"Impossible…" Ghost Grandma exclaimed in a low voice. "My Observation Haki can't sense him!"
She closed her eyes, and her Observation Haki enveloped the area where the man in white was, but she couldn't hear anything.
There was no sound, no breath from muscles, no rhythm of a heartbeat. He seemed to exist in a different dimension from them, like beings in a two-dimensional world being unable to perceive the existence of the three-dimensional world.
Ghost Grandma was terrified.
Even the advanced stage of Observation Haki, "Stealth," couldn't completely erase one's presence at such close range. That was impossible. As long as it was a living being, there would be a presence, though it could be suppressed to a very low level, like a tree or a rock by the roadside.
But the man in white before her was different. He had no presence at all, appearing dreamlike and illusory, as if he existed and yet did not.
If not for the fact that they could still see him with their naked eyes, no one would have been able to detect his presence.
"Lord Vladimir Emperor." The Shadow Fiend called out respectfully.
Vladimir Emperor!
The three stiffened, staring blankly at each other.
This was the legendary Phantom captain, Vladimir Emperor!?
Rumor had it that he had destroyed the Big Mom Pirates overnight!
With countless experts under his command, and three ruling-level executives, each with the strength of an Emperor, how terrifying must the captain be, to inspire such loyalty in these ruthless individuals?
Ghost Grandma didn't know. She only understood that the person before her was unfathomable. She couldn't even probe him with her Observation Haki.
"You did very well this time."
Vladimir, playing two roles, spoke with his main body, first praising calmly, then ignoring the other two and addressing Nini. "Little girl, don't worry. The Phantom Organization has its own rules. We won't break our promises."
"Y-yes…"
Nini nodded dazedly.
Vladimir Emperor spoke very calmly, neither arrogantly nor in a way that made one feel overly comfortable. Yet, when Nini heard his words, she subconsciously believed him, as if they were the truth and he would never lie.
Of course, this was mostly a psychological effect. Another reason was that Vladimir had used the power of holy light.
"Shadow Fiend, I'll handle things here personally. You take them away. As for Nini, temporarily place her with Doflamingo."
"Understood!"
The Shadow Fiend nodded, then walked up to the stunned trio. "Let's go, I'll take you away."
The three dared not raise any objections.
Having seen the Sea Dragon earlier was already shocking enough. Now, encountering the mysterious Vladimir Emperor had completely extinguished any thought of resistance.
Even Andy Poland felt an inexplicable fear in his heart. This Vladimir Emperor gave him a very strange feeling. He had torn through space to arrive. If not for being visible to the naked eye, he wouldn't have been able to detect even the slightest trace of his presence.
He just wanted to get away from such a threatening figure!
After the group left, Vladimir slowly approached the lake.
Without hesitation, he stepped into it. His feet were first soaked by the water, and simultaneously, the Fantasia gene's absorption process began.
The mysterious power from the lake was being devoured and absorbed by his cells at an incredible speed.
This mysterious power was unlike anything before; it seemed more special.
A moment later, the lake's surface visibly lowered slightly. Vladimir, immersed in the small lake, found that special cracks were gradually appearing on his skin.
These cracks started from his chest and spread throughout his body.
At the same time, a tingling sensation spread from the top of Vladimir's head. The next moment, a pair of spiraling, curved horns suddenly appeared.
"This transformation…"
Vladimir instinctively raised his hand and touched the things growing on his head. These horns were somewhat similar to Kaido's, but different—they spiraled upwards.
"Demon Horns? Is this transformation related to a demon?"
Vladimir thought with some strangeness. In his mind, information about the new transformation gradually surfaced.
"Ninth Transformation: Fearful Great Demon King…"
There was only a name, no other information, because in the next second, the transformation was interrupted.
With a "poof," Vladimir's body dispersed into a cloud of black mist, dyeing the entire lake surface black.
Of course, this didn't scare Vladimir at all. His body had completely disintegrated when he was the Archangel, yet he was fine.
However, unlike last time, this transformation seemed to be missing something.
"This is not an ordinary demon; it's a Demon King level!"
Even as a mass of black mist, Vladimir retained consciousness.
This black mist was incredibly evil, filled with desires, brutality, killing intent, and other negative emotions.
But it was missing one thing.
Fear!
Vladimir paused, then quickly understood. "Fearful Great Demon King requires human fear to complete the transformation… Without fear, the transformation will stagnate."
Fear, as long as one is human, they possess this emotion to some extent.
But this fear had nothing to do with the Fearful Great Demon King. Humans had no idea that a Fearful Great Demon King existed.
The reason the Archangel could draw upon the world's holy light power last time was because this world itself had myths about angels, even about God.
But the Fearful Great Demon King had no such basis. There were legends of demons, of course, given the existence of Devil Fruits.
"No good, I need to make humans aware of the existence of such a Demon King first."
Vladimir thought for a moment and immediately came up with an idea.
"What I can do now seems to be only entering dreams."
Entering dreams, invading others' dreams, and then announcing the existence of the Fearful Great Demon King to evoke human fear.
As he was thinking, Vladimir's heart suddenly stirred.
"Wait, entering dreams… If this transformation can do this, can it invade the Dream Realm?"
He hadn't had a solution before, but now it seemed he had a plan.
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