Oddity

Cifer's hand rested on the blade, and no matter how the Savage Dragon struggled, the edge wouldn't budge an inch.

"Then there's nothing I can do!"

The Savage Dragon's words were laced with unwillingness, yet filled with anticipation.

Trapped within Jerry's weak and scarred body, it had to expend a vast amount of its remaining soul to do anything.

But if it could seize the powerful body of the person before it, it might be able to inflict the greatest possible destruction upon this island using Cifer's strength before completely dissipating!

The dark energy that had been entwining Jerry's body now flowed towards Cifer, using the blade as a conduit.

"Sir!"

Jerry's mother saw the dark energy begin to gather around Cifer and immediately guessed the Savage Dragon's intentions.

The best outcome would be to lure the Savage Dragon onto herself!

She was already frail and sickly; the Savage Dragon wouldn't be able to exert much power if it possessed her.

The woman tried to push her daughter, who was blocking her path, aside, but found Jamie unmoving like a boulder. She wanted to protect her mother!

In the blink of an eye, Jerry found himself back in control of his body, and the sword was now in Cifer's hands, who was completely enveloped in dark energy.

Taking advantage of Cifer's momentary daze, he quickly pushed his mother and sister aside, away from Cifer.

A terrible villain combined with the soul of the Savage Dragon – he felt that the entire Loguetown might be destroyed because of his choice, turning into what the Savage Dragon had shown him.

"Lalala~ This is… what immense power!"

"Cifer" swung his arm, and a powerful aura spread like a tide. The sky, which had been gradually clearing due to the Savage Dragon's waning power, was once again covered by dark clouds.

"Is that… the legendary Savage Dragon?!"

Smoker, who had stopped his vehicle, wore a grave expression. He had heard stories of the Savage Dragon when he was young and hadn't expected such a troublesome entity to be attached to another troublesome individual.

Sensing the immense power emanating from Cifer's body, Smoker felt that Loguetown was in for big trouble.

"Hey~ Are you done playing? As the Captain of the Gods, I don't believe you'd be so easily controlled."

Enel, standing beside Smoker, had disdain in his eyes. His expression hadn't changed from beginning to end.

If the man who defeated him, the World's Strongest Man, could be so easily controlled by this trash, then Enel would have been blind as a bat.

"This guy is your captain? Then don't mess around! Be careful, swords don't have eyes!"

"My remaining soul won't last much longer. Once I've done what I need to do, I'll naturally return the body to your captain!"

Upon hearing that the body he possessed belonged to Enel's captain, the Savage Dragon rejoiced. Among those present, Enel was the one it feared the most.

As long as he didn't oppose it, it could do whatever it pleased.

The Savage Dragon felt that its grand plan was coming to fruition. From Jerry's memories, it had seen that Cifer was a pirate with a very high bounty, which meant he was also a villain!

Since they were both bad guys, even if it committed evil deeds using his body, his companions wouldn't mind.

Suddenly, the Savage Dragon noticed a blind spot. When it had possessed Jerry's body, it had clearly seen his memories, but why hadn't it seen the memories of this body?

Moreover, even a weak child could resist its control slightly, but ever since it entered this body, it hadn't felt any resistance at all.

Suddenly, the world spun.

To everyone else, the Savage Dragon merely paused for a moment, but in reality, its consciousness was being pulled into Cifer's mental world.

The Savage Dragon found itself in a vast, white forest. Countless trees that blotted out the sky towered above, and white sand and stones covered the ground. As a dragon, it felt fear for only the second time in its life!

It had clearly possessed that man's body, yet its consciousness was passively appearing in another place. Without a doubt, Cifer had pulled it into his consciousness space.

This meant that the man's soul was far, far stronger than its own, so much so that it couldn't even perceive the gap.

An aura of annihilation permeated the surroundings. Though the Savage Dragon saw nothing, it felt as if it were surrounded by something.

It couldn't sense any living beings, but it knew something was watching it, and not just one thing!

"Stop playing games and come out, dragon!"

Mustering its courage, the Savage Dragon roared into the forest. Its voice seemed to travel far, yet also not at all, the echoes swirling around its ears, making its scalp tingle.

The echoes grew closer, but the tone of the voice reaching the Savage Dragon's ears seemed to become sharper, further chilling it to the bone.

The space suddenly rippled. The Savage Dragon looked towards the sound, and the surrounding space tore open as if it were fabric.

Pairs of incredibly large, pale hands ripped through the rifts, and heads wearing white, long-nosed masks appeared in the air. Horrifying eyeballs stared uniformly at the Savage Dragon.

"What kind of monsters are these…"

The Savage Dragon's remaining soul was on the verge of collapse from fear. It had survived for hundreds of years and had never heard of such terrifying beings in the world.

While a consciousness space could be constructed with personal power and imagination, the essence of things could not be fabricated.

Unless he had seen it!

The Savage Dragon couldn't imagine it; these monsters exuded an aura of death. As a ruthless killer, it was absolutely certain it wouldn't misidentify that feeling!

It looked around. It was now surrounded by countless monsters, each over 50 meters tall, their exteriors almost entirely black.

Surrounded like this, the Savage Dragon was like a tiny mouse being eyed by a pack of beasts. Beneath their colossal bodies, its once formidable dragon form became as insignificant as a loach.

"A mere nascent Hollow dares to challenge me?"

Cifer's voice finally echoed from the sky. The Savage Dragon looked up and saw the man standing in the heavens!

"Taste this trash confection!"

Upon receiving Cifer's command, the Adjuchas surrounding the Savage Dragon sprang into action, their massive hands reaching out towards it.

"No!!!"

Ignoring the Savage Dragon's helpless and despairing gaze, Cifer tore open space with his bare hands.

"Next life, recognize me and stay far away."

In Cifer's final glance, the Savage Dragon was torn to shreds by several Adjuchas and shoved into their mouths.

In reality.

"You guessed right, but unfortunately, there's no reward."

The black energy swirling around Cifer began to dissipate. Cifer looked at the fine blade in his hand and casually replied to Enel.

"The Savage Dragon, actually..."

The woman was the most surprised. As a descendant of a Dragon Slayer, no one knew the terror of the Savage Dragon better than she did.

Even with only a remnant soul, its power was undeniable, yet in this man's hands, it was annihilated in an instant.

"Should I say, as expected of you, Ulquiorra."

Although he had broken out in a cold sweat, things were finally moving in a better direction. Smoker breathed a sigh of relief, and the cigar he had almost bitten in half was finally saved.

"Huh?"

Seeing the famous Captain Smoker seemingly know Cifer, Jerry felt his brain short-circuit.

"Captain Smoker! This person is a pirate with an incredibly high bounty!"

Jerry, mustering his courage, pointed at Cifer and shouted. If it weren't for this guy, how could he have drawn out the Savage Dragon and almost caused a catastrophe.

"Uh... haven't you read the newspaper?"

Smoker scratched his head helplessly. This kid's information was too outdated.

"Huh?"

It was Jerry's turn to scratch his head. As a master of saving money, how could he possibly spend it on newspapers?

"This guy is the newly appointed Shichibukai. Simply put, you can think of him as a different kind of Marine, but only him."

Although he disliked the Shichibukai system, as a well-informed elite from Headquarters, Smoker still held a high opinion of Cifer.

"Huh?!"