Crack!
Boom!
The wall instantly collapsed into rubble.
"KEKEKEKE."
A pirate brandishing a dagger sneered inwardly.
Brat! Let me be the one to claim your 550 million bounty haha!
With that eerie laugh, the pirate raised his dagger and slashed down toward the sleeping Arthur.
"Die!"
BOOM!!!
In the next moment—
A body went flying, smashing through multiple walls, before landing lifeless on the deck.
"Ah!"
Arthur's eyes snapped open, burning with a crimson glow. His pitch-black pupils had transformed into blood-red slitted irises, like an enraged dragon awakened from slumber.
ROAR!
A thunderous roar erupted from his throat—more beast than man. Arthur's fury had been completely ignited.
Never mistake a dragon for a gentle creature.
On the contrary, dragons are notoriously short-tempered. After suffering ambushes and assassination attempts for half a month straight, Arthur's rage had finally reached its boiling point. He was now in a full-blown fury.
Step!
Step!
As he stepped forward, the pirates hiding nearby froze. Arthur now radiated a seemingly endless stream of Conqueror's Haki so intense it made their skin crawl.
"What… is happening…?!"
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Arthur's overwhelming presence receded slightly.
Huff.
Letting out a long breath, he rubbed his temples and looked up at the terrified pirates.
"Sorry, sorry. I kinda lost myself for a moment there," he said, almost apologetically. "Anger is a dangerous thing."
"But then again…"
"Rather than suppress my anger... it's better to eliminate the ones who made me angry in the first place."
As a dragon, unleashing wrath was second nature. If that's the case, there was no need to hold back. Arthur had no intention of suppressing it—he'd simply wipe out the source.
Step!
In one stride, Arthur drew his Invisible Blade and plunged straight into the crowd of pirates.
No words, no hesitation.
Just action.
Slash!
Slash!
Against these fools who overestimated themselves, Arthur made quick work of them. In mere moments, all the bodies had been dumped into the sea.
That night—
The deck of the pirate ship was drenched in blood. But such a scene was entirely expected.
Captain Rocks had made one thing clear: any targeted ambush against the same person could only last up to half a month.
While the Rocks Pirates were notoriously chaotic and insane, even they had rules. Without restraint, chaos would spiral out of control—bringing only endless trouble.
And it was exactly because of these rules that the Rocks Pirates were able to maintain their terrifying momentum amid the madness.
This—
Was the cornerstone of their stability, and the guiding principle laid down by Captain Rocks himself.
Huff~
Back in his room, Arthur exhaled deeply and clenched his fists.
"To think... I actually lost my mind to rage. So this is the double-edged nature of the Red Dragon bloodline... it gives power, but also poses a threat to reason."
He had thought of this before.
He had always known that gaining the power of a Red Dragon could also bring about its instability.
And today, that suspicion had become a reality.
"Good thing…"
"I learned meditation techniques early on. What a lifesaver."
"Mmm…"
Arthur muttered as he reflected. "That old man… who exactly was he again?"
He recalled a mysterious old man who had once visited his homeland by ship.
The man had resupplied at their port and, during his brief stay, had taught Arthur both swordsmanship and how to calm his mind.
That encounter had changed everything.
"But still…"
Arthur whispered to himself, "The fact that I could recover from the rage so quickly proves that, even if I haven't fully mastered it, I'm close."
"However…"
"Mastering just 10% of the Red Dragon bloodline through time and patience… that's far too slow."
Arthur knew that mastering the bloodline further would normally take years of discipline and training.
But he didn't have that kind of time.
More accurately—he couldn't afford to wait.
The God Valley Incident was fast approaching.
He had to strengthen himself rapidly if he wanted to survive what was to come and seize the treasures left behind by Captain Rocks before the crew's inevitable collapse.
Without power, it would be impossible to wrest anything from those monsters.
"Looks like…"
"I'll have to toughen up myself in the midst of war."
"System."
"Use all available energy to enhance my Red Dragon bloodline!"
There was no room for hesitation.
Arthur needed strength—and he needed it now.
Unlocking the Knights of the Round Table, or unsealing Excalibur—those were distant dreams.
Right now, the best path forward was to maximize his Red Dragon bloodline.
ROARRRR!
"AAARGH!"
As expected, unbearable pain surged through every inch of his body.
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