"Oh no, it's Sea Stone!"
"He's not a Devil Fruit user? How can he wield a sword made of Sea Stone!"
As the blue light pierced through Saint Mars, it directly entered his body from the wound, like an incredibly sharp long needle completely embedding itself within his massive form, even penetrating his internal organs! Once the Sea Stone sword was embedded in his body, the black aura that had enveloped him suddenly dissipated.
This black aura was the power of the Devil Fruit, suppressed by the Sea Stone. When the Sea Stone sword pierced into Saint Mars, he could no longer use it! In other words, his life-saving teleportation power was interrupted! "Damn it!!!"
The disappearance of the black aura from Saint Mars meant that his life-saving teleportation power could not be activated, and his escape route was cut off!
Most importantly, the black auras surrounding Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro did not dissipate, and they were completely unaware that Saint Mars's teleportation had been disrupted by Li Yuan.
After all, they had never considered that this teleportation ability, which had existed for countless years without error, could be broken! "Whoosh!!!"
As a result, after Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro were teleported away, only Saint Mars was left to face Li Yuan alone!
Holy Land Mariejois:
"What's going on? Why are only you two back? Where's Saint Mars?"
Saint Peter looked at the returned Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro, frowning as he asked. He felt that something bad was about to happen! "What? Saint Mars wasn't teleported back?"
Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro looked around in shock, especially Saint Saturn, who had personally initiated the teleportation for the three of them. He had confirmed that Saint Mars's teleportation had been activated by him!
Once the teleportation was initiated, it could return a person to Holy Land Mariejois in an extremely short time, less than half a second, and this teleportation could not be interrupted.
In other words, even if one was attacked during that half-second, the teleportation power would not be interrupted, and the person would still be sent back to Holy Land Mariejois. The Five Elders were very confident that no one could kill them in half a second.
Thus, this move was their ultimate life-saving technique, completely fearless of any enemy.
Who would have thought that after hundreds of years of no one being able to break this life-saving technique, it would now be shattered by Li Yuan! "We encountered an ambush by Li Yuan and had no choice but to activate the teleportation to escape. Now that Saint Mars hasn't appeared here, it's highly likely he was left behind!"
Saint Saturn's face was extremely grim.
"What? Does that mean Saint Mars is in danger?"
Saint Peter exclaimed in shock.
"Is there still a way for us to teleport there?"
Saint Nasujuro looked at Saint Saturn and asked.
"Yes, but I need some preparation time!"
Saint Saturn nodded.
"I'll go get the top combat forces from the Celestial Dragon family. We'll take them with us!"
Saint Warcury said.
Immediately, the four Five Elders sprang into action. With Saint Mars left alone here, the situation was dire; if they didn't go to rescue him, Saint Mars would undoubtedly die!
Whether it was rescuing their colleague Saint Mars or figuring out how Li Yuan had interrupted their teleportation ability, both were extremely important to them.
If they didn't understand how Li Yuan had disrupted their teleportation, the four of them might not even dare to leave Holy Land Mariejois again. Who knew if Li Yuan had set up an ambush for them outside? On the other side: After being pierced by the Sea Stone sword, Saint Mars's body immediately began to degenerate, reverting from his complete Itsu no Tenma form back to his human form, with most of his power suppressed.
In the sky, Li Yuan saw the black aura around Saint Mars dissipate, and the Conqueror's Haki that had been suppressing him immediately vanished.
At the same time, that terrifying Conqueror's Haki enveloped him, with blood-red lightning wrapping around his entire body, forming a lightning armor that completely concealed all of his presence.
"Whoosh!!!"
With a sudden flap of his wings, Li Yuan transformed into a streak of blood light, diving down at extreme speed!
"Damn it, my teleportation ability was interrupted by Sea Stone!"
With his life-saving trump card broken, Saint Mars was now in a state of panic. He had already personally experienced the terror of Li Yuan, and now being suppressed by Sea Stone, it was the most frightened he had been in many years! Saint Mars gritted his teeth against the pain and the fear of having his teleportation interrupted, gripping the sword hilt, preparing to pull the sword out!
However, just then, Saint Mars suddenly sensed a deadly threat, but his Observation Haki could not pinpoint the source of danger!
His body instinctively wanted to shift, but the Sea Stone sword embedded in him suppressed seventy percent of his strength!
"Slash!!!"
A dark red long sword pierced through his skin and muscle, stabbing into his heart. If he hadn't slightly turned his body at the critical moment, the sword would have directly pierced through his heart!
"Gurgle, gurgle!!"
Saint Mars could clearly see the sword's blade in front of him; it was Li Yuan's Seven Star Sword. The moment this cursed sword entered his body, it greedily began to devour the blood within him like a ravenous blood demon!
In three seconds, he could clearly sense that it would only take three seconds for this cursed sword to completely drain the blood from his body. His immortal body, suppressed by the Sea Stone sword, was utterly ineffective!
"Pfft!!!"
Saint Mars endured the intense pain, gripping the blade of the Seven Star Sword to prevent it from stirring his wound, while with immense willpower, he pulled the Sea Stone sword out of his body! As the Sea Stone sword was removed, Saint Mars instantly felt his strength fully restored.
"Crack!!!"
Just as Saint Mars was about to charge forward and pull out the Seven Star Sword embedded in him, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back.
It was Li Yuan, who had drawn a blue spike from his waist and stabbed it into Saint Mars's body. This spike had a mechanism; once it pierced into Saint Mars, five short spikes would extend and anchor themselves within him, making it impossible for Saint Mars to easily pull it out like he had with the Sea Stone sword.
To remove it, he would have to tear out the surrounding muscle as well, a level of pain that was unbearable for an ordinary person.
Most importantly, this was all made of Sea Stone, with the handle covered in a special alloy, allowing Li Yuan to isolate the effects of the Sea Stone while greatly suppressing Saint Mars's Devil Fruit abilities!
Saint Mars never expected that Li Yuan would go to such lengths to deal with him, using two weapons made of Sea Stone against him.
With his strength once again suppressed, he had no power left to resist Li Yuan.
"Pfft!!!"
It wasn't over yet; after releasing the spike, Li Yuan gripped the hilt of the Seven Star Sword tightly, using his vampire powers and the Blood-Blood Fruit of the Seven Star Sword to absorb Saint Mars's blood with all his might.
His other hand transformed into vampire claws, piercing toward Saint Mars's back like five sharp spikes.
Saint Mars's body, suppressed by the Sea Stone, was like ordinary steel before Li Yuan, easily pierced, as Li Yuan frantically devoured the blood within him.
"Li Yuan, spare me, I can—"
At this moment, Saint Mars was truly terrified. He could clearly sense Li Yuan's murderous intent toward him and saw the arrival of death.
Unless something unexpected happened, he was truly going to die this time!
He understood his own immortality well; it was merely the power granted by the Devil Fruit.
Now that power was suppressed by the Sea Stone, he had no real immortality left; Li Yuan could truly kill him.
As a member of the Five Elders, he had lived too long, and the longer he lived, the more he feared death. This was undoubtedly true for the Five Elders.
So he didn't want to die. The only one who could save him now was the very person who wanted to kill him, Li Yuan. Although he knew Li Yuan would never let him go, this was his only chance, and he didn't want to give up! Even if it meant sacrificing his dignity, even if Li Yuan demanded he act as an informant within the World Government, he would agree without hesitation.
Having lived for so long, Saint Mars knew that nothing terrified him more than death. As long as he could live, he would do anything!
"I think it's better for you to die; it would be more beneficial for me!"
Li Yuan's lips curled into a slight smile as he crazily urged his blood-sucking power, voraciously consuming the blood within Saint Mars!
He was determined to see Saint Mars dead, after all, he had no idea if Saint Mars had any tracking devices on him that would allow him to survive, or if the Five Elders would teleport in to rescue him.
Or if that mysterious Imu would personally intervene against Li Yuan.
In other words, even though Li Yuan was very interested in the various secrets of the World Government, the information about Imu, and the intelligence on the kings, he dared not let Saint Mars live.
Because the risks of allowing Saint Mars to live were too high, it was entirely more harmful than beneficial.
In other words, even if he obtained the memories in Saint Mars's mind, it would only give him a better understanding of the World Government; he could not rely on those memories to become stronger.
In this world, strength is ultimately paramount; only one's own powerful strength is the true guarantee!
Saint Mars felt his blood being frantically consumed, not just the blood in his flesh, but even the blood in his marrow was being forcefully drawn out.
"No!"
In a frenzy of unwillingness, Saint Mars had no power to resist. Soon, under Li Yuan's relentless blood-sucking, he turned into a skeletal corpse, completely dead at Li Yuan's hands!
"Captain."
"Captain."
"Dad."
After Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro had teleported away, Barrett, Ashura Doji, and Akame immediately rushed to Li Yuan, wanting to inform him about the disappearance of Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro, while also checking on the situation with Li Yuan.
But they never expected to witness Li Yuan killing Saint Mars right before their eyes.
That was one of the Five Elders, and he had just died in front of them.
What shocked Akame even more was her father's current state, which was clearly that of a Human-Beast Form from an animal-type transformation.
This meant her father had eaten a Devil Fruit, which was utterly shocking to her; she had never heard of her father consuming a Devil Fruit.
As Li Yuan's daughter, Akame didn't even know her father had eaten a Devil Fruit! "Whoosh!!!"
Li Yuan withdrew the Seven Star Sword, and Saint Mars's corpse fell to the ground. He then stomped down hard, instantly crushing Saint Mars's skeletal remains into countless fragments, completely obliterating them.
After all, Li Yuan had consumed all the blood within Saint Mars's muscles and bones. Once the essence of his entire body had completely dissipated, the corpse became incredibly fragile, as if it had withered after being washed by time, making it so easy to destroy.
"Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro ran away?"
Seeing Barrett and the others arrive, Li Yuan asked after retrieving the Sea Stone sword and the Sea Stone spike.
"Indeed, Captain. A black light enveloped them, and they vanished in an instant!"
Barrett replied after regaining his composure.
"Dad, you killed one of the Five Elders? And you ate a Devil Fruit?"
Akame circled around Li Yuan twice, curiously asking.
"Didn't you see? Why ask? My strength has reached its peak. To improve further requires long-term accumulation, and eating a Devil Fruit is the fastest way to enhance my power. I just didn't show it before because no one could force me to use my Devil Fruit powers."
Li Yuan smiled, patting Akame's head.
"Hmph, Dad, I'm grown up now; don't pat my head anymore!"
Feeling her hairstyle getting messed up, Akame impatiently swatted Li Yuan's hand away.
"Hahahahaha, yes, yes, yes, Akame has grown up!"
"Since you've grown up, let's go home. Saint Mars died because of you, and now the entire World Government is going to go crazy. You can't leave the Limitless Sea Area!"
Li Yuan laughed.
He hadn't expected that this plan to hunt the Five Elders would actually succeed. This indicated that the immortality possessed by the Five Elders was not absolute; it was merely a relative form of immortality. As long as the right method was found, they could be killed.
For instance, the suppression of Sea Stone was a very effective method.
This also indicated that the mysterious Imu, who had lived for eight hundred years, could also be killed.
In the pirate world, he had only been able to live so long due to the special powers of a Devil Fruit. As long as he found an opportunity, just like with Saint Mars, to suppress the opponent with Sea Stone, Li Yuan could also kill them.
However, killing Imu would be infinitely more difficult than killing Saint Mars!
"Well, I understand now!"
Hearing that her food journey was over, Akame sighed, reluctantly following her father home.
(End of Chapter)