Perona first released all the Zombie Generals, then quickly approached Moria.
"Huh???" Moria looked at Perona with some surprise, as this was usually the time he conducted his shadow experiments and he disliked being disturbed.
Perona went straight to the point: "Moria-sama, Absalom was defeated by a group of intruders."
"What?" Moria's voice immediately rose sharply. His face then darkened with anger. "Did you see who the intruders were?"
Perona nodded. "It was a Marine Rear Admiral leading several others. Two were in civilian clothes, three wore Marine uniforms—one Commander and two Lieutenant Commanders."
"Marines?" Moria showed a puzzled expression.
Who was he? Moria, one of the Shichibukai.
Though still technically a pirate, he was an ally of the Marines and the World Government.
How could Marines dare to attack his territory? Most importantly, how could a mere Rear Admiral with one Commander and two Lieutenant Commanders dare to assault his domain?
Who gave them such courage?
"Kishishishishishi..." Moria let out his signature laugh, though it carried a boundless, cold killing intent.
Simultaneously, he grabbed his giant scissors and strode toward the castle entrance.
....
At the same time, a group of Zombie Generals, having been released by Perona, blocked Lancelot's path.
The leaders were none other than Ryoma the samurai and Captain John, the two strongest Zombie Generals.
Lancelot turned to Zoro. "I'll take the left one; you handle the right. We'll deal with the rest casually..."
"No problem!" Zoro grinned, his eyes gleaming with battle lust as he sized up Captain John.
"Huh?"
But at that moment, Lancelot had already detected someone approaching from another direction.
Soon, a giant, demonic-looking figure emerged—a man with an onion-shaped hairstyle, two horns on his forehead, pointed ears and teeth, and cross-shaped stitches running from his head to his neck.
He wore a bat-collared shirt and Gothic-style clothing.
Who else could this be but Gecko Moria?
Following behind him was an umbrella-carrying "lolita"—undoubtedly Perona, one of the Three Strange Freaks.
Lancelot smiled.
He then told Zoro, "It seems these guys will have to be left to you and Lina."
Zoro nodded, his gaze shifting from Captain John to the dozens of other zombies.
"Don't worry, we can handle them."
Simultaneously, Lina flashed to their side, her hands assuming a sword-drawing posture as she adopted an offensive stance.
"Soru!" Lancelot vanished from his original position, reappearing instantly beside the samurai, Ryoma.
Ryoma was the legendary samurai who had forged Shusui into a black blade, and his original strength was undoubtedly that of a top-tier Great Swordsman.
Unfortunately, at this moment, he was merely a remnant of a body, and the shadow within him was Brook's.
In terms of ability, he was only on par with Brook.
'Originally, I had wanted to play around with him a bit,' Lancelot thought.
But now... 'First, I'll take Shusui.'
So, Lancelot, moving faster than the zombie could react, directly snatched the legendary sword Shusui from Ryoma's hand.
Then, using Soru again, he returned to his original position, all in less than a second.
"Ding! Obtained the famous sword Shusui, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords. Reward: Sword Soul Ryoma."
"Ding! Detected that Shusui is a Black Blade, triggering a special reward. Reward: Two Armament Haki Upgrade Cards (Consumed). Armament Haki has advanced. New techniques obtained: Advanced Emission (Busōshoku: Haki Hōshutsu) and Advanced Internal Destruction (Busōshoku: Ryūō)."
Host: Lancelot
Military Rank: Rear Admiral
Talent: Superhuman Physique
Bloodline Factor: Whale Shark Fishman
Sword Souls: Dual Blades Burns, Demon Slash Asura, Ryoma
Sword Styles: One Sword Style, Two Sword Style, Three Sword Style
Rank:Great Swordsman
Martial Arts: Vice Admiral Level [Rokushiki - Mastered]
Rokushiki Derived Techniques: Iron Body Fist Style, Iron Body Utsugi, Iron Body Shatter, Iron Body Steel, Rokushiki Ultimate - Six King Gun, Tempest Kick - Shigure
Doriki: Vice Admiral Level
Speed: Vice Admiral Level
Body: Vice Admiral Level
Sword Skill: Admiral Level
Conqueror's Haki: Beginner
Armament Haki:Advanced [Techniques: Entanglement, Emission, Ryuō]
Observation Haki: Beginner
Devil Fruit: [Beginner] Zoan - Mythical Zoan - Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon
Comprehensive Strength:Admiral Candidate
....
Damn, awesome, so damn awesome!
As expected of one of the only two known black blades in the world, this national treasure of Wano truly lived up to its name.
Not only did it come with its own Sword Soul, but there were even significant additional rewards.
His Armament Haki leveled up, and it also rewarded him with the two most crucial advanced Haki techniques: Emission and Ryuō (Internal Destruction).
As for advancing to the Great Swordsman realm, that was within his expectations.
After all, this was Ryoma's sword.
The former "God of the Blade." Also, just like Mihawk, this guy's Sword Soul seemingly only had one, ultimate move.
Or rather, his basic attacks were his ultimate moves.
Incredible!
"Huh..."
Others might not have noticed anything in the half-second it took, but Lina, as a Sword Master, and Zoro, a sword prodigy, sensed it the moment Lancelot's suddenly getting stronger.
They felt the fundamental change in Lancelot.
For a moment, they couldn't quite describe it.
They just felt that Lancelot's entire aura had become even sharper, as if he himself were an unparalleled blade capable of splitting the skies.
'Did he become stronger again? Could it be... that he's reached the Great Swordsman level?'
Zoro and Lina couldn't help but exchange glances, seeing the profound shock in each other's eyes.
"Negative... Negative... Negative..."
At that moment, Perona, lurking behind Moria, sneakily launched an attack.
She created dozens of Negative Ghosts that drifted silently toward Lancelot.
Seeing this, Lancelot raised an eyebrow.
Perona's technique was truly extraordinary—one of the rare "law-based" Devil Fruits in the world of One Piece, much like Sugar's Hobby Hobby Fruit.
It could disregard the power gap between opponents; as long as certain conditions were met, the target would be affected, no matter how strong they were.
The condition for the Hobby Hobby Fruit was touch.
If Sugar's hands made contact, regardless of your strength, you would be turned into a toy.
As for Perona's ghosts, they merely needed to pass through.
That's right—once a spirit passed through a body, the "law" would be triggered, plunging the person's heart into extreme, debilitating despair.
Of course, Lancelot knew, there was a bug in this ability.
It had little to no effect on those who were already deeply, fundamentally pessimistic.
But how many strong, ambitious individuals fell into that category?
"So," Lancelot concluded, his gaze turning cold, "I must deal with her first."
He had no intention of being ambushed and crippled by this girl's ghosts during his fight with a Warlord like Moria.
That would be no laughing matter.