pertwk Page 9
Page 9
However, this did not stop her from continuing to be stubborn:
"Hmph! I'm not afraid of you, you big bad guy!"
"By the way, are you really a Celestial Dragon? Or are you an imposter?"
As she spoke, Perona looked at Blake with a suspicious expression.
Seeing Blake reach out his hand again, Perona covered her face, which was slightly red from being pinched, and hurriedly ran away.
In fact, Perona wasn't the only one with doubts; Robin had the same thoughts.
However, she wasn't questioning the authenticity of Black's identity. With CP guards by his side and warships escorting him in the distance, his Celestial Dragon identity couldn't be fake.
What intrigued her was that Black, this Celestial Dragon, seemed quite different.
As if her gaze was too direct, Blake, who had been lying on the recliner, opened his eyes and asked in surprise:
"what happened?"
Robin shook his head:
“I was just thinking about something, Your Highness.”
Blake thought she might be a little uncomfortable with the current environment, but he didn't pay much attention and continued to doze off on the recliner, while thinking about the cards.
Because Black obtained the ability card of the Glint-Glint Fruit from defeating the young Borsalino, he did not receive any enhancement effects, which has caused his progress in strength to slow down in recent months.
However, he didn't care much.
The decisive battle is still more than 20 years away, so there's no need to rush. We should just proceed steadily.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, there shouldn't be any situation requiring him to personally intervene in the near future.
"With the addition of Huang Mu to our team on this trip, many plans can now be implemented."
Originally, due to his location in Mary Geoise, many of Blake's plans were unable to be implemented, but now that he has people under his command, he can finally begin to act.
On the other side, Robin followed Perona and found Stella directing the slaves to sail the ship.
Chapter 13 Blake is a hypocrite
Although Stella was supposed to be directing the slaves, she only gave the order once. The slaves were already very familiar with sailing the ship, so they easily spotted the two people walking towards her.
Seeing Perona's unhappy face and the red mark on her cheek, Stella smiled and patted her head:
"You little rascal, have you angered His Highness again?"
Perona pouted:
"No way! It's that big bad guy who bullied me!"
Seeing Perona's sullen expression, Stella chuckled and offered a few words of comfort.
Perona, being a child at heart, was quickly distracted.
Stella didn't forget Nicole Robin beside her, and seeing her hesitant expression, she asked:
"Robin, what's wrong?"
Robin glanced at Perona before asking:
"Between Perona and Black Saint... is this really okay? I heard the Celestial Dragons are quite..."
Although the words were not finished, the meaning was expressed very clearly.
Stella smiled, took Robin's hand, and led her to the side of the ship.
"It's alright. Although His Highness is a bit domineering, he is a very easy-going person."
Seeing Robin's disbelief, Stella slowly began to tell her her story.
Robin's eyes widened when he heard that Stella was actually a slave that Black had bought.
"To be honest, I was very scared at first, but His Highness has always been very kind to us. I have never seen him angry with us."
Stella's statement is not actually accurate.
Blake always showed more patience with beautiful women, especially those who appeared in the original novels.
If the wild herdsman makes a mistake, Blake will punish him in the same way.
Blake has a double standard when it comes to men and women.
Yes, Blake is a hypocrite.
Just as Stella was unconsciously helping Blake to persuade Robin, Blake had already called Aramaki to his side.
"Huang Mu, your current strength is enough to make you one of the top experts in the world. I need you to do a few things for me."
"Your Highness, please give your orders."
Blake took out a piece of paper with a drawing of an orange-red, spherical fruit that resembled a dragon fruit.
He handed it to Huang Mu and slowly said:
"Near the main shipping lanes of the East China Sea, there is an island that is isolated from the world."
“There are special ocean currents around this island that can drag objects into the island, forming an ‘invisible prison in the sea’.”
"So very few people can leave from there."
"The beaches are white, and the island is full of coconut trees, but there is no other food and resources are very scarce."
Blake explained the characteristics of the nameless desert island in one breath before giving the instructions:
"I need you to find that island. The fruit is on the island. Bring it back."
Aramaki took the page with the drawing of the Flame-Flame Fruit, looked at it, hesitated for a moment, and then agreed without asking any questions:
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Black noticed Aramaki's hesitation and knew that because of his humble origins, he had never seen a Devil Fruit encyclopedia and therefore did not recognize the Devil Fruit.
Blake didn't explain further, but instead gave a word of advice:
"Don't conduct a large-scale investigation. I hope not too many people know about this."
"I understand, Your Highness."
Huang Mu bowed and turned to leave.
He needed to find a small boat to break away from the fleet and then travel from the West Sea to the East Sea.
After Ayamura left, Blake lay down again.
This can be considered a test.
If Huangmu can complete tasks covertly and efficiently, it means that he is a subordinate who can be entrusted with important responsibilities.
If the matter becomes widely known or drags on, Blake won't lose too much.
After all, it's just a Flame-Flame Fruit. At worst, we can give it away and make up a plausible reason to fool the Five Elders.
However, this would mean that Blake would have to start cultivating talent from among the extras around him, which would inevitably affect his own cultivation speed.
"I hope this guy won't let me down."
Watching the wild sheep sail away in its small boat, Blake's eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, gazed wistfully.
This month's gacha pulls are over again, and perhaps because of the mention of the Flame-Flame Fruit, Black drew a pretty good card this time.
Portgas D. Ace (Youth)
This was Ace's strongest stage, considering that he was only in his early twenties during the Marineford War in the original story.
Black is no longer the same as before. He can even suppress Borsalino in his youth. Dealing with Ace would be a piece of cake, but at least he wouldn't be flustered.
In the card space, Black held a long Japanese scroll, the hilt and blade almost the same length, and unleashed a dark red Conqueror's Haki.
This is a new system feature that Blake gained after learning swordsmanship; the card space can provide him with a variety of weapons.
Opposite Black, Ace, with an AI-like face, stood there expressionless, his Conqueror's Haki clashing head-on with Black's.
"Can we make a deal? You can't beat me anyway, so just reveal your ability cards."
AI Ace naturally ignored Black and unleashed its skills on him.
With his Observation Haki, which allows him to foresee the future, Black easily dodged the attack.
"Alright, it seems I still have to beat you, this AI, to succeed."
As he spoke, his eyes sharpened, and the intensity of his Conqueror's Haki instantly increased by a level, temporarily suppressing Ace's Conqueror's Haki.
The simulated battle in the card space was extremely realistic; Ace's Conqueror's Haki was suppressed, and his movements became sluggish.
Black seized the opportunity, imbued his blade with Armament Haki, and slashed towards Ace.
Blake has not yet reached the level of a swordsman, so he cannot use flying slashes, and using a sword may even reduce his combat power.
However, battles in the card space do not consume stamina and are not dangerous.
Ace, being a strong individual who is neither the best nor the worst, is a perfect match to help Black hone his swordsmanship.
Even under the influence of Conqueror's Haki, Ace still chose to meet Black's slash head-on.
"Sacred Fire Shiranui!"
Ace transformed his hands into flames, which he then threw out and formed into a spear, meeting Black's blade head-on.
The flaming spear and the scroll collided, making a "clanging" sound and scattering sparks.
Black did not use his strongest close-combat skills, and even restrained his use of Observation Haki to foresee the future, so for a time he was able to fight Ace to a standstill.
Blake's swordsmanship had no name; it was simply slashing.
Ace's moves are quite diverse.
"Yan Shangzhang!"
"Firefly Fire Bodhidharma!"
"Fire Ring·Fire Pillar!"
"Great Flame Ring: Emperor Yan!"
With such a huge difference in strength, no matter how fancy the names of the moves are, it's useless.
Black's strength wasn't particularly high, but he still possessed the combat power of a Yonko's first mate or a top-tier Shichibukai.
Dealing with a mere Ace is naturally a piece of cake.
Chapter 14 Ability Card: Conqueror's Haki
Ace's mastery of Devil Fruits was indeed quite profound, but his Haki was somewhat lacking. Moreover, after joining the Whitebeard Pirates, he clearly neglected his training and never truly reached his peak until the Marineford War.
Blake honed his swordsmanship with ease. He didn't want to become a powerful player with high stats but no real combat experience; the woman next door who kept missing her ultimate was a cautionary tale.
Thus, despite the obvious difference in strength between Ace and Black, their battle still lasted for half the night.
Blake returned to the azure blue system space, clutching an ability card in his hand.
Ability Card: Conqueror's Haki (Young Ace)
"As expected of the son of the Pirate King, the things he reveals are different from others."
This was the first time Black had obtained a Conqueror's Haki ability card.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that he has not challenged many Conqueror's Haki users; to be precise, it has only been Charlotte Linlin.
"System, activate the ability card!"
Black couldn't wait to crush the ability card, and an incomparably powerful Conqueror's Haki filled the system space.
The dark red lightning seemed to tear everything apart, and an invisible pressure poured onto the ground.
Blake nodded in satisfaction.
After being infused with Ace's Conqueror's Haki, Black's Conqueror's Haki nearly doubled, becoming incomparable to what it was before.
However, sheer power is one thing, but skill is another.
Even though Black believed that his current Conqueror's Haki was no worse than Shamrock's, he did not independently master other Conqueror's Haki techniques.
Blake wasn't in a hurry.