Chapter 161: Seven Stars Dragon Emperor
As Kael and Aramaki returned, the Exile Emperor immediately set off for the remote and dilapidated Sleep Ancient Town. This was an island Kael had found after several months of searching, spending a fortune through Morgans and Stussy's connections. Stussy even secretly used World Government intelligence, leveraging their power to work for Kael, an ally of Vegapunk.
It was only after the precise location of Sleep Ancient Town was confirmed that Kael decided to depart for the New World, to obtain both the artificial Azure Dragon Devil Fruit and the Vampire Devil Fruit at once.
Kael greeted everyone and then returned to his training room, where the Devil Fruit 'feeding' machine sent by Vegapunk was stored. This machine was not very large, so it could only create small Devil Fruit weapons, such as the Hellhound, Elephant Sword, Dachshund Cannon, and Alpaca Cannon. Feeding a ship a Devil Fruit was likely not feasible; after all, ships are too large, and many parts are not a single entity, making the technical difficulty exponentially greater.
Seeing Kael busy, the others could only ask Aramaki what was going on.
"Actually, it's nothing much. His Majesty was like a prophet in that research institute, directly finding a Devil Fruit," Aramaki said. "According to that woman under Doflamingo, it was a failed artificial Devil Fruit. But His Majesty seemed to communicate with the Seven Star Sword Spirit for a few minutes, and then he returned excitedly. I guess this failed artificial Devil Fruit must have some extraordinary ability."
Aramaki shrugged and spoke casually. Once Kael finished getting things from these 2 islands, they could then roam the New World, looking for opportunities to defeat billion-Beli pirates. He wondered if there would be a chance to encounter the Four Emperors Pirates. Defeating a top executive of the Four Emperors would surely lead to a promotion to Duke.
"Artificial Devil Fruit? Doflamingo actually has this kind of business?" Even Issho was extremely shocked. Could Devil Fruits really be artificially manufactured?
"Punk Hazard was once a technological island where Vegapunk, the world's greatest scientist, was stationed," Reiju analyzed seriously. "But due to a gas explosion, everyone relocated. Doflamingo probably also wanted to salvage Dr. Vegapunk's technology on this island." Her father, Judge, paid close attention to information about Vegapunk, Caesar, and other former companions and rivals. As a high-ranking member of Germa, Reiju had also come across a lot of information.
"A failed artificial Devil Fruit... His Majesty won't have any problems, will he?" Nami and Kaya looked towards Kael's training room, their eyes filled with worry. Failed and artificial—these words immediately evoked a sense of unease.
"His Majesty doesn't do things he's not confident about," Reiju said, very confident in Kael. The secrets he held were plentiful.
At this moment, in the training room, Kael placed the Seven Stars Dragon Emperor Sword and the artificial Azure Dragon Devil Fruit into the 2 containers of the Devil Fruit 'feeding' machine. As the machine closed, it made a whirring sound.
The sword and the fruit entered a sealed space and began to spin at high speed. 5 minutes later, the machine slowly stopped. The Seven Stars Dragon Emperor Sword emerged from the central exit, while the artificial Azure Dragon Devil Fruit had disappeared, leaving behind some fruit residue.
Kael's eyes shimmered with light as he intently watched the sword. Before he could even reach for the hilt, the blade of the sword transformed into a dragon's head, the hilt became a dragon's body, and the horizontal dragon claw tsuba truly turned into 2 dragon claws. Clusters of golden auspicious clouds appeared around the sword, lifting it into the air.
'I can move freely now!' The Seven Star Sword Spirit's voice was incredibly excited. This pink-gold little dragon roared and flew to Kael's side, coiling around him. As Kael grasped the dragon-body hilt, the pink-gold little dragon immediately reverted to its half-dragon, half-sword form.
'From now on, this sword spirit will be the Seven Stars Dragon Emperor!' The Seven Star Sword Spirit laughed triumphantly. With its voice, 4 ancient characters appeared below the tsuba, resembling dragon scale patterns: [Seven Stars Dragon Emperor]. The characters 'Seven Stars' were above, and 'Dragon Emperor' were below, forming a square sword inscription.
"Seven Stars Dragon Emperor it is then," Kael said. "Can you still only communicate with me through consciousness?" Kael listened to the roar, his brows slightly furrowed. Could the Seven Star Sword Spirit, which possessed self-awareness, still only bark like the Hellhound and the Dachshund?
'Uh, I need to learn and adapt.' The Seven Star Sword Spirit immediately controlled its dragon roar. There was no reason why even Karasuke, that crow, could learn human language, but this noble Seven Stars Dragon Emperor could not. The sword immediately began to familiarize itself with and control its dragon roar.
"Roar, roar, ahem... Idiot, idiot... Moron, big moron..." it sputtered. "I! Can! Speak! Now! Master, are you my master? Owner? Boss, Your Majesty..."
The human language simulated by the Seven Star Sword Spirit's low dragon roar made Kael's face darken, as if he had witnessed the birth of a chatterbox. "From now on, just communicate with me through consciousness. There's no need to speak unless necessary." Kael was about to make the Seven Stars Dragon Emperor revert to its original form and put it back into its sheath.
"I don't want to go back into the sheath, I don't want to be sheathed, I want to coil on my master's shoulder! Be a shoulder dragon!" The Seven Stars Dragon Emperor was so anxious that it spoke incredibly fluently. It suddenly stretched its dragon head and turned, spitting out a Wind Blade sword qi from its mouth, which instantly cut half of the sheath in Kael's hand. It also left a large sword mark crack in the training room.
"Hmm?!" Kael's Conqueror's Haki burst forth, suppressing the somewhat willful Seven Stars Dragon Emperor.
"I'll be obedient, I'll be obedient, Master, don't hit me~" The Seven Star Sword Spirit immediately transformed back into the Seven Stars Dragon Emperor Sword, resting quietly in Kael's hand, as docile as a misbehaving child.
"Fine, if you don't want to go back into the sheath, so be it." Kael tossed the half-sheath in his hand aside. His Emperor's Sword had become even stronger. It could even cut through a sheath made of memory metal alloy with 1 slash.
"Master, I will definitely be obedient from now on." The Seven Star Sword Spirit immediately formed a dragon head and rubbed against Kael's shoulder, fawning over its master like a sycophant.
"Develop your abilities well. Besides Wind Blade sword qi, you need to develop Flame sword qi and Lightning sword qi too," Kael instructed. He released his grip on the hilt, and the Seven Stars Dragon Emperor immediately transformed from its half-dragon, half-sword form into a complete pink-gold little dragon, coiling around Kael's shoulder.
"Okay, Master, I will work hard. I will awaken my abilities as soon as possible, to make my master the most handsome and impressive man!" The Seven Star Sword Spirit immediately patted its chest with its dragon claws, promising. It wanted to awaken within 2 years, no, it wanted to awaken within 1 year. This new ability's will was so easy to merge and synchronize with.
When Kael left the training room, everyone was drawn to the pink-gold little dragon on his shoulder. "So cute~" Kaya and Nami immediately exclaimed, eager to go up and pet it.
But the Seven Star Sword Spirit was only a sycophant in front of its master, Kael; in front of others, it was a killing god. Its dragon eyes narrowed, its small mouth opened, and a Wind Blade sword qi roared out, instantly cleaving a 1,000-meter gully in the sea. This instantly scared Nami and the other girls' hands back.
It, the Seven Stars Dragon Emperor, could not be touched by anyone except its master!