Mordred stood on a black reef, his right hand clenched tight.
The sensation of that power surging beneath his skin was intoxicating.
Ryuo.
It was the advanced technique countless powerhouses across these seas dreamed of mastering.
No longer mere hardened defense, but letting Haki flow like water, slipping past an enemy's skin to wreck their insides.
'With this, plus the Blacklight virus's tendril garrote…'
Mordred gazed at his palm, a glint flashing in his eyes.
Even Kaido's monstrous hide would finally take real damage.
'Hah…'
He exhaled a long breath, steadying the surge of excitement.
The wheel was still spinning.
The ten-draw pull—only two left.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: S-Rank Ninjutsu Scroll—Flying Thunder God Technique.]
[Source: Naruto World.]
[Description: Quit wasting time on boats—just tag a formula and, from the ends of the earth, arrive in a thought. The art of space-time, the Yellow Flash's signature move. Note: Extreme demands on reflexes and spatial sense; pair with Observation Haki.]
Mordred stared at the scroll that had appeared in his hand, stunned for a full three seconds.
Then, wild joy flooded his chest.
'Holy—!'
'Flying Thunder God?!'
Between the lines, he read only one word: invincible.
'Learn it!'
Without hesitation, he crushed the scroll.
Countless spatial-coordinate formulas and routes flooded his mind.
It felt like someone had shoved a dictionary into his skull, swelling until it hurt.
Yet within seconds the pain faded, replaced by a clarity about space he'd never known.
He picked up a pebble, condensed a black-red energy at his fingertip, and etched a tadpole-like formula on it.
'Off you go.'
With a flick, he sent the stone arcing a hundred meters toward the sea.
The instant it was about to hit—
He willed it.
Shuk!
The figure on the reef vanished.
In the next instant.
A hundred meters out, Mordred reappeared, his toes resting on the stone just before it sank.
No delay.
No trace.
True instant movement!
'Hahaha!'
Standing on the water, drunk on the thrill of teleportation, he burst into laughter.
'System—last one!'
'Come on!!'
The wheel spun madly for its final turn.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: B-Rank Character Card—Indra (Xu Fu).]
[Source: Wind and Cloud World.]
[Description: A Qin Dynasty alchemist who drank phoenix blood and became immortal. For centuries he toyed with the martial world under many names, calling himself a god. A thousand years of cultivation, myriad martial arts, creator of the divine Sacred Heart Art.]
[Special Abilities: Phoenix Blood (Immortality), Sacred Heart Art (Extreme-Yin Qi, Resurrection, Soul Exit), Sevenfold Void (Corporeal Dispersion), Unbound Celestial Step.]
'Damn…'
Mordred stared at the card: a man in an ice mask, his eyes disdainful of all life.
Indra!
The freak who lived two millennia, treated the martial world as his playground, and finally died by his own arrogance?
'This is only B-Rank?'
He could hardly believe it.
Yet thinking again, the top tiers of this pirate world were terrifying indeed.
Kaido's unkillable body, Whitebeard's island-shattering might—both were beyond mortal comprehension.
Indra might not match a full-power Admiral in raw destruction.
But!
The old monster had endless tricks!
'Sacred Heart Art…'
Mordred licked his lips.
A miracle that could bring back the dead; though limited, in a pinch, it was divine.
And his ice play was an art form.
He'd just fought the ice-wielding Admiral, and now he had pulled the ancestor of ice itself.
'System—extract the card.'
At his thought, a frost-laden card appeared, then dissolved into light that dove into his brow.
Boom!
An icy yet vibrant torrent of Qi exploded within.
A thousand years of cultivation!
His meridians felt stretched, every limb swollen with power demanding release.
The once-scalding blood tainted by the Blacklight virus now carried a coolness that sharpened his mind like never before.
In his mind, endless martial manuals flashed—Myriad Swords Return, Five Thunder Extremes, Celestial Illusion—until all settled on a single, crystal beating heart.
Sacred Heart Art!
Mordred's eyes snapped open.
His once-black pupils had turned an eerie white, with blizzards howling in their depths.
He lifted his right hand and clawed at the reef beneath him.
'Profound Ice Extinction.'
Cr-crack—
Without warning.
Moisture in the air crystallized.
Not like Kuzan's violent freeze, but finer, controlled.
The reef's surface grew layers of paper-thin ice that followed its every groove; in moments, the entire rock became an exquisite frozen sculpture.
Lifelike, divine craftsmanship.
'Kuzan's ice is raw cold that can freeze a tsunami—nature's might.'
'Indra's ice is Qi made form, a venom that invades meridians and freezes the soul.'
Mordred lowered his hand; the pale light in his eyes receded.
Two power systems, each supreme.
But for covert murder, the Sacred Heart Art won.
'What a haul.'
He rose, rolling his neck with a chorus of cracks.
The Blacklight virus gave him the strongest body and room for error.
Ryuo Haki filled his offensive gap.
The Flying Thunder God granted unbeatable mobility.
Now he also had Indra's millennium of skill and cunning.
This was a clean sweep.
Let's remember the Marines' contribution!
Salute!
North Blue, Marine warship deck.
Smoker puffed twin cigars, their embers flickering in the cold wind.
He held a sleeping Den Den Mushi as if it were a ticking bomb.
Not far behind him, Kuzan, the bastard, lay sprawled on a deck chair, eye-mask on, two steaming cups of tea at hand—an invalid with attitude.
'Hff…'
Smoker exhaled a thick cloud, his already sour face now dark enough to drip.
What had to come, would come.
He lifted a finger and dialed the direct line to the Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford.
Purupurupuru… Purupurupuru…
The Den Den Mushi rang twice before snapping awake.
Its face twisted into round glasses and a stern scowl.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
'Sengoku speaking.'