Thud! Thud! Thud! …
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the upper deck of the cabin, and the sound was getting closer and closer, as if someone was about to come down the stairs.
The sudden change startled the four people standing in the corridor.
Among them, Hancock was the first to react. She quickly waved her hand, signaling the other three to lean against the wall at the stairway.
Obviously, she was preparing to ambush the approaching person.
Soon, a bald giant about 2.4 meters tall appeared in the sight of the four. He was holding a mop in one hand and a bucket in the other, seemingly coming down to clean.
The moment the bald giant stepped down, Hancock lifted her right foot and kicked him in the crotch.
Bats have six times the hearing of ordinary people. The silver - haired boy, Sephiroth, who had eaten the Mythical Zoan - Type Bat Fruit (Vampire Form) also had this animal characteristic...
Crack!
Sephiroth clearly heard the sound of the man's groin being hit hard, which made him subconsciously feel a chill in his crotch and quickly clamped his legs together.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Hancock's deadly crotch kick was very effective. The bald giant instantly "plumped" to the ground in the corridor, covering his crotch and letting out a shrill scream.
However...
Hancock didn't stop there. She kicked the bald giant hard in the temple, knocking him unconscious.
"Something's up downstairs! Go check it out!"
"Hurry up! Grab your weapons."
…
Noisy footsteps came from above the cabin. Sephiroth could even hear the sounds of guns being loaded and swords being drawn from their sheaths.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person living in a peaceful era. The original owner of this body had never even fought a fight before.
Facing the upcoming battle, Sephiroth was extremely nervous. He could even clearly feel his heart beating faster and faster.
On the contrary, the three women showed the combat qualities that a qualified female warrior from the Kuja Pirates should have.
Hancock rushed up from the stairway first and engaged with the first group of enemies. Sandersonia picked up the mop as a stick, and Marigold casually grabbed the bucket.
The three women showed an attitude of fearlessness towards the upcoming battle!
Hearing the gunshots from above, Sephiroth gritted his teeth and prepared to rush up too.
His male pride wouldn't allow him to hide behind women and seek their protection while letting the three women fight and kill.
When Sephiroth was about to step over the bald giant's body and walk up to the stairway, his steps suddenly stopped.
Since Sephiroth woke up, his body had a craving for blood, which gave him an urge to suck blood.
He knew that he needed to suck blood to fully awaken the power of the Vampire Fruit!
Thinking of this, Sephiroth, who urgently needed to improve his combat power at the moment, didn't hesitate at all. As soon as he opened his mouth, two sharp fangs popped out from his upper teeth.
Then, he grabbed the bald giant's right arm and bit down hard.
Sizzle～!
The vampire fangs pierced through the skin and muscles. The moment he sucked in the blood, a ball of blood - red light suddenly burst around him.
Immediately, his figure and appearance changed!
The silver - haired teenager grew nearly thirty centimeters taller, going from his original height of around 1.6 meters to two meters. His eyes turned blood - red, his ears became long and narrow, and sharp long nails grew on his ten fingers. A pair of fleshy wings emerged from his back, with tiny bone joints on them. As long as he gently flapped his wings, he would be lifted into the air by a buoyant force.
The fleshy wings were utterly useless in the cramped cabin, and he clearly had no need for them...
As he thought about it, the fleshy wings instantly retracted, leaving no trace of their existence.
After Sephiroth sucked the blood, all the weakness and lethargy in his body caused by hunger vanished in an instant. Power surged continuously from every part of his body, giving him the urge to vent it out wantonly.
On the other side, after the bald burly man had his blood and vitality sucked away by the teenager, his whole body shriveled up. His skin was full of wrinkles, and his face instantly aged by more than thirty years, completely turning him into an old man on the verge of death.
This was the horror of the Vampire Fruit. Its user could plunder others' vitality to keep themselves in the healthiest and peak physical state forever.
Whoosh!
In his vampire form, his strength and speed were further enhanced. In the blink of an eye, he rushed to the upper level.
Sephiroth glanced around and found that it was a large room filled with water, food, and sundries. Two corpses had already fallen in a pool of blood.
The three women picked up long knives and guns from the two bodies and hid behind the cargo boxes.
When Sephiroth rushed out of the stairs, on the other side of the cabin, at the door, four black muzzles were pointed at him and the triggers were pulled.
Bang! Bang! Bang! …
In a hurry, the silver - haired teenager leaned sideways and hid behind a pile of cargo boxes.
During the dodge, a bullet grazed his left arm, and at first, a searing pain shot through his nerves, but after six or seven seconds, the pain disappeared without a trace.
Sephiroth raised his right hand and wiped his left arm. His palm was dripping with blood, but the wound on his left arm had already healed.
The Vampire Fruit allowed his body to regenerate at an extremely fast speed by consuming the vitality he had absorbed.
As long as he had enough vitality, he could continuously repair his physical injuries!
This terrifying healing ability was extremely powerful. It couldn't even be compared with the pinnacle of the [b]Life - Return[/b] technique extended from the Navy Six Styles.
Hearing the gunshots gradually stop, on the other side of the room, across from Sephiroth, Hancock threw a pistol over.
After Sephiroth hastily caught the pistol, he carefully examined its model. Judging from its appearance, the firearm in his hand looked very much like a flintlock pistol, but it was actually a cartridge pistol. Bullets could be loaded at the handle, and it was fully equipped with six rounds.
He opened the magazine and saw that there were still five bullets left.
Two people have died here, and one was knocked out downstairs. There were four people outside the opposite door, and the whereabouts of two others were unknown...
Sephiroth listened intently for the movement outside the door but still didn't detect the presence of the other two.
Faintly, he seemed to hear the sound of a magazine being ejected... They were reloading!
Thinking of this, the silver-haired youth quickly reached out his hand, poked his head out and took a glance. He found that two guys were still poking their heads out and aiming into this room.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled the trigger twice in a row.
Bang! Bang!
Bang!
The three gunshots rang out almost at the same time.
Immediately afterwards, there was a "thud!" outside the door, the sound of a body falling to the ground.
"Kevin! ... Kevin! ... Damned guy, I'm going to kill him!"
"Calm down!"
"Don't be impulsive!"
"The captain will be here soon. Calm down!"
Meanwhile, Sephiroth was hiding behind the cargo box. The corner of his eye twitched slightly as he looked at the wound on his wrist.
Just now, when he fired his gun, the enemy on the other side also shot him.
Seeing this, Boa Hancock frowned and asked with a concerned look:
"How's your injury?"
"It's no big deal... It just hurts like hell! ... Ow!"
Sephiroth gritted his teeth. He stretched out his index finger and thumb with his left hand, stabbed his long and thin fingernails into his wrist, and forcibly dug out the bullet inside.
As the blood-smeared bullet dropped onto the deck, he slumped back against the cargo box, completely spent.
With his vitality rapidly depleting, in just over a dozen seconds, the wound on the young man's left wrist had fully healed. His pale face due to the pain quickly regained its rosy color.
Although he could regenerate at a super-fast rate, it really hurt! ... Sephiroth muttered to himself as he reached out to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.