"Um… sir… next to the sword, there was also this."
It was a rough piece of parchment, its edges blackened and curled with age.
A diagram was drawn across it—a long, pitch-black blade—surrounded by dense text written in an old common languange.
Zaraki took the diagram, which exuded a musty smell, and his eyes quickly scanned it.
"One of the Great Grade Swords… cursed blade… Murasame."
He read it aloud, his finger tracing the warning written beside the diagram:
He read the bold text in a low voice, his finger tracing a warning next to the drawing.
"This blade is cursed and thirsts for blood. Anyone with a weak mind or insufficient Haki who touches it will suffer a backlash. Their flesh and blood will wither away to death."
"Flesh and blood withering away, huh..." The smile in Zaraki's eyes deepened, like he had found a fun new toy.
"Sounds a lot more interesting than those scraps of iron that only compete on sharpness."
Just as Zaraki studied the diagram, stumbling footsteps broke the cabin's silence.
The green-haired man, who should have been passed out on the deck, had somehow staggered in and was leaning against the doorframe.
Zoro's face looked deathly pale, and his chest was still bleeding, but his eyes locked onto the Sword in the wooden box like he had seen his only hope.
"Such a strong... aura..." Zoro looked dazed as he walked uncontrollably toward the box. "This oppressive feeling... If I use this one..."
"Hey! Green-haired guy! Do not touch it!" Carina screamed in terror, having just read the warning.
It was too late.
Zoro's calloused right hand already rested on the hilt of Murasame.
Sizzle—!
A scorching sound, like raw meat hitting boiling oil, rang out.
"Arghhh!"
Zoro's eyes flew open, and he let out a roar of pain.
The muscles in his right arm instantly shrank. His skin rapidly turned gray and withered, and his blood vessels bulged out.
The sword was feeding.
It greedily drained what little life force Zoro had left.
"Idiot." Zaraki snorted coldly.
Without any major movement, he simply lifted his right leg and delivered a whip kick to Zoro's side.
Bang!
Zoro went flying, slamming hard into the wooden wall on the other side of the cabin.
The heavy kick forcefully broke his connection with the sword.
Zoro clutched his right arm, which now looked like a dry twig, and gasped for breath.
The fanaticism in his eyes was gone, replaced by pure horror.
Just a single touch... and he was almost drained dry?
"What an eyesore." Zaraki pulled his leg back, patted his pants, and walked straight toward the wooden box that giving off the ominous aura.
He reached out his hand.
"Don't! You will die!" Nami, who had been trembling the whole time, suddenly found her courage and cried out.
"Even that swordsman ended up like that..."
Zaraki's hand paused in mid-air.
He turned his head, looked at the terrified Nami and his lips curled into a grin, showing his treadmark vicious smile.
"Die? From a third-rate curse like this?"
Before he even finished speaking, his palm clamped down hard on the hilt, which pulsed like a living thing.
Boom—!
The moment he gripped the hilt, a crimson malicious aura erupted with him at the center.
The temperature in the narrow cabin plummeted, feeling like an ice cellar.
Nami and Carina felt like an icy hand had grabbed their hearts, making it hard to breathe.
They felt like prey being targeted by an apex predator, and every cell in their bodies screamed at them to run.
In Zaraki's mind, however, the scene was entirely different.
His vision was covered by a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Countless vengeful spirits shrieked in his ears, trying to break his sanity and take over his body.
It was the accumulated resentment of the souls who had died by this sword over hundreds of years.
"Is this all you have?"
In reality, Zaraki looked down at his right hand gripping the blade.
His palm was shriveling fast, the skin losing its color—a sign of his life force draining away.
But Zaraki didn't let go.
In his mind, the phantom of the scarred man—Kenpachi Zaraki—overlapped with his own soul.
The thrill of battle and the urge to crush everything instantly overwhelmed the sword resentment!
"A mere piece of iron dares to turn on its master?"
The smile on Zaraki's lips grew even more ferocious.
"Since you want to eat... I will let you eat your fill! If you can handle it!"
The next second, a dark golden Reiatsu, far more domineering than the sword, burst from Zaraki's body and poured frantically into the blade through his arm.
The aura Zaraki unleashed crashed savagely against the sword cold, sinister resentment.
His dense Reiatsu formed an absolute suppression.
Voom—!!
The sword, murasame, let out a sharp mournful cry, begging for mercy as it failed to withstand the immense surge of energy.
Nami and Carina even hallucinated for a second.
They saw a towering demon, wreathed in golden lightning standing behind Zaraki.
It opened its massive mouth and let out a silent roar at the sword.
Zaraki's withered right hand quickly returned to normal, its muscles bulging with power once more.
The dark red glow on the scabbard was forcefully suppressed, finally turning into a submissive faint light.
"Did he... tame it?"
Zoro stared intently at the scene and a sound of pure disbelief escaping his dry throat.
The monster sword that had nearly turned him into a dried-up corpse was now as docile as a beaten dog in this man's hands.
"Let's test its sharpness."
Zaraki held the blade with one hand, kicked the oak table aside and walked to the broken gap in the cabin wall.
A thousand meters away on the sea's surface, a massive Sea king was breaking through the waves, chasing a school of fish.
It was a colossal Sea King, nearly twenty meters long—a nightmare for ordinary ships.
Zaraki didn't take any formal stance.
He casually swung the longsword like a tree branch, slashing through the air toward the Sea King a thousand meters away.
There was no whistling sound of sword energy.
Only an extremely dark purple line flashed through the air and vanished!
In that instant, time seemed to stand still.
A second later.
Plshh—!
A thousand meters away, the massive Sea King leaping out of the water was sliced clean in half before it could even cry out.
Immediately after, the seawater beneath the beast tore apart from an invisible force, creating a terrifying trench several meters deep and a hundred meters long.
The water on both sides briefly parted due to the incredibly sharp slash.
A rain of blood mixed with seawater scattered down, turning that patch of the sea crimson.
The cabin fell silent.
The sea breeze blew in through the hole, chilling Nami and Carina, who were already soaked in cold sweat.
'This was not something a human could do.'
Zaraki looked at the bloody scene in the distance and clicked his tongue, looking a bit dissatisfied.
"The aim was a bit off, and it was too light. The feel still isn't as satisfying as the resistance you get from cutting directly with a serrated blade."
With a flick of his wrist, the sword that had just committed a terrifying attack slid obediently into its sheath.
With a soft click, the malicious aura filling the room vanished without a trace.
Zaraki turned around, ignoring the three dumbfounded spectators, walked straight to an intact chair in the corner, sat down, and closed his eyes.
He got a new weapon and he intimidate a bunch of small fry!
Today was a good day!
Now was the time to check the gains from this battle.
Deep in his mind, the pale blue translucent panel floated quietly, ready for inspection.
The normally calm System panel was now rippling.
[Template: Zaraki Kenpachi]
[Current Unlock Progress: 7.8%]
[Reiatsu Level: Seated Officer Level (High)]
Zaraki's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Something was different.
Before boarding this ship, his progress had barely hit 5.2%.
Back then, every sliver of progress was earned through training and brawls.
But what had he just done?
He only killed a bunch of mobs, kicked that moss-head and casually swung his sword once.
That level of effort didn't even count as a warm-up!
His gaze shifted down to the log, where a small line of text was faintly glowing:
[Detected that key character "Roronoa Zoro" has suffered heavy damage and extreme psychological shock. Judged as "Mental Suppression."]
[Due to the target possessing the blessing of "World's Fortune" and being a crucial node on the host's path of the sword, the gain modification coefficient is judged as: Extremely High.]
[Unlock progress has been greatly increased.]
'So that was it.'
Zaraki rubbed his chin, his lips splitting into a vicious grin, but his eyes held a hint of calculation.
This was very interesting.
Simply defeating small fry, even if he killed hundreds of them, the System probably wouldn't even give him 0.1% progress.
But as long as he interacted with these "Chosen Ones" who held important roles in this world—especially by crushing, defeating, and intimidating them to prove he was the stronger one—the returns grew exponentially.
'In that case...'
Zaraki tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on the green-haired figure in the corner, who was struggling to stand up against the wall.
Originally, he saw Zoro as just a toothless cub, worthless except for his fierce attitude.
But this cub's value had instantly changed!
What cub?
This guy was clearly a top-tier crop that could be harvested repeatedly!
If he killed this guy now, or completely crippled him, it would be a one-time deal.
He would get this bit of progress and nothing more.
What a waste.
But what if he let him grow for a while?
Wait for the mosshead to heal his wounds, hone his sword skills, and when he's strong.... Zaraki would crush him all over again!
This cycle of "harvesting" would provide unlock progress more than ten times faster than simply training hard.
'That guy Kenpachi Zaraki deliberately suppressed his strength to enjoy the fun of battle, waiting for his opponents to grow...' Zaraki sneered inwardly, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the armrest.
'But I'm doing it to maximize my gains, we're not the same!'
"Cough... cough cough..."
A suppressed cough broke Zaraki's thoughts.
In the corner, Zoro finally stood up straight.
Although his face was pale and his right arm hung limply at his side, his left hand tightly gripped the white Wado Ichimonji.
The fanaticism and the defeat in his eyes were gone, replaced by a purer, more resolute will.
It was an ambition reignited after witnessing true power.
Zoro didn't even glance at the black wooden box that had nearly cost him his life.
His gaze passed over the cowering Carina and Nami and locked straight onto the man sitting in the chair, his eyes filled with challenge.
His steps were heavy as he moved forward with difficulty.
----
Sorry for a slow update guys i'm fixing a lot of things that doesnt make sense, the template progress keep changing and the mc act like he's marine one time and a pirate next then a shinigami next, some reaction keep repeating and one moment mc is in shimotsuki village, the next he's in makino's bar? there is a lot to be fix at least until chapter 60 from the review i saw on faloo, was it possible the author write this using ai ?