One Piece Shadow Army - Chapter 46
Night falls.
In the western hills of Loguetown.
At this moment, Curls was standing alone in the quiet forest.
“Stand up!”
With his cold voice, a shadow soldier with a tall stature and a red beard on his chin emerged from the darkness.
This was [Barbarossa]!
A former possessor of the Drunk-Drunk Fruit, with a bounty of 24 million Berries!
Curls gave a command: “Use your abilities and spar with me.”
Although there was still a long time before he would go to Marine Headquarters, he wouldn’t slack off on any training that could enhance his strength.
Combat training was a daily necessity.
And [Barbarossa]’s strength made him a suitable opponent for now.
[Barbarossa]’s shadowy form glowed with dark light as he began to use his Devil Fruit ability and launched an attack on Curls.
However, even after using his ability, [Barbarossa] didn’t change much.
“It can’t stack?”
Curls frowned slightly.
The first stage of the Drunk-Drunk Fruit’s ability gave the user an adrenaline rush and made them immune to pain. But shadow soldiers already had this characteristic and even more extreme “constant regeneration.”
This resulted in [Barbarossa] showing no change after using his ability.
Don’t underestimate this buffing ability.
If Barbarossa had not died, this buff could have helped him amass a crew in the Grand Line, forming a berserk pirate crew with skyrocketing battle power.
But Barbarossa’s luck ran out before he could develop further, and he died early on.
[Barbarossa] seemed to realize his ability had no effect.
The second stage, the Distillation Form, is activated!
White steam surged from his shadowy body, giving off a powerful aura.
In the next moment.
[Barbarossa]’s figure vanished from his original spot and reappeared beside Curls.
A fist emitting white steam swung towards Curls.
Curls, even with the shadow-enhanced reaction speed, was still a bit slow and could only block with his longsword.
Clang!
A crisp sound rang out.
Curls was pushed back over ten meters, finally dissipating the force.
It was a form similar to Luffy’s Second Gear!
Power, speed, and defense were all significantly enhanced.
Curls felt a bit relieved; it was good that he had [Lanloth] deal with him at the time. Otherwise, the battle would have been much tougher.
[Barbarossa] left a shadow in place and charged at Curls again, swinging a large shadow blade.
Curls could only barely keep track of [Barbarossa]’s movements with his reflexes.
The Marine sword clashed with the shadow blade.
Both retreated slightly.
In terms of strength.
Curls and [Barbarossa] were evenly matched, but the superior speed was suppressing Curls.
This high-speed movement.
Reminded him of the Marine’s Six Powers technique, Soru!
It involved kicking the ground dozens of times in an instant to move at high speed.
Could he learn Soru before going to Marine Headquarters?
After another retreat.
Curls’s eyes focused, and he used the “Silent Slash” he had learned from his battle with Kuro.
His figure accelerated, slashing past [Barbarossa].
Slash!
[Barbarossa]’s abdomen was slashed open, leaving a large gap.
But in an instant.
The gap healed back to normal.
“Huh?” Curls’s eyes showed a hint of surprise.
The second stage of the Drunk-Drunk Fruit also boosted the shadow soldier’s regeneration.
[Barbarossa] lifted his head, showing no expression, and continued to spar with his summoner with the shadow blade.
Curls quickly engaged again.
But with the combination of the second-stage state and the shadow soldier’s characteristics, [Barbarossa] was like an invincible fighter; Curls couldn’t defeat him.
If he were to reassess the bounty, Curls believed [Barbarossa]’s current strength was comparable to a pirate with a bounty of 40 million Berries.
However, only in the Grand Line did pirates with such high bounties appear, and without direct combat experience, it was hard to judge accurately.
After finishing the combat training, Curls sent [Barbarossa] back to the shadow world.
Next, he summoned his strongest shadow soldier, [Lanloth].
A blue-eyed knight in gleaming black armor appeared from the darkness, with a tattered red cape fluttering behind him.
[Lanloth] knelt on one knee.
“King, what are your orders?”
“Spar with me using precision swordsmanship.”
“Yes!”
……
As a swordsman of high caliber, [Lanloth], even while only using precision swordsmanship, far surpassed Curls, who had just entered this level.
After just a dozen exchanges.
Curls was defeated by [Lanloth] using precision swordsmanship, with numerous flaws in his technique.
This battle showed him the significant gap in swordsmanship skills.
Curls sighed inwardly.
Though his swordsmanship had surpassed basic levels, reaching precision swordsmanship with mental effort, his foundation was still lacking.
Compared to others who trained day after day, Curls had only studied swordsmanship for two months.
He needed to solidify his basics to advance further; otherwise, it would be more harmful than beneficial.
Alright, continue training!
But this time, he faced not [Lanloth], but eight other [Shadow Knights] with precision swordsmanship.
The remaining four were guarding his father and sister at the villa.
……
After finishing combat and swordsmanship training, it was already 1 AM.
For others, this was very late, but for Curls, it was still early; he only needed three hours of sleep each day.
Next.
It was the training of his Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability.
The power of shadows constantly surged in Curls’s hands as he honed his Devil Fruit ability.
Physical skills required long-term training.
They couldn’t improve quickly.
Swordsmanship had hit a bottleneck and needed continuous honing in precision techniques.
Therefore.
The only quick way for Curls to enhance his strength was through the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
The most crucial aspect of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit was “Summoning Shadows”!
This unique ability to connect with the power of the dead allowed Curls’s strength to snowball.
Currently, he had twenty shadow soldiers, including:
[Lanloth], [Barbarossa], twelve [Shadow Knights], [Kuro], [Euron], [Sam], [Booch], [Aton], and [Orange Cat].
And this was just the beginning.
As Curls became more proficient, the number of shadow soldiers would increase.
Eventually, summoning a powerful shadow army would be no problem.
Just imagining it.
Made Curls feel a thrill.
After all, who could resist an army of shadows that never refused orders!
……
The next morning.
Curls woke up, had breakfast, and reported to the Marine base for duty.
After returning home.
He spent time with his family and then followed his routine for various training sessions.
Day after day, he repeated these tasks.
Though the progress was slow.
Over time, his strength increased significantly.
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