Chapter 1564 The Failed Challenger

Barrett knelt, panting heavily. Each breath was accompanied by excruciating, tearing pain throughout his body. His white skin, composed of white spores, had withered completely due to energy depletion.

Peeling away before his eyes, revealing the bloody, mangled, and cracked true body beneath, Barrett felt his life force draining away with the blood. His vision began to blur, and his consciousness teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.

But an indomitable will from the depths of his soul kept him alive until his last breath. With trembling arms, he supported his broken body and swayed as he stood up once more.

"Ever since I was shrouded in that damned Seastone, I haven't been able to truly unleash the power of my Devil Fruit in a long time. It feels a bit unfamiliar to use it now..."

Before he finished speaking, a strange and powerful energy wave began to spread outwards from Barrett, and a viscous and deep purple energy ocean, as if it had a life of its own, surged out from the ground around Barrett.

This purple ocean spread rapidly, and wherever it passed, whether it was the hard rocky ground or the complex building ruins that Nakime had moved there in the distance, they were all instantly assimilated by it.

The rocks softened and decomposed, the buildings collapsed and melted, all turning into a flowing purple liquid that surged wildly toward Barrett like rivers flowing into the sea, merging with him.

Buggy finally abandoned his languid demeanor, his eyes revealing genuine interest as he observed the astonishing power of the Paramecia-type Fusion Fruit with keen interest. "Interesting..."

Under Bucky's gaze, Barrett's body was completely engulfed by a massive amount of purple matter, which frantically combined and shaped itself around him.

In the blink of an eye, a giant dinosaur monster, over a hundred meters tall and with a bluish-purple metallic sheen, its ferocious form resembling that of a primordial dinosaur, finally rose from the ground.

The towering body cast a huge shadow, almost completely enveloping Buggy. Barrett's true form was hidden deep within the behemoth, connected to it through his Devil Fruit ability, controlling its every move.

The combined behemoth roared to the sky, and the terrifying sound wave transformed into a tangible shockwave that spread wildly in all directions. Bucky's green hair and gorgeous clown costume were whipped around by the violent airflow.

However, Buggy's face showed no fear; instead, his tone carried a hint of regret, "With your monstrous physique, eating the Fusion-Fusion Fruit was actually a wrong choice. You should have eaten a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit instead."

"In that case, you might actually become the second, or even surpass Kaido, strongest creature. Paramecia-types aren't suitable for you."

But at this moment, Barrett's mind was stretched to its limit, and he could hardly hear anything. He burned his last bit of will, manipulating this huge combined beast, raising its mountain-like giant foot, and with an aura of destruction, stomped down on the tiny Bucky beneath its feet.

At the same time, the behemoth's terrifying maw, filled with sharp teeth, viciously bit down. "Die, clown!" Barrett roared hysterically from the core of the beast.

The giant beast's trampling and biting completely crushed the spot where Bucky had been standing and a large area around it, sending dust billowing into the sky and scattering debris like a torrential rain.

Amidst the smoke and dust, Bucky's figure silently hovered in mid-air. He looked down at the combined behemoth below, which was slightly stiffened by its missed attack, and gently shook his head.

“Barrett, you need to rest,” Bucky’s voice was calm and even, yet carried an undeniable final verdict.

Before he finished speaking, Bucky's figure appeared as if by teleportation directly in front of the combined behemoth, the huge dinosaur head, facing it from afar.

Bucky slowly raised his right foot, the movement seemingly slow and elegant. Just as his foot was about to touch the giant beast's head, an unprecedented, pure, and extreme force of division erupted from the Joker's foot.

Crackling and dense cracking sounds, like firecrackers, rang out wildly from the combined behemoth's entire body.

That enormous body, forcibly fused together from countless rocks, metals, and architectural debris through the power of the Fusion-Fusion Fruit, was as fragile as a toy castle built by children with building blocks in the face of Buggy's absolute rule of division.

The behemoth's body began to disintegrate and fall apart layer by layer, from the outside in, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The massive arm snapped and crashed down, the solid chest was exposed and disintegrated, the hideous head turned into countless fragments, and the huge body collapsed in less than a minute, like a toppled tower of building blocks.

Barrett, hidden in the core, stared in disbelief as the ultimate weapon he had poured all his efforts into creating crumbled so easily and completely before his eyes. Through the gaps in the collapsing fragments, he saw the green figure floating in the air.

At that moment, Bucky's figure in his vision seemed to slowly overlap with the invincible Gol D. Roger in his memory, becoming equally tall, equally majestic, and equally invincible...

Barrett managed a strained, relieved smile. "I've really found myself a formidable opponent..."

Before he could finish speaking, his last consciousness sank into the boundless darkness, and the combined behemoth completely shattered, transforming into a massive hill of ruins.

Barrett's body fell from the countless fragments, crashing heavily onto the top of the ruins, its eyes closed as it fell into a deep coma.

His wounds were still bleeding, but his breathing had unexpectedly become even and steady. His body and mind were too exhausted and desperately needed this forced sleep.

Bucky slowly descended from the sky, silently standing on the ruins. He looked down at Barrett, who had fallen into a deep sleep and even started to snore softly. The signature clown smile on his face had long since disappeared, and a rare hint of pure appreciation appeared in his eyes.

“Barrett, you’ve passed,” Bucky muttered to himself.

He admired Barrett's purity and his never-say-die challenger's spirit; such a straightforward guy was far easier to control than the other officers who harbored countless schemes.

Without turning his head, Buggy ordered, "Nakome, take this guy to Orochimaru and tell him to use the best resources to heal him as quickly as possible."

The sound of the strings rang out in response. Bucky took one last look at Barrett's departing figure. After nearly twenty years in prison, Barrett needed a long period of rest.

He no longer had the patience to collect the four red Poneglyphs for the final island's permanent pointer. With the World Government currently overwhelmed and unable to spare any resources, this was the perfect opportunity to head straight for the final island.

Once Bullet wakes up again and obtains the pointer, the Clown Pirates set off for the final island.