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After all, he had absorbed the death energy of the commodore. He had a certain understanding of swordsmanship, but the only thing he lacked was actual combat experience. This time, it was an opportunity. With continuous slashing, stabbing, and sweeping! Constant blocking—Kaizen gradually found that he was becoming more and more familiar with sword use, and his ability to control the sword was getting stronger.
As the pirates slowly fell, the deadly aura surrounding them grew denser. Kaizen didn't have time to absorb it all, but it lingered around him like the qi released by powerful beings, enveloping him. Under the reflection of the purple-black aura, Kaizen appeared terrifying, like a demon from another world, constantly exuding a fierce murderous aura.
"Die!"
With Kaizen's loud shout, the last pirate's brain burst. That pirate would probably never forget Kaizen's hideous face, even in the afterlife.
The forecastle was littered with corpses and blood. Kaizen looked at the severed limbs and broken bodies before him, smiling.
Is this the pleasure of killing?
A man should kill without mercy. His immortal deeds are written in the blood of others.
That's right! Killing! You can kill as much as you want here, have as much fun as you want, as long as you have the strength! Wealth! Fame! Women! All are possible here, as long as you are strong!
The death energy continued to flow into Kaizen's body. The immense death energy brought Kaizen unprecedented vitality and physical changes. These were fresh death energies, much stronger than the ones that had been stored for an unknown amount of time.
The moon finally sank into the sea, and the first ray of sunlight shone golden on the water. On the ship, the bright red blood stained the pure white canvas. Kaizen leaned on the railing, gazing at the rising sun. The grim atmosphere of the previous night was finally swept away.
Kaizen killed a pirate captain: the system rewards 50 points, a pirate cadre: the system rewards 20 points, 70 pirate minions: the system rewards 80 points. Total: 200 points.
It seems that instead of desperately hunting down pirate captains, it's better to eliminate ordinary pirates. They may be weak, but even 1 or 2 points per person adds up quickly. A large number of them can become quite a fortune.
Actually, if you think about it, the pirate captains are almost as profitable as the regular pirates. After all, they have bounties. The bounties for these two are seven million, and if converted into points, that's seventy points—considerable income for Kaizen now.
In addition, Kaizen absorbed their death energy. The regular pirates were weak, mere side dishes, while the two powerful pirates were the main course. Captain Beard wielded a knife and had some understanding of it, with a ghost-head knife of good quality hanging in the captain's room. The man with glasses wasn't a fighter; he was a navigator. Though he had some ability, he was only on par with Kaizen.
After absorbing the death energy of the man with glasses, Kaizen gained more knowledge and experience in navigation and was now capable of operating this medium-sized pirate ship.
Opening his eyes, "Go!" Kaizen shouted, and a thin strip of purple energy appeared along his body. The purple energy extended slowly, growing until it reached the side of a corpse, entering its mouth.
Suddenly, the corpse's eyeballs rolled slightly, and the bloodless right hand moved. The body struggled to rise, slowly, without coordination. It took a great effort to get up.
The body dragged itself to Kaizen's side, opened its mouth, and then closed it.
"Master, Master!"
"Alright, let's go sail!" Kaizen nodded with satisfaction. It was his first time using purple energy to create a puppet, so it was somewhat stiff—expected. This pirate had been a sailor in life, so he shouldn't have trouble sailing the ship.
"Yes!" The puppet lowered its stiff neck slightly and left Kaizen's side.
Kaizen relaxed, closing his eyes, and carefully felt the changes in his body.
After what happened last night, Kaizen didn't know why, but his temperament had changed significantly. He may have looked somewhat immature yesterday, but today, that immaturity had vanished. He looked more heroic and even exuded a faint murderous aura.
After killing so many people yesterday, the greatest gain was that he had learned how to use a sword! Although Kaizen had learned basic swordsmanship before, he now realized that the basics were just a game, not real swordsmanship. It was only after experiencing the hardships of life and death that it could truly be called swordsmanship, making him stronger.
The pirate ship was now moving. Kaizen smiled slightly as he observed the busy puppet. Though stiff and limited to ten hours of use, the puppet was already an improvement. Yesterday, Kaizen hadn't used the fruit's power, but the pirates' death energy surrounded him, giving him more experience with the Devil Fruit and allowing him to learn how to make puppets.
His strength was now likely enough to claim the five-million bounty. Yesterday's leap had increased his power several times.
'I should increase my capital.' Kaizen thought to himself. He accessed the system interface and clicked on the [Skills] section. Although some skills weren't activated, some basic ones were available, like [Wind Step], which required 300 skill points. Once learned, it would allow him to move swiftly like a swallow. Though his swordsmanship had reached a small success, his speed was still lacking. The navy commodore's six styles had enhanced his speed, and Pirate Beard was used to wielding his knife at a slower pace. So, Kaizen decided to improve his speed.
Having made the decision, Kaizen didn't hesitate. He spent all his three hundred points—the only assets he had.
[Do you want to learn?]
"Yes!"
[Congratulations, you have learned the Wind Step!]
As the system's voice sounded, Kaizen could clearly feel the weight lifted from his body. He looked at the main mast in the distance, and with a thought, he moved like the wind, silently reaching it in a single breath. The Swift Wind Step was indeed extraordinary. With this ability, he should be able to reach a bounty of six million.
Now that he owned a pirate ship, he seemed to have a bit of reputation. Ordinary pirates avoided him, and some even lowered their flags as a sign of respect.
However, some short-sighted pirates, relying on their high bounties, sought to rob fellow thieves. As they neared and saw Kaizen alone on the ship, they thought they were lucky.
This pirate's bounty is only five million. He probably doesn't know about the pirates around him. Otherwise, why would two pirates with five-million bounties fight each other? This is even better. Kaizen needed more blood to hone his abilities. Last time, he fought only minions. Now he was eager for a battle with a captain who could challenge him.
"Hah!" Kaizen slashed forward, but the captain blocked his attack. The pirates cheered for their captain. Kaizen's puppet had already been dismissed, as he didn't want to expose his strength.
"Hehe~!" The pirate captain, though thinner, was still strong. His cold stare made Kaizen shiver.
"Little boy, you're good with a sword. You're so delicate and tender. Why don't you become my male lover?" The thin captain blocked Kaizen's attack with two swords, eyeing his snow-white neck and speaking lewdly.
"Ugh!" Kaizen suddenly felt a chill, his anger flaring, "Fuck! I'm a real man!"
"Haha~ Look, that pretty boy actually said he's a real man!"
"Humph! You really don't know what's good for you! Just obey our captain!"
The pirates laughed like dogs. They were too weak to help the captain, so they just tried to distract Kaizen.
"Oh? A real man? Doesn't matter. I'll take it." The pirate captain licked his disgusting tongue.
"Hah!" Kaizen couldn't hold back anymore, focusing all his energy on the fight.
"Hmph!" The captain didn't argue further. He was simply interested in Kaizen's swordsmanship. Despite his five-million bounty, his crew lacked capable members, so he had hoped Kaizen would accept his offer. But this "pretty boy" didn't appreciate it.
The sound of clashing weapons echoed. Kaizen couldn't break the captain's two-sword style, but he was faster, easily dodging the captain's attacks. Without his speed, Kaizen would've been defeated long ago.
This can't go on! I know my strength now, and that's enough.
"Ah!" Kaizen leaped back, throwing his weapon!
"Hmph! A mere trifle!" The captain snorted, raising his two swords to block.
"Ah!" Before the samurai sword fell, a trace of blood oozed from the captain's mouth. In an instant, he realized that Kaizen was already beside him, eyeing the dark, ghostly knife on his waist.
"You?" The captain wanted to ask where Kaizen had gotten the ghost-head knife, but before he could finish, he was struck down.
A reluctant purple-black death aura surged out from his head, absorbed by Kaizen without hesitation.
[Reward points: 50!]
When Kaizen's samurai sword hit the deck with a sharp sound, the pirates finally realized what had happened.
"Run away!"
"The Captain has been killed!"
The pirates scrambled in fear, no longer calling Kaizen a pretty boy, but a devil who had slain their captain.
"Since you're here, just stay." Kaizen said coldly, watching the pirates scatter.
With Wind Step's power, who could escape?
After absorbing the death energy from the captain, Kaizen believed his strength had reached the level of a seven-million bounty pirate. However, the death energy of the pirates and navy still churned in his body, making him feel uncomfortable. Kaizen understood that he hadn't fully digested it.
Like any Devil Fruit, it needed time to mature. So, Kaizen spent the following days honing the death energy, hoping to fully integrate it into his strength.
As the ship neared the harbor, Kaizen stopped his training, lowered the pirate flag, and prepared to go ashore.