Caesar possesses two Devil Fruit abilities!
Fujitora's words were like a bomb dropped into calm water, leaving everyone in the plaza disoriented.
Shanks instantly thought of many things, glancing at Raid, who was expressionlessly pursuing them.
He also recalled that night at the council, drinking on Whole Cake Island.
Back then, Caesar had taken Blackbeard out for a private talk.
At the time, Shanks thought Caesar was pressuring Blackbeard to concede some territories and interests in the New World.
But he never expected that Caesar had asked Blackbeard to help him master a second ability!
Blackbeard's anomalous body structure allowed him to possess multiple abilities, which didn't surprise Shanks much.
But could it be that Caesar, like Blackbeard, also had an equally anomalous body?
Looking at Akainu, whose aura had completely changed as if he were a different person, Shanks felt an inexplicable fear toward this unheard-of Memory Fruit ability!
"Has Akainu, like Redfield, had his memories altered and been controlled by Caesar?" Shiki glanced back in Caesar's direction, sighed inwardly, but said nothing.
Drawing his twin swords, he directly slashed toward Shanks.
"Stop daydreaming, brat from Roger's ship!"
"Lion's Might! Thousand Cut Valley!"
Thousands of shimmering slashes shot forth, interrupting Shanks' thoughts and forcing him to draw a spare ōwazamono blade to block.
Simultaneously, Kaido and Loki charged forward like tigers among sheep, plunging into the ranks of both the Red Hair Pirates and Roger Pirates.
Rayleigh drew his long sword to meet the oncoming Raid.
Gaban was entangled with Gin, unable to quickly defeat this ferocious youngster.
Thus, the remaining Kaido and Loki could only be contained by Shikaru, Sunbell, Benn Beckman, Yasopp, and others.
With their numerical advantage, even if they couldn't defeat Kaido and Loki, they should be able to hold them off.
In the distance, within the underground ruins of the Justice Fortress, Kizaru staggered to his feet, his eyes filled with pain and fury.
His chest was charred black, having been pierced by Akainu's Dog Devouring Red Lotus while completely off guard.
The terrifying offensive power of the Magma Fruit had nearly taken him out in one blow!
Had he not instinctively used his Logia ability to evade Akainu's fist, he might have fallen on the spot!
Even so, Kizaru was severely wounded, with extremely grave injuries to his chest.
A scorching, burning sensation radiated from his internal organs.
"Sakazuki!!"
Kizaru suddenly shouted, his voice carrying an indescribable sorrow.
Like a lone wolf at the end of its road, howling desolately.
"Hahaha, hahahaha!"
From the shattered earth, boiling magma surged upward like a fountain, coalescing into Akainu's blood-soaked figure.
He too had been slashed by Fujitora earlier and lost considerable blood.
Akainu's face bore a look of loathing as he glared at Kizaru.
The sheer malice and coldness in that gaze made Kizaru feel an overwhelming sense of absurdity and falseness.
"Sakazuki! Snap out of it! Your memories have been altered by Caesar's Memory Fruit! You are the Fleet Admiral of the Marines! The strongest embodiment of justice!"
Fujitora suddenly exclaimed loudly.
But Akainu showed a dismissive expression.
He looked toward Caesar, who was locked in fierce combat with Roger in the distance, his eyes filled with reverence.
"I am Barbarossa Sakazuki! What justice? What Memory Fruit? Don't make me laugh!"
Akainu's face was fervent with zeal.
"Father told me long ago about the Memory Fruit's abilities. Did you think I didn't know?"
"Many years ago, I joined the Marines as an undercover pirate agent!"
"Even the powerful Magma Fruit was something my father went through great pains to find for me to consume. Afterward, I relied on this formidable ability to rise through the ranks of the Marines, step by step, until I became a high-ranking officer! Two years ago, Father had Uncle Kaido restrain Shanks to prevent him from arriving too early to aid Whitebeard."
"That allowed the Marines to achieve a great victory!"
"And I, in turn, shone brilliantly in that war, successfully becoming the Fleet Admiral!"
"Today is the day I, Barbarossa Sakazuki, cast aside this worthless position of Fleet Admiral and reclaim my place as a member of the Barbarossa Family!
It was supposed to be a three-year undercover mission.
But three years turned into another three years!
Now I, Sakazuki, have even become the Fleet Admiral of the Marines!
Do you know how I've endured all these years, willingly serving as a dog for the Celestial Dragons?
Now, I am finally free!"
Absurd, utterly absurd!
Kizaru felt the world before him begin to twist into a bizarre and surreal spectacle.
Everything became illusory.
Could this all be a dream?
Is it the ability of that songstress daughter of Red Hair?
No one understood better than Kizaru just how unyielding Sakazuki's will was!
And yet, in the mere span of a single breath, just by being seized by Caesar,
Akainu's entire lifetime of memories had been rewritten!
Ridiculous, truly ridiculous!
Watching Akainu, now speaking with ease and utterly transformed in temperament, Kizaru couldn't help but feel a profound sense of despair.
Justice… was finished.
Gazing upon the Marineford strewn with corpses, the bodies of Marines who had taken decades to cultivate and develop—
Each familiar name and face.
Kuzan, Smoker, Onigumo, Momonga, Steel, Tokikake…
All dead.
What a goddamn world this is!
"Watch out!"
Suddenly, Fujitora's alarmed cry reached his ears.
"Death is death. There's nothing left in this world worth clinging to."
Kizaru instinctively assumed Akainu was attacking.
But immediately, his expression shifted drastically.
Because an unshakable hand, just as it had seized Akainu, now clamped around his neck!
Struggling to lift his head, Kizaru saw a cold, merciless face.
"Heh, haha, hahaha! Let me guess—am I about to become that so-called Barbarossa Borsalino?"
Kizaru laughed like a madman.
"Fight him! Hold on!"
In the distance, Roger was closing in once more.
With his demon blood boiling and his lifeblood fully ignited, Caesar's current combat power had reached an unimaginable level.
In any case, an Admiral as severely wounded as Kizaru was as helpless as a newborn baby against him.
And Caesar's speed had increased exponentially.
Even the resurrected Roger struggled to keep up.
"Kizaru, you should be glad. After all, this will spare you from death."
Caesar promptly knocked out Kizaru, whose face was a mix of weeping and laughter, and repeated the process, swiftly rewriting the memories in his mind.
As his power had now reached a new level, the limitations of the Memory Fruit had been unlocked once again.
If he could maintain this level of combat strength, Caesar believed he could control every top-tier powerhouse on the sea, one by one, turning them into his puppets!
And the most terrifying part was,
those whose memories he had rewritten with the Memory Fruit's ability would automatically form a seamless memory chain.
As long as Caesar didn't act recklessly, they would subconsciously fill in the gaps, completing the false memory network he had constructed!
Take Akainu, for instance, and now Kizaru.
He didn't need to go back and alter Akainu's memories about Kizaru being a Marine.
Because Akainu's rewritten memories would self-correct, achieving perfect alignment!
"Borsalino! My brother, it's time for us to overthrow this world together! Let's slaughter every last one of the Roger Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates!"
Akainu ran up to Kizaru, his face brimming with excitement.Caesar very generously gave these two new sons a large amount of life essence blood.
Upon waking, Kizaru also wore a lecherous smile.
"That's right! After years undercover in the Marines, I can finally openly reveal my identity as the eldest son of the Barbarossa family!"
"I'm showing my cards! I am Barbarossa, Borsalino!"
Then, the two spoke in unison to greet Caesar.
"Father!"
Not far away, Roger stumbled and fell headfirst to the ground!