A moment later.
"You accelerated the division of your internal cells!" Aeridar said in horror. "And you did it by overdrafting all of your life force! Otherwise, you couldn't have achieved such a dramatic result!"
"Oh~ So the principle is called 'accelerating cell division'!" Redfield, who appeared to be in his late fifties again, sounded enlightened. "It seems the human body holds many more secrets... what a pity…"
"Worthy of a peak-level master of martial arts, to stumble upon this technique on your own." Aeridar's face was grim as he stared coldly at Redfield.
He was proficient in Rokushiki and had mastered Life Return, allowing him to consciously control any part of his body. Still, he envied the regenerative abilities of Charlotte Katakuri.
However, that type of regeneration came with too high a risk. Although he later developed biological weapons with powerful regenerative capabilities, he didn't want to mess up his own body, so he never pursued that method for himself.
On one chance occasion, he recalled the existence of long-lived races in the world, such as Giants and the Calamodus, so he instructed Dalt to study the secrets of their longevity.
In pursuit of eternal life, Aeridar also studied human biology, learned about cells, and developed a highly plausible method for extending life.
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of an organism. All known life forms, with the exception of viruses, are composed of cells, and even viral life activities must take place within cells.
When an organism is injured, it heals slowly—this is the self-division of cells. Both Aeridar and Redfield accelerated cell division to rapidly heal and regenerate wounds.
The method Aeridar developed was inspired by the Daoist principle of refining vital essence into vital energy from his past life knowledge.
People in the One Piece world all possess incredibly strong physiques; a child could almost match an adult on Earth. Especially the powerhouses, who eat massive amounts. Even many regular pirates, through eating and ordinary training alone, can reach superhuman levels. This is likely because their bodies easily absorb the nutrients contained within food, making physical transformation easy to achieve.
Therefore, through the conscious control of Life Return, Aeridar expended great effort to finally reach the point where he could consciously manipulate his own cells.
He then consumed various foods, rapidly absorbed the nutrients within them, and stored them in every cell of his body, saturating each cell with vitality and energy.
Finally, by studying the bodies of other long-lived races and combining that with his own condition, Aeridar constantly adjusted the physical changes with his consciousness, making his body increasingly powerful and full of life force.
However, the number of times human cells can divide is limited. Excessive division shortens one's lifespan. Therefore, Aeridar used the vitality stored within the cells to compensate for the damage caused during the division process.
This is why Aeridar dared to accelerate cell division to rapidly heal wounds. He believed that if he continuously made every cell more vibrant, a qualitative change would eventually occur, breaking the limit on cell division and leading to evolution and eternal life.
Evolution and eternal life! This was Aeridar's ultimate goal!
Of course, Aeridar still had a long way to go to achieve both.
But Redfield, at his advanced age and with such severe injuries, was able to fully recover his wounds and restore himself to near-youth in a single burst. This level of cell division essentially overdrafted all of his life force. This was only possible due to his monstrously powerful body; a normal person would have suffered total cellular failure and died before the wounds could fully heal.
Sshkt!
Redfield clenched his hand, actually crushing the air itself.
"I feel... so powerful now!"
The sudden return to his prime left him somewhat intoxicated.
"Damn it!"
Aeridar gritted his teeth, feeling that things had gone far beyond his expectation.
Although he knew this state wouldn't last long and that Redfield would die once it wore off, this was not the outcome Aeridar wanted. Not only was he facing a terrifyingly strong Red Count in his prime, but Aeridar wanted a heavily injured, unconscious Redfield, not a corpse.
If he were alive, Aeridar could have Pudding reweave his memories and have Dalt and the others perform various modifications on him. In short order, a powerful humanoid killing machine would be produced, adding a strong asset to the Chris Pirates.
Alas, the outcome Aeridar desired was now impossible, and he had to focus on defending against attack and destruction.
"Hmm?!"
Suddenly, Redfield frowned, muttering, "This feeling... is this the price? It seems time is short!"
He picked up his fallen long umbrella with the bat handle, and a pitch-black metallic color instantly coated it.
Boom!
In an instant, Redfield flashed away in a streak of blood-light, leaving only a crack in the ground where he stood.
The long umbrella was like a sword, stabbing directly towards Aeridar's head.
Clang!
Aeridar's punch connected squarely with the tip of the umbrella. A tremendous force was driven into the ground, causing the earth beneath their feet to immediately collapse into a depression. The fierce shockwave spread outward, turning into a powerful current of air that swept the surroundings.
Countless black-red lightning bolts danced wildly in the air, and a massive hole appeared in the thick clouds above.
The next moment, Aeridar twisted his waist and delivered a sweeping kick, fast and fierce like a black whip, letting out a sharp shriek as it tore the air.
Clang!
The iron-hard whip-kick struck Redfield's long umbrella. The resulting impact turned into a violent whirlwind, and the immense power forced Redfield to retreat backward.
"Still that same monstrous strength!" Redfield grinned.
"Tch!" Aeridar's expression turned uglier.
"Crimson Solitude!!" Redfield flicked his long umbrella, unleashing a crimson, sharp blood-light.
"End this quickly!"
Having made up his mind, Aeridar clenched his fist, and a pale white pressure field enveloped it.
Crack!
He punched out, and the air seemed to shatter like glass, with cracks appearing in the atmosphere. The intense tremor force rapidly transmitted forward through the air.
RUMBLE…
The scarlet, sharp blood-light hung suspended in mid-air for a second before instantly shattering and dissipating into scattered red light. Meanwhile, the powerful tremor force continued its path forward, cracking the earth and destroying everything in its way.
"Newgate's tremor power is as formidable as ever!" Redfield remarked, as if in admiration. He twisted his body, and the long umbrella in his hand instinctively slashed backward.
Shua!
The invisible slash left a long fissure hundreds of meters away on the ground.
"Let's see where you'll hide this time! High-Frequency Vibration Black Blade!!!"
Closing the distance to Redfield, Aeridar straightened his right arm, holding his hand vertically like a blade. Pitch-black like metal, the blade carried a subtle, almost invisible tremor.
Pfff!
The pitch-black hand-blade was like an impossibly sharp edge, instantly ripping through the Armament Haki defense on the pirate's chest and piercing his breastplate. Hot blood splashed onto the ground.
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