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Night deepened gradually, and a crescent moon appeared in the dark sky above.
Bright moonlight fell upon the sea, the water reflecting the silhouette of a submarine standing alone on the coast.
"Huh?"
On the deck, a man who'd been dozing with his sword suddenly opened his eyes. Under the bright moonlight, his eyes filled with shock and surprise.
'Is this [Conqueror's Haki]?'
If he hadn't landed on this particular island, he might have been like the others shrouded in this aura, feeling nothing strange or unusual, never waking from sleep.
But a few days ago, he'd had the honor of personally witnessing the famous "Dark King" using this very power in the Human Auction House.
Although the impact it brought was far less intense than that day, he was absolutely certain this was the same source of power.
If not that person, then who else could it be? Was there actually another "king" who'd awakened this power on this island?
The man gripping his sword stared intently at the shore hundreds of meters away, where the outline of a small house with lights on stood clearly visible. He knew the [Conqueror's Haki] just now had come from that house.
'Should I go and take a look?'
He extended his finger to flick the sword partially from its sheath, and with his other hand facing down, a miniature transparent air bubble gradually condensed in his palm.
"Roo..."
Just as the swordsman activated his ability, a bear paw suddenly pressed down on his shoulder from behind.
The paw was large and heavy.
The man staggered, not only causing the long sword to return to its sheath, but even the transparent air shield condensed in his palm shattered like foam.
"Bepo!"
The swordsman turned his head in irritation.
What he saw was indeed a white bear lying on the deck, sleeping soundly with its large belly fully exposed. He could hear its snoring clearly, yet somehow the bear's paw had stretched to his shoulder.
"Sorry... sor..."
As if sensing the man's anger, the white bear made indistinct mumblings in its sleep.
"Don't apologize if you're asleep!"
After complaining in a low voice, he placed the bear paw back carefully on the deck, clenched his sword again, and began gathering power in his palm once more.
When he raised his head again, he found that the lights in the small house on the shore had been turned off completely, except in one room.
****
The next day, early morning.
When the first ray of morning sunlight shone into the house, Kyoma opened his eyes.
'Is it the sixth day already?'
While getting up and changing clothes, he glanced at the wall clock.
It read exactly seven o'clock, which had been his weekday wake-up time before transmigrating.
He'd taken half an hour to wash and have breakfast, then half an hour to squeeze into the subway to catch his 8:15 commute.
Those hard days remained vivid and clear in his mind. Although he was rising early, being woken by an alarm clock versus waking naturally were two entirely different experiences.
At least now, Kyoma's face no longer carried its previous lifeless quality, but was filled with observable joy.
He walked out of the bedroom door while humming a tune.
'Hmhmhm'
In the corridor on the second floor, he found that the doors to Klee's and Kagura's rooms remained closed, though Drake's room stood open.
He wasn't surprised at all.
Kagura always went to bed early and rose late.
As for Klee, the light in her room had been on all night, still illuminated even before Kyoma had fallen asleep.
He didn't know what time she'd finally stopped tinkering with her creations.
According to the violent Pyro elemental energy fluctuations that Kyoma had sensed emanating from her room last night, she was probably researching some new type of bomb.
As for Drake.
Kyoma looked at the ground while walking down the stairs. Numerous bandage fragments lay scattered about.
When he followed the fragments to the living room on the first floor, he found the door to the house wide open.
Kyoma raised his head, and his pupils suddenly widened in shock.
No sunlight came in from outside the door, because all the light was blocked by a massive creature.
It was a monster with a gaping maw, sharp fangs, and heavy breath.
It possessed a fierce face and terrifying teeth, with two claws that appeared particularly small compared to its enormous body, emitting a sharp metallic luster in the sun.
A dinosaur that stood almost as tall as the cottage itself.
Kyoma stood stunned in place. After seeing the bandages scattered around the dinosaur's feet, he realized this creature was Drake, transformed by his Devil Fruit ability.
It was certainly intimidating.
However, intimidating or not, it was a living dinosaur after all.
The creature he'd only seen in movies now appeared before him in reality, which still amazed him.
The view through the door wasn't wide enough to see the dinosaur's full appearance from inside the living room.
Just as Kyoma considered walking outside to appreciate it up close, the dinosaur suddenly moved.
Swish!
The claws that flashed silver in the sun swung violently, leaving afterimages in the air. A whistling sound rang out as the claws pierced its own body.
Then, blood spurted forth.
"Argh!"
The dinosaur roared in pain and forcibly gripped its abdomen with its claws, tearing hard until it actually ripped off a piece of scale.
'Hiss...'
Kyoma knew Drake was fulfilling his promise, but he hadn't expected it to be so bloody.
Only then did he realize that, unlike the dragons in some fantasy works, dinosaur scales were like their skin.
Tearing off a piece of scale was equivalent to tearing off a piece of their flesh.
If he were to think about it from another perspective, he might not be as straightforward as Drake.
This man was a warrior not only in appearance but also in spirit.
While he was contemplating this inwardly, the dinosaur, which stood nearly ten meters tall and roughly the same height as their two-story house, had stopped roaring. Its body gradually shrank. The dinosaur form faded away, and in an instant, it transformed back into a muscular man with a bare upper body, standing over two meters tall.
"How is my ability?"
Drake panted slightly, then threw the bloody scale in his hand toward Kyoma at the door.
"It's impressive."
Kyoma caught it and looked at the scale stained with blood in his palm. After hearing the mechanical voice in his body, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.
[A summoning medium that meets the conditions has been detected. Do you want to absorb it?]
Kyoma didn't absorb it immediately.
He kept the scale in his palm, looked up at Drake, and said with a smile, "Let me show you my ability."
After saying that, before the doubtful Drake could reply, Kyoma's mind moved.
He skillfully mobilized the Pyro elemental energy in the air.
Drake suddenly felt a burning sensation. He saw strange, fiery red energy in the air gathering toward Kyoma's palm.
After those energies gathered together, a flame suddenly rose up.
A small fire appeared out of thin air in Kyoma's palm. The flame jumped flexibly as if being pulled, and it immediately climbed onto the scale.
The next moment, the scale was wrapped in flames, but there was no sign of burning. Instead, the blood stains on its surface began to boil, evaporating into vapor that dissipated in the air.
In less than a moment, when the flames disappeared completely, Drake found that the scale he'd just torn from his body was now pristine, as if it were a metal component of some machine, shining with dazzling luster.
"How about it? What do you think of my ability?"
Kyoma smiled slightly, held the scale, and placed it into his jacket.
In fact, the moment his hand entered, he silently absorbed the scale mentally and stored it in his summoning ability's space.