On the G-5 Branch's Unit 03 warship, in the commander's office, Frank had just closed the door and turned around. Not long after, the office door opened, and Sephiroth, wearing a black suit and holding a butcher knife, stepped out.
With a gentle flick of his finger, the bat clone next to him instantly disintegrated into a swarm of black bats that flowed back into his body, returning the unused life energy. In the air, only a single Blood Bat remained, flapping its wings.
Behind the desk, his white cloak and two long swords lay on the office chair. Sephiroth manipulated the Blood Bat to return to the iron cage inside the room. There, several other blood bats were already waiting, prepared as an emergency reserve.
After hanging his white Marine cloak on the coat rack, Sephiroth swung his butcher knife in the empty space, opening a Spatial Gate, and threw the two imitation long swords, which resembled Butcher and Mingyan, into it.
Since this was the New World where pirates often roamed and warships often had to confront them, Sephiroth had prepared four long swords to compensate for his clone's weakness of not being able to wield two real swords.
Because these swords were merely imitations and were forged in just ten days, their quality was only that of a fast sword, despite him using high-grade forging materials. They didn't even meet the standard of a good sword. In the words of Kozuki Sukiyaki, these swords were just "waste!"
Actually, if Sephiroth had spent a few months forging each sword, he was confident he could reach the standard of a good sword. After all, he had learned forging from Kozuki Sukiyaki for three years and also mastered his forging techniques. It was not difficult for him to create a Wazamono-class weapon. If he was willing to spend a few years, he might even be able to forge a Saijo O Wazamono.
But that wasn't necessary! These four long swords were just tools he used for his bat clone. He only needed imitations that were "similar in form and spirit. At first glance, it was quite difficult to distinguish the real from the fake!"
After tidying up his office, Sephiroth opened the door and headed to the warship's deck.
The Kingdom of Elegia For some reason, Sephiroth thought of Uta, the Music Demon King.
Could it be that, even with the influence of my presence and actions, Uta still ended up going to the Kingdom of Elegia and singing that destructive song?
There was a saying that with just one song, you could summon a demon. That was outrageous! Sephiroth was more inclined to the theory that the appearance of Uta's Music Demon King was actually a condition for Uta's Devil Fruit Awakening, and the song was merely the key to activating that Awakening!
Given that there was a case where the Human-Human Fruit, Phantom Zoan species, Nika model, was forcibly changed into the Gomu Gomu no Mi by the World Government, it was not impossible that Uta's Uta Uta no Mi had also been tampered with. Perhaps the original name of Uta's Devil Fruit was the Human-Human Fruit, Phantom Zoan species, Music Demon King model?
It was not unreasonable for Sephiroth to have such speculation. In the original story, Chopper, who ate the Human-Human Fruit, Human model, could perform three basic transformations: his original form (reindeer), his beast form (a powerful furry human), and his human-beast form (a small weasel). In addition, with the Rumble Ball, he could obtain other transformations such as Fur Reinforcement, Brain Reinforcement, Jump Reinforcement, and so on.
This showed that the Rumble Ball served as a key to a temporary Awakening, and Chopper's consciousness was dominated by the will within the fruit. After developing his Bat-Bat Fruit, Vampire model for many years, Sephiroth had a faint feeling that he was close to touching the realm of Devil Fruit Awakening. However, he was not in a hurry. Phantom Zoan Fruits all had a very strong will. If the Awakening failed, your consciousness would be swallowed by the fruit's will and you would become a monster like the guards at Impel Down!
Therefore, Sephiroth was always looking for a way to achieve Devil Fruit Awakening without losing his consciousness or being controlled by the fruit's will.
Sephiroth, who had just walked from the cabin to the deck, now stood at the lookout post. He saw Frank in the distance with a telescope. Frank quickly descended the rope and saluted.
"Report, Rear Admiral Sephiroth! I just saw fire from Elegia Island through the telescope. The distance is about twenty-five kilometers. The wind and currents are unfavorable, so it is estimated that it will take another forty to fifty minutes to get there."
"Hmm, I know," Sephiroth nodded. "Give me the Elegia Eternal Pose."
"Yes!" Frank ran to the helm room, took the Eternal Pose labeled "Elegia", and gave it to Sephiroth.
"You continue to command the warship to sail toward the target. I'll go and find out the situation first."
As he spoke, a pair of black wings stretched out from Sephiroth's back. He stomped his feet hard on the deck, and with a flap of his wings, his figure leaped into the sky.
He looked at the Eternal Pose in his left hand, then activated his Observation Haki, spreading his perception to a radius of twelve kilometers. This was his maximum limit without the help of bats. Although the area was wide, Sephiroth was not satisfied. He continued to hone his Observation Haki every day, hoping that one day he could match Kozuki Hiyori's perception.
After confirming the direction, he pulled out the butcher knife tucked into his waist and opened a Spatial Gate. With a flap of his wings, he went straight through the gate and appeared in the middle of the sea, twelve kilometers away.
From there, he could already see the towering flames from Elegia Island!
After using the Spatial Gate three times in a row, Sephiroth finally arrived above the island.
The Kingdom of Elegia In the midst of the raging fire, under the rubble of walls, lay corpses. The scene was like an apocalypse.