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Chapter 54: Terrifying Killing Intent! The Five Elders' Miscalculation
Wood Release—Tree Sea Birth.
A technique capable of creating a small-scale forest within an area.
It shares similarities with Tree World Descent, but the only difference is that its range is very small—even smaller than Lotte's Pseudo Tree World Descent.
However, Lotte had no intention of exhausting his stamina so early.
So this was the most suitable choice.
At the same time,
As the towering giant trees pierced through the venue,
The people inside instantly showed expressions of panic and chaos.
"What… what is this?!"
"There's a Devil Fruit user?! Who is bold enough to do this?!"
"There are Celestial Dragons here!"
Their hearts were filled with terror. After all, the entire auction venue currently had Celestial Dragons present!
If anyone dared harm a Celestial Dragon here,
Neither Marine Headquarters nor the World Government would ever let them go?!
Could there really be someone besides the Rocks Pirates who dared to act against Celestial Dragons?!
But before they could even resist, these powerful figures from the four seas and various affiliated nations—
Were instantly bound tightly by the branches of the towering trees.
"Wood Release—Silent Killing Technique."
Accompanied by a voice coming from afar,
Three figures gradually emerged from the rising dust. When their appearances became clear, everyone in the room swallowed in absolute fear.
"This… this is impossible!"
"Why are cadres from the Rocks Pirates here?!"
"And it's that Tree Demon Lotte—the great pirate with a bounty over 1 billion at less than twenty years old, a complete monster!"
How unlucky could they be?!
Everyone knew that Tree Demon Lotte was currently one of the hottest names in the New World—the madman who dared slay a World Noble Celestial Dragon!
He was someone they absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Even if he killed them right in front of everyone, no one would dare seek revenge!
Lotte appeared together with Redfield.
As for the strongest among them, Whitebeard,
Lotte had arranged for him to go capture the Celestial Dragon and deal with him along the way.
In his escape plan,
He still needed this useless Celestial Dragon to stay alive for a bit longer.
Hearing the panicked shouts around him, Lotte couldn't help but frown slightly.
"No one move. Stay right where you are."
"Anyone who speaks out of turn dies."
As soon as the voice fell,
The entire interior of the venue instantly fell deathly silent.
Everyone obediently shut their mouths—no one wanted to become a corpse under the blade.
Lotte nodded in satisfaction.
He glanced at Redfield beside him and instructed him to handle the treasures.
Then, without hesitation, he walked toward the stage.
Lotte calmly approached the front of the stage. The auctioneer naturally didn't dare say a word and obediently kept his mouth shut.
Compared to money, his own life was far more important.
Lotte walked up to the long box. Under the terrified gazes of the two women,
He slowly reached out and gripped Shodai Kitetsu!
Swoosh!
An endless wave of bloody killing intent transmitted from the hilt—like it came straight from a slaughterhouse—making hearts tremble in fear, as though plunging into an abyss of ice!
That bone-chilling coldness
Even made Lotte want to let go for a moment.
But he understood that if he released it, he would completely lose any chance of conquering this demon blade. So he forcefully resisted, steadied his breathing,
Then his eyes flashed with sharp light as a scorching heat surged throughout his body.
Sun Breathing—activated!
The blazing aura rising from his body continuously melted away the coldness brought by Shodai Kitetsu, allowing Lotte to gradually adapt.
"Ha—!"
With Lotte's low, fierce shout!
The arm gripping Shodai Kitetsu suddenly lifted the demon blade in one powerful motion.
Along with the bone-piercing cold came an overwhelming surge of killing intent—probably anyone below Admiral level would be unable to resist this impulse.
Instead, they would be driven mad by the blade!
Truly worthy of being called one of the legendary Supreme Grade Swords—the foremost among demon blades!
If not for Lotte having Flame King and Sun Breathing to suppress it, he probably would have fallen to it just now.
A smile curled on Lotte's lips.
In his hand, the dark purple hilt and scabbard gradually faded in color, turning into a simple, pure white—revealing the true appearance of this demon blade.
The pattern on the hilt matched that of the later Nidai Kitetsu and Sandai Kitetsu.
It was identical to the one held by one of the Five Elders in later years.
Lotte's lips curled into a slight smile. With one hand gripping the pure white hilt, he drew the blade.
The flawless, gleaming blade flashed with dazzling light. Though there was still a faint, almost imperceptible demonic purple glow along the edge,
This was already enough to prove
That Lotte had now completely suppressed Shodai Kitetsu!
...
Holy Land Mary Geoise.
The Five Elders were currently enjoying afternoon tea. The long-bearded Elder at the head noticed a detail and smiled faintly as he asked the bald Elder.
"What's wrong? Has your demon blade run off again?"
"Starting to throw a tantrum?"
As a legendary demon blade,
Not only was it extremely picky about its master, but it also required periodic bloodshed.
Otherwise, the erupting killing intent would engulf all of Mary Geoise.
Such a thing absolutely could not be allowed to happen.
The bald Elder took a sip of tea.
"It's nothing. It's been suppressed here for too long—I let it go to Sabaody Archipelago to see some blood."
"Mary Geoise can't tolerate its tantrums, and I can't leave casually."
"Anyway, once it's had its fun, it'll come back."
His tone was filled with confidence.
After all, Shodai Kitetsu was a Supreme Grade Sword. Only the strongest great swordsmen could wield it. Even if left outside, it would return to its master.
The mere pirates on Sabaody would only be corrupted by its killing intent and turned into slaughter machines.
Then he could just send the stationed Marine Admiral to clean up afterward.
As usual, it would all be taken care of.
The long-bearded Elder shrugged.
Anyway, among the World Government's treasures collected over hundreds of years, a Supreme Grade Sword wasn't the only one.
Let it cause trouble if it wants.
As long as it didn't fall into the hands of Tree Demon Lotte, it was fine.
Buru buru buru—!
Just as the two were talking,
The Den Den Mushi on the table suddenly rang urgently—an emergency report from Marine Headquarters.
The bald Elder raised an eyebrow.
"Could they have tracked down Tree Demon Lotte and Whitebeard?"
He reached out and answered the Den Den Mushi. After listening to a few sentences of the report, his expression changed dramatically.
Tree Demon Lotte and Whitebeard had invaded the auction together?
Their target… could it be?!
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