Chapter 103: Invisible wall

Just when Marco was about to fall to the ground, a pair of strong arms caught him steadily.

"Dad..."

Whitebeard looked at Marco with concern: "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No."

Marco shook his head. He was placed on the ground by Whitebeard, and then he raised his head involuntarily.

At this time, everyone's eyes were tracing the figure in the sky.

Rayleigh frowned: "Larson...what is he doing?"

Yes!

What is Larson doing?

This was the common doubt in everyone's mind at this time.

From their perspective, Larson was maintaining a posture of soaring into the sky, but he stopped at the leaves above his head, motionless, as if there was an invisible barrier stopping him.

Roger frowned, as if he had seen something. He took out the long sword from his waist and slashed it hard into the sky. In an instant, a half-crescent blade rushed upwards.

A large branch was cut off by this sword, and the leaves fell to the ground. The once airtight canopy seemed to open a gap, revealing the waning moon above.

Everyone saw that Roger's attack continued to rise without any obstruction, and there was no sign of anything stopping it.

Their eyes fell on Larson again, and everyone waited.

...

What happened?

Larson could clearly feel an invisible wall above his head, stopping him from flying any higher.

He silently continued to increase his strength, the Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes rotating quietly, and the golden bones around him began to emerge. Susanoo was breathing around Larson, but he still couldn't force his way upward.

Larson sneered. Since brute force wasn't working, he'd find another way.

Clenching his fists, a milky white halo enveloped them. He struck upward violently, and in an instant, cracks above his head spread outward like broken glass.

He was using Whitebeard's abilities.

Now that he was well off the ground, using the Shock Fruit against the sky wouldn't affect the people below.

But Larson was stunned the next second. Even after the aftermath of the Shock Fruit dissipated, the invisible wall was still there.

With no other option, Larson controlled his body and descended back to the ground.

"Larson, what just happened?"

As soon as Larson landed, everyone gathered around him.

They had all seen Larson use the Shock Fruit's power, and they knew in their hearts that Larson wouldn't have done that if something hadn't gone wrong.

Larson's expression was grim: "Something unexpected happened, but one thing's for sure: we can't fly out of this forest now."

"This..."

Everyone was stunned.

Larson raised his head, looking at the leaves overhead, and sighed: "The limit is that layer of leaves. Beyond that, an invisible wall blocks us. But under these leaves, there's no restriction."

Rayleigh asked curiously: "What about the black shadow that appeared earlier?"

He was referring to the dark figure that had knocked Marco down.

They weren't too concerned about whether they could fly out of the forest, because Marco was the only one with the ability to fly, so this restriction only applied to him.

The trees were very tall, tens of meters away from the barrier formed by the leaves. At this distance, their movements weren't affected.

"The black shadow..."

Larson didn't fully understand what the black shadow had been.

He only saw the shadow and thought someone was attacking Marco, so he rushed up. But after reaching the spot, he found no one there.

But so many people had seen it, meaning it wasn't just an illusion or a mistake.

Looking at Marco, Larson asked awkwardly: "How about you try again? See if the black shadow shows up?"

Marco's face flushed: "Do I have to?"

He was still aching from where the shadow had hit him earlier.

Larson suddenly looked serious: "First Division Captain, don't let us be underestimated!"

Marco instantly felt a weight on his shoulders. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Leave it to me!"

Everyone looked at Larson and Marco with curious expressions.

Only Marco himself couldn't detect Larson's deceptive skills.

But in order to see the black shadow again, everyone remained silent.

Just like that, Marco flew into the sky once more, carrying the weight of everyone's expectations.

This time, everyone watched intently, pushing their Observation Haki to the limit. Just like before, when Marco was about to pass through the leaves, a black shadow suddenly descended from the sky and knocked him down.

Larson narrowed his eyes, while everyone else looked more serious.

"Why can't I sense anything with my Observation Haki?" Rayleigh voiced the question on everyone's mind.

Exactly. When the black shadow appeared, none of them had sensed anything overhead, but their eyes had clearly seen it!

Marco, rubbing his sore backside, walked over: "So, did you see it clearly this time?"

"No."

Larson glanced at Marco, a little embarrassed: "I need to trouble you again."

Marco froze for a moment, shaking his head in resistance: "No way! Let someone else go. I'm not doing this again."

Seeing Marco's reaction, Larson thought of trying to persuade him again, but Rayleigh stepped forward.

"I'll handle it."

Without waiting for a response, Rayleigh used Moonwalk to launch himself into the sky.

But when he reached the same spot Larson had stopped at, he too was halted.

A few seconds later, Rayleigh descended back to the ground.

"No."

Rayleigh sighed: "Just like you said, there's an invisible wall blocking me from moving forward."

Rayleigh's experience validated what Larson had said earlier, but that wasn't their main concern.

"What about the shadow?" Larson frowned.

When Rayleigh had gone up, there was no black shadow.

"Does it only show up when someone with flight goes up?" Gaban asked cautiously.

All eyes shifted to Marco once again.

Marco trembled: "N-no, I can't do it anymore!"

"Forget it, I'll do it." Larson declared.

Green flames ignited around Larson as he readied himself.

The next second, he shot into the sky, hitting the invisible wall, and fell right back down.