The Haoshoku that had pressed them to the ground was now being forcefully compressed onto the sword by Nox. Just looking at it caused them mental backlash, and they dared not look further, quickly averting their gaze.
"Limitless · Bloodlust · Blood Dragon Severing the Sky Slash!!"
Once Nox had condensed all his power onto the sword, he fiercely slashed towards the sea in front of him.
The next moment, a massive, thousand-meter-long blood-red slash was unleashed from the Seven Star Sword.
The slash, like a blood-red sword dragon, charged towards the sea, and the entire sea seemed to tremble.
The moment Nox swung that sword, the more than thirty thousand Pirates felt the threat of death. If that sword had been swung towards them, perhaps everyone present would have died!!
Fortunately, that sword rushed towards the sea.
In their eyes, the massive slash, like a blood-red sword dragon, actually split open the vast and unfathomable sea in front of them!!
Looking down, a massive sword mark like an abyss appeared on the sea. They could clearly see that the seabed, thousands of meters deep, also had torn earth.
At eye level, the continuous sword mark abyss, thousands or even tens of thousands of meters long, seemed to want to split the sea before them in half.
Countless seawater poured into the sword mark abyss. Under their gaze, even the entire volume of the sea would take a full five minutes to level that sword mark abyss.
"Is this really a slash that a person can withstand?"
After the sword mark abyss was completely leveled by the sea, all the Pirates unconsciously swallowed.
Even Ashura Doji couldn't help but tremble. Under a slash of this level, let alone receiving it, even a mere graze would make him feel like he would die!
"This is my full power sword strike. Anyone who can withstand it and still stand will be a core Executive Officer of my Limitless Pirates!"
Nox was very satisfied with everyone's stunned expressions.
Ordinary Executive Officers only need to withstand an ordinary Admiral/Emperor-level sword strike. In the words of the original work, it's like the full power strike of an Admiral-level combatant like Aramaki. Those who can withstand it are roughly at the level of Admiral candidates.
Core Executive Officers are absolute core members, capable of withstanding a full power strike in a normal state, without using Life Return.
Such people, although they might not be comparable to Marine Admirals, are roughly at the strength level of the CP0 Deputy Chief he had previously killed.
"I will definitely become a core Executive Officer!!"
Although he was startled at first, Ashura Doji, who had recovered, was still full of motivation. He still had a lot of potential that had not been developed.
He believed that when he developed all his potential, he would definitely become a core Executive Officer.
"Everyone, to celebrate Ashura Doji becoming the first Executive Officer of the Limitless Pirates, let's have a banquet!!"
After everyone was shocked, Nox suddenly shouted loudly.
"Oh oh oh!!!"
"Banquet!!!"
"Great, I love banquets!!"
"..."
Following Nox's announcement, all the Pirates cheered excitedly.
Banquets are the preferred way of celebration for all Pirates, and no Pirate would refuse to hold a banquet.
Many spies planted within the Limitless Pirates sent back information about the Limitless Pirates.
Nox did not act to remove these spies, because he knew that spies could not be completely eliminated.
He only eliminated some deeply hidden spies, and had Shakky monitor the others.
These spies could not access important intelligence about the Limitless Pirates or their bases; they could only circle the outermost perimeter. Sometimes, they could even help them transmit false information to hostile forces.
Limitless Pirates Bounties:
"Limitless Pirates Captain Nox, World's Greatest Swordsman, Bounty 2,834,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Executive Officer Ashura Doji, Sword Master, Ancient Zoan Emperor Crocodile Devil Fruit User, Bounty 555,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Karoo, Sword Master, Ancient Zoan Sword Wing Tiger Devil Fruit User, Bounty 333,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Kano, Sword Master, Paramecia · Dice-Dice Fruit User, Bounty 355,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Bullet, Mythical Zoan King Kong Titan Devil Fruit User, Bounty 311,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Marley, Paramecia · Feather Devil Fruit User, Bounty 288,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Kyle, Sniper, Paramecia · Invisible-Invisible Fruit User, Bounty 233,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Marcus, Mink Tribe, Paramecia · Fur-Fur Fruit User, Bounty 211,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Gerald, Fishman Tribe, Bounty 111,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"Limitless Pirates Vice Captain Ruffiel, Ordinary Zoan Giant Python Fruit, Bounty 110,000,000 Berries, extremely heinous, dead or alive!"
"..."
Soon, the Marine updated the bounties of the Limitless Pirates based on the intelligence sent back by the spies within the Limitless Pirates.
In particular, Nox's bounty soared because he destroyed World Government member states.
"The Limitless Great Swordsman is even acknowledged by the Marine as the World's Greatest Swordsman, so this matter must be true!"
"Damn it, this World's Greatest Swordsman, I will never admit it, I'm going to challenge him!"
"The World's Greatest Swordsman, that's the highest achievement for a Swordsman. I also want to practice swordsmanship, I also want to become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"
"..."
Following the Marine's release of the Limitless Pirates' new bounties, Nox's reputation rose again.
The title of World's Greatest Swordsman truly fell upon Nox. Others who wanted to take this title could only do so by defeating Nox.
"World's Greatest Swordsman, you really did it. Now Master's wish is completely fulfilled. Even if he dies, he can rest in peace."
Louis, Nox's Master who was living in seclusion on Stella Island, looked at Nox's wanted poster, and tears fell from his eyes unknowingly.
"It seems the Marine wants to elevate me and then have other Grand Swordmaster come to trouble me."
Nox merely glanced at these bounties and then paid no further attention.
The Marine's blatant labeling of him as the World's Greatest Swordsman was undoubtedly intended to draw hostility towards him.
However, this amount of hostility was insignificant to Nox; instead, it made his reputation exceptionally high within the Swordsman community.
Therefore, Nox didn't bother to pay further attention and instead planned to visit the laboratory established by the Limitless Pirates.
Nox walked to the secluded outskirts of the Flower Capital in Wano Country. This was a critical area for the Limitless Pirates, and ordinary people could not approach it at all.
Furthermore, this place was constantly being expanded, clearly intended to be expanded into a new city.
"Captain!!"
"General!!"
Nox's arrival caused the surrounding personnel on duty to respectfully greet him.
These people were all carefully selected by Nox, his absolutely loyal subordinates.
Some of them were former Pirates, some were Samurai from Wano Country who were originally loyal to Nox, and some were former slaves who followed Nox after being rescued by him.
"Hmm!"
Nox nodded and walked in, arriving at a massive laboratory.
This laboratory began construction a year ago after establishing diplomatic relations with Sea Transport King Umit, and many of the experimental equipment inside were obtained through the Sea Transport King's channels.
Inside the laboratory, there were many personnel working, but these people were only assisting.
Nox walked directly into the core of the laboratory, where Scientist Yumazu was busy conducting experiments and was the only scientific researcher in this laboratory.
Since this laboratory was established, Yumazu had given up his position as a Vice Captain in the Limitless Pirates and joined the laboratory, becoming a scientific researcher.
His Fusion Fruit allowed him to fuse various materials together to form new materials, and then use these materials to create new technology.
"Captain, you're here!"
Upon seeing Nox arrive, Yumazu stopped the experiment he was working on.
"Hmm, I came to see how the experiment I asked you to do before is going?"
Nox inquired.
Due to material issues, the weapon factory could not produce more Skilled Grade Swords.
His territory had many minerals, but mining took time.
He had also asked Sea Transport King Umit to purchase some, but this type of mineral was a rare commodity everywhere, and very little was purchased back.
Currently, only 10 Skilled Grade Swords had been produced.
So Nox asked Yumazu to see if he could use his ability to fuse different minerals together to increase the quality of the minerals themselves, and then forge Skilled Grade Swords for the weapon factory after they met the standard.
"Captain, the experiment has been completed. If I fuse two minerals that are close to being able to forge Skilled Grade Swords together, they can completely meet the standard for minerals that can forge Skilled Grade Swords."
"But my Devil Fruit ability has limitations; all materials can only be fused once, and cannot be fused a second time."
Yumazu said.
"Hmm, that's enough."
Nox nodded. He had already thought that the Fusion Fruit would have limitations.
Otherwise, if it could be fused infinitely, it would be simply heaven-defying, which was unthinkable.
"Captain, the comparative experiment you asked me to do before is also out. These are the results!"
Yumazu said as he handed over two Skilled Grade Swords.
These two Skilled Grade Swords were better in quality and much heavier than other Skilled Grade Swords.
Nox carefully examined the two Skilled Grade Swords, inspecting them closely.
He had also carefully examined these two Skilled Grade Swords before, but these two Skilled Grade Swords were significantly stronger than when he had examined them previously.
First, their toughness was increased by 50%, their sharpness was also greatly improved, the blade was a finger width wider than before, and their weight was twice that of before.
One of these two Skilled Grade Swords was formed by Nox having Yumazu use the Fusion Fruit to fuse another Skilled Grade Sword.
The other one was formed by Nox having Yumazu fuse a mineral capable of forging a Skilled Grade Sword into it.
"The quality of the two Skilled Grade Swords is similar, and there was no change in quality whether a mineral or a Skilled Grade Sword was fused."
"In other words, if the material fused into a sword is the same, the final result obtained will also be similar."
Nox said.
"Yes, Captain. My Devil Fruit ability, in essence, is the fusion of materials. After fusion, the quality of the original object can stack the characteristics and essence of the materials fused into it."
Yumazu said.
"Do this experiment a few more times to see if the results are always the same. I want to ensure that this experimental conclusion is certain, not probabilistic."
Nox nodded.
Yumazu's Devil Fruit ability made him think of enhancing the ability of his own Seven Star Sword.
If he could fuse another Supreme Grade Swords or a mineral capable of forging a Supreme Grade Swords into the Seven Star Sword, then his Seven Star Sword would become even stronger!
No Swordsman would dislike their cherished sword becoming stronger, and Nox was no exception.
In addition to the Seven Star Sword, he had two Supreme Grade Swords and a mineral capable of forging a Supreme Grade Swords on him.
When Yumazu's ability was sufficient, he could fuse another Supreme Grade Swords or mineral into the Seven Star Sword.
As for whether to fuse another Supreme Grade Swords or a mineral, he hadn't decided yet.
His original idea was to fuse everything, but unfortunately, Yumazu's Fusion Fruit had limitations. Otherwise, his Seven Star Sword would definitely surpass the Supreme Grade Swords level.
"By the way, Yumazu, now that you can fuse Skilled Grade Swords, when will you be able to fuse Great Swords?"
Nox inquired.
His Seven Star Sword was of the Supreme Grade Swords level. He didn't know how long it would take for Yumazu to fuse it to make it stronger.
"Uh, Captain, I don't know either!"
Yumazu said helplessly. His Devil Fruit development ability was not yet sufficient to fuse Great Swords level materials.
"I'll leave this Great Sword, Ama no Habakiri, in your laboratory. You can try using it more in the future!"
"Although you are no longer a combat member, don't neglect physical training. The basis for activating Devil Fruits is physical strength."
"Your entire mission is to develop your Devil Fruit as quickly as possible and then be able to fuse Great Swords level materials. This is your top priority."
"Other experiments can be postponed. This task should be placed first."
"Of course, as long as it does not cause any loss to the interests of the Limitless Pirates, the Limitless Pirates will satisfy your other experiments!"
Nox said as he patted Yumazu on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Captain, I will work hard to develop my Devil Fruit!"
Hearing Nox trust him so much, Yumazu said gratefully.
Yumazu himself was a slave. If the Limitless Pirates hadn't saved him and given him such good treatment, he might have already died by now!