Necromancy!

As soon as he finished speaking, the cat-eared pirate lunged forward with ferocious force.

His relaxed, contemptuous expression clearly did not match his actions. Anyone who concluded from that expression that he had let his guard down would have been a complete fool.

As a pirate who lived with a blade at his throat, he understood better than anyone that even a lion had to go all out when hunting a rabbit.

Even against a fellow pirate who had lost an arm and was half-dead, he had not lowered his guard in the slightest.

But...

Some things could not be avoided simply by being cautious!

When something beyond common sense occurred, the tremor of the soul was not something one could control.

His lips were still trembling slightly. When the cat-eared pirate came within less than a meter of him, Lowett stopped moving and murmured softly.

"Necromancy: Skeleton Revival!"

Thanks for the corpse, cat-eared buddy!

Among the five major branches of necromancy, summoning magic was the easiest to learn and the hardest to master. This was a universal spell that could be used from the apprentice stage all the way to Holy Ten. It used a target corpse as the casting medium for specialized summons.

From Zombie Puppets that merely made corpses move, to Skeleton soldiers whose refined flesh and bones were as hard as steel, and even using them as a medium to awaken wronged souls slumbering underground and summon Underworld Pythons, all required this spell as a prerequisite.

It was an exceptionally useful basic spell.

Moreover, as the signature skill used by Necromancers to build an Undead Army, the energy that animated the bones came from the corpse itself. The Necromancer only expended a portion of control power. With sufficient knowledge and research into energy-saving casting techniques, basic summons barely counted as consumption—not even half a star.

This was a talent unique to Necromancers!

It was like how Elemental System fire mages could light their pipes with a small flame at no cost. It was called specialization...

The only drawback was that it required a corpse.

In Lowett's current condition, he could not even use a half-star spell. Fortunately, he had enough knowledge to understand the energy-saving trick behind this spell.

However, in order to conserve Mental Power, the incantation became more complicated, giving others an opening.

Fortunately... his enemy did not understand any of this.

"Bullying natives really is fun."

The cat-eared pirate had decent physical abilities and sharp senses, so he immediately noticed the strange sound of wind beside him.

He turned around. His powerful eyesight allowed him to see the target clearly, but at that moment, he only wished he had not... In an instant, an indescribable terror flooded his heart. Dopamine surged out of control, making his scalp tingle and his limbs turn cold.

"What the hell is that?!!!"

The one pouncing at him was none other than the Marine corpse whose heart he had personally confirmed he had pierced!

Its eyes were dull and lifeless, its mouth hanging open as it lunged to bite him without awareness. From the angle as it rose before him, the cat-eared pirate could even see the shredded fragments of its heart through its chest.

This was undoubtedly a corpse that could not possibly be any deader.

But the corpse had come alive!!

"Damn it!"

Faced with such a bizarre sight, the cat-eared pirate chose to retreat despite having the strength to kill it with ease.

With a heavy stomp, he burst out of the cell and dodged the attack, causing the corpse to fall at Lowett's feet.

"Urgh!"

His shoulder accidentally slammed into the iron cell door from moving too abruptly. The cat-eared pirate bared his teeth in pain, then looked at the "corpse" slowly rising again, his pupils widening.

The corpse had not attacked Lowett, giving the cat-eared pirate a terrible premonition.

"A Devil Fruit user!!"

Everything unreasonable in this world could be explained by Devil Fruits.

They were the most mysterious things in this world. Even as an officer under "Hundred Schemes" Kuro, one of the strongest pirates in the East Blue, he had no way of knowing the truth behind Devil Fruits.

They were incredibly rare, after all!

"Devil... Fruits? So it really is this world."

Lowett murmured softly. He leaned half his body against the shoulder of the revived corpse and stood up, not even looking at the cat-eared pirate as he spoke to himself.

"So I did not choose the wrong method. The coordinates were just a little off."

Not even his master from his previous world, nor the descendants of the Musk Family, knew that Lowett was a transmigrator. Just like this time, his Soul Compatibility had been high enough for him to take over someone else's body and replace their existence.

His original name had been Luoshui, a rather inauspicious name.

Yet it was also the name he had always longed to reclaim, the name that would let him return to his roots.

"Since the method was not wrong, I absolutely cannot die!"

Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at the cat-eared pirate. That unwavering conviction transformed into an amplifier for his Mental Power, making him feel for an instant as if he were the ruler of heaven and earth.

Fortunately, the cat-eared pirate Sam was not some famous figure. Under the pressure of that Mental Power, he actually felt a trace of fear.

Blood continuously dripped from Lowett's severed limb. The gaunt young man had a haggard face and gave off the dangerous aura of a wounded beast.

An invisible ripple spread outward. In Sam's mind, only those star-bright eyes remained, hidden behind greasy, tangled hair. He froze in a daze.

Necromancy: Soul Shock!

To control an Undead Army, one could not be unfamiliar with the soul branch.

Seizing the chance, Lowett decisively climbed onto the corpse's back and ordered the revived undead to carry him as it broke into a jog out of the cell.

"Chase... hurry and chase him!"

The sudden change had stunned Buchi standing nearby. He only came to his senses when Sam let out a somewhat hysterical scream.

Remembering the captain's order for them to come down and finish off the remaining Marines, Sam shuddered.

A dead man coming back to life was not terrifying. What was truly terrifying was "Hundred Schemes" Kuro!

Compared to fearing for someone else's life, his own life was what mattered!

"Got it, big brother!"

Buchi charged straight down the corridor, knocking Sam stumbling aside.

"Sam, Buchi, have you killed them all? We need to retreat."

A ship's layout was usually nothing more than a few standard patterns. As he rode the undead all the way to a spot just one door away from the deck, Lowett heard an unfamiliar voice.

"This is troublesome..."

Lowett frowned slightly.

Crack!

At the same time, the cabin door opened.

Backlit by the setting sun, the tall hat was especially eye-catching, particularly the cylinder on his chin, which looked oddly amusing.

That was, if one ignored the fact that he was a pirate.

The Undead Navy abruptly stopped. Zango, vice-captain of the Black Cat Pirates, also halted in astonishment. Staring at the unexpected visitor before him, his mind failed to process what he was seeing.

Hadn't the captain said he had already killed all the Marines aboard?

Even if someone had hidden away, those stragglers should not have been a match for the Nyaban Brothers.

Wait, a Marine?!

Noticing the uniform on the undead, Zango's eyes turned vicious.

"Those damned Nyaban Brothers! How do they do their jobs?!"

As he spoke, two ring-shaped thin blades slid out from his sleeves.

No matter what excuse the Nyaban Brothers had for letting an enemy reach this place, Zango would never allow an accident to happen when it concerned their captain's "grand plan."

But while he was decisive, Lowett was even more decisive!

He had stopped only to steady his breathing and focus. Then the Undead Navy opened its mouth in an unconscious roar and lunged forward.

"What the hell is this?!"

Why did its method of attack resemble that of a wild beast?!

Zango was startled. He instinctively dodged to the side and avoided the bite, but he was no ordinary man either. The ring blades connected by threads whirled out. As they passed each other, they tore open a gash in the Undead Navy's throat, spraying flesh and blood.

But...

"What?!"

Zango's pupils contracted as he watched the Undead Navy's body remain completely unmoved.

He was certain his attack had landed. The flying spray of blood could not have been fake.

But why?

"I said... stop causing trouble for me!"

Suddenly, an icy voice rang beside Zango's ear, making cold sweat pour down his back.

Before he could speak, a black shadow swept past him. A broad black trench coat snapped loudly in the fierce wind.

A sting appeared on his cheek, quickly followed by a line of blood.

But Zango did not dare wipe it away. He could only remain motionless and let the other party deal with him as he pleased.

That was "Hundred Schemes" Kuro, their captain, a Great Pirate with a bounty of sixteen million Beli, a man of tremendous influence in the East Blue!

"Fortunately, the captain seems fairly satisfied with this mission."

Feeling the sting on his face, Zango instead breathed a sigh of relief.

Splat!!

Then came the sound of tearing. The running Undead Navy was ripped apart at the waist and abdomen by several long steel claws. Before that terrifying slash, its bones offered no resistance whatsoever.

The undead's upper body flew forward with its momentum. With a splash, it tumbled over the railing and fell into the sea.

Lowett, hanging from its back, vanished into the ocean along with it.

Click... click...

After doing all that, Kuro pushed up his glasses with his left palm. Behind the lenses, his gaze was full of shrewdness.

"The person on that Marine's back should have been Lowett, the recently notorious Triangle Spellbreaker... Heh heh, the Marines are actually willing to protect a pirate? How unfair!"

Then Kuro turned to Zango. "The Nyaban Brothers are unreliable. From now on, the Black Cat Pirates will depend on you, Zango."

Zango did not dare show any joy. He nodded fearfully. "Yes, Captain."

At the same time...

"Captain, this is bad! A dead man came back to life!"

The chubby Buchi rushed out of the cabin, terror in his eyes. Clearly, he had let Sam down. Like Sam, he had been scared out of his wits.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Zango recalled the attack from just now and instinctively looked toward the sea.

"Wait, if that's the case..."