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In a world of Devil Fruit users, just how strong would someone become after living for eight hundred years without dying?
After Chrollo laid everything out, Bonney, Nami, and Robin fell completely silent.
How do you even fight an immortal enemy? How do you guard against mass teleportation?
Imu and the God's Knights suddenly felt like an immovable mountain crushing down on all of them.
And according to Chrollo, those two Zodiac Knights they'd just faced were probably the bottom rung of the organization.
The real God's Knights… every single member would be at least Warlord-level, maybe even pushing Admiral-tier—peak ability users.
"Maybe we should just disband," Bonney muttered, face pale with worry. "Everyone go home, find your moms, call it a day."
Duang!
Chrollo's lightning fist came down on her head.
"Ow! What the hell?! I'm not wrong, am I? There's no beating an enemy like that! Keep going like this and we'll end up just like Roger's crew!"
Bonney rubbed her head and shot back, but Nami and Robin both grabbed her arms and nodded toward the rest of the Troupe.
"Look at them."
Bonney glanced over.
The Phantom Troupe hadn't reacted like normal people at all.
If anything, their faces were lit up with pure, savage excitement.
Uvogin's grin kept stretching wider until he bared his teeth and proudly showed off the spider tattoo on his back. "Now that's the kind of opponent worthy of the Dark Continent."
Nobunaga quietly polished his twin famous blades, eyes soft like he was looking at a lover. "No need to overthink it. Boss is here. All we have to do is one thing."
"Grip our swords tight… and cut down everything in our way."
Phinks spun the two balls in his hands, smirking arrogantly. "World King? Whatever. When we topple her and I take over the underworld, I'll give myself a title too—World King Dad."
Feitan said nothing. He just looked utterly disgusted, like the whole concept of Imu and her knights was beneath him.
Machi arrogantly flipped her pink hair back into a ponytail and said coolly, "The last guy who called himself a god is still locked up in the Captain's prison~"
Pakunoda covered her mouth, trying not to laugh at Machi's deadpan burn.
Franklin, Shalnark, Bonolenov, and Kortopi were already deep in discussion, brainstorming ways to counter immortality and group teleportation.
And Shizuku? She didn't give a damn about any of it.
She'd wandered off into the castle by herself and was busy vacuuming up every last piece of treasure Moria had hoarded from defeated pirate crews, quietly expanding the Phantom Pirates' war chest.
Watching their reactions, Nami couldn't help but smile. She patted Bonney's shoulder. "Kids worry too much. No need to think that far ahead~"
"These guys don't even know what fear is."
"Besides, if we really disbanded, how would you save your dad?"
"You're just scared of dragging us down, right?"
Robin watched the scene with a soft smile. "I was planning to leave too, you know. I figured my existence would only be a burden to any crew. But now… it looks like there isn't a bolder group in the entire world."
Bonney got called out and scratched her head awkwardly. Chrollo immediately dropped another lightning fist on her.
"Ow! Why are you still hitting me?!"
Chrollo shrugged. "Kids think too much."
"So what do we do now?" Bonney asked.
Chrollo stayed perfectly calm. "Even if the God's Knights have us marked after today, our plan doesn't change. There's only one rule—get stronger."
"So we keep doing what we do best: hunting ability users."
His eyes sharpened.
"Next stop—Sabaody Archipelago to hunt down the Supernovas. Then… straight to Impel Down."
He glanced over at Absalom and Perona, who were still lying unconscious where Shizuku had left them.
"Besides, this trip wasn't a total loss."
Chrollo walked over to the pair Shizuku had knocked out. The Clear-Clear Fruit was worthless to him—he already had [God's Alibi], and it gave zero combat boost. No point stealing it for anyone else.
But the Hollow-Hollow Fruit… that one had serious potential.
Perona had developed it in such a shallow, one-note way. In Chrollo's eyes, the ability to manipulate souls had just as much upside as Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit—maybe even as much as Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit.
He reached out and touched Perona.
[Detected that the Host has stolen the Hollow-Hollow Fruit.]
[Paramecia-type · Hollow-Hollow Fruit]
[The user can generate spirit bodies and manipulate them. Spirit types include negative ghosts, mini ghosts, bomb ghosts, and more. The user can also create a spirit clone of themselves while asleep to act in their place. These clones ignore all physical attacks, pass through walls, and the real body will wake up the instant it takes damage…]
[Rating: Rarity: A / Potential: B / Practicality: A]
[Appraisal Comment: …]
[Overall Rating: A-rank. Host receives 8 Free Attribute Points.]
Exactly as expected—A-rank.
Plenty of room left for development.
Chrollo evenly distributed the 8 points across Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Stamina. Every single one of his main stats finally broke the 80 barrier. He now had the pure physical foundation of an Emperor's right-hand man.
With a flick of his wrist, a translucent gray fruit appeared in his hand.
After thinking it over, he decided to give the Hollow-Hollow Fruit to Shizuku.
Storing and deploying ghosts was basically the same principle as the Shadow-Shadow Fruit. Plus, the ability to phase through walls and strike from nowhere fit her perfectly.
Ghost Princess Shizuku… yeah, that had a nice ring to it.
Shizuku took the fruit without a single question or moment of hesitation. She bit into it in small, neat bites like always.
She was a straight-line thinker. Chrollo's word was absolute law.
After she spat out the core, Chrollo looked over. "How does it feel?"
Shizuku raised her arm. A faint spark of curiosity crossed her face as a gray spirit peeled away from her limb and floated around her.
"Not bad," Chrollo said, nodding in satisfaction.
"Develop it the same way Moria used his shadows. Play to your close-combat strengths."
Shizuku nodded, eyes turning serious.
Chrollo relaxed. Shizuku might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but her battle instincts were razor-sharp.
Her gut would guide her to take the Hollow-Hollow Fruit to heights no one had ever seen.