I reached the top of Pirates

Chapter 236, Section 235: Sword Control Technique!
In the distance, they stared in disbelief at the golden lion who had returned to its peak.

Mihawk's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "That guy, Mercer, actually tricked me with his words."

Unable to resist, he gripped the black sword Yoru tightly; even at the peak of his power, he wanted to touch the Golden Lion.

A hint of surprise flashed in Crocodile's eyes as he looked at his shattered left arm, Golden Hook. Losing an arm can have a significant impact on one's life.

A burning light appeared in his eyes.

Hanavza watched with a blank expression, but couldn't help asking Runti, "Has he always been this unreliable? Who ever restores their health to the enemy?"

Runti was also a little confused and bewildered. At this moment, Erii blinked and whispered:

“He is not an enemy, he is my brother’s prey, and also a good opponent. Besides, my brother will not lose.”

Hancock stared intently, her hands crumpling the hem of her red dress, her fair face showing worry.

“Mercy.”

"Jie hahaha."

Floating a meter above the ground, the golden lion sneered, its eyes gleaming as it thought of the creature's mysterious nature.
"Your motives for healing me were impure to begin with. I am a pirate, so don't expect me to show mercy. If you retreat now, I can pretend nothing happened and let you leave."

Mercer narrowed his eyes. "Cunning fellow, now that you're better, you don't want to keep fighting anymore? You're quite adept at taking advantage of others."

Looking at him, he said calmly:

"I really like the Floating Fruit."

Upon hearing these calm words, the Golden Lion's lips twitched, then gradually tightened, his gaze turning fierce:
"Then let's settle this with a fight to the death."

As he spoke, he looked at Shanks and grinned broadly:
"Heh heh heh. Kid, since you're not going to leave, then you can come at me with him."

Shanks sensed Shiki's current physical condition, a hint of fervor flashing in his eyes, but then he looked at Moses and smiled helplessly:
"You shouldn't mind, right?"

"No, I mind, go away." Shanks waved his right hand behind him, giving him a disdainful look. His lips twitched, and he said sourly, "..."

"Although I'm hoping you can't beat him and that you'll beg me to step in, don't lose to him. The captain has never lost to him."

After saying that, he ran quickly to the back. Uta was still there; he had to protect his daughter's safety.

Moses' eyes closed slightly, then he suddenly opened them and grinned at the golden lion:
"I hope you don't disappoint me."

The golden lion revealed a mouthful of large white teeth and grinned menacingly, "I'll crush your bones inch by inch. Let's see if they're as hard as your mouth."

As his bones tightened inch by inch, and his breathing rose and fell, the concept of dragonhood empowered him. The domineering aura and the frequency of the dragon interacted and flowed within his body, and his physical attributes suddenly and greatly improved.

Mercer's figure suddenly appeared in front of him, cold dew appearing in his right hand, drawing an extremely narrow air slash from bottom to top.

A red light flashed in the golden lion's eyes, and he raised the Sakura Ten in his right hand to block in front of him. Clang! A terrifying force erupted.

Crack! Crack! Crack! A series of metallic grinding sounds accompanied by dazzling sparks flying everywhere.

A terrifying ring-shaped ripple of air spread out from around the two of them.

The golden lion grinned wildly, then swung the withered wood in his left hand towards Moses's neck, unleashing a blindingly cold light:

"Die, you brat."

In an instant, Mercer's wrist vibrated rapidly, unleashing a surge of power that struck the blade. Clang! A metallic sound, like muffled thunder, rang out. As he retreated, he swung his sword, unleashing an incredibly solid, jet-black water blade wreathed in crimson arcs of electricity.

Clang! The sword and the water blade collided in the blink of an eye, the sword shattering the water blade and creating a terrifying shockwave that sent the golden lion's figure flying backward.

At the same time, Messer rushed past the slashing light, Armament Haki wrapped around the black dragon scale patterns on the sword, and his figure appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Unleashing a barrage of dense and terrifying slashes, the Golden Lion's twin swords danced wildly. Clang! Clang clang clang clang clang. Terrifying sparks and shockwaves erupted between the two.

The two figures flashed rapidly across the open space, and terrifying ring-shaped cracks appeared on the surrounding ground.

After a while.

Clang——

A piercing metallic sound rang out, and the two figures reappeared.

Slightly panting, his chest heaving, the Golden Lion grinned at the sight: "Kid, you're already done for?"

Mercer's breathing calmed down, and she looked at his chest, where a long, narrow slash had appeared. She didn't speak, but just stared at him silently.

A sharp, slicing intent emanated from the Cold Dew in his hand as he rushed toward him with lightning speed.

The Golden Lion's lips twitched as he sensed the cut on his chest from the strange force that had accompanied the earlier, careless strike.

Even clenching the muscles couldn't stop the bleeding from the wound; there was an extremely sharp force there, like a bone-deep infection, preventing the wound from healing itself.

His brows were furrowed, and his domineering energy concentrated there, driving away that force.

Seeing Moses's actions, the Golden Lion's eyes flickered, and he stomped his foot on the ground, causing a strange wave to spread out.

Ripples appeared on the ground within hundreds of meters around him, and in the blink of an eye, they surged and rose like waves.

"The lion's might, the earth dragon's roar."

Mercer suddenly stopped, looking at the earth and rocks that suddenly rose up and rushed towards him. His eyes flickered, and he materialized into a spiritual form. With a whoosh, his body passed through the rising ground and arrived in front of the golden lion in the blink of an eye.

A series of black and red arcs of electricity, swirling and slicing through the concept of cold dew, burst forth and pierced straight through his chest.

The golden lion's pupils suddenly contracted as he looked at the piercing wound in his chest. His body felt no pain, but his consciousness was in excruciating pain. At the same time, he endured the pain and used his Observation Haki to foresee a glimpse of a terrifying future.

The sword materialized inside his chest, and the Conqueror's Haki-infused attack exploded within him, causing his internal organs to shatter.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

The intense pain emanating from the Golden Lion's spirit caused his eyes to turn crimson.

Blinding arcs of black and red electricity erupted from the twin swords, and the arms swung out from the sides towards Messer like a lion striking.

It's an attitude of "If I'm not having a good time, neither will you."

At the same time, his body suddenly retreated.

At the same time, a terrifying chill emanated from Mercer's body, and bone-chilling freezing air suddenly burst forth from both sides of his body. The domineering air circulated, crackling and generating two incredibly cold black ice walls.

The next instant, the spirit form was dispelled.

Boom! Bang! Crack! Crack!

The terrifying, domineering energy erupted within the Golden Lion's body, where only the tip of the sword remained.

An extremely sharp and slashing intent suddenly erupted, and the domineering aura that the golden lion had wrapped around its chest was utterly shattered and collapsed.

A terrifying shockwave spread outwards, and the golden lion's figure was suddenly blasted backwards, with a horrific, bloody wound appearing in the center of its chest.

Moses exhaled wisps of white breath.

A long, narrow wound appeared on each of his arms, the ice wall was severed, and even the dark, imposing dragon patterns on his arms were cut through.

His breathing rose and fell.

Super speed regeneration.

The muscles in the wounds on both arms closed up, the intent to cut overpowering the domineering intent in the wounds, and the granulation tissue weaved together.

Moses discovered that the Conqueror's Haki attack unleashed by a top-tier powerhouse carries a unique element of the opponent's will, hindering the healing of wounds.

Just like the slash mark Oden left on Kaido's chest more than a decade ago, even though it healed itself, it still left such a large scar that always looked like a fresh wound.

The power of will.

The more top-tier powerhouses Moses encountered, the deeper his understanding of Conqueror's Haki became.

Looking at the golden lion spitting blood not far away, Moses said calmly:

"Come again."

The golden lion spat out a mouthful of blood, and black and red arcs of electricity crackled across its chest, dispelling the slashing force.

"Heh heh heh, the power of a spirit? You're a Devil Fruit user? No, ghosts don't have ice powers."

The golden lion looked at Moses with a probing gaze.

"You know about the Ghost-Ghost Fruit?"

Moses raised an eyebrow slightly, and the Golden Lion grinned: "Of course, I took one down thirty years ago."

"Oh?"

Mercer smiled, his gaze unchanged, and walked towards him, step by step, faster and faster. Suddenly, Mercer appeared in front of him, grasping the Cold Dew with both hands and slashing out a dazzling arc of light from top to bottom.

Golden Lion's twin swords crossed to parry, clang!
A terrifying shockwave erupted around the two of them, and the ground beneath their feet cracked and shattered once more.

The next instant, his left knee rose, and he kicked towards his abdomen, while the Golden Lion raised his right knee to block Moses's kick.

A muffled thud was heard.

Then,

The two raised their swords and unleashed a flurry of sword strikes at each other. Clang! Clang clang, the piercing sound of steel echoed through the air.

Terrifying impacts and slashing rays flew everywhere.

The Golden Lion gritted his teeth and clashed swords with Moses, blood gushing from the wound in his chest.

His eyes were bloodshot.

roared.

clang!
A terrifying shockwave erupted.

The two of them each took a step back.

As the Golden Lion Fruit power was unleashed, the next second, a sharp, thick rock spear surged from the ground beneath Mather's feet, piercing upwards. Mather shifted to the right and kicked out with his left foot. With a crack, the rock pillar broke and flew up.

With lightning speed, Moses grabbed the rock spear with his left hand, his Armament Haki coating it, and slammed the ground into it before swinging the rock spear toward the golden lion's head.

His body suddenly retreated and floated into the air.

Flying into the sky.

A series of terrifyingly fast slashing waves descended upon Messer.

The figure darted swiftly through the slicing waves, gray mist spreading across its body. At the same time, Mercer's figure soared into the sky, its body covered with hard, gray-black scales that gleamed with a metallic sheen, and gray-black membrane wings appearing on its back.

His eyes shone with a brilliant golden light.

Dragon-human form.

With the flapping of his dragon wings, he nimbly weaved through the incoming beams of light, closing in on the golden lion with incredible speed.

clang!
The two clashed swords high in the air.

The violent reaction force sent them staggering backward, and the next moment, they collided again. The golden lion swung his twin swords:
"Lion's Might. Thousand Cut Valley".

Swish, swish, swish, swish.
A terrifying, laser-like dense barrage of slashing energy enveloped Mercer's entire body, carrying an incomparably sharp aura, as if it wanted to cut everything in its path.

Mercer's eyes flickered slightly, and a scarlet, high-temperature flame suddenly ignited on his body. At the same time, black and red arcs of electricity intertwined with the intent to slash, all converging and collapsing towards the cold dew in his hand.

The next instant, as the slashing light was about to strike, a sword was unleashed.

A beam of fire, tens of meters thick and wrapped with black and red electric arcs, shot out.

"Slash. Lightning Flame Strike." Thud!
The black and red beam of light instantly broke through the golden lion's dense slashing waves and blasted towards the golden lion.

Seeing the beam of light rushing straight towards him, the Golden Lion's eyes flashed with madness, and black and red arcs of electricity suddenly wrapped around his twin swords, rapidly converging with the surrounding air.

A massive cross-shaped slash shot out.

Rumble!
A magnificent black and red arc of fire, hundreds of meters in size, spread out and rapidly expanded in all directions.

A few seconds later, as the terrifying lightning and flames subsided, gray mist enveloped his body, and his Observation Haki locked onto the frequency fluctuations of the Golden Lion. Messer's figure flashed and disappeared.

Surrounded by a cloud of devouring gray mist, Moses saw hundreds of rock lions, each hundreds of meters long, appear on the ground a hundred meters away, surrounding him.

The golden lion landed on the head of another lion, its arms outstretched, its eyes fierce.
"Lion's Might. Earth Roll".

With a wave of its hands, the terrifying rock lion galloped forward, causing the earth to tremble.

Mercer looked at him blankly. Why was it so fancy? Would that thing even work for her? Was he still not fully recovered?

The next second, a series of powerful slashes shot towards Messer at lightning speed.

Upon seeing this, Mercer sneered. It turned out that he wanted to use his domineering aura to seal off his spiritual transformation. In the next instant, his domain unfolded, and a massive amount of devouring gray mist surged from Mercer's body, covering a hemispherical area with a diameter of one kilometer.

Swallow.

In my perception, one by one, the rock lions were swallowed up by the gray mist and entered the "small world".

He silently thanked her for the hospitality and even meticulously carved out the shape of a lion's head.

He truly deserves to be called a senior swordsman with unparalleled skill.

The gray mist surged continuously in the surrounding environment, and slashes shot out, splitting the devouring gray mist in the surrounding space.

Mercer's figure disappeared inch by inch, transforming into a spirit, and soon arrived at the Golden Lion several hundred meters away. He wanted to escape the area covered by the gray fog.

Concept: Devouring.

The gray fog swallowed everything around it, visibility was extremely low, and even perception was swallowed up by the gray fog.

Black and red arcs of electricity, imbued with a slashing intent, coiled around the spirit-like Frost Dew Sword.

He slashed his sword directly at the golden lion's head.

The next instant, as if he had foreseen some future, black and red arcs of electricity wrapped around Sakura Ten, and he suddenly slashed out with his sword.

boom!
Swords clashed in mid-air, and dense, branching arcs of electricity spread outwards.

The ground beneath Moses and the Golden Lion suddenly exploded, and gray mist billowed up all around.

The dark gray mist, swirling with an aura of dominance, instantly solidified into the heads of vicious dogs with interlocking fangs, which began to devour the golden lion from all directions.

At the same time, Mercer withdrew from his spirit form and fully utilized his advantages, slashing at him with incredible speed and compressing all his unnecessary movements.

Clang! Click! Click! Splatter! Click! Click!

Dog heads were gnawing at his body, drawing blood. Even his Armament Haki defense was of little use.

The golden lion roared furiously, its hands flashing out afterimages as it unleashed terrifying slashing waves in all directions.

It was chopping off dog heads one by one.

but,

The gray mist was continuous, and even cutting it apart had no effect whatsoever.

Mercer continued to clash with him, the terrifying impact spreading, with a gray mist hound occasionally gnawing at his body.

"Aaaaaah, brat, try it if you dare!"

Perception is blocked; one can only rely on instinct or unreliable foresight to sense and fight.

I felt extremely frustrated.

How can someone possess such a disgusting ability? Does that mean they're invincible?

Sensing that his movements had slowed down, Moses moved swiftly and silently in front of him, and slashed out with his sword.

Just as the Golden Lion swung his sword to both sides, *splat!* A hideous wound spread from his left shoulder to his right hip, as if to split his body in two.

A mouthful of blood spurted out.

There was no scream; the next second, the golden lion's lips curled into a sinister grin.
"I've got you now."

Suddenly, a loud bang erupted beneath his feet, shattering the ground and creating a crack a hundred meters in diameter. He brandished twin swords crackling with black and red electric arcs, slashing towards Messer in front of him.

Take a deep breath.

The intent to slash and the domineering aura swirled around the sword as Messer gripped the hilt with both hands and swung it.

Clang! With a single sword strike, Mercer cleaved Sakura Ten from the Golden Lion's right hand, and with an unstoppable slash, aimed straight for his chest.

However, the withered wood sword in the Golden Lion's left hand was not blocked and flashed towards Moses's neck.

He suddenly lowered his head.

Clang! Splat!

The Golden Lion slashed at the dragon horn on Moses' left side, which crackled with black and red arcs of electricity and was comparable to a Supreme Grade Sword, causing Moses' neck to snap back.

At the same time, Moses's sword also successfully pierced through his chest.

You can see the beating heart.

The outcome has been decided.

The domineering slashing light burst forth in an instant, and the heart inside that chest cavity exploded.

*Pfft!* Blood gushed out.

The golden lion staggered backward, clutching his chest, a smug glint in his eyes as he gripped his sword tightly.
"What's your name, kid?"

Moses said calmly:
"Portcus D. Mercer".

The golden lion grinned wildly: "Hehehehe, I'm not going to just wait to die like this."

Black and red arcs of electricity coiled around the blades of the twin swords as he strode towards Messer and swung them.

The next moment, Moses charged forward head-on, slashing out with his sword, which flashed past him with an extremely sharp and fierce intent.

puff!

Not much blood was splattered.

The golden lion grinned silently, a wound appearing on his waist that nearly split him in two.

The spine was injured.

He staggered until he stood upright in place.

Gray mist swirled and swirled around him, and a few seconds later, an irregular crystal the size of a goose egg, shimmering with a mysterious luster, emerged from the gray mist.

[Obtained 1 Grade A Soul Crystal]

At the same time, the devouring wave spread and devoured around him, and a Devil Fruit power that had just been extracted from his body was swept up, devoured, and imprisoned by the gray mist.

Sensing the power of the floating fruit, Moses pondered whether to give it to them or use it himself.

The Float-Float Fruit doesn't grant much combat power, especially in battles between top-tier fighters, where it's practically useless.

but.

Floating and dominating.

The concepts embodied in these two fruits are very practical.

Its ability to assist in combat or infrastructure construction is unparalleled.

It can definitely be called the most top-tier Devil Fruit ability.

"Identification"

Paramecia-type Devil Fruit: Float-Float Fruit (EX)

Holding the cold dew in my hand.

The gray mist, carrying the power of the Floating Fruit, flew over, and Messer pressed it into the blade of Cold Dew.

The power of the Floating Fruit seeped into Cold Dew and merged with it, creating faint, mysterious "Tang grass"-like spiral patterns on Cold Dew's sword.

As Messer resonated with the natural rhythm of the cold dew, he sensed a power emerging within his perception.

He released his right hand, and Hanlu floated lightly in mid-air. With a thought, he relied on that close connection.

The cold dew clumsily darts around the body's surface.

Mercer casually brought his right index and middle fingers together in a sword-like gesture and slid them through the air.

As if given a command, Hanlu began to shuttle through the air.

At that moment, a slight feeling of weightlessness came over them, and the entire island began to fall into the sea below.

With a thought, the cold dew returned to his hand, and Messer sensed the strange fluctuations of two frequencies within the sword.

Instinctively, I knew what kind of power this was.

It allows oneself or an object to escape gravity and float in the air.

You can also freely control the objects you touch (i.e., non-living objects) to float.

It seems that the ability to control the floating objects one controls can only be used after the ability is "awakened".

Or perhaps it's when one becomes proficient in that concept of dominating power.

Conceptual power within Devil Fruit abilities.

With each rise and fall of their breaths, the latter interacted naturally with Moses.

Invoking that concept: the power of levitation.
The next instant, the concept of levitation spread from the body surface.

The island's descent suddenly stopped.

The next moment, the gray mist on the body surface rapidly receded.

Mercer's figure floated up and soared into the sky, flying towards the surrounding floating islands to take control of them and dominate them.

The island stopped falling, and Shanks and the others slowly straightened up from their half-crouched positions.

He wiped away non-existent cold sweat.

"It seems the battle is over."

"That guy also got his hands on the Float Fruit."

"What do you mean?"

"He got his hands on the Float Fruit?"

(End of this chapter)