What Brook never expected actually happened, leaving him completely stunned. There really were top-tier powerhouses in this world who were that straightforward—how did they even survive this long without a shred of caution?
"He's God Knight Gabriel, user of the Paramecia-type Weather-Weather Fruit. He's one of the strongest in the God Knights, right up there at the top. I suggest you surrender peacefully, or you'll face our most devastating attacks!!"
God Knight Raphael said this with total sincerity. They had no intention of dragging this out into a war of attrition with Brook. They planned to end this vile criminal in the shortest time possible!
Not many people in the world could survive a combined assault from them. The two God Knights who'd already died were just the weakest bottom-rung members of the order, the ones often sent out to protect the Celestial Dragons on their outings!
"Weather-Weather Fruit! Bind-Bind Fruit! Such powerful top-tier abilities—worthy of the God Knights, the Celestial Dragons' most trusted protectors!"
A greedy thought suddenly sparked in Brook's mind. He wanted them! He really wanted them! Especially the Weather-Weather Fruit—it sounded like one of those ultra-high-class Devil Fruit powers with maximum prestige!
Right after Brook spoke, the Navy Fleet Admiral Kurotaka, who was fighting Rocks, transformed into his full Quetzalcoatl beast form. His entrance came with a built-in downpour, which now gave God Knight Gabriel a perfect boost, letting him instantly seize control over part of the storm's weather powers in the area!
"So this Weather-Weather Fruit can only manipulate existing weather, but not create various weather conditions from scratch?"
Brook asked in disbelief—this seemed way too underwhelming, right? Otherwise, why not show off the Weather-Weather Fruit's full power from the start?
Just whip up some massive tornadoes, thunderstorms, huge hailstones... That alone would be enough to give the Hell Pirates and the Rocks Pirates a serious headache!
"Hmph! What do you know! How could we use such violent forces to destroy God Valley, the gods' own domain!"
God Knight Gabriel snorted lightly. The God Knights' duties went beyond just protecting the Celestial Dragons—they couldn't carelessly wreck the Celestial Dragons' property!
Now that he saw the Navy Fleet Admiral had summoned the rain, he figured he could borrow it without it counting as actively damaging the Celestial Dragons' residence!
Damn! Brook felt like he'd just caught another weakness of the God Knights—they didn't dare destroy the Celestial Dragons' luxurious palaces?
Wasn't that just wasting a top-tier Devil Fruit ability?
This only fueled Brook's covetous desire for the Weather-Weather Fruit!
Since the God Knights had these operational restrictions, there might be a way to exploit them. Brook decided to immediately shift the battlefield into the Celestial Dragons' luxurious palace complex!
Had these God Knights been cooped up in the Holy Land Mary Geoise for so long that they'd gone soft in the head? They were practically spilling their own info, and Brook had no choice but to "reluctantly" accept Raphael and Gabriel's honest reports!
But before Brook could even celebrate, God Knight Gabriel condensed the storm into massive water droplets that hurtled toward him at high speed!
What the hell! House-sized "water drops"?
If one hit him, it'd be like plunging into the ocean, right?
And for a Devil Fruit user, that carried the huge risk of sapping all his strength!
Another beam of binding golden light shot out, making Brook feel the oppressive pressure from the two God Knights' seamless teamwork. He couldn't afford to let his guard down for a second!
Brook summoned an ordinary ghost general to block God Knight Raphael's binding golden light—and it actually worked, meaning it bound the first target it hit!
Brook was testing the limits of the two God Knights' Devil Fruit abilities; otherwise, he could easily get caught off guard by some weird power!
"Hey! Do your Devil Fruits have any weaknesses?"
Brook asked like a total idiot, quizzing his enemies on their weak points right in the middle of battle. Come on, no normal person would spill that to an opponent—how could he even ask something like that!
"Weaknesses? Just don't get hit by the binding golden light—does that count? For Gabriel's, dispersing the weather should do it!"
God Knight Raphael's answer left Brook utterly floored. These God Knights were seriously that straightforward. At that moment, even Navy Fleet Admiral Kurotaka couldn't hold back and roared over!
"You two idiots, stop spilling your own intel! Shut your mouths and kill him with everything you've got!"
Kurotaka was furious at these "pampered" God Knights—they must've really gone soft from hanging around the Holy Land Mary Geoise!
"You're actually trying to trick us honest knights! This is unforgivable!"
From that point on, the two God Knights stopped talking, charging at Brook with full fury and vengeance. Their flawless coordination even put Brook on the back foot a few times!
These two God Knights were absolute masters with top-tier physical skills and Devil Fruits, giving Brook a real taste of the World Government's deep reserves!
But Brook, whose power had ballooned massively, wasn't one to be pushed around. With an endless supply of souls from the battlefield to replenish him, his ghost generals launched suicidal charges, dealing plenty of damage to the two God Knights in return!
Brook deliberately showed a bit of weakness to lure them into the Celestial Dragons' luxurious palace cluster—and sure enough, it made Gabriel hold back a little on his Weather-Weather Fruit powers!
But his physical techniques were still a huge pain, with raindrops firing like steel pellets at Brook, showing him the terrifying potential of the Weather-Weather Fruit!
He could even unleash small tornadoes to block Brook's escape routes, and combined with Raphael's Bind-Bind Fruit, it left Brook fighting a bit frustrated!
Compared to the earth-shaking, mountain-rattling clash between Rocks and Navy Fleet Admiral Kurotaka, Brook's battle style came off as a little sneaky and restrained!
He wanted to fight out in the open too, but Raphael's Bind-Bind Fruit was just too annoying. He couldn't nullify Devil Fruit powers with something like the Dark-Dark Fruit the way Rocks could!
Every time he got hit, he had to blast it off with a ton of Haki, and each time he barely avoided getting dismembered!
"I'm done with you sneaky bastards! Is your binding golden light free or something? Why fire it off so often!"
Brook was fuming from God Knight Raphael's Bind-Bind Fruit, chills running through him!
"I was gonna let you properly test the ghost generals' strength, but if you're gonna keep playing dirty, then screw this—I'm out!"
Brook couldn't stand being chased around like this anymore. What a crappy test—no fun at all!
Brook roared, and all his ghost generals surged into his body—Aokiba, Overlord Vesper, Braille, Saracha, Dawei...
The fusion of these ghost generals caused Brook's size and aura to explode outward, the momentum swelling endlessly, far surpassing a Navy Admiral, even beyond a New World overlord!
In that moment, Brook seemed like a true god of death!
Even Rocks and Kurotaka looked over gravely at this battlefield—the aura was almost on par with Rocks at his peak!
Who would've thought Brook could reach this terrifying level in just three or four short years!
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Fanfic is finished 955 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg