"She really thinks highly of me!"
Merlin stood at the stern of the ship, gazing at the warship hundreds of meters away. His Observation Haki sensed a familiar aura on board.
"It's Teresa!"
At the same time, as his Observation Haki swept over, several Haki presences from the opposing warship collided with his.
And in the very next second, a dazzling, peach-pink crescent slash, a hundred meters in diameter, came slicing through the air with an ear-piercing buzz.
Speechlessness flashed in Merlin's eyes. Then, the muscles in his right hand gripping the hilt tensed and exploded with power instantly. Clang! With a crisp ring, a dark red slash flew out from in front of him.
Bang!
The two slashes collided and shattered a hundred meters away, the violent airflow carving ripples into the sea surface.
At this moment, a tall, beautiful figure appeared at the bow of the opposing warship. following her attack, bursts of melodious and crisp cheers erupted from the warship's deck.
"Big Sister Gion is so cool ♡!"
"Ahhh, I'm dying of beauty ♡!"
"Tsk!" The female Marine named Gion sheathed her sword, dissatisfaction flashing on her charming, fair face. "Annoying brats!"
"Sister Gion, what do you think of Merlin's strength?"
At this time, Teresa walked over wearing a female Marine uniform. Seeing her, Gion's annoyed expression calmed down: "It's Teresa!"
Saying this, her sharp gaze looked at Merlin at the stern of the opposite ship, and she clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction again. "That bastard kid's combat power is currently about the level of our Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals. I really don't know what he grew up eating."
"By the way, since you know him, do you know specifically what his ability is?"
Hearing this, Teresa looked away with embarrassment in her eyes. Seeing this, Gion's mouth twitched, becoming somewhat helpless.
This girl found Sister Tsuru more than two months ago and joined the Marines. Because her strength and fruit ability were very good, she quickly became a Headquarters Ensign.
And Marine intelligence quickly found out that they had crossed paths on Black Pearl Island. Later, they also learned from Teresa that she obtained her Devil Fruit thanks to Merlin.
But under questioning, this girl was really loyal and wouldn't say anything extra.
"You know, that bastard has tormented the royal families and nobles of three allied nations to the point of being half-dead. We Marines are also under a lot of pressure. Do you think we can get him to cure the Platinum Lead disease for those bastard nobles?"
Teresa looked away and muttered softly: "Those nobles aren't good things either. The civilians in Flevance were almost slaughtered by the soldiers led by them. It's better if they all die. Anyway, if a batch of nobles dies, there will be new nobles to take charge of the kingdom."
Listening to these words deliberately said to her, Gion looked helpless. At this time, a capable middle-aged woman around fifty walked over, her gentle yet competent voice coming over: "Although most nobles aren't good things, since we are Marines, we have an obligation to help them. Even if we don't want to."
"For the past month, that kid has been as slippery as a loach. We can't catch him for a while."
"By the way, Teresa, are you really sure that kid isn't in cahoots with that bad boy Doflamingo?"
Hearing this, a light flashed in Teresa's eyes, and she nodded solemnly: "Merlin isn't the kind of man willing to be beneath others; otherwise, he would have joined the Marines with me back then. If it weren't for the Flevance matter, I was also confident in persuading him to join the Marines. Mmh, probably!"
Teresa said so.
Hearing this, Tsuru and Gion looked at each other. These contradictory words made their eyes somewhat suspicious and helpless.
At this time, Tsuru looked helplessly at this little girl she thought highly of and said: "If we fight him later, can you make up your mind to fight him? If not, I can let you sit out."
Hearing this, Teresa's eyes instantly became firm. "No need, Vice Admiral Tsuru. Merlin is very strong. Even if I attack, I believe he won't blame me. Even if our stances are different now, we will always be good friends. Similarly, even if he cuts me, I won't blame him a bit."
Hearing this, helplessness and gratification appeared in Tsuru's eyes. She smiled: "That's good."
Voice falling, she turned her head and issued an order: "Team One, Team Two, crossfire launch. Put some pressure on them."
"Yes! Vice Admiral."
"Obeyed! Lady Tsuru."
The female soldiers on the deck moved capably, pushing cannons and loading shells. Every process seemed familiar to their bones.
Soon.
Under the control of these female gunners.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Shells were fired at high speed from the muzzles toward the stern of the ship ahead.
"Lingering spirit!"
Lao G came to Merlin's side, watching the rain of shells flying over with sharp whistles from behind.
Seeing this scene, Merlin smiled. Night Earl, held in his hand and hanging on his right side, swung out in an instant. Amidst clear buzzing sounds, the surrounding atmosphere was rolled up, and blade beams flew out at extreme speed.
As if tireless.
Those shells flying from afar exploded in mid-air with rumbling sounds.
Strong wind and smoke whistled up.
After several rounds of artillery fire, it didn't pose any threat to everyone.
And the distance between the two ships was constantly widening. After all, the warship was too bulky. In terms of speed, it was really difficult to catch up with their fast ship.
Not long after, the warship was pulled further and further away. In the end, only a black dot remained hanging far behind on the sea surface.
Only then did the people on the ship slowly breathe a sigh of relief.
At this time, Gladius came over and handed Merlin a bottle of wine. As soon as Merlin took it, he heard him say: "The Young Master and the others are coming soon. Let us continue to hang them here and prepare to see if there is a chance to finish them off."
Merlin was stunned, then looked at Gladius with a subtle gaze: "Are you sure? In the past, could Doflamingo beat Vice Admiral Tsuru?"
Gladius's eye corner twitched, then he looked at Merlin: "The past was the past, now is now. The Young Master is also constantly becoming stronger. Besides, this time there's you too."
Seeing this, Merlin clicked his tongue and said no more. One look and you could tell he hadn't been beaten enough.
As for that female Marine who slashed at him just now, Merlin had already recognized her. She was a tricky guy. But since Doflamingo wanted to fight, then clashing was fine. Just right to test his current level.
Merlin opened the cork and took a swig of wine, then said to him: "When will he come?"
Gladius said: "The Young Master and the others will come in half a month."
"All of them?"
"Mmh, all of them."
Merlin nodded, then ignored him. Seeing this, Gladius tactfully left.
At this time, the equipment slot appeared before his eyes.
Merlin looked at the synchronization rate of his two equipments during this period.
[Human-Human Fruit - Demon Form]: 37%
[Zoan - Camel Fruit - Bactrian Camel Form]: 22%
Then, Merlin looked at his specialty column.
Over this period, from the Human-Human Fruit - Demon Form, Merlin obtained a brand new specialty, and a special specialty had undergone a transformation.
[Wild Instinct]: Innate wildness is engraved in your bones. Your pursuit of freedom, adaptation to the environment, and alertness to potential threats make you unable to tolerate being bound by external things.
[Super Endurance]: Characteristics born from the Demon. Your organs, muscles, bones, and metabolic capacity have evolved. Your body and will's endurance will become stronger and stronger as you grow in the future.
Looking at these two specialties, a thoughtful look appeared in Merlin's eyes. As the name suggested, the "Wild Instinct" specialty was a specialty that made him untamable. To put it simply, it was a mindset centered on self-will. To put it even simpler, he had a rebellious bone and couldn't tolerate others riding on his head.
Regarding this, in the past half month since obtaining this specialty, Merlin hadn't found any adverse effects on himself.
Rather, his body and mind felt comfortable.
After all, he was free, and what he did now was all done according to his own will.
As for "Super Endurance," this evolved from "Lasting Endurance."
Since the equipment was bound, Merlin had gradually discovered the difference between bound equipment and temporary equipment during this period.
Bound equipment could be said to have completely become one of his innate potentials. As the synchronization value increased, not only could he obtain new specialties, but as long as they were related to the specialties he already possessed, they would no longer be limited to covering probabilistically from top to bottom based on synchronization value as he developed them.
That is to say, as long as he possessed stronger potential, he could cover or evolve existing lower-level specialties.
And as one of the two origins of synthesis, the Ancient Zoan Demon Form Devil Fruit origin would naturally give Merlin the innate characteristics possessed by ancient demons. In this way, this high-quality change was inevitable.
Moreover, with the completion of the evolution of this special specialty, Merlin could clearly perceive that his current body and spirit seemed to be growing at all times.
Even if imperceptible, it existed.
And in these few months, Merlin also fully understood the relationship between equipment and his special specialties.
Specialties born from [Equipment], once they appeared, already possessed a growth nature that the equipment did not have.
Just like a Devil Fruit, although equipping it could grant him various abilities, these abilities had limits. No matter how much he developed and grew, he could ultimately never break through the framework limit of the Devil Fruit.
But the special specialties obtained thereby possessed growth potential that the equipped item did not have.
Although the two were closely related, there were differences. The effects between equipment and specialties could not be stacked, but specialty abilities could break through the fruit's limit.
Even if equipment synthesis could bring about a qualitative change, specialties could acquire changes above quality through his growth, perception, and experience.
The equipment slot disappeared from his eyes. Merlin narrowed his eyes. He could sense that from time to time, a wave of Observation Haki perceived his side. And this was the way they could chase relentlessly for the past month.
Immediately, Merlin stopped thinking too much, downed the wine in one gulp, threw away the bottle, clenched his fists, and punched into the air in front of him one by one.
Sensing the force generation from his own muscles and bones, the interaction between dynamic and static forces in his body.
The atmosphere at the fist edge, under these punches, constantly showed a feeling of air stagnation.
Experiencing the principle of using a blade swing to roll up the atmosphere and trigger a vacuum slash, applying it to his fist.
The principle of Rankyaku in the Navy Six Styles (Rokushiki) was similar to the vacuum slash, while Geppo used the air stagnation triggered by kicking the air with super strong leg strength to perform aerial actions.
Possessing the "Super Burst" specialty, plus his current strong body, Merlin was confident that given enough time, he would be able to comprehend it himself sooner or later.
Pa pa pa!
Sounds of air explosions burst at the fist edge, the atmosphere was stirred, and as time passed, the whole ship began to shake.
Not long after, several figures appeared not far away looking over. Lao G's eye corner twitched, "Is this monster not tired at all?"
"Maybe it's youth!"
Rosinante muttered to himself, "Isn't that little girl the same?"
Lao G, with sharp ears and eyes, turned to look at a spot on the deck where Monet was doing basic physical fitness strengthening training.
The corner of his mouth twitched again, "Merlin's electric shocks seem quite useful. This little girl's speed of becoming stronger is also very fast."
Saying this, he looked at Rosinante with a subtle tone: "Current you can't beat her either, right?"
Rosinante's face darkened, his eye corner twitching. Involuntarily, he thought of the experience of sparring with Monet and getting beaten up a few days ago.