The next day, news spread throughout the town that a great pirate, a Devil Fruit Ability User, had been killed.
This brought a sigh of relief to all the residents of the town. After a funeral was held for the few families who were victims in the town, the Marine even received a commendation flag titled "Punishing Evil" jointly made by the town's residents.
This left Tashigi and the other Marines who received the small flag speechless. To appease everyone, they couldn't say much.
"Major Smoker, what exactly happened? These people had almost no signs of resistance, they were all killed instantly?"
Looking at the several pirate corpses in the morgue, whose heads had been severed from their bodies, Tashigi asked her superior.
No one knew who did this good deed, killing a Devil Fruit Ability User and also these pirates who were hiding around the town causing destruction and revenge.
Smoker exhaled a smoke ring from his mouth before beginning his analysis:
"These pirates were all killed by having their heads directly cut off. One of them was a Devil Fruit Ability User with the Silence-Silence Fruit, with a bounty of 5 million Berries. The combined bounty of these pirates exceeds 10 million Berries."
"The person who attacked these pirates is either a master swordsman or also a Devil Fruit Ability User, possessing the ability to kill several people in an instant."
"The other party might have some personal grudge with these pirates, and they themselves should be a pirate who doesn't want to be seen, otherwise, they wouldn't forgo the bounty."
"The identity of this sneak attacker will likely be difficult to investigate. We just need to report the matter to the higher-ups."
Tashigi nodded, pushing up the glasses on her nose: "Are there any other pirates hiding in the town?"
Smoker shook his head: "After this incident, there shouldn't be any pirates left in Orange Town… The rumors about Golden Island are intensifying, and pirates in the East Blue are now all searching for Golden Island, and have already gathered there. Next, we Marines will wipe out all these guys."
"Tashigi, prepare yourself. Tomorrow we will set sail for Golden Island to wipe out all these pirates."
Tashigi saluted, looking at the beloved enchanted sword in her hand: "Little Blood Flower, we have pirates to cut down again!"
...
Spring in the East Blue was sunny and beautiful, with lush greenery, and the warm breeze made one slightly tipsy.
Orange Town had returned to tranquility, and Martin's daily life had also become much calmer. He forged knives, practiced martial arts, and took walks with his beloved wife after dinner, enjoying the wonderful time after marriage.
The peaceful and comfortable life made him feel as if he was in paradise; whether working or practicing martial arts, he felt particularly energetic.
Indeed, a life with a wife and a warm bed can truly make a man completely fall into contentment.
Ding ding ding...
In the workshop, as Martin hammered strike after strike, a fiery red iron blade instantly burst apart, turning into a ball of orange-red flame that dissipated into nothingness.
"Failed again. It's really difficult to forge an Excellent Quick Blade using the ordinary forging method. The success rate is less than one-twentieth."
Looking at the entirely red fragments in front of him, Martin couldn't help but stretch.
In recent days, he had been trying to forge Excellent Quick Blades using ordinary steel ingots.
Due to the lack of jade steel and necessary forging methods, his success rate for forging Excellent Quick Blades was actually very low. This was limited by materials and technical knowledge, making the forging process very strenuous.
Currently, swords are in high demand. If he could forge higher quality Good Swords, the price would be significantly higher than before.
He wanted to take advantage of the sword's popularity to make a few Excellent Quick Blades and sell them while prices were high, making a substantial profit.
Additionally, for a Knife Craftsman, forging an Excellent Quick Blade is actually a challenge and a form of tempering.
One should know that as long as he can forge an Excellent Quick Blade, he can join the ranks of master craftsmen.
Now, this plan can be put on hold until he hears from Tashigi and gets his hands on jade steel.
Actually, he could also try to use the Zanpakuto forging method to forge enchanted swords. Zanpakuto are unique, and subsequent Zanpakuto forged are all 'Castrated version' (literally 'castrated versions'), which are merely superficial, seemingly unable to carry Devil Fruit Power, possessing only a special evil charm and significantly reduced quality.
However, enchanted swords are expensive; even the most basic enchanted sword is worth over a million.
In that case, it would be better to sell enchanted swords to make money and explore the enchanted sword forging method at the same time.
Martin thought carefully, then re-ignited the iron block and began forging an enchanted sword.
Besides requiring different hammering techniques from the Knife Craftsman, forging an enchanted sword only required adding one's own blood during the forging process; other aspects had no major requirements.
The enchanted sword forged from ordinary steel ingots had a quality similar to an ordinary Good Sword, so the forging speed was relatively fast.
Adhering to the principle of only forging defective products and not seeking a perfect Zanpakuto, Martin's forging process this time was very smooth.
As the hammer continuously fell, a fiery red enchanted sword quickly took shape. Immediately after, Martin pricked his finger, letting drops of fresh blood fall onto the fiery red blade, which sizzled and emitted a peculiar red smoke.
After the fresh blood was sprinkled, the blade trembled slightly, as if activating some kind of power. After repeated hammering and quenching, a brand new enchanted sword was successfully forged.
This enchanted sword was identical to the previous one, with an evil, charming bloodline on the blade. The bloodline on the blade showed a series of petal shapes, making it even more perfect than the first enchanted sword.
"Judging by its quality, it's a fine Good Sword, much better than the last one."
"It took less than four hours, which is quite fast."
Martin's Good Sword forging technique was now increasingly refined, coupled with the support of his strong physique. If he focused on forging, he could basically forge a high-quality Good Sword in three to four hours, so his productivity was unmatched by ordinary Knife Craftsmen.
Just as he was carefully examining the blade, he discovered a problem: a line of text appeared on the enchanted sword: [Blade imbued with Flower-Flower Fruit Power]
"What? A blade imbued with Flower-Flower Fruit Power?"
Martin summoned his red book and immediately checked his Devil Fruit Power.
His current Flower-Flower Fruit Power had accumulated to 98, of which 90 points were given to Senbonzakura. The 8 points of Flower-Flower Fruit Power he personally possessed were the result of diligent cultivation over the past week. At this moment, only 3 points of Flower-Flower Fruit Power remained, and the other 5 points had vanished.
Strange!
It seems the fresh blood he just sprinkled absorbed all the contained Flower-Flower Fruit Power.
He never expected that his 'castrated version' Zanpakuto forging could absorb Devil Fruit Power.
Martin tried swinging the blade but found nothing unusual; the feel was similar to an ordinary blade.
He went to the sword-testing post and swung the sword forcefully, splitting the wooden post in front of him into two halves with a single, clean cut, again with nothing unusual.
Wait!
Martin observed carefully and suddenly noticed something unusual: at the cut surfaces of the two broken wooden posts, there were petal-shaped wounds, and they were all in a blooming state.
"This is a special ability similar to the Flower-Flower Fruit!"
Martin guessed what it was.
This sword was different from the first enchanted sword. Although it wasn't a Zanpakuto, this type of enchanted sword seemed capable of absorbing some Flower-Flower Fruit Power, giving the blade some special effects. After striking a target, it could even produce a flower-blooming effect at the cut.
This was simply too special!
This sword would probably sell for a lot of money, but then the problem arose.
Who could afford this sword?
Kim, the second-hand dealer?
Better not. If he wanted to expand his business, he needed to access more channels.
As Martin was thinking about how to sell this sword, there was a knock on the workshop door, and someone shouted: "Master Martin, is Master Martin there?"
It seemed like business was coming his way.
As soon as he opened the outer gate of the workshop, he saw six or seven people standing outside, each holding a gift box, with smiles on their faces. The moment they saw him, they all bowed ninety degrees.
The leader was none other than the workshop's first customer, "Swordsman Jason."
The other party led the bow and said: "Master Martin, we are here to request swords!"