Redfield rapidly approached from the center of the island, stopping only at the forest's edge before slowly walking out.
He grew increasingly furious with this aged body; just one 'Blood Qi Awakening' had strained his heart to its limit.
Now, his desire for that thing became even more urgent.
Taro narrowed his eyes, watching the old man emerge from the forest.
A dark purple shirt, red pants, a red cape, and a pale complexion—
it was identical to the portrayal of a vampire count from medieval novels in his past life.
His movements were elegant, gentlemanly like a noble.
Yet, Mingo felt his limbs trembling, his entire body brimming with killing intent.
If Redfield was walking out from behind, didn't that mean his family members were likely in grave danger?
"You... killed them?"
Mingo's angry tone trembled, still holding onto a final shred of hope.
Redfield didn't answer Mingo's question, instead first scrutinizing Taro and his two companions one by one.
Finally, his gaze settled on Mingo.
"It seems you are the 'Young Lord' they hold in their hearts. You know where the thing I want is, don't you?"
Hearing this, Taro's mind stirred. Was the thing he mentioned the Animal-Type: Vampire-Vampire Fruit?
"Oh? You know about it too?"
Redfield's gaze shifted past Mingo, landing on Taro.
Taro's eyes widened in surprise.
Holy crap, is this an innate Observation Haki like Shirahoshi's?
Redfield's words clearly indicated he had heard the voice in Taro's heart!
This was exactly the same as Shirahoshi occasionally sensing his emotions—
undetectable by the System and naturally impossible to learn.
"No, I only know such a fruit exists. As for its location, I don't know!"
Taro already had enough enemies; if he clashed with Redfield too, he might as well start planning his escape route immediately.
Therefore, he chose to tell the truth.
Redfield glanced at Taro once more and nodded.
"Hmm, that is the truth."
Then, he turned back to Mingo. "So, I still need to ask you."
Mingo, whose earlier inquiry had been ignored by Redfield, was now incensed.
"I asked you, did you kill them?"
Sensing Mingo's genuine concern for his family in his heart, Redfield frowned.
"Hmph, you're actually truly concerned about your subordinates at this moment. Trust is the most useless thing in this world..."
"Overheat!"
Before Redfield could finish, Mingo, still without the answer he sought, erupted in fury.
He raised his arm high, fingers splayed, and a thin white line appeared from each fingertip.
With a forceful downward swing of his arm, the five lines descended rapidly towards Redfield's head like the teeth of a rake.
"Clang!"
Redfield pivoted half his body with a twist of his foot, raising his sword to block. Then, his form became a crimson afterimage as he lunged straight at Mingo.
Simultaneously, Katakuri leaped into the air, his trident aimed directly at Taro.
"Now, our duel can begin!"
Taro's heart tightened. He raised his sword and swiftly slashed down.
thunderstorm struck into the gap between the blades of tsuchiryū.
"Hum Screech"
Both simultaneously coated their weapons with Armament Haki, the clash of their blades producing a sizzling sound.
"Shing~"
With a flick of his wrist, Katakuri made the head of tsuchiryū begin to spin rapidly.
The pressure on Taro's hand instantly surged.
"Vibration Energy Infusion!"
A cyan-white halo appeared at his wrist and rapidly spread along the blade.
Then, Taro exerted force again, pressing down.
"Boom!"
The vibrational power erupted, a powerful shockwave instantly blasting the two apart.
Taro knew his Armament Haki only flowed on the surface of his blade; thunderstorm itself wasn't strengthened.
In a direct clash, it would inevitably lose to weapons like those, steeped in Haki for years and developing towards 'black blades.'
Therefore, he couldn't afford a head-on collision with the high-speed spinning tsuchiryū.
"Hum~"
tsuchiryū spun like a flying wheel. Katakuri used the trident like a staff, smashing it down overhead.
Taro dodged to the side while simultaneously swinging his sword in a wide sweep.
Before his swing could complete, Katakuri had already shifted his body mid-air.
[Observation Haki S-Form Learning Successful]
[Observation Haki S-Form can be automatically enabled/disabled. When enabled, using any Move will consume additional Internal Energy!]
"Enable."
Taro decisively enabled it. Being able to learn it was already an unexpected boon; who cared about energy consumption now!
After another probing exchange, the two distanced themselves slightly.
The difficulty in fighting Katakuri lay in his top-tier Observation Haki.
Now possessing the same Observation Haki, Taro felt slightly more at ease.
Fortunately, Katakuri's Observation Haki was Cultivated, which made it learnable.
If it were an innate Awakening like Empress Otohime's or Redfield's, it would have been wasted effort.
After the earlier probes, Katakuri regarded Taro with even greater seriousness.
"Mochi Thrust!"
His arm instantly transformed into mochi, completely enveloping tsuchiryū, then thrust forward with powerful, continuous rotation.
[Mochi Thrust Learning Successful!]
"Gear Third!"
"Gomu Gomu no Gigant Rifle!"
Taro, sensing Katakuri's action, had already begun channeling Internal Energy before he struck. Both almost simultaneously foresaw their opponent's attack method.
The high-speed rotating mochi mass collided with the equally high-speed rotating fist of Internal Energy.
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang~"
The high-speed rotation brought greater destructive power. The continuous impacts shook the very space, producing loud banging sounds.
"Boom!"
Finally, their forces exploded apart. The powerful impact forced both to retreat several steps.
After staring at Taro for a moment, Katakuri flipped his palm and retracted tsuchiryū into his body.
This storage ability made Taro quite envious.
A spatial ring!
This was just one ability of the 'Mochi-Mochi Fruit,' this special Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. It could also achieve a certain degree of 'elementalization' like Logia-types.
Katakuri put away his weapon, but Taro had no intention of sheathing his sword.
He remembered the battle between Katakuri and Luffy.
Using his Mochi-Mochi Fruit's ability to freely alter his body's shape, Katakuri had mimicked many of Luffy's Moves.
This forced Taro to abandon using physical technique Moves; otherwise, he'd just be creating difficulties for himself.
He didn't share Luffy's masochistic mentality of charging into difficulties or creating them if none existed.
Speaking of which, damn it, Katakuri could also mimic others' Moves.
Why did those guys always lump his ability together with those Baboons at Hawkeye's place when mentioning his powers?
Being associated with Katakuri would be better!
Was it just mandatory to not be human?
Taro's mind began to wander off again.
Katakuri, with a dark expression, watched Taro.
Then, he suddenly raised his hand, mimicking a gun-firing gesture.
His mochi-transformed palm, with a white index finger coated in black Armament Haki.
"Mochi Dango!"
[Mochi Dango Learning Successful!]
Taro also raised his hand almost simultaneously, palm up, and lightly flicked his index finger.
"Finger Pistol: Flick!"
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