A dilapidated warship was sailing on the sea.
Blackbeard stood on the deck, a wild smile on his face, his heart filled with an boundless fighting spirit.
If one were to name the ultimate winner of this world-watched war at the summit, it would undoubtedly be him, Marshall D. Teach.
Not only had he found the powerful partners he desired, but he had also obtained Pops' strongest destructive power. He had even used the live broadcast of the public execution to spread his name throughout the seas, making it known to all.
Let the weak and boring common folk tremble in fear at the sound of his name.
Everything was developing in a good direction.
From this day forward, this sea would be his era!
As he was mentally planning the next steps for his crew, a jolt went through Blackbeard.
He sensed an inexplicable presence land on him, and it seemed to cut him, yet he felt no pain.
"What's going on? What happened?"
Blackbeard was startled, his face changing drastically as he looked around.
His actions immediately alerted the crew members around him.
The navigator, Laffitte, at his side, immediately asked with concern, "Captain, what happened?"
Blackbeard's face turned extremely ugly.
His physique was special, and with the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, he was crystal clear about the state of the fruits within his body.
But just now, after being cut, the ability of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit... had actually disappeared!
Seeing Blackbeard's state, the "Corrupt King" Avalo Pizarro had a smile full of ambition on his face. "Did you get seriously injured in the fight with Sengoku just now, nya? In that case, why don't you let me be the captain, nya."
Hearing this, an icy killing intent appeared on Laffitte's pale face, and he laughed sinisterly, "Hehe, our only captain is Captain Teach. If you dare say that again, I'll kill you, you know!"
A dispute arose among his comrades, and Blackbeard stepped in to mediate. "You two, stop it. We are all comrades."
At this moment, the smile full of ambition and arrogance returned to Blackbeard's face.
But his heart was filled with killing intent.
Without a doubt, his feeling just now was not wrong. He had been cut by someone and had the Tremor-Tremor Fruit stolen from him.
'Damn it, my new partners have just been gathered. I can't let this be known...'
"Damn bastard, who was it, and what kind of ability was it? Don't let me find you!"
While Blackbeard was seething with resentment, Kenma was currently seeking out the souls of those who had eaten Devil Fruits in their lives.
Since his new idea was feasible, he would take the opportunity to expand his gains.
Whether they were pirates or marines, as long as they had a fruit ability in life, Kenma would immediately sign a contract with them and then help them regain their ability.
But after a search, among so many souls, there were only a few ability users, and their abilities were not very strong, mostly Zoan and Paramecia types.
'No matter how small, every little bit counts.' Kenma was not one to be a picky eater.
Fugaku and Shisui, behind Kenma, saw this and couldn't help but exchange a glance, silently conveying their thoughts to each other with genjutsu.
[Shisui, I have a theory. Do you think the reason our Uchiha clan still has the Sharingan might be related to our lord's ability?]
[Indeed, Clan Head. I had the same thought.]
[Although I'm not entirely sure, it can't be easily dismissed... It's probably not just because our Uchiha clan mastered Yin Release...]
[Perhaps only our lord himself knows... No, to speak presumptuously, perhaps even he doesn't fully understand it yet.]
[Watch your words, Shisui.]
After helping these souls find their abilities one after another, a clear look of exhaustion appeared on Kenma's face.
Shisui quickly stepped forward to support him, his face full of concern. "My lord, are you alright?"
Kenma gently pushed Shisui away, rubbing his temples, forcing himself to suppress the mental fatigue.
"It's nothing. I'll be fine after a little rest."
Hearing this, Fugaku's and Shisui's expressions tensed. They stood guard on his left and right, their gazes intentionally or unintentionally falling on the group of souls.
Their lord was in a weakened state. It was always right to be cautious.
"Woohoo~"
A figure of fire landed on Whitebeard, transforming into Ace's form.
He had an excited smile on his face.
"Pops, Great Boss, my ability is no different from when I was alive. I can burn and create fire, and even turn into an element."
The "Great Boss" Ace referred to was naturally Kenma.
He was a crew member of Whitebeard, so Whitebeard was his leader.
And Whitebeard's current leader was Kenma, so Kenma was his boss's boss.
After getting Kenma's approval, Ace had started calling him that.
At Kenma's suggestion, he had Ace test his ability to see if there was any difference from when he was alive.
After playing around for a bit, Ace felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, and more than half of his vigorous energy was gone.
"Just using my ability like this, why do I feel so tired? I didn't even exert myself."
If he were alive, it would be no problem for him to burn for seven days and seven nights. But now, with just a little movement, he was exhausted.
Could it be because he was dead?
After Ace voiced his doubts, Kenma, while recovering his own spirit, confirmed, "That's natural. After all, you are already dead."
'Isn't the Uchiha clan the same?'
After death, when they used the Sharingan again, the energy consumed was no longer chakra, but spiritual pressure.
He figured it was the same for Ace and Whitebeard.
As for why there was such a transformation, Kenma was still studying it.
However, according to his prediction, it was highly likely related to the connection ability of his Zanpakuto, Kiritsugu.
After signing the contract, the original abilities of these people had undergone some kind of change, becoming more adapted to the Reishi environment of the Soul Society.
Of course, this was just his guess.
Seeing the fatigue on Ace's face lessen somewhat, and having recovered a lot of his own spirit, Kenma decided not to linger any longer.
"It's about time. We should be returning to the Soul Society."
Hearing Kenma's words, Whitebeard and the others naturally had no objections.
But Shisui and the others at the side all showed looks of difficulty.
"My lord, the souls here are huge. I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to enter the Senkaimon, especially..."
Shisui looked to the side. Kenma followed his gaze and saw the mountain-like giant, Oz Jr.
The Senkaimon was only a little over two and a half meters high. Although Whitebeard was tall, he could squeeze through.
But Oz Jr.'s height was estimated to be at least forty meters. How would he get through?
Kenma had already considered this and was naturally prepared.
"Although Oz Jr. is huge, his soul mass is very small. He can be completely sealed with kido."
He took out a thumb-sized glass sphere from his pocket and handed it to Shisui.
"Inscribed in this sphere is a special type of sealing kido that I had Kōga make. It can be used to contain a giant like Oz Jr."
"Shisui, you need to input spiritual pressure and then throw it at him to complete the seal."
Shisui took the small sphere, and with a whoosh, his figure instantly left the spot.
Kenma had the surrounding souls clear a space, then once again drew the Zanpakuto from his waist and swung it at the void.
"Sever, Kiritsugu!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]