Indeed, it is premature. After all, discussing awakening right after the successful fusion of the sword is a bit whimsical.
It's quite demanding for a Devil Fruit user to awaken. Even Roger hasn't awakened the Fusion Fruit yet. After all, the time he consumed the Fusion Fruit was too short.
But...
It'll happen soon enough.
An greeted Marshal Machima politely, "Long time no see."
"Well, General Sengoku and I just arrived. We sensed your dominating power as soon as we entered the island and thought something had happened on Pandora Island," nodded Machima.
When Sengoku saw An, he couldn't help but suggest, "Why don't you go outside and test the current Shadow Cutter to see how strong it is?"
Sengoku wasn't very familiar with An. After all, An became an admiral after leaving the Navy during Sengoku's tenure. Since he was also an admiral at the Navy Headquarters, he wanted to see if An was qualified for the position, hence his question.
And An was observing Sengoku as well. When she wasn't in the Navy, she didn't know that Sengoku had actually died once, let alone that he didn't possess the Great Buddha Fruit.
It wasn't until she joined the Navy, met Ah Xing, and saw some archives that she learned about the incident. Upon learning what happened to this former old rival, she couldn't help but feel that things were different now.
But as she looked at him now, she noticed that the momentum of the Warring States period hadn't weakened at all. If anything, it seemed to have become even more unpredictable.
Perhaps it was because he had separated from the Buddha fruit that had been with him for so long, but it made Warring States enlightened. He had a unique aura.
In fact, Warring States had basically completed his training with the super power training box. His telekinesis had reached a very advanced level, and he could no longer rely on the super power training box to continue getting stronger.
However, that didn't mean he had reached his limit. The super power training box couldn't improve him much further, but he could still enhance his telekinesis through his own efforts.
Sengoku's mental power, combined with his stronger dominating power than before, meant that his combat prowess hadn't diminished at all, but rather increased somewhat.
Seeing this, An couldn't help but feel that Machima's methods were unpredictable. She could see at a glance that the changes in the battle results were caused by Machima.
After hearing Sengoku's suggestion, An nodded and said, "Alright, I'd like to test Shadow Cutter's current abilities."
"There's a small island three kilometers away from Pandora Island. Let's go there and try it," suggested Machima.
The four of them agreed, and they soon took a boat to the island.
The island was indeed very small, probably only a little over three kilometers in diameter, and there were no living creatures on it. There were only some stones or debris that seemed to have been washed ashore by the sea, but this made it convenient for An's next performance.
After landing on one side of the island, An drew Shadow Cutter from its sheath.
The other three stood behind her, and An prepared to test the range of her strongest attack.
Suddenly, Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki enveloped Shadow Cutter simultaneously, turning the entire blade black. An shouted softly, and Shadow Cutter began to rapidly shrink. From its original size, it reduced to the size of a dagger.
With An's power infused into it, she thrust forward violently, and with a bang, all the power exploded after the extreme contraction!
For a moment, a black shadow shot forward like light. The speed of its extension was so fast that even Warring States' Conqueror's Haki could hardly react. It pierced through the island almost instantly, continuing forward?
Boom!
The extraordinary speed and power directly parted the seawater, creating a ravine on the sea surface. The air separated by the seawater due to the thrust of the shadow force was forcefully pushed aside, extending to an unknown distance.
In that moment...
It was as if shooting towards the end of the world.
Warring States was stunned, because almost no one could react to such a sword. Not only did it possess speed and range, but its power was also top-notch.
The elasticity generated after the extreme contraction, combined with An's own Conqueror's Haki, meant that no one should be able to block An's sword unless they were exceptionally powerful.
Not only Sengoku, but even An herself didn't expect her attack to be so powerful.
The long sword that was shot gradually returned to its original size, and An, holding the short sword, was a little dazed. After a while, she sheathed it again.
If caught off guard and faced with such a blow in battle, absolutely no one would be able to react.
Vegapunk was recording the data on the side. He had no specific concept of a person's strength and weakness; he wasn't a combatant anyway. He only needed to evaluate the data from the experimental results.
Machima, on the other hand, applauded and said, "Amazing... An, you may be the strongest admiral now."
Machima's words brought An and Sengoku back to reality. An said modestly, "I don't dare to take the title 'the strongest' seriously, but I will do my best to fulfill my responsibilities."
"Indeed, the safety of the world ultimately depends on you," Makima smiled calmly. "Dr. Vegapunk, your invention is very useful, but at the moment, the mass production of demon cells is the most important. Until this technology is completed, I suggest we halt these experiments for now."
"Well, I agree," Vegapunk said.
After all, there were only a limited number of demon cells, and using one meant losing one.
"But opportunities like this are rare, and there's only one sample. An, would you like me to gather more data?" Vegapunk looked at An once more.
"Of course," An nodded. Shadow Cutter itself had been transformed by Vegapunk, so she was still grateful for it.
She drew Shadow Cutter again, preparing to listen to Vegapunk's instructions for the next test.
Meanwhile, in a sea area of the New World, Toguro had boarded Roger's ship.
Roger didn't sense any hostility from Toguro's arrival, so he had already instructed the crew to prepare a banquet.
Although they had fought several times in the past, it was actually Roger who thwarted Toguro's plans at God's Valley, preventing him from becoming a true monster with the Shikon Jewel.
It was precisely because of their intervention that the Shikon Jewel was shattered, leading to the emergence of these demons. Roger felt quite guilty about it.
"You're cursed."
During the banquet, Toguro said to Roger in a surprising manner:
?
Roger and his crew were confused, and Toguro's words shocked them even more!
"In at most eight years, you will die."