One Piece: The Celestial Dragons' Self-Cultivation

Page 29

Gol D. Roger (youth)

Figaland Garin (Youth)

Zefa (Youth)

Shiki (middle age)

Barolorik Redfield (middle age)

Edward Newgate (elderly)

Sakazuki (elderly)

Judging from the appearance of the first four people, this so-called youth was born before the God Valley War and his strength has not yet reached its peak.

Golden Lion and Red Earl are the strongest among these eight people, and the two in their prime are at their peak.

The old Whitebeard was in his state during the Marineford War, and his strength had clearly declined.

Although his power was still very strong when he unleashed it, his body could clearly not withstand several more bursts of exertion, and his combat strength was also beginning to decline.

The elderly Akainu is a character that has not appeared in the original work.

However, given the general condition of the Navy, even a seventy-year-old Akainu can still maintain a fairly good condition.

After much thought, Black concluded that the weakest of the eight was Zephyr in his youth.

He glanced at the Zephyr stored above, then at the card he had just drawn in his hand: Djorkol Mihawk (Young).

Blake decided to fight Zefa first.

Hawkeye is the world's greatest swordsman, and even in his youth, his swordsmanship was still quite impressive.

Blake is preparing to have a sword duel with him, believing it will improve his understanding of swordsmanship and help him fully utilize his swordsmanship ability cards.

Before that, you can use Zephyr's ability cards to enhance yourself.

Upon entering the system space, it was once again a dark-colored rocky beach.

Black slung the three-meter-long blade over his shoulder, and the Conqueror's Haki mixed with demonic energy caused cracks to appear in the reef.

The blade and the cloak both billowed out in exaggerated arcs.

Clearly, his Conqueror's Haki has reached a level that can influence reality.

Blake transformed into a blur, the silver arc trailing from his longsword carving a persistent vacuum band in the air, before unleashing a sword aura tens of meters long.

Zephyr's counterattack was like a precisely calibrated war machine. When his right fist, wrapped in top-level Armament Haki, was unleashed, the air was compressed into a semi-transparent shock cone.

As Blake spun around to dodge, he discovered that the straight punch had retained three-tenths of its force, and the subsequent elbow strike accurately predicted all of his dodge angles.

Zephyr's elbow struck Blake hard in the chest, sending him flying dozens of meters.

Blake looked down at his torn clothes, felt a surge of blood rush through his body, and his face showed surprise:

"Hey! What is this? A humanoid combat computer?"

At this moment, Black finally understood why Zephyr was ranked as an admiral, despite not having Conqueror's Haki or a powerful Devil Fruit ability.

Aside from his Armament Haki, which had been refined to its extreme, Zephyr's mastery of his body had reached a terrifying level.

Essentially, his fighting style is very similar to Blake's; both compensate for a lack of offensive power by striking the enemy's vulnerable points.

However, Zephyr's physical skills are more refined, and his combat experience is more seasoned.

If it weren't for the Steel Balloon talent he received from Charlotte Linlin, he would have suffered a great loss as soon as he met Black.

Before he could think, Zephyr had already charged over. Black drew his sword to defend himself, and the two began to fight.

It was nearly noon when Stella realized that Blake hadn't come out of the room yet.

She thought for a moment, then went into the cabin to take a look. Finding that Blake was still resting, she quietly left the room.

Although Black in the card space was aware of the commotion outside, he had no intention of leaving the space. His battle with Zephyr had reached a fever pitch.

Blake's longsword danced, creating a sky full of silvery clouds, while Zephyr dodged through them with millimeter-level precision.

When Zefa launched his eighteenth combination punch with a 0.3-second interval, Blake finally figured out the pattern.

He spun the longsword in his hand, the tip of which, like a venomous snake, pierced towards Zephyr's left ribs, just as he had done when facing Barrett.

"Surprise!"

"what?!"

Before Black could gloat for long, Armament Haki seeped from Zephyr's pores like black magma, forming a crystallized second layer of armor on his skin.

Zephyr suddenly abandoned his defenses on his heart and punched Blake on the head, sending him flying.

Blake got up from the ground, looking somewhat bewildered.

Zephyr's crystal armor had shattered into countless fragments.

"The flaw in the heart area was actually a decoy?!"

"I see……"

"The Life Return technique has been developed to the point where it can instantly strengthen specific organs, coupled with crystallized Armament Haki armor."

"No wonder he dared to take my thrust head-on with his heart."

Chapter 40 I never expected you to be like this, Stella.

Young Zephyr is the strongest opponent Black has ever faced.

He compensated for his lack of offensive power with his physical skills, making himself a strongman without weaknesses.

No wonder this guy likes to criticize others for "relying too much on Devil Fruits".

Perhaps in his view, if Kizaru could master either physical skills or swordsmanship to his level, his strength would definitely increase significantly.

The rocks near the beach had been shattered into dust by the aftershocks of their battle.

Zephyr's physical skills exhibit terrifying variability—after each of Black's attacks, his muscle memory automatically optimizes his counterattack pattern.

When Black used the same skill for the third time, Zeff had already predicted Black's attack route.

He opened his mouth and bit down, and with a twisting metallic scraping sound, Zephyr managed to bite down on Black's longsword, while his left hand seized the opportunity to grip the back of the blade.

Blake was shocked:

"What the hell? Do naval recruit camps teach acrobatics like 'catching a blade without speaking'?"

Without a second thought, Blake was about to back away when Zephyr's one-inch punch landed squarely on Blake's heart.

Black only had time to gather Armament Haki for defense.

In an instant, his clothes turned to ashes, and huge waves erupted on the sea three hundred meters behind him.

Blood was trickling from the corner of Blake's mouth, and his breathing was slightly labored.

His Armament Haki and Steel Balloon talent helped him withstand some of the attacks, but Zephyr's Armament Haki also had the ability to cause internal damage, which caused him serious internal injuries.

Zephyr had already rushed close and delivered a powerful thrust, compressing his Armament Haki to its maximum.

Blake gritted his teeth and plunged his longsword into the ground.

The power flowed from the sword into the earth's crust, and the entire beach suddenly rose up.

Zephyr clearly hadn't expected Black's attack to be aimed at the ground, and subconsciously adjusted his center of gravity according to the undulations of the ground.

"Final Act: The Overlord's Martial Arts Showdown!"

Black seized the opportunity and unleashed his most powerful attack to date, the domineering aura swirling around the tip of his blade rubbing against the air to create a blue plasma.

A cracking sound came from Zefa's right arm as he parried the shot, as if bones were dislocating.

Before he could retaliate, Blake's real killing move followed.

He unleashed his Armament Haki to its maximum extent, concentrated it on his forehead, and slammed it into Zephyr's face.

A scar was torn in the clouds, and Zephyr's figure slowly fell to the ground.

Having learned from Barrett's experience, Blake did not give his opponent time to recover.

As the final strike landed, Zephyr gradually dissolved into blue specks of light and dissipated.

Back in the system space, Blake let out a long sigh of relief.

I glanced at the ability card in my hand—

Armament Haki (Young Zephyr)

"As expected, Zephyr's physical skills cannot be considered a special ability."

Blake sighed, but wasn't too disappointed.

He got out of bed and stretched.

With the help of the maid who had been standing by his side, Blake left the cabin yawning as he got dressed.

Perona, who was playing on the deck, saw Blake's expression and made a face at him:

"You lazybones! It's already noon!"

Robin also started complaining:

"This is the decadent life of the Celestial Dragons."

Blake waved at them, ignoring their teasing.

He had originally planned to challenge young Hawkeye after defeating Zephyr, but now it seems he should postpone it for a few days.

Battles within the card space do not consume stamina, but the continuous high-intensity battles have left Blake somewhat mentally exhausted.

While fighting, I didn't feel anything special, but after it ended, I felt like I entered a period of deep meditation.

All he wants to do right now is relax in a recliner and not do anything.

Seeing Blake's exhausted appearance, Robin and Perona exchanged a suspicious glance.

Perona asked curiously:

"This guy has clearly slept for over ten hours, so why does he still look like he's not fully awake?"

Robin stroked his chin, looking thoughtfully at Stella, a very impolite thought forming in his mind.

"Is Stella really that amazing? I never expected you to be like this, Stella."

If Stella knew what Robin was thinking, even the best-tempered woman would definitely teach her a lesson.

The Temple was located in one of the main shipping lanes in the North Sea, and there were ships coming and going almost every day.

These people would choose to stay far away from the World Government flag on the Temple.

However, today a rather stubborn ship appeared.

Just as Blake was recovering, a pirate ship was slowly approaching the Temple in the sea not far away.

The ship's sails, with their ripped appearance, were adorned with a rusty anchor and a pirate flag bearing three intersecting claw marks, while the skull in the center was actually a blood-dripping hyena skull.

On the deck of the Hyena Pirates, Gerald sniffed the air fiercely with his beast-like nose, blood-tinged saliva dripping from between his fangs:

"Can you smell it? It smells like gold."

He grinned and pointed to the blurry, enormous ship silhouette in the distance—

The Temple was passing through a sea fog, its bow gleaming faintly in the mist.

Helmsman Poluk swung the hydraulic anchor chain and slammed it against the ship's side, rust falling off in a shower.

"Boss, such a big ship must be full of good stuff."

Sniper Crawford knelt on one knee on the lookout post, the scope of his modified flintlock rifle sweeping across the cruise ship's mast:

"It's a World Government ship, but the mainsail seems a little different; it has an iris emblem on it."

"Fools always love to play this trick!"

Gerald kicked over the empty barrel:

"Last year's 'Silver Gull' was the same; it turned out to be just an official using the World Government's ship to do private work for his family."

"We didn't even get published in the newspapers after we robbed it, and the bounty didn't go up either."

"That guy probably patched up the hole secretly himself and didn't dare to make a sound."