Hearing Diarmuid's taunts, Craster's expression grew even more ferocious.
"HAAAA!" Craster roared, and several fine, blood-thread-like needles shot from his palm. But it was still useless, as they couldn't even get within three meters of Diarmuid.
"The most vicious rookie since the Great Pirate Era, with a bounty of 560,000,000 Berries, who has broken through three Marine bases, quickly established a foothold in the New World, and was recognized by the World Government as capable and qualified to be a Warlord of the Sea… Honestly, I had high expectations for you." Diarmuid said, pulling his hand back and resting it on his Cursed Blade, Kokorowatari, which was hanging on his waist. Despite this, the blood ball floating in front of him remained intact, unable to be controlled by Craster.
"In the end, is this all you've got?" Diarmuid said with a mocking tone.
The moment he spoke, Kokorowatari left its sheath, and a cold, eerie light flashed.
Doflamingo, who was standing by and watching the show, felt the air around him become sinister and gloomy, as if something ominous was about to appear. In the next moment, his eyes shot open with disbelief. What did he see?
The so-called Marine Admiral of justice was surrounded by a palpable, malevolent aura. The cold, dark energy, like a demon, swirled around him. At that moment, Diarmuid didn't look righteous at all. Combined with the blood ball floating in front of him, he looked exactly like an evil emissary from hell!
"This is…" Doflamingo said in shock.
"Don't you recognize it?" Diarmuid glanced at Doflamingo and asked with a smile.
"No, it's precisely because I do recognize it and know it well that I'm so surprised," Doflamingo said with a hint of emotion. Before Diarmuid could speak, Doflamingo said in a low voice, "The legendary Cursed Blade, Kokorowatari."
He then looked up into Diarmuid's eyes and saw that they were clear and completely unaffected by the evil aura. He said with a hint of understanding, "It seems you've truly tamed this blade, haven't you?"
"Oh? You know a lot," Diarmuid said with a laugh.
Most people in the East Blue knew about the blade Kokorowatari, so it wasn't a secret. It was not strange for Doflamingo to know about it, either. However, there were very few people who knew that Kokorowatari had the ability to control the mind of its wielder. Doflamingo seemed to know this very well.
"After all, it was one of the blades once held by my ancestor… The Donquixote Family has passed down related secrets. Those with an unstable mind who wield this blade are doomed to die," Doflamingo said softly.
"So Donquixote Claudius was a real person?" Diarmuid asked.
"Of course," Doflamingo said without hesitation, his tone firm.
"As expected, your family background is not to be underestimated. Hehehe." Diarmuid laughed. He didn't bother to say anything more to Doflamingo. Instead, he looked at Craster in the distance, who was still stuck.
"If you have nothing else to show me, then this farce should end here, Craster. I'll be clear with you: with your strength, you don't even deserve to be a Warlord of the Sea," Diarmuid said. Without waiting for Craster to reply, Diarmuid pointed the tip of Kokorowatari at him and said softly, "Doom's Embrace…"
Craster frowned, which was already on alert, and in the next second, a massive gravitational pull erupted from the tip of Diarmuid's blade.
Craster's expression was startled. He stomped his foot, trying to stop his body, but the immense gravitational force was something he couldn't resist. He was pulled directly toward and slammed into Diarmuid's Kokorowatari.
Doflamingo was also stunned.
Everyone else uses their sword to slash people, but he make people slam into his sword? That's way too cheap, isn't it?
In just a single moment, Craster was completely impaled by Kokorowatari and was hoisted into the air by Diarmuid's sword. His chest was completely pierced by the blade, and he was bleeding profusely. However, his expression didn't show any pain.
"You're way out of your depth if you think you can kill me with a sword! I am immortal!!!" Craster roared with a ferocious laugh. As he spoke, he reached into the blood ball floating beside him and shouted, "I'll tell you this: the closer I am to the blood, the stronger my control over it!"
In the next moment, the blood ball that Diarmuid had compressed exploded, instantly turning into a curtain of blood that enveloped both Diarmuid and Craster.
"Immortal? Even Kaido isn't that arrogant!" Diarmuid chuckled, and with a flick of Kokorowatari, the sharp blade cut Craster in two, flinging him to the ground.
Then, Craster's wounds healed quickly, and the large amount of blood from the curtain filled his body. In just a few breaths, he was completely unharmed, standing in front of Diarmuid.
"Even if you defeat me a hundred times, a thousand times, and cut off my neck or cut open my body with that strange, evil-looking Cursed Blade of yours, I will not die! As long as there's a single drop of blood left, I won't die!" Craster laughed maniacally.
"That can indeed be called immortality," Doflamingo said from the side, making a sarcastic remark.
"That's right! I will definitely be the one to win!" Craster laughed arrogantly.
"Ah… I see," Diarmuid said with a sudden realization. "This state you're in… isn't this what Zephyr-sensei warned me about? You get a powerful Devil Fruit ability and then think you're invincible? Who do you think you are? Whitebeard?"
Back then, after Diarmuid got the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, Zephyr had warned him not to be like Borsalino, who relied too heavily on his fruit. Later, after a lot of interactions, Diarmuid confirmed that was Zephyr's prejudice against Borsalino.
In reality, while Borsalino did favor his fruit, it wasn't to a crippling extent. But this Craster seemed to truly believe that his Blood-Blood Fruit ability was invincible. It was possible that since he started his pirate career, he had never encountered anyone who could counter his ability, which caused his ego to inflate.
He was a person who genuinely placed all his strength on his fruit. And this kind of person, if they didn't encounter someone who could effectively suppress their fruit ability, would naturally have a smooth and powerful journey. But once they meet an opponent who can effectively suppress their fruit ability, they're nothing but a pushover!
It was similar to Enel in the original story. Before he met Luffy, the rubber man, he was calling himself a god. He was arrogant, wasn't he? But after he met Luffy, his proud ability became useless, and he was beaten into a pathetic little brother.
"I am Blood Plague Craster!!!" Craster roared and charged toward Diarmuid. He condensed a blood sword in his hand and coated it with Haki to make it look formidable.
"I thought you might have been holding back, but it seems you're not. I've completely lost interest in you," Diarmuid said, shaking his head. As he spoke, Craster's blood sword struck Diarmuid's neck. However, a flowing cloud-like Haki had already covered it. Craster's strike couldn't even break through Diarmuid's Haki.
"You're lucky to have established a foothold in the New World. Before you lose your freedom for good, you should experience what it means to be a Marine Admiral!" Diarmuid grabbed Craster by the neck and lifted him up.
"You can't kill me!" Craster was still arrogant.
Crack.
Blood splattered as Diarmuid didn't bother with him and just crushed his neck. But there was still an arrogant smile in Craster's eyes, as if mocking Diarmuid for being unable to kill him.
Just then, a large amount of purplish-black light emanated from Diarmuid's hand that was holding his broken neck. Craster's expression changed dramatically, and he started to panic.
"…Abyssal Lock!" Diarmuid said softly.
An immense gravitational force squeezed from all directions, instantly crushing Craster's entire body into a large amount of blood and mincemeat.
Under the influence of gravity, the blood and mincemeat weren't splattered everywhere. Instead, they twisted together and in a short time, they turned into a bloody meatball.
Then, the purplish-black energy from Diarmuid's palm slowly wrapped around the meatball that was once Craster. The guy was roaring and struggling inside, but he couldn't get out.
Holding the purplish-black sphere in one hand, Diarmuid waved to Vergo. "Hand me the box."
Without a word, Vergo took a small box about the size of a Devil Fruit from the backpack hanging on his waist. The box was made of Seastone.
"I originally prepared this thing to capture a Logia-type user, but it'll work for you too," Diarmuid said with a smile. Ignoring Craster, who had turned into a meatball and was still swearing nonstop, he threw him into the Seastone box.
Vergo quickly closed the box and put it back into his backpack. Diarmuid then deactivated his ability and said with a laugh, "See? I told you he didn't deserve to be a Warlord of the Sea… Doflamingo."
Doflamingo was completely stunned at this point. The entire time, Craster, whose strength was on par with his own and even slightly stronger, was a complete joke in Diarmuid's hands. With a single thought, he crushed that guy into a ball and locked him in a box?
But Doflamingo quickly recovered and forced a smile. "You're right. It seems he's not worthy of being a Warlord of the Sea. As expected of one of the World Government's highest powers. Your strength has become even greater."
"Perhaps. But there's still room for improvement," Diarmuid said with a sense of emotion, recalling the power Whitebeard had once shown. That was true strength.
"My mission here is over. Doflamingo, you should be careful. Don't casually provoke us Marines. Otherwise, as I said before, even if I can't kill you, I can certainly mess with you, and no one will be able to help you." Diarmuid reached out and patted Doflamingo on the shoulder, saying with a laugh.
Doflamingo grinned and forced a smile. "I'll be sure to remember your kindness, Admiral. By the way, I have no intention of going against the Marines anymore. On the contrary, after listening to your advice today, I hope to move the Marines with my sincerity and get your approval to become a Warlord of the Sea." After a slight pause, Doflamingo continued, "From today on, any weapons the Marines buy from me will come with a 30% discount…"
"Well, thank you very much," Diarmuid said with a smile.
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