"Stop!"
"This is the Royal Castle. Idlers are forbidden from approaching. Leave immediately!!"
Hearing the reprimands from the guards at the main gate, Merlin continued to walk forward.
"Stop! If you dare to come any clo— Ahh!"
The guard let out a scream, then collapsed to the ground. Black flames had already spread to their bodies, and mottled white marks spread across their exposed faces.
Merlin stepped over a guard and arrived in front of the large gate. Then he raised his right leg—Boom! An explosion resounded through the night sky.
The gate was kicked open instantly.
Merlin strode in. Before ten seconds had passed, a piercing, sharp alarm suddenly rang out inside the castle.
Merlin's eyes were calm. After tonight, he might have a bounty on his head.
There was no need to hide himself. He believed that traitor Rosinante would find a way to submit his intelligence.
Getting involved with Donquixote meant this was unavoidable, but overall, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.
Moreover, blindly training behind closed doors couldn't quickly raise the level of Haki. Haki could only grow faster through constant tempering and collision in battles with the strong.
The Haki of this world wasn't a strength gained by hiding, but a power of steely conviction tempered by blood and fire.
Furthermore, since he was now backed by Donquixote, the one who would come to arrest him would probably be Tsuru. Besides, the Fisher Tiger slave liberation incident was probably about to happen. At that time, with such a small matter he did, they probably wouldn't have the energy to deal with him. At least for two or three years, no stronger person would come to trouble him. The timing was just right, and with his current strength, as long as it wasn't a master at the Admiral level, it was enough for self-preservation.
And after waiting a few more years, when his wings were fully grown, with his mobility, he would fear them even less.
Moreover, after making a name for himself, the Shichibukai would be a good shield. Even if he would be ordered by the World Government, the benefits still outweighed the disadvantages.
Hunting ability user pirates as a Shichibukai, presumably the Marines would also provide intelligence support.
While Merlin was pondering, a group of guards had surrounded him.
At this time, a three-meter-tall guard leader facing Merlin stared at him coldly and spoke: "Kid, you're under arrest! For what you've done, are you prepared to be sent to the gallows tomorrow?"
Merlin looked at him calmly. The next moment, his feet stomped on the ground, and he shot out like a black shadow. He crossed the distance of less than ten meters in a flash. The guard captain only felt a blur before his eyes, then a pain in his abdomen. With a bang, he was sent flying backward in the blink of an eye.
Merlin retracted his right leg. Immediately after, black flames spread out from his body surface. The surrounding guards, who had just reacted and raised their guns to aim, screamed in unison and fell to the ground.
Calamity: Electric Paralysis.
Immediately after, mottled white colors appeared on their bodies.
Since they had raised their guns, they must have been prepared to be killed in return.
Black flames lingered on his body surface. At this time, Merlin looked at the guard captain struggling to get up from the ground a hundred meters away.
At this moment, his image had changed greatly; he no longer looked human. His body was covered with yellow-brown fur, and there was a pair of humps on his back.
He had transformed into a camel.
A Zoan ability user.
"Damn bastard, what did you do to my subordinates?"
The camel let out a roar, four hooves stomping the ground, and charged over with the sound of breaking wind.
Merlin watched calmly. When he rushed in front of him, Merlin's body naturally shifted sideways. Then he stomped the ground fiercely and charged forward, his right fist wrapped in black flames smashing into the camel's shoulder with a thud.
Under this terrifying explosive force, the skin on Merlin's arm tore, while the latter's shoulder flesh and bone looked like they had been hit by a cannonball.
Flesh and blood flew.
Letting out a piercing scream, he flew sideways, rolling continuously on the ground. Merlin moved his feet, his figure quickly catching up. Arriving in front of him, he stared at the man who had collapsed on the ground and reverted to human form.
He was already motionless.
Merlin's gaze was somewhat strange. Then thick black flames spread from his body surface, enveloping the surroundings.
With a thought, the Peacock Mantis Shrimp appeared in his hand. Then his left hand pressed onto the guard captain's body. His figure disappeared instantly, appearing in the equipment slot.
Merlin's gaze moved slightly. Following that instinct, he controlled the equipment slot to start separating the fruit's origin. Before long, with a thought, the guard captain appeared outside.
Merlin looked at the dense camel-shaped mist energy in his second slot, thinking: "Equip it first to gain the specialty. Anyway, it can be consumed at any time to generate a new equipment slot."
However, at this time, Merlin's mind became active. With a thought, he looked at the synthesis rate of the two equipments.
Then.
[Compatibility: 75%]
Looking at the compatibility of the two equipments, Merlin's eyes showed contemplation, but with few examples, he wouldn't make a conclusion for now.
At this time, feeling a power boost appearing in his body, after sensing it slightly, Merlin thought to himself: "The bonus isn't big, after all, my base is stronger now, but it's useful."
At this time, his nose twitched. Merlin perceived a peculiar change.
The air pressure in the surrounding atmosphere, which could also be called wind, and the distribution of water vapor in the environment. "Environmental perception possessed by camels?"
Isn't this a Feng Shui master?
He felt a bit weird in his heart.
However, at this time, Merlin glanced at the guy under his feet, his eyes flashing.
Clang!
A dark cold light flashed.
A spray of blood flew out.
Spreading non-contagious Platinum Lead disease, the Marines probably wouldn't make a big fuss to trouble him. But if they knew he could extract abilities from ability users, they would definitely view him as a huge threat.
Moreover, killing him didn't require any reason.
And now, the synthesized Human-Human Fruit, Demon Form named by Merlin himself did not exist in the Donquixote Family's Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
Then what kind of abilities he could possess in the future was up to him to say. After all, it wasn't uncommon for some Mythical Zoan fruits in the encyclopedia to possess three or five peculiar abilities.
When out and about, his ability type was whatever he said it was.
Disarming here, not long after, Merlin arrived on the third floor of the castle. Along the way, black flames spread the Platinum Lead disease calamity.
Inside a luxurious residence.
Looking at Cassandra IX fallen on the ground, looking at the mottled white marks all over his naked body. Afterward, Merlin searched the castle. It didn't take long.
In the King's treasury.
Looking at the various wealth existing inside, Merlin narrowed his eyes, then took a curtain and began to loot.
Gold, Berries, jewelry—he only picked valuable things and packed them all.
In the end, there were still some things that were hard to carry, so he could only leave them there.
A moment later.
In the forest below the highland, Merlin released the Peacock Mantis Shrimp in his hand into a stream leading to the sea.
Then, Merlin shouldered a large bundle three meters in diameter and held seven large suitcases tied with rope in his hand.
He walked towards the outside of the island.
Some time later, at 5:00 AM.
Merlin arrived at an uninhabited place on the coast west of the port. A gray-black brig was parked alone by the shore here.
At this time, not far from the shore, a bonfire was burning. Fulvio and Monet were there.
Hearing the noise of Merlin's arrival, the two also discovered Merlin walking over.
"Why aren't you sleeping, staying here?"
"Waiting for you! Otherwise?"
A moment later, in the basement of the ship's cabin.
Looking at the pile of wealth in front of them, Fulvio and Monet's eyes were somewhat glazed. After a while, as the wealth was counted.
"Holy shit! Counting the Berries you brought back, these are worth at least three billion in total. You've struck it rich!"
"Holy crap! So those bullshit nobles were that rich?"
Merlin rolled his eyes at him. "This is just small money. The real foundation of those nobles is their real estate. The value of these things is probably just a small part of what they have."
Hearing Merlin say this, Fulvio clicked his tongue, his gaze calming down: "That's true! No problem with what you said."
At this time, Merlin smiled at Fulvio. "Then, I leave all this money to you to use."
Hearing this, even though Fulvio was prepared, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat. The corner of his mouth twitched, and his gaze became subtle: "I'm not saying, with so much wealth, do you trust me that much?"
Merlin rolled his eyes at him. "Is this a lot? In the eyes of truly rich people, these things, to put it bluntly, are just so-so. By the way, say less of this in the future. If you say it too much, be careful I'll look down on you."
Fulvio: "..."
"66"
A few seconds later, he sighed, "I'm convinced by you, convinced wholeheartedly. No wonder I can't be the boss."
But immediately, Fulvio's eyes became excited. An ambition quietly filled him up, and he looked at Merlin with burning eyes: "Don't worry, brother won't let you down!"
Merlin nodded with a smile: "I believe in you."
After speaking, Merlin stretched and said: "Business here is done. I'll go wash up on the ship first, and take a nap by the way!"
"By the way, Monet, you rest for a while too!"
Monet looked at Merlin and nodded with a smile: "Mmh! Okay."
Time flew by.
Under Merlin's biological clock.
8:00 AM.
Waking up Monet along the way, after getting up and washing, the two said goodbye to Fulvio.
After finding a breakfast shop in the nearby port and eating their fill.
While walking and chatting, the two arrived at the Donquixote ship on one side of the port. Taking out his pocket watch to check, the time was just right.
9:00 AM.
As the two approached, the people on the ship also discovered them. Gladius saw the two and simply said: "Since you're back, let's set off!"
As the two boarded the ship, Gladius said to Merlin: "The Young Master called last night. We have a new mission to deal with a group of blind pirates who robbed one of our properties."
Merlin raised his eyebrows slightly. "You guys are using me like a beast of burden?"
Gladius's mouth twitched: "This time, you can choose not to act. The target's strength is just average!"