"Lord Jack, there's no time to waste—hurry and find Lord Kaido…" Black Charcoal Serpent urged, not daring to show the slightest negligence.
Before Black Charcoal Serpent could finish, Jack grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground!
"Lord Jack, what… what are you doing?" Black Charcoal Serpent's face twisted in fear as he looked at the enraged Jack.
He knew very well that Jack's personality was extremely extreme and volatile—he was capable of anything!
Jack took a deep breath, veins bulging on his forehead as he roared, "You, Black Charcoal Serpent, actually dared to play tricks on me!"
Black Charcoal Serpent's face instantly drained of color. "Lord Jack, it's a huge misunderstanding!"
"Hmph… In Wano, you actually have such powerful ronin!" Jack growled.
"Lord Jack, I truly didn't lie to you. I really had no idea about this. Please don't be angry…" Black Charcoal Serpent's mind was buzzing loudly.
Jack sighed and subconsciously touched the spot where his braided hair used to be, now gone. "This won't do. You stay and hold Wano at all costs. Do not let that bastard who calls himself Ryuma escape."
"Yes, yes, yes." Black Charcoal Serpent nodded quickly like a pecking chick until Jack finally left.
Watching Jack walk away, Black Charcoal Serpent finally exhaled and his expression brightened.
"What kind of person dares to be so bold—grave robbing, impersonating Ryuma, and possessing such immense power?" Black Charcoal Serpent muttered inwardly. "No matter who you are, you've crossed the wrong people… Next time we meet, you won't escape!"
...
Ryuma fought his way through, slaying many members of the Beasts Pirates before finally taking refuge in a ruined village.
From his understanding of Wano, years ago Kaido brutally exploited the land. Now, Wano had become a living hell. Only the Flower Capital remained intact. Everywhere else was devastated—people lived in misery, and the abandoned lands had turned to moss-covered ruins.
"There!"
At that moment, Ryuma heard voices again. Looking up, it was the pursuing Beasts Pirates!
Ryuma glanced back. With no escape route, he had no choice but to eliminate them all on the spot.
Ryuma snorted coldly, "You've been chasing me all this way without noticing most of your comrades are already dead? And you still have the nerve to come here?"
The Beasts Pirates exchanged uneasy glances but surged forward like killing machines.
Ryuma cut down foes one after another. Though not all his techniques were flawless, he was more than capable of defeating his enemies.
With a mighty roar, Ryuma's sword trembled slightly. Hundreds of dragons formed from sword energy shot forth!
The sword-formed dragons, like real beasts, tore into the pirates relentlessly.
In the end, those men lay on the ground, breathless.
Ryuma bellowed, "You thieves should have thought twice before coming to Wano!"
"Ding dong, Host. These deceased all possess Devil Fruits. Would you like to absorb them?" the system's voice echoed in Ryuma's mind.
Ryuma was momentarily stunned.
Something felt off.
Weren't these mostly artificial Devil Fruits? How could they have genuine ones?
At first, Ryuma was confused, but then he pieced it together.
Kaido's Beasts Pirates originally planned to create an 'animal army.' Since true Zoan Devil Fruits were scarce and mass hunting costly and unreliable, many resorted to artificial Devil Fruits.
The ones Ryuma killed were probably the elite few who had real Devil Fruits.
"Confirm full absorption," Ryuma said coldly.
"Ding dong! Congratulations, Host, you've absorbed a D-class Cat Cat Fruit!"
"Ding dong! Congratulations, Host, you've absorbed a D-class Giant Fly Fruit!"
"Ding dong! Congratulations, Host, you've absorbed a C-class Vulture Fruit!"
"Ding dong! Congratulations, Host, you've absorbed a D-class Snail Fruit!"
...
In total, Ryuma obtained 10 D-class fruits and 3 C-class fruits.
The C-class fruits had some use, but the D-class ones were just burdens—completely useless!
Take the Snail Fruit, for example. Would turning into a snail be of any advantage?
Truly, in the real pirate world, there were many worthless fruits.
Ryuma snorted. Kaido's Beasts Pirates weren't impressive at all if this was their standard.
After much thought, Ryuma considered that even if he discarded these thirteen Devil Fruits via the system, they weren't worth much. There was no way he would eat them himself.
"Maybe I should try fusing them?" Ryuma muttered to himself.
Two Devil Fruits of the same rank could be fused into a higher-tier fruit!
Exactly—that was the terrifying power of the system!
Ryuma fused ten D-class fruits, turning them into five C-class fruits!
Counting them all, he now had eight C-class fruits. He then merged those eight C-class fruits into four B-class fruits, and the four B-class fruits into two A-class fruits…
"Ding dong, congratulations, Host! You have obtained an S-class Devil Fruit—Zoan Type; Ancient Model; Icefield Wolf!"
Ryuma froze for a moment upon hearing this.
Icefield Wolf?
What a curious fruit!
After much thought, Ryuma decided not to consume the Icefield Wolf fruit just yet.
He planned to wait until he acquired a few more Devil Fruits and then fuse them all together at once.
Ryuma had five Devil Fruit slots in total. He intended to use them wisely: two for Logia types, two for Paramecia types, and one for Zoan.
Choosing the Zoan-type fruit was no trivial matter!
Although the Icefield Wolf fruit was already powerful, it wasn't enough for Ryuma.
For the Zoan fruit, he wanted to go all the way—straight to an SSS rank. At Ryuma's current stage, even if he didn't consume a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, it wouldn't affect him much.
"Ding dong, system task incoming: eliminate Black Charcoal Kanjuro to earn a lottery chance!"
Ryuma was momentarily stunned.
Black Charcoal Kanjuro?
Ryuma knew Kanjuro all too well. In the anime, this character was equally detestable.
Kanjuro, outwardly a loyal retainer of the Kozuki family and one of the Nine Red Scabbards, was in fact a traitor infiltrating Oden's circle on behalf of the Black Charcoal clan—his real name was Black Charcoal Kanjuro, a scion of the Black Charcoal bloodline!
Of course, Kanjuro might still just be a young man who hadn't yet committed the crimes of betrayal and sacrilege.
Ryuma sneered. Forget Black Charcoal Kanjuro—he wouldn't even bat an eye if Black Charcoal Serpent himself showed up!
"Alright, I accept," Ryuma said with a smile.