Chapter 244: A Tap of the Paw-Paw Fruit
"Meow... something's not right... there's a problem..."
"There's something in the air... it's affecting our minds..."
Even though their eyes were bloodshot, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi didn't turn on each other in a feral frenzy; instead, they quickly realized the hidden danger lurking around them.
This sensitivity stemmed from their mastery over their Sulong forms. For a member of the Mink Tribe, the hardest part of the Sulong transformation wasn't entering the state itself.
All they had to do was gaze up at the full moon, and their bodies would instinctively enter that berserk combat form.
The true trial lay in controlling that raging, destructive aura—retaining their sanity so they could disengage the transformation before their stamina was completely consumed and their bodies gave out. In short, it was a constant battle for emotional and mental self-control.
Because of this rigorous conditioning, the Mink Tribe possessed exceptionally high resistance to mental disturbances, allowing them to instantly sense that something foreign was tampering with their emotions.
Pop.
Without saying a word, Kuma raised a hand and slapped his own chest. An instant later, a strangely colored paw-print bubble was pushed right out of his body.
The moment that bizarre substance left his system, the inexplicable surge of rage burning in Kuma's heart vanished without a trace.
"Just as I thought... something is wrong," Kuma spoke in his usual calm, steady tone. "Everyone, hold still for a moment."
Though his words were slow and unhurried, his body moved in a blur. Spreading his arms wide, Kuma slowly brought his palms together. The surrounding air bent and warped under the absolute power of his Devil Fruit, compressing between his hands into a translucent paw-print sphere.
"Pad Ho."
BOOM!
Kuma fired the compressed shockwave directly at the ground beneath his feet. As the bubble detonated, a ferocious blast of air surged outward in all directions. The gale-force wind instantly scoured the surrounding atmosphere, temporarily blowing away the invisible, odorless powder hanging in the air.
Immediately after, Kuma's massive frame displayed an astonishing burst of agility that completely defied his size. Moving like a phantom through the ranks of his crew, he brought his palm down on each person's back. One by one, strangely colored paw-print bubbles popped out from behind them; whatever was poisoning their minds had been forcibly repelled from their bodies.
"It was an artificial surge of rage," Kuma explained calmly. "Something was actively stimulating the anger in our hearts. I've repelled the emotion from your bodies, but unless we find the root cause, we'll likely fall under its influence again."
"It must be something drifting in the air; there's a faint, unusual scent to it," Luna said, immediately pulling a stack of medical masks from her pack. "I have masks here—put them on and see if it helps. There's something wrong with this island; let's retreat to the ship first."
As Luna handed out the masks, the crew began a tactical withdrawal. However, over on Dorry and Brogy's side, the situation was far more dire.
Already locked in the heat of a duel, their heightened battle lust made them infinitely more susceptible to the powder's effects. The two giants, who had been on the verge of calling a draw, dragged their exhausted, battered bodies back into the clash, looking as though they were genuinely ready to slaughter each other to the last breath.
"Go on ahead. I'll be right behind you."
Looking at the two giants he had never even met, Kuma chose to break away from his crew. Giving himself a quick tap with his palm to refresh his resistance, he vanished using his Devil Fruit and reappeared floating directly behind Dorry, forcefully repelling the artificial rage burning in the giant's heart.
He immediately repeated the technique, striking Brogy's back and pushing the madness out of him as well.
He didn't know who they were, but if it was within his power to help, Kuma was never one to stand by and do nothing.
"Stop fighting," Kuma said quietly. "There is something strange interfering with your minds."
With the veil of rage lifted from their thoughts, Dorry and Brogy's sanity flooded back, and they instantly realized what had just transpired.
"To think someone would dare interfere with a sacred duel of honor between warriors..." Dorry growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Unforgivable bastards..." Brogy rumbled, tightening his grip on his axe. "Dorry, let's join forces and drag these cowards out first! We can settle our duel after they're dead!"
"Agreed! And you—little guy with the big build," Brogy said, looking down at Kuma. "Let's get you and your friends off this island first. It takes an entire year for a Log Pose to set its magnetic record on this island, but as it happens, we have a Log Pose that's already locked onto Elbaf.
"A warrior of Elbaf never forgets a debt of gratitude. Consider it a gift!"
Letting Kuma step onto his massive shoulder, Brogy turned and took giant, thundering strides toward the direction Luna and the others had retreated, while Dorry headed back to their camp to retrieve the saved Log Pose.
They already possessed an Eternal Pose pointing back to Elbaf anyway, so giving away a standard Log Pose meant nothing to them.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the jungle, the expressions hidden beneath Rook and Bishop's masks were turning exceedingly ugly.
"Bishop, it looks like your Devil Fruit power just met its hard counter," Rook remarked coldly.
"It can't be helped; who could have predicted they'd have an ability user like that with them?" Bishop scoffed. "Still, we've successfully drained the stamina of the 'Blue Ogre' and the 'Red Ogre.' Their duel already pushed them to the absolute brink of exhaustion; they won't have much combat power left in them.
"And since it isn't a full moon right now... the rest of those Minks aren't even worth worrying about."
Bishop's Devil Fruit ability wasn't particularly complicated: he had eaten the Emotion-Emotion Fruit, making him an Emotion Human.
He could secrete and disperse specialized, microscopic powders into the air. Anyone who inhaled the powder would lose control over their internal emotions, allowing Bishop to artificially amplify specific emotional states at will.
Against opponents with overwhelmingly powerful Haki, his ability was largely useless. But for an intelligence agent frequently tasked with infiltration and covert operations, it was an exceptionally lethal tool for sowing discord behind enemy lines.
Like many Devil Fruits, it possessed a terrifying "first-sight kill" advantage; without prior knowledge of how the ability worked, a target group would easily tear itself apart from the inside.
"The rest of them don't matter," Rook said, his tone sharpening. "As long as we secure the Red Ogre, the Blue Ogre, and that pink-haired woman, the mission is a success. Now that their ability user is separated from the main group, let's strike immediately."
Combining Soru and Geppo, Rook shot through the forest like a bullet, trailing rapidly after Luna's retreating group. Bishop followed closely behind, releasing a fresh plume of powder into the wind.
This time, he didn't amplify anger. Instead, he targeted feelings of depression, isolation, and profound loneliness—using a cocktail of negative emotions to twist the mind toward absolute selfishness.
Even the most tight-knit, inseparable comrades would find seeds of doubt and apathy taking root in their hearts under this influence.
[We're crewmates on the same ship. We should look out for each other.]
[Who does she think she is? Why should I stick my neck out for her?]
Bishop's power remained entirely invisible, yet it began subtly warping the minds of the retreating crew. Only after observing that Rook had reached his striking position did Bishop push his Devil Fruit to its absolute limit, signaling the start of the assault.
That head of pink hair was unmistakable. Locking his sights onto his target, Rook pushed his speed to the absolute extreme, blurring into a lethal spear aimed straight at Ginny.
Had it not been for the psychological interference of Bishop's powder, both Inuarashi and Nekomamushi—who were guarding the rear—possessed the strength to intercept him. But in that split second, a chilling, alien thought echoed in the depths of their minds: Why should I bother helping?
Though their instincts screamed that their minds were being tampered with, that mere two-second hesitation was more than enough for an elite CP0 operative to snatch his target.
"Ginny! Wait, no—"
Luna felt as though two voices were screaming at each other inside her head—one urging her to turn back and fight, the other telling her to save herself. Caught in the paralyzing contradiction of her own thoughts, she froze in place.
But right at that critical instant, a titanic battleaxe came cleaving out of the sky, viciously slicing across Rook's path of retreat!
"You sneaking cowards who interfered with our duel... you're government dogs, aren't you?!"
Little Garden was an uninhabited island to begin with. Kuma had helped them, and the group ahead were Kuma's crewmates; in Brogy's eyes, these people were already marked as friends.
Anyone trying to kidnap Ginny was, by definition, an enemy.
As veterans who had sailed the seas as pirates decades ago, the giants naturally harbored deep-seated hostility toward the World Government. They had zero tolerance for CP0. The moment Brogy caught sight of that pristine white suit, he had locked onto his target without a shred of hesitation.
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