Cherreads

Chapter 86 - 86. Turn On The Mark?

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"I hear something. Let's check it out," said Gion, who'd stayed at the door instead of barging into Ikki's quarters like Hina.

"Right!" Hina stubbed out her cigarette and followed the sound toward the holding cells, with Smoker and the others right behind.

Soon, they found Miss Valentine and the other prisoners all tied up.

"Marine Headquarters?!" Mr. 1 scowled, glaring at Gion and the others outside the cell.

"Is he turning us in to the Marines?" Miss Valentine asked, tears filling her eyes. "No! I don't want to rot in a Marine prison!"

"You're locked up by Ikki, so you must work for Crocodile," Hina said, remembering how Ikki had stored the Black Cat Pirates on his ship before. She figured these prisoners were just more bounties Ikki planned to cash in.

"Your silence tells Hina everything," she said. "We'll take you to our ship for questioning, then find Ikki."

Hina activated her Devil Fruit power, sending black manacles to secure Mr. 1 and the others. Nobody objected. Even though they didn't know all the prisoners, Hina and Smoker recognized Mr. 1 as a killer from West Blue with a big bounty. Plus, for their Crocodile investigation, Headquarters needed to question his crew.

Ikki never thought the people he'd kept as a walking Devil Fruit collection would get snatched up so easily by Hina. While this was happening, he was busy teaching Pell and Chaka swordsmanship and doing his own training.

After dealing with the Baroque Works agents, Hina's group headed into Alabasta toward Alubarna. They sent other Marines to Rain Dinners to dig up dirt on Crocodile's recent activities.

At first, the four officers kept neutral faces. But as they walked through crowded streets, Smoker, Tashigi, and the others started looking uncomfortable.

"What the hell? Ikki married the princess of Alabasta?" Smoker muttered, seeing wedding announcements everywhere. His face darkened as he glanced at Tashigi.

Sure enough, she looked confused and obviously upset.

"The hero who saved the kingdom marrying the princess? Talk about a fairy tale," Hina said, taking a drag from her cigarette. "Wonder if he's settling down here for good."

"Let's hurry up," Smoker said, patting Tashigi's shoulder as he walked faster. "We need to find him and figure out what's going on."

Though he wanted to comfort Tashigi, he clearly sucked at it.

Tashigi bit her lip as she looked at the wedding posters of Ikki and Vivi, unconsciously gripping her sword tighter.

'Ikki, did you really get married?' she wondered.

Meanwhile, in a training room at the Alabasta palace, Chaka and Pell were sparring, sharp wind blades flying between their swords.

At the edge of the room, Vivi, Nami, and Nojiko watched quietly. Behind them were two silver doors labeled "Sword Training Room" and "Gym."

[Ding! You beat Yoriichi Tsugikuni - you get his powers!]

[You've got Mountain-Cutting Realm sword mastery, plus Demon Slayer Mark and Transparent World abilities.]

[Transparent World lets you see through enemies to spot weaknesses. Your own body gets stronger too.]

[The Demon Slayer Mark gives you a power boost by burning energy.]

[Note: Usually the Mark drains your life, but yours won't. Anyone who gets a Mark near you will get the safe version too.]

'Whoa, so that's what this Mark does?' Ikki thought, surprised. 'So I don't have to worry about my friends dying early if they use it.'

Hearing the system's message, Ikki put down his barbell and checked his stats. He already had enough power to get the Demon Slayer Mark, but hadn't activated it because of the known problems. But a Mark without the usual drawbacks? That changed everything.

[Host: Ikki Kurogane]

[Age: 25]

[Weapon: Zangetsu]

[Life Force: 30350, S Level]

[Sword Realm: Sky-Cutting]

[Special Abilities: Intermediate Armament Haki, Intermediate Observation Haki, Intermediate Conqueror's Haki, Conqueror's Infusion, Transparent World, Demon Slayer Mark]

[Sword Styles: Demon Slayer Breathing, Zoro's Three-Sword Style, Tashigi's One-Sword Style]

[Items: E-Level Potion x4, D-Level Potion x1, Mountain-Cutting Swordsman Challenge x1]

'I've got one A-Level Potion left. My life force is over 30,000 now, so I'm S-Level. But with just one potion, I can't help Nami and the others level up.'

Shaking his head, Ikki left the training room. After several days of practice, he knew what A-Level Potions could do. Taking one and training in the gym would boost life force by 5,000 points. For Nami to reach his level, she'd need 12 A-Level Potions. The odds of getting that many in the lottery were terrible.

"Here's some water, Captain," Vivi said, handing him a glass as he came out.

"Thanks," Ikki smiled, taking it.

Looking at Vivi, he couldn't resist trying his new Transparent World ability. Instantly, her clothes and skin became see-through. The princess turned into a map of muscle lines, bones, and organs.

'So this is seeing through the world,' Ikki thought. 'It's a bit too revealing. Maybe I could train it to just see through clothes...'

He shook his head and turned off the ability, planning to work on it later.

"Hey Captain, when'd you get that flame mark on your forehead?" Nami asked, pushing his bangs aside.

A flame-shaped mark the size of a plum blossom was clearly visible to everyone.

"It's not a tattoo—it's a Demon Slayer Mark," Ikki explained, pointing to his forehead. "Doesn't mess up my looks too much, does it?"

"What? A Demon Slayer Mark?!" Nami's face went white as she grabbed his hand. "How'd you activate it? You're already 25! Doesn't that mean you'll die soon?!"

Vivi and Nojiko looked worried too. Chaka and Pell stopped training and rushed over.

"What? Ikki's gonna die?" a familiar voice called out.

"Is that you?" Ikki turned to see Tashigi running toward him, looking panicked.

"Did you really activate the Mark?" she asked, staring at the flame pattern on his forehead.

Behind her were Igaram, Smoker, Hina, and others. Smoker frowned and hurried over. Both he and Tashigi knew from "Demon Slayer" that the Mark burned through life. At Ikki's age, getting the Mark could mean he didn't have long to live.

"Did you use the Mark to beat Crocodile?" Smoker asked, clearly worried.

"Hina doesn't get why everyone's freaking out," Hina said, walking up with her hands in her pockets and looking curiously at Ikki's forehead. "Is this thing bad?"

She reached out to touch the mark.

Off to the side, Gion narrowed her eyes. Though she didn't know the details, she sensed the mark was connected to Ikki's special swordsmanship.

"You don't get it," Smoker explained, frowning. "In 'Demon Slayer,' this mark cuts a swordsman's life short. People who get it after 25 usually die real quick."

"'Demon Slayer'? What's that? Hina has no idea what you're talking about," Hina said, tilting her head in confusion.

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