The situation had gone somewhat beyond Vane's expectations. His Cursed Sword had devoured the vampire and truly transformed into a human form—more precisely, into a vampire loli sword spirit.
It was probably because the Cursed Sword had absorbed his demon blood and was no longer a dead object, but something with its own consciousness. After eating the Devil Fruit, it directly transformed into what it imagined a vampire to look like.
As for why the vampire in its imagination wasn't Dracula but a pink-haired loli? Wasn't that the fault of "anime culture"? These days, if you don't turn a vampire into a white-haired, red-eyed loli, where's the popularity supposed to come from?
And his was pink-haired…
Looks like his anime tendencies weren't that deep after all.
The loli sword spirit opened her mouth with a slightly hoarse voice and asked,
"Are you my Master?"
Alright.
Looks like his anime tendencies weren't exactly shallow either.
"Captain Vane, I think I heard you shouting about something…"
At that moment, Hancock leapt onto the air vent, stepping on the head of Crystal Onix, and happened to witness the scene—Vane staring at a floating loli whose entire body was covered in holy light.
"Ah! Vane-sama, why are you staring at a girl who isn't wearing anything at all…?"
"Hancock, keep your voice down. I don't want to socially die."
Clothes?
The sword spirit glanced at Vane and Hancock. A burst of red-black energy surged over the surface of her body, and soon a Lolita-style dress materialized around her.
That definitely wasn't a Devil Fruit ability—it was something like a Blood Demon Art.
...
Inside the largest house in town.
"That's the situation."
Vane explained the sword spirit's origins to Hancock. He didn't want to be mistaken by the Pirate Empress as some pervert who'd make a move on a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl.
"A weapon that ate a Mythical Zoan?"
Within Vane's crew, there was already Dog-Gun Lassoo, a gun that had eaten the Dog-Dog Fruit and was currently being used by Lena, so it wasn't too hard for Hancock to grasp.
"That's right. Back on the Red Line, someone once tried to stop me. The weapon he threw out was a blade that had eaten the Cerberus Fruit."
Vane had once been a little envious of weapons that could attack on their own. Now there was no need for envy. So what if it was a Cerberus? His was a sword spirit!
"From today onward, your name will be Lilith!"
He'd always just called her "Cursed Sword" before and never thought about giving her a name. Now that she could transform into a human form, it would be inappropriate not to.
He was terrible at naming things, so he simply picked Lilith—a name commonly associated with vampires.
Lilith elegantly lifted the edge of her skirt like a true vampire and said,
"I shall obey your command, Master. From now on, my name is Lilith."
A life created by absorbing his demon blood—of course she would be obedient.
"Oh, and change how you address me too. Just call me Vane-sama or Mr. Vane."
If a girl who looked twelve or thirteen called him "Master" on a modern street, he'd probably be reported and hauled off in handcuffs for a minimum three-year sentence.
"Understood, Mr. Vane."
Hancock stared at Lilith for quite some time. The vigilance in her heart gradually faded.
It was just a sword that had gained sentience. Not a real living person—how could it possibly pose any threat?
Hancock asked,
"Lilith, since you're a sword, do you want to eat?"
Lilith's beautiful eyes shifted slightly.
"I like blood. Preferably Vane-sama's blood!"
Vane helplessly waved his hand. She used to be a blood-drinking sword, and now she had also eaten a vampire fruit. Only someone like him, who could continuously regenerate blood, could withstand her excessive draining.
Lilith seemed to remember something and clapped her hands.
"There's something else I really like too. Something that comes out of Mr. Vane's body. It's warm and can cover my whole body."
Cough, cough, cough!!!
"Haki! She means Armament Haki!"
Fortunately, Hancock lacked basic physiological knowledge. Unlike him, whose brain was filled with questionable material, she didn't immediately think in the wrong direction.
"You can't treat those two things like water for daily drinking… Since you can drink blood, you should be able to drink other things too. I'll have people prepare more beverages for you and see if there's something that suits your taste."
Lilith nodded and let out a yawn.
Her true form was a sword. Maintaining human form constantly consumed stamina, and since this was her first transformation, she was already getting tired.
Vane noticed and said,
"Change back into sword form and rest. Next time you transform, remember to include clothes."
Lilith nodded and reverted to her sword form. Vane returned her to the scabbard and at the same time obtained a red orb fragment.
"Hancock, let's head back and rest. It's already late."
On the first day, Vane and the others still returned to the ship to sleep. The deserted, dust-covered Sleeping Island at midnight was nowhere near as comfortable as their ship.
...
Early the next morning, Tesoro and Stella, acting in their roles as stewards, led the men and women in surveying and cleaning the entirety of Midnight Town, tidying up all habitable houses.
Meowth led Electivire and several craftsmen in crafting various daily necessities.
From doors, windows, and furniture to chopsticks and knives and forks—Electivire, as a Munch-Munch Fruit user, acted as an all-purpose production line, rapidly filling their gap in light industry.
The initial occupation always required tremendous effort. No one had much experience. Fortunately, the island bore remnants left by its previous inhabitants, and with so many Devil Fruit users present, construction progressed remarkably quickly.
A very disgruntled Caesar complained,
"Damn it! Why does a great scientist like me have to research fertilizer and pesticides? I should be manufacturing Devil Fruits… or at the very least creating artificial humans!"
Vane replied,
"The results will be named after you. Everyone who uses the products will know they were created by the great scientist Caesar. Maybe one day they'll even be promoted worldwide."
Damn it…
That was exactly what Caesar was weak against. In the end, he still went off to work, acting all tsundere about it.
Those with great strength—like Dice and Burgess—were assigned to handle stone materials. If necessary, Vane would even have Burgess transform into his Ankylosaurus form to plow the fields.
Everything put to proper use.
Waste was cleared away. Roads were leveled. One by one, people moved into the houses. The long-dormant Sleeping Island finally regained its vitality.
It felt like playing a farming simulation game—watching your "territory" change day by day brought immense satisfaction.
The docks were also a top priority for repairs. Normally, that would've been troublesome, but with Fujitora around, it wasn't much of a problem.
The Press-Press Fruit gathered debris and rubble from the island and piled it into the sea.
Gyarados submarine and Crystal Onix, both capable of operating underwater, stirred up the seabed of the original harbor, deepening the port.
The excavated seabed rocks and silt were then repositioned by Fujitora into suitable locations.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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