Chapter 106: Immense Power
Training Ground,
Sword Qi crisscrossing, cold light gleaming.
This was a very “beautiful” battle. The swordsman’s features were handsome, his swordsmanship elegant and graceful. Even the blood splattering onto the ground seemed to hide some elusive beauty. Beneath this captivating beauty, the surging killing intent was utterly terrifying.
Cavendish was a genius in swordsmanship. From childhood, he had gripped the sword hilt, spending nearly twenty years with it as his companion. Then he set out to sea, experiencing countless battles, traveling from Paradise all the way to the New World. Through repeated combats and tempering, he was not far from the Swordsman Realm.
However,
Many years ago, Kurosel was already a swordsman. The outcome of this battle was destined from the start. Even his alternate personality could not reverse the defeat, and moreover, Cavendish could not casually enter his alternate personality state.
Of course, Cavendish had great potential. Give him a few more years, let him suffer more setbacks in this New World, and he should be able to catch up to Kurosel. As for surpassing Kurosel, who was stuck below the Great Swordsman realm… it was hard to say if he could achieve it in this lifetime. Reaching the Great Swordsman level was not so easy.
There were no shortage of experts at the Swordsman Realm in the New World, but the only active Great Swordsmen were Hawk Eyes and Red-Haired.
The so-called Great Swordsman meant standing at the peak of this world. That was power comparable to the Four Emperors and Generals. Countless swordsmen spent their lives unable to glimpse the path to Great Swordsman, remaining trapped in confusion and reluctance for life.
The battle on the field was in full swing. Cavendish was clearly at a disadvantage. Even though it was swordsmanship of the same origin, different lives and experiences created different styles. Cavendish’s attacks were extremely aggressive, his intense desire for showmanship on full display.
However, Cavendish’s attacks did not yield the ideal results. The same swordsmanship in Kurosel’s hands was like a rose wrapped in thorns—beneath the gorgeous exterior were sharp, piercing spines. Not only were Cavendish’s attacks ineffective, he often ended up covered in wounds.
The time the two had clashed was neither long nor short.
Kurosel had only used swordsmanship to meet him, without using Haki to bully him, so Cavendish had not been defeated at the start. This swordsmanship showdown had already lasted eight minutes.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
Kurosel asked as he swung his sword.
Cavendish did not answer—not because he did not want to, but because all his energy was focused on the battle. He could not spare the attention to respond to Kurosel’s question. Of course, silence itself was an answer. Receiving this answer, Kurosel slowly raised his eyebrows.
That was enough!
This challenge could pretty much come to an end.
“Beautiful Sword · Water Nymph.”
Kurosel unleashed a sword strike like mercury spilling to the ground, its pervasive sword light shining into Cavendish’s eyes.
He lost!
The suddenly doubled pain on his body made Cavendish’s dazed mind realize the current situation. He knew the “Water Nymph” strike too, so he was very clear on what he looked like after being hit by it. He had lost. His body could no longer hold on through willpower alone. He did not even have the strength to swing his sword anymore; just keeping his grip was already exhausting his remaining strength.
Most importantly, his consciousness was gradually blurring.
However,
He struggled to widen his eyes, looking at Kurosel who was sheathing his sword across from him, and said:
“Next time… I will win.”
Then, with a “bang,” the unconscious Cavendish collapsed onto the Training Ground, Durandal still tightly gripped in his hand from start to finish without letting go.
His shirt, long stained red with fresh blood, completely tore open, revealing the gruesome, spiderweb-like wounds covering his chest and arms. Fresh blood sprayed out like fountains from those wounds of all sizes, slowly flowing to the ground and pooling into a terrifying bloodstain beneath him.
If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would have been mistaken for a corpse.
“Captain!”
“Captain, you’re not dead, right?”
“Where’s the doctor? Where did the doctor go? Hurry… hurry and save him!!!”
The members of the Beautiful Pirates huddled in the corner of the Training Ground saw Cavendish fall and immediately exploded into action. They rushed forward in a chaotic scramble. Their ship doctor slid forward on his knees, reaching Cavendish’s side first.
As an experienced former emergency doctor, he first checked Cavendish’s condition and found that his captain’s injuries looked scary but had no fatal wounds. The loss of consciousness was simply due to excessive blood loss.
Of course, excessive blood loss beyond limits could still be fatal. He had to stop the bleeding first.
“Go, check on that kid.”
Kurosel waved his hand, directing a medical team that had appeared at the edge of the Training Ground at some point to assist the Beautiful Pirates’ ship doctor in stopping Cavendish’s bleeding and transfusing blood. Once his injuries were under control, he was sent to the hospital.
This challenge thus came to a close. Cavendish lay in the hospital for half a day and one night. By the next morning, he was lively and bouncing again. The vitality of humans in this world was just that unreasonable—as long as there were no missing limbs, lying in bed for two days would turn him into a lively and vigorous man again.
After recovering, Cavendish sought out Kurosel once more, swearing that the next challenge would not require him to hold back. He would snatch the title of Beautiful Sword, and so on. Then he was chased away by Kurosel.
The Beautiful Pirates stayed on Bikahi Island for over half a month, mainly busy repairing their pirate ship that was falling apart. Pursued by Zephyr like a dog chasing a rabbit all the way, the ship was badly damaged. Without a major overhaul, another New World storm or two would likely scatter it for good.
During this time, Cavendish wandered the long street outside the Royal Palace many times but ultimately could not muster the courage to challenge the Black Prince in the Royal Palace.
At the end of the day, Cavendish was a pirate. Regardless of his relationship with Kurosel, as a pirate who had landed on Bikahi Island, all his actions were under surveillance. Intelligence of his lingering outside the Royal Palace reached Elus immediately. Kurosel even specially sought out Elus, fearing he would anger him and have this nephew who could inherit the Beautiful Sword name executed.
He was unsure if his fellow disciples had trained more outstanding students. So far, he had taught many students, but none as outstanding as Cavendish. To prevent the Beautiful Sword name from dimming, he had to help a genius junior like this when possible.
Of course, up until their departure, Cavendish only wandered outside the Royal Palace. The situation Kurosel worried about did not occur.
Once the pirate ship repairs were finished, the Beautiful Pirates finally bid farewell to Coffee City.
“Beautiful Sword…”
Cavendish stood on the dock, looking back at the city behind him and the Royal Palace on the distant hill. He secretly gripped Durandal’s hilt tightly. He lost this time, but next time he would definitely win. “Wait and see! The title of [Beautiful Sword] will be mine sooner or later.”
However, that was only for Beautiful Sword.
His gaze looked toward that white Royal Palace, where the Black Prince sat.
Yet he could not muster any courage to challenge him. That was a monster beyond his reach.
“Captain, we’re setting off. Hurry and board the ship.”
The crew members shouted.
“Coming.”
Cavendish leaped aboard the pirate ship. He affectionately patted the head of White Horse Falulu who came over, then strode forward, directing his partners to begin operations. Propelled by the sea breeze, the pirate ship gradually left Bikahi Island behind, heading to their next destination guided by the Log Pose.
······
“White Horse Cavendish, isn’t it a pity to just let him go like this? Why not try to make him stay?”
“Not the right time yet.”
Elus stood by the window side, looking at the scenery outside. “As long as Beautiful Sword remains, White Horse will eventually return. And… Father, I don’t lack capable subordinates right now. Of course, more good hands like this are always better, but the current White Horse is still too green, and his wildness hasn’t been worn down much. Rather than forcing him to submit, it’s better to tame him slowly later.”
“El, your thinking is fine, but the premise is that he survives. If he dies halfway, you’ll get nothing.” His Majesty the King said.
“Even if he stays, he might die. To grow stronger, how can he avoid risks?” As for the Hogyoku, Elus was not generous enough to freely provide this extraordinary power to all subordinates. Isca was a special case, partly because it involved Fire Fist, the True Chosen One.
But the greater reason was Elus’s mischievous nature at play. He wanted to see what kind of future Ace and Isca would have…
“Since you’re really prepared to go against… that thing, you must utilize every available power. Facing such a colossal entity, even a little more preparation is good.” His Majesty the King paused, not directly saying “World Government” but referring to it as “that.”
From the moment he failed to dissuade Elus from his overly mad idea, he stopped persuading him to stay put. Knowing Elus could not live a life of domination in the Eckmond Kingdom’s own territory, he simply switched positions, urging Elus to expand his power as much as possible.
White Horse · Cavendish,
From the moment he learned this Pirate Supernova was connected to Kurosel, he had been thinking of pulling this Supernova to their side. Unfortunately, Elus showed little interest, leaving His Majesty the King sighing repeatedly. He had nagged about it countless times these past days.
Elus’s ears were practically calloused.
“Father, there’s new progress from the laboratory.”
To end this topic, Elus revealed the news he had received just yesterday.
“Progress on the research on Skadi Island?” Sure enough, hearing this, His Majesty the King perked up and looked over immediately.
Although he was the king, he had not interfered with the laboratory on Skadi Island, only vaguely knowing that the mad scientist Caesar was conducting some remarkable research.
“Yes, the research on Artificial Devil Fruits finally has some headway. Last night, they successfully created one Artificial Devil Fruit, though production efficiency is low. Caesar is researching improvements to production technology. The next goal is to increase the output of Artificial Devil Fruits.”
Elus was in a very good mood.
With Artificial Devil Fruits, he could choose to sell them for massive wealth or, like Beasts, build an army entirely composed of Ability Users. Either way, it would further expand his influence.
“Artificial Devil Fruit…”
His Majesty the King’s head was spinning a bit.
It was not that his willpower was insufficient; the impact was just too great. He knew full well what Devil Fruits meant. On this sea, Devil Fruits were the embodiment of power. Even the cheapest could sell for at least 100 million Beli.
In reality, however, Devil Fruits were often available but priceless—you could not buy them whenever you wanted. The Eckmond Kingdom’s accumulation over more than two hundred years had only yielded eight Devil Fruits in the Royal Palace, all ordinary Zoan Devil Fruits.
On the Black Market, whenever a Devil Fruit appeared, it could basically sell for over 300 million Beli.
At an auction, the price would double and keep rising.
“You actually, you really… El, you really… made an Artificial Devil Fruit?” His Majesty the King asked cautiously, somewhat incredulously, fearing Elus would say “just kidding” the next second.
Fortunately,
Elus nodded vigorously.
“That’s right. The laboratory has already produced an Artificial Devil Fruit, personally confirmed by Kappas. Of course, since production technology still needs improvement, to prevent the intelligence from leaking, it’s still stored in the laboratory! Once the second, third, or even more Artificial Devil Fruits are made, Father, you can see them with your own eyes.”
“No need for that. I’ve seen the Artificial Devil Fruit you have.” His Majesty the King shook his head. “Artificial Devil Fruit… I never thought it could really be made. El, how do you plan to use them?”
“Well, probably… build an Ability User legion like Beasts?”
Elus said uncertainly. He rubbed his chin, thinking as he spoke: “It’s a bit early to say now. It’s not certain yet if the Devil Fruits Caesar made actually work. We’ll do more experiments and see the results.”
