The Castle-Castle Fruit

"Though I didn't land that final blow, Sok was as good as dead. Now, all I had to do was kill Cas, and my identity would be safe!" A flicker crossed Luo Sa's eyes. Marill's body began sinking rapidly, then struggled into the tunnel Cas had left through!

Luo Sa endured the weakness in his limbs and struggled to swim along the passage.

After swimming for a while, Luo Sa transformed into a Magikarp. With a flick of his tail, he moved much faster.

He had no idea how much time had passed before he finally left the tunnel. Beyond it was the open sea!

"Damn it, the tunnel leads straight into the sea! It's so vast—where am I supposed to find Cas?" Luo Sa's eyes darted about.

At that moment, his gaze sharpened. He spotted an oxygen tank sinking slowly in the distance.

"Cas!" Luo Sa's eyes lit up. Gritting his teeth, he thrashed his tail with all his might.

After who knew how long, the Magikarp broke the surface. Its dead fish eyes surveyed the surroundings.

Once he was sure no one was around, he leaped into the air and transformed into a Wingull, soaring into the sky.

"Hm? That's the direction of the island, and with this wind... If I were him, I'd definitely head that way!" After a moment's thought, Luo Sa picked a direction and shot into the sky.

After flying for about half an hour, Luo Sa finally spotted a small sailboat. Cas was aboard, lazily holding up a glass of red wine.

"There you are!" Delight flashed in Luo Sa's eyes. He took a deep breath, beat his wings, and unleashed Hurricane in an instant!

"That's... that brat!" Cas spotted Luo Sa as soon as he appeared and immediately stood, gripping his sword.

But the next moment, his expression changed. His opponent had no intention of coming down to fight. Instead, he was unleashing the power of the wind from the sky!

"Damn it!" Cas gritted his teeth. The moment Luo Sa made his move, he had already guessed how things would end.

With control of the skies and the power of the wind, Luo Sa had an overwhelming advantage out at sea.

Without a way to fly like Geppo, Cas couldn't even reach his opponent with an attack!

"Damn it!" Cas refused to surrender. He slashed through the air, sending out a blade of sword energy that split apart the Hurricane Luo Sa had unleashed!

Luo Sa knew he had the advantage, so he kept using Raise Wind, churning the sea into a tempest.

Under the onslaught, Cas's little sailboat was swallowed by the waves in an instant!

Luo Sa stared fixedly at the surface. Without his oxygen tank, no matter how long Cas could hold his breath, he couldn't stay out of sight.

Before long, Cas was forced to surface. But in an instant, Luo Sa's Air Slash crashed down, forcing him back underwater.

After this happened several times, Cas seemed to run out of strength. At last, Luo Sa's Air Blade struck true, carving a deep gash into his shoulder, down to the bone!

Seeing the wounded Cas about to dive again, Luo Sa's eyes flickered, and he plunged down at incredible speed!

Cas immediately broke the surface and slashed at Luo Sa with his sword!

He knew this was his last chance!

Faced with Cas's slash, Luo Sa neither dodged nor flinched. He let the blade carve a deep gash across his belly.

At the same time, the Wingull's claws sank into Cas's forehead, tearing a bloody hole in it.

Cas's face froze in an expression of unwillingness as Luo Sa seized him and soared into the sky!

This was worth 5,000 Military Merit. There was no way Luo Sa would let it go!

Standing on the broken planks, Luo Sa returned to his human form and grimaced at his blood-soaked belly. But after expending a large amount of Flying Attribute energy to use Feather Rest, he managed to heal himself.

Then Luo Sa took a box from inside his clothes.

It was, of course, the box that was supposed to contain the Castle-Castle Fruit.

First Capone Bege had stolen it, then Sok had taken it, and finally Cas had seized it during the underwater fight. Now, though, it had fallen into Luo Sa's hands.

Luo Sa opened the box, but the Devil Fruit he'd imagined wasn't inside. Instead, there were neatly arranged documents, among them a map.

"So this is where the Castle-Castle Fruit is!" Looking at the large skull symbol on the map, Luo Sa guessed that it marked the fruit's location.

Once he got back, all he had to do was compare it carefully with the world map, and he'd be able to pinpoint the Castle-Castle Fruit's exact location!

Taking a deep breath, Luo Sa memorized the entire map, then checked his recollection several times. Once he was sure, he destroyed the map and tossed it into the sea!

Aside from the map to the Castle-Castle Fruit, his greatest prize this time was undoubtedly the three spoils in the bag on his back.

Once he brought them back, he could exchange them for 6,000 Military Merit!

That would be enough to earn him one of the Marine Six Styles. If he saved up a little more, after a few missions he'd be able to get a training method for one type of Haki!

Now that he had a moment to relax, Luo Sa began reviewing the Elite Camp mission.

The only remaining risk was that he'd killed Sok. But the only one who had seen him was Marill, and that alone wasn't enough to prove he'd killed Sok!

As long as he didn't expose the fact that he wasn't a Bird-Bird Fruit user, the others were unlikely to suspect him.

Still, he was the only one who had entered the underground area with Sok, so an investigation was inevitable!

After quietly going over everything in his mind, Luo Sa smiled. The odds of him being found out were still very low!

Even so, this time he'd nearly been done in by a careless mistake. It was another warning.

If Cas hadn't considered that his oxygen might not last long enough for him to swim back to the surface, Luo Sa might well have died underwater!

So even though he had Gastly as a way to escape, he couldn't afford to be so careless again. This world was full of unknown methods and abilities; even a small trap could cost him his life!

After resting, Luo Sa took his spoils and set off toward the island.

After flying for several hours, Luo Sa finally returned to the ship where Zephyr was waiting.

By then, nearly all the Elite Camp members had returned. They were gathered in front of Zephyr, every one of them looking grim.

A corpse lay before them. It was Sok's.

"Luo Sa!" The moment Yukus saw him, he strode forward with murder in his eyes.

"Hm? Is something wrong, senior?" Luo Sa frowned. He knew what Yukus wanted, but naturally, he pretended not to understand.

"You're asking me if something's wrong? Tell me, who are you really? Did you kill my brother?" Yukus suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Luo Sa by the collar.