Madara and Tatsumaki weren't fools. Naturally, they understood exactly what kind of "trash" Is was referring to.
That said—
Kaldien had been far too full of himself.
He actually thought that, when compared to Tatsumaki, Is would choose him without hesitation.
But the result was the opposite—
Is chose Tatsumaki.
In fact, forget Tatsumaki—
Even if Kaldien compared himself to any of Is's slaves, Is would still choose his own people without hesitation.
Did he really not understand his own worth?
Both of them were Celestial Dragons—equal in status. If conflict arose, the World Government wouldn't interfere.
And in terms of strength?
Is completely outclassed him.
The fact that Is hadn't killed him on the spot was already showing restraint.
If that had happened somewhere remote—
Is would've buried him without a second thought.
"Right."
Is suddenly remembered something and turned to Madara and Tatsumaki.
"From now on, try not to wander around Mary Geoise. If you want to get some air, go down below instead."
"Why?" Tatsumaki asked.
"Because Mary Geoise is… dangerous."
Of course, he wasn't referring to ordinary Celestial Dragons—
But to the Five Elders… and Im.
If they ran into trouble there, things could get complicated.
Tatsumaki, despite her usual pride, nodded obediently when she saw how serious he was.
As for Madara—
He didn't mind either way. Staying in the castle might be boring, but it was tolerable.
…
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Kaldien never came back.
And Is poured all his energy into training.
While his physical combat hadn't improved much—
His Devil Fruit, Observation Haki, and Armament Haki had all made noticeable progress.
Of course, much of that was thanks to sparring with Madara and Tatsumaki.
On this particular day—
Is was training in the backyard as usual.
Madara had gone out.
And Tatsumaki… somehow ended up in the kitchen, learning to cook from Roz Minian after being influenced by the maids.
Suddenly—
A system notification rang in Is's mind.
"Ding. Paper-Paper Fruit proficiency has reached the requirement for advancement."
Is froze.
He immediately stopped training and opened his panel.
Host: Aurelius D. Virel Is
Excavation Level: 1 (40/200)
Excavation Attempts: 0 (5/7)
Characters: Uchiha Madara (25%), Tatsumaki (20%)
Abilities: Paper-Paper Fruit (1000/1000), Conqueror's Haki ( /1000), Armament Haki (520/1000), Observation Haki (660/1000)
Excavation Location: [Unavailable]
Storage: None
Just as the system indicated—
The Paper-Paper Fruit had reached full proficiency.
Without hesitation, Is spoke,
"Begin advancement."
"Ding. Advancing…"
"Ding. Durability increased by 50%."
"Ding. Resistance to Seastone suppression increased to 80% reduction."
"Ding. New attribute acquired: Burn."
"Ding. Additional Devil Fruit consumption slot +1."
At first, Is was already satisfied—
But when he saw the final reward—
His eyes lit up.
He could now consume another Devil Fruit.
Under normal circumstances, a person could only eat one.
Since Devil Fruits embodied demons, consuming more than one would cause the body to explode under the strain.
Of course, there were exceptions—
Like Marshall D. Teach.
But strictly speaking, his case was different—he used a special method to obtain the power of the Gura Gura no Mi.
…
"Next… let's test the upgraded ability."
Is muttered.
Soon, sheets of paper flew out from his body.
But this time—
It was different.
Golden flames burned along the white paper.
With a flick of his hand—
Several sheets shot forward like arrows toward a tree as thick as a thigh.
Slash!
The paper sliced through—
The tree was cut into multiple sections.
Smoke rose from the clean cuts.
Clearly—
This was the newly acquired burn attribute.
Is nodded in satisfaction.
Just as he was about to continue testing—
Madara's voice came from the entrance to the backyard.
"Is, the newspaper's here. I think there's something you'll find interesting."
Is paused.
"What is it?"
"It's about Rocks."
"Rocks?"
Is hesitated for a moment—
Then gave up testing and headed back inside.
"Here."
Madara handed him the paper.
Is glanced at it.
"Marines Launch Pursuit Against Rocks on XXX Island—Successfully Weakening Part of the Rocks Pirates' Forces."
He continued reading.
The Marine lineup was impressive—
Fleet Admiral Kong, Vice Admiral Garp, Vice Admiral Sengoku, along with several other Vice Admirals.
But something didn't add up.
Given the strength of the Rocks Pirates—
The Marines shouldn't have had the upper hand.
Yet somehow—
They had gained the advantage.
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