been stunned, suddenly snapped back to their senses—

The unbelievable scenes and the suffocating sense of oppression they had just witnessed still lingered in their minds like invisible shackles.