Chapter 174: Red Quality, The King's Left Arm
Kaito Shirogane looked at the three items. The massive black sword was different from the famous blades of this world; it wasn't a traditional katana. It was a wide, double-edged greatsword, more like something from a Western fantasy setting. But its pitch-black blade was very much in line with this world's concept of a "Black Blade."
The Devil Fruit in the small chest to the right also had a pattern he had never seen before.
Kaito took a step forward, his hand reaching for the items, but an intense aura suddenly burst from the severed arm in the center. A flash of black lightning instantly pierced his chest.
CRACKLE!
Kaito's mind went blank. His entire body froze, his cells stunned by a powerful will, and his muscles spasmed, leaving him unable to move.
A trap? No… this is Haki! An incredibly condensed Conqueror's Haki!
[You have come into contact with the Special Structure: The King's Lost Treasure]
A Special Structure? Kaito remembered that when he had discovered El Dorado, the Nexus had also given him a similar notification. He knew that by gaining full control over El Dorado, he could have eventually taken the entire city with him. But this... this was just a "treasure."
Relying on his new "immortal" body, he forced himself to take another step. This time, the powerful Haki did not re-emerge. He reached out and touched the severed arm. From its shape, he could tell it was a left arm.
A left arm… could this be the arm that the Emperor, Shanks, lost saving Luffy?! But that arm was bitten off by a Sea King in the East Blue. How could it be here in the Grand Line?
The moment he grabbed the arm, the black lightning exploded again. An intense Haki swept out, and the air pressure in the cavern instantly changed. Kaito's body was frozen, but his acute hearing could now hear the terrifying sound of water rushing in. This cave... the only reason it's dry is because of the Haki from this arm?! Can Conqueror's Haki do something like this?
[You have touched a Special Creation: The King's Left Arm]
[Performing Constitution check…]
Kaito's entire body trembled as if electrocuted. But his superhuman physique and near-immortal toughness allowed his cells to rapidly metabolize. The dead cells were sloughed off, and new ones were generated.
[Constitution check: Passed.]
[Performing Willpower check…]
Kaito was once again assaulted by that magnificent will. It was a tidal wave of a person's spirit and heart, an indiscriminate flood that completely submerged the mind of anyone who touched it. Kaito's mind went blank. It was different from the feeling of entering a mission world. This was a direct, concussive blast to his mind.
WHOOSH!
The sound of rushing water. The immense pressure of the deep sea was now crushing the cavern.
Thump-thump, THUD...
Under this immense pressure, Kaito's heart began to beat instinctively, violently. His frozen face began to recover, and a ferocious expression appeared.
"GET... OUT!"
BOOM!
An equally intense aura exploded from Kaito's own body. But he didn't care about that. The feeling of being submerged in another's will was infuriating.
[Willpower check: Passed.]
[You have obtained the Special Creation: The King's Left Arm]
[The King's Left Arm]
[Type: Special Creation (Material, Bio-Implant)]
[Quality: Red (Worldly Treasure)]
[Description: The King's remnant in this world. A left hand, a promise unfulfilled.]
[Bio-Implant Requirement: Human-species, must pass Constitution & Willpower checks.]
[Effect: Unidentified]
Kaito stared at the arm in his hand. This was the first time he had ever seen an item with a quality above Purple. He had never seen a Red-quality item in the stalls, not as a material, not as equipment, not even as a consumable. And this item was both a material and a bio-implant.
This arm was worth more than he could imagine. Could a simple Scarce-quality treasure map really lead to something like this?
BOOM!
A torrent of seawater burst into the collapsing cavern. Kaito instantly stored the arm, then tapped his foot, sending the chest with the Devil Fruit flying into his hand. He stuffed it into his inventory.
[You have obtained Item: Devil Fruit]
He heard the roar of the in-rushing water, tensed his muscles, sealed his mouth and nose, and grabbed the hilt of the black greatsword. He had planned to just pull it out and leave, but the moment he touched it, a strange, sucking force came from the hilt.
This sword, like the cursed blade Enma, was actively draining his Haki. But Kaito didn't have any. Instead, his life energy and cellular activity began to drain away at an alarming rate. He instinctively tried to let go, but his hand was now stuck to the hilt, as if glued.
CRASH!
The ocean poured in, completely submerging him. The terrifying pressure of the deep sea instantly crushed him. His chest, his spine, his skull—they all began to creak and pop.
Kaito instantly felt his skin begin to crack. At this depth, his body was sustaining over a ton of pressure per square centimeter. It was as if he were being crushed from all sides by a hydraulic press. His skin was the first to give way. Blood began to pour from his body.
SPLAT!
A cloud of crimson filled the water.
[You have passed the check. You have obtained the item: Unidentified Ominous Greatsword.]
He instantly stored the black sword. His cells began to regenerate, and his body tensed.
[Tekkai]!
His entire body became as hard as iron. He had sealed his ears and nose. In the deep sea, he had achieved a strange equilibrium. His body was no longer collapsing.
With his body in [Tekkai], he was unable to move. But he knew that if he did move, his body would be crushed. He wasn't afraid of dying. He knew his body would just regenerate. But that would mean "dying" over and over, and he would lose all control, trapped at the bottom of the sea. If he was unlucky, he would be eaten by a Sea King and would miss the arrival of the other Reincarnators.
So, he maintained his [Tekkai], allowing his body to drift out of the cavern. In this state of being constantly forged by the pressure, he could feel his [Tekkai] ability rapidly strengthening.
Normally, a First Tier Reincarnator would have been instantly crushed by the 1000+ atmospheres of pressure. But Kaito, with his lineage and his abilities, was surviving.
He slowly drifted out of the skull-marked cave. He noticed that above the skull, there was a large, shattered piece of rock, as if something had been deliberately erased. He could vaguely see another pattern.
The Straw Hat jolly roger? Was this treasure... also related to them?
He realized that if Enel had successfully descended to the Blue Sea and established his "Kingdom of God," then the fate of his "natural enemy," Luffy, was now a mystery. The Nexus hadn't reported his death.
Unable to move, Kaito's mind was racing. He finally drifted out of the cave. He was surrounded by a pitch-black abyss, with no sense of direction. But he was at the bottom of the sea; any direction that wasn't "down" was "up."
He maintained his rigid posture, and a powerful ki began to condense at his fingertip.
VMMMM!
Dodon Ray!
BOOM!
The water in front of him exploded. The resulting shockwave, like a deep-sea torpedo, slammed into Kaito's own body, almost shattering his [Tekkai]. But the powerful recoil sent him shooting toward the surface.
VMMMM!
He fired again.
In the waters near Mock Town, Hina sat on the deck, smoking. Her warship had managed to escape the edge of the Knock Up Stream. A dozen men had been lost, but her core crew had survived.
At this moment, many of the Marines were thinking of retiring. First, a heaven-destroying lightning storm, then a vortex that swallowed the ocean. In this sea, how many lives would you need to play with these monsters?
The navigator, remembering the madman who had leaped into the vortex, was still shaking so badly he couldn't light his cigarette.
Click.
A flame appeared. He looked up. Captain Hina, her own face a mess, was holding a lighter for him. In that moment, he felt he understood his silent captain. This sea... it had no place for normal people like them. It was ruled by violence.
"Captain," he asked, his voice shaking, "do you think… that guy is dead?"
Hina took a drag of her cigarette. A lot of her ambition had faded. She looked at the crew, and for the first time, she felt a sense of kinship. These, at least, were her own kind. "Who knows," she said, "maybe he really is immortal. Heh…"
The next moment, the communications officer ran out of the cabin.
"Captain! A message from Headquarters! They've ordered us to stand by and wait for a Vice Admiral! We are to cooperate with his operation!"
Hina froze. "A Vice Admiral is coming? How many? Is Garp one of them?"