Fish-Man Island, outer edge.
A large number of black bats flew up, and large amounts of snowflakes began to fall.
Flap flap～～
A group of bats carried Moria high into the sky, and the two knives in his hands were thrown out like flying darts.
Vane twisted his body in midair, passing between the two blades.
"Horn Blade Shadow!"
Leaving only a small number of bats to maintain his levitation, a gigantic shadow horn spear wrapped in Armament Haki shot upward into the sky.
Clang～ Clang～ Clang...
Vane's figure blurred in midair, and more than a dozen consecutive sword flashes appeared. The enormous shadow horn spear was sliced into over a dozen fragments, reverting back into shadows.
Whoosh!
Vane's figure stabilized once again and was about to thrust out a sword, when suddenly his Observation Haki sensed an attack coming from behind.
The two knives that had been thrown out were fused together by shadows. The shadows then reshaped into two shadow dog-leg knives, forming a single large dart that flew back.
"Blizzard!"
A surge of ice-element energy erupted, and within a vast area, a raging snowstorm began. This was a weather phenomenon Fish-Man Island had never experienced before.
"Ice Beam!"
Vane raised one hand, and an ice-blue beam shot out, striking the incoming giant dart. The giant dart instantly turned into a massive block of ice.
As Vane released this beam, the energy of the tenth Articuno feather was completely absorbed by him. The ten feathers directly fused into his flesh and blood.
Vane could feel the demon blood within his body beating excitedly. His breathing released large amounts of mist, and his heart rate rapidly slowed down.
Thump～～～ Thump～
Whoosh!
Under the Blood Demon Art state, beautiful blue wings grew from Vane's back. They were no longer wings condensed from ice crystals, but real bird feathers.
They were Articuno's wings.
His Blood Demon Art had evolved. His ice-element energy had increased to the point where he could release ice abilities such as Ice Beam, Blizzard, and hail. At the same time, he could grow Articuno's feathers, greatly increasing his speed.
"Captain Vane, you seem to have become stronger."
Moria summoned two shadow blades to shatter the ice encasing the dog-leg knives and retrieved his weapons.
Vane said nothing, directly flapping his wings and flashing repeatedly through the air. For a moment, seven or eight extremely realistic afterimages appeared in the sky, just like the Pokémon skill High-Speed Movement.
"Attachment!"
Vane tightly gripped the Cursed Sword, allowing it to drink his blood. Armament Haki wrapped around the blade, turning the sword into a blue-black weapon.
Armament Haki Infusion.
This was a symbol of a swordsman advancing to a higher level.
His demon blood enhanced his recovery ability, his Blood Demon Art strengthened his ice-element energy, his wings increased his speed, and now he had also completed Armament Haki Infusion on his blade.
Moreover, he already understood flowing sakura Armament Haki, and would soon be able to infuse flowing sakura Haki into his blade as well.
"Moria, we officially have the power to carve out territory in the New World."
Occupying a single island didn't count as carving out territory, unless it was like Kaido possessing a vast nation like Wano Country.
True territorial dominance was like the Big Mom Pirates, occupying dozens of islands and ruling over them.
Previously, Vane's strength only allowed him to hide on a single island and develop cautiously. Now that his strength had increased dramatically, he could consider occupying a few more islands. Once he mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion and fully absorbed the fragment energy of the ice, he would stand on equal footing with the monsters of the sea—such as Whitebeard at his peak.
"Geh heh heh heh～ What wonderful news."
The stronger Vane became, the greater the chance he would have of taking revenge against Kaido.
Moria was no longer the hot-blooded young man he once was. He wouldn't rush into the New World thinking about challenging Kaido of the Beasts. If Rocket Team really did that, they would likely just recreate the tragic fate of his former Gecko Pirates.
"Captain's strength has increased, and the crew has already been reorganized. We can depart at any time, Captain."
The four Devil Fruits had already been distributed.
The Mastiff Fruit was eaten by the Bear Guard. Among ordinary races and non-important characters, the Bear Guard's strength ranked near the top. He earned this Devil Fruit through his own ability.
The Frilled Lizard Fruit was eaten by a female crew member recruited by Hancock. She was tall and burly, originally a pirate with a bounty of 8 million Belly, roughly slightly stronger than Alvida before eating her fruit.
After eating the fruit, she became the third-in-command under the Pirate Empress. The first two were naturally her two younger sisters.
The Giraffe Fruit, which Vane originally thought was somewhat useless, also found a suitable user. Among the slaves they rescued was a member of the Longneck Tribe.
Longneck Tribe paired with Giraffe—Vane couldn't think of a more suitable combination.
The Rust-Rust Fruit was eaten by a young boy, who was currently training in the Combat Squad. Youngsters and children who desired strength and wanted to fight would undergo training there.
Kaku was also among them. His combat power had already begun to take shape. Even adult members were no match for him. He was the absolute king among the children, with countless admirers.
"Then prepare to depart."
They had already stayed on Fish-Man Island for several days. Rest and reorganization were nearly complete.
"But there's one last thing."
...
Thunder Fortress, bottom deck, Science Squad laboratory.
"Shirurururu～～ It's finally complete."
In front of Caesar was a massive container filled with pink liquid.
"I truly am a genius… but the blood Captain Vane provided was the key."
As a chemist, making scar-removal medicine was simple. However, burn scars couldn't be removed by ordinary scar medicine.
The blood Vane provided had regenerative properties. Combined with Caesar's research, he finally created a medicine capable of repairing even burn scars.
"Caesar, bring your medicine out. Everyone is already lined up."
People bearing slave marks had formed a long queue.
"Captain Vane didn't lie. The Science Squad has developed medicine that can repair burn scars."
"The ugly marks on our bodies… can finally be removed."
The people in line looked with hope at the massive container being carried out.
"Everyone, come forward in order to receive your medicine. When using it, evenly apply the medicine to your burn scars."
Someone who received the medicine couldn't wait and immediately asked a companion to apply it to their burn scar.
A tingling, itchy sensation immediately appeared. This was a sign of new skin growing rapidly.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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