The red light faded. The blade shone as if polished with a cleaning agent, turned blue, and then returned to its normal color. Karl felt a rising bloodlust in his mind, and it did not subside.
"A cursed sword, it truly is a demon!" he whispered.
No wonder Shiryu was so bloodthirsty; he was perfectly suited to this sword.
Smoker approached, looking at Thunderstorm in Karl's hand, and said:
"A cursed sword? This thing is a demonic sword? How can you see that?"
"Here, try it yourself, and you'll understand!" Karl tossed Thunderstorm to Smoker so he could feel its power.
"Bah, nothing special..." Smoker began, but before he could finish, his pupils glowed red. He stared at Karl expressionlessly, holding Thunderstorm with both hands and making a threatening gesture.
"Smoker?"
In the next second, a strange red streak flew past Karl, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing against metal. Karl extended half of Shusui to block Smoker's attack.
"This guy..." Karl, with a swift kick from his left leg, sent Thunderstorm, still held in Smoker's hands, into the sky and precisely caught the blade as it fell.
Smoker scratched his head in bewilderment. What just happened?
— There is a vast power hidden within this sword; you couldn't tame it, and it took control over you.
— So I...
— Yes, you wanted to kill me.
Smoker stared cautiously at Thunderstorm in Karl's hand:
— it really a cursed sword? Luckily, I don't use a sword!
Karl chuckled and said with a smile:
— The so-called demonic sword is a legendary weapon. A legendary weapon chooses its master. The weak are unworthy and thus cannot wield it, which leads to death. The weak fear legendary weapons, so they call them "cursed."
For a sword, being called cursed is an honor; it attests to the ferocity that others fear.
Having said this, Karl sheathed Thunderstorm and continued:
— If you want to wield this sword, you'll either have to submit to its will and let it drink blood like its original master, Shiryu.
— Or you'll need to completely dominate it and make it a weapon of killing in your hands.
— Ugh... — Smoker lit a cigar and walked off leisurely.
The escort ship was to travel from the Calm Belt to the Red Continent, pass through the Mariejois strait to reach the New World, and then head to Punk Hazard.
This would take about two days of sailing (including night).
As dinner time approached, Karl took off the eyepatch similar to Aokiji's, got up from the chaise lounge, and yawned.
— Total time spent in idleness reached 8 hours, daily task completed.
Reward: 7 improved attribute cards of choice + random rewards * 4 (can be stored).
— Strengthen all physical attributes! Then reward and rest, — Karl whispered.
Karl usually used all the enhancement cards as a reward for daily tasks and saved the random rewards. Currently, he had been accumulating for less than a month, and for today he had 122 lottery tickets.
He planned to accumulate 150 and then draw them all at once!
After a slight spasm in his body, the enhancement was completed, and the attributes had hardly changed.
— It has been detected that the awakening progress of the Devil Fruit in the host has reached the first stage, allowing the host to freely develop new abilities!
— To assist the host in enjoying fishing, the system will automatically determine the direction of development for the host. Data is being collected. Please wait...
The corners of Karl's lips lifted slightly; this is what a developed system means!
— Data collection complete. The most suitable direction for the host's development in the first stage is purification.
— Purification: By significantly enhancing the healing effect of the Holy Light, the body will instantly return to normal; thus, various negative effects can be instantly eliminated, such as burns, poisoning, bleeding, and other common negative conditions.
— Reaching the peak of development, you can eliminate the negative effects of other Devil Fruits that affect the host.
Sounds good! Although it still doesn't provide combat power, it significantly enhances the auxiliary function.
— Not bad, — Karl muttered.
Since the system suggested a development path, Karl immediately began experimenting.
Gathering a sphere of Holy Light in his left hand, Karl frowned. The light he emitted currently had both strengthening and healing effects. To enhance only the healing effect, he needed to find a way to separate these two functions.
For a long time, he couldn't succeed, so Karl dispelled the light and headed to the dining hall.
Man is iron, food is steel. If you don't eat all day, you'll be hungry.
Even if you want to develop your abilities, you need to eat first.
At night, Karl had a dream. He saw his left hand was white and his right was yellow. With one hand he healed, and with the other, he strengthened.
With his help, the three Navy admirals crushed the pirates with a snap of their fingers, after which Karl woke up from this dream.
He got up from the bed, staring ahead in confusion. It was already dawn.
— Could it be some sort of sign? — Karl first went to eat.
Having eaten, Karl stayed alone in the room to develop his abilities. He could accumulate idle time and develop his abilities, killing two birds with one stone.
What? Who will guard the escort ship and prevent attacks from sea kings and pirates? Isn't it Smoker?
So why not take him along?
After a whole day of hard work, Karl finally found the way.
"Success or failure depends on this!"
Karl took a deep breath, raised his hands in the air, and conjured a ball of Holy Light the size of a basketball. Then he closed his eyes and felt the power of the Holy Light with his heart.
"Hmm... Yes, yes, divide it, give it to me... Yes, yes!"
With his eyes closed, Karl slowly spread his hands apart, and the glowing ball the size of a basketball began to split very slowly.
After some time, the speed of division increased, and eventually, under Karl's control, two balls of equal size formed.
One was white, symbolizing healing, and the other was yellow, symbolizing strengthening.
Karl opened his eyes and, looking at the differently colored balls of light in his left and right hands, burst into wild laughter:
"Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha! It worked, it finally worked!"
Although it was a bit slow and took over an hour to successfully separate, it was the first time. Some people do it quickly, while others need more time.
Now, continuous practice is needed to divide the light instantly or concentrate the white ball of light immediately.
Thus, the purification can be considered successfully developed!
Knock-knock-knock!
— It's me, Smoker!
Karl dispersed the ball of light and opened the door:
— What happened?
— I need a passage certificate. Do you have one? — Smoker was referring to the passage certificate for crossing the Mariejois strait.
— Yes, here it is, show it to them.
Taking the certificate, Smoker looked at Karl suspiciously:
— You've been sitting in the room all day, were you keeping any secrets?
Karl smirked:
— How did you know?
Smoker pretended as though he already knew everything and added with a grin:
— Want to tell me?
Karl's face turned serious:
— No!
Snap!