Cinder Embers

Countless pitch-black fire snakes poured into Luo Ya's body. The black flames were, in essence, the soul energy that made up Stickman's body.

For a moment, Luo Ya felt as if he'd eaten too much and was about to fall asleep. His head was spinning, yet the sudden strengthening of his soul left him strangely alert.

Stickman's fusion with Luo Ya had greatly strengthened his soul. And, as was customary when entering Scorched Earth Space, it had brought him a new technique: Scorching Hell.

According to his memories of his previous life, this was the final technique of Ryujin Jakka's Shikai: summoning dozens of towering pillars of fire and gathering them together to make them explode in an instant. Its power could turn the land within a radius of a hundred kilometers into scorched earth.

Of course, Luo Ya wouldn't be able to use it with anything like Old Man Yamamoto's strength.

After all, in the original story, Ryujin Jakka itself had a temperature of around 5,700°C, like the surface of the sun, while its Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, reached twenty million degrees, the temperature at the sun's core.

The fact that Luo Ya could reach 1,500°C now was already thanks to his hard training. Still, it made sense. It wouldn't be very reasonable for him to cross worlds without losing anything.

They said Zanpakuto were manifestations of their wielder's innermost desires, and Luo Ya's Ryujin Jakka had developed an entirely new ability.

Cinder Embers!

The souls of enemies who died beneath the Black Flame would turn to ash, and the embers burning in that ash would make the Black Flame grow stronger. The Black Flame was the very essence of Luo Ya's power. The more fiercely it burned, the stronger he became.

At this rate, surpassing Old Man Yamamoto is only a matter of time. Hahaha!

Luoyang laughed out loud.

Although he didn't know why Ryujin Jakka was becoming less and less scientific, Noah had one great virtue: if he couldn't figure something out, he didn't bother thinking about it.

Luo Ya himself was already plenty unscientific, and whatever was happening seemed to benefit him.

After all, being able to grow stronger by killing people was obviously a protagonist's privilege.

Then, inside the Soul Space, amid the blackened earth, he familiarized himself with his surging strength and the newly acquired technique.

A burst of noise made Luo Ya open his eyes.

"Ugh, what happened here? Is anyone still alive on the island? Hey!" A group of people were shouting loudly.

Noah rubbed his eyes and slowly walked out of the room.

"Don't panic. See that Treasure Tree Adam? Help me move it. No problem, right?"

Luo Ya gestured with his chin, completely forgetting how frightening he looked, covered in dried blood and surrounded by corpses.

"N-no problem, sir."

The middle-aged man who seemed to be the captain of the merchant ship hurriedly directed his flustered crew to haul the Treasure Tree Adam out of the pile of corpses.

Luo Ya stared at their reaction for a moment before realizing that he was covered in dried blood.

"I was so tired yesterday that I didn't even get a chance to bathe. Since you're here, get me some hot water, some clean clothes, and something to eat."

Luo Ya scratched his head as he spoke, then handed the captain a stack of Beli. The middle-aged man repeatedly waved his hands, too afraid to take Luo Ya's money, and led him aboard the ship.

After a relaxing hot bath and a change into clean clothes, Luo Ya finally felt fully alive again.

When he arrived at the ship's dining room, a feast had already been prepared. The middle-aged man stood nearby, smiling ingratiatingly.

"Sir Luo Ya, which island would you like us to take the Treasure Tree Adam to? We can set off right away. We wouldn't want to delay you."

Smack. Luoyang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said slowly, "You're the captain of this ship? Fish School Island will do. It should take about three days to get there. How much is the trip? Charge me the usual rate."

"I'm the captain of this ship, Leisel. How could I possibly take your money? It's my honor to be of service to you."

Leisel hurriedly wiped the sweat beading on his forehead. Luo Ya smiled and asked, "Do you have today's newspaper?"

"We do, we do. You even made the front page." As he spoke, he handed the newspaper to Luo Ya.

Luo Ya took the newspaper. The largest section featured a brand-new wanted poster. It showed him wreathed in black flames, sitting atop a mountain of corpses with Scorching Cloud propped beside him.

His eyes glowed scarlet, and he held a half-smoked cigarette between the fingers of his left hand.

The oversized headline at the top of the paper read: "Black Flame Swordsman Luo Ya, Wanted for 210 Million Beli."

It was no wonder Leisel was frightened. The reporters had taken a picture of Luo Ya that could scare children into silence at night.

The mountain of corpses and sea of blood beneath him, together with the black flames and dried blood covering his body, made him look like a demon from hell.

The reporters of the One Piece World were always the most mysterious bunch. No matter how dangerous the battle, they somehow managed to get the first photos—and they were always incredibly clear.

"I'm quite happy with this title. Two hundred and ten million, huh? For wiping out an entire island? Heh."

Luo Ya nodded in satisfaction and tossed the newspaper onto the table. Then he launched into the food in front of him.

After Luo Ya had eaten his fill, Leisel, still standing nearby, asked cautiously:

"Sir Luo Ya, besides the Treasure Tree Adam, is there anything else you need us to transport?"

Only then did Luo Ya remember that all the treasure on the island was unclaimed. Leaving it behind would be a terrible waste.

"Do you have a Den Den Mushi?"

"We do, we do." Leisel quickly brought over a yellow Den Den Mushi.

Luo Ya picked up the Den Den Mushi and dialed.

"Dezi, time to clean up. Get some people together and come to Bress Island. Bring my treasure back."

"You brat, I saw the news in the paper and had already contacted people to go ashore. You really made a huge scene this time. People from the Black Gold Chamber of Commerce will be arriving soon.

"Wait for them on the island."

The Black Gold Chamber of Commerce was one of the top commercial organizations in the One Piece World, with the World Government suspected to be backing it.

"But you, kid. I told you to take care of Principle, and you killed everyone on the island?"

"Hahaha, I can't take all the credit," Luoyang said, scratching his head.

"You think I'm praising you?"

The Den Den Mushi transformed, taking on Maynard's shark-toothed appearance.

"The people from the Black Gold Chamber of Commerce will be there soon. Just hand things over to them, and we'll talk about the rest when you get back."

With that, Maynard hung up. Before long, people from the Black Gold Chamber of Commerce arrived. They all wore black suits with a circular gold coin printed on the back.

As expected of a major trading company, they were extremely professional. As soon as they'd coordinated with Luo Ya, a large group of people went ashore. They searched so thoroughly that they probably even turned up the Beli hidden in the soles of people's shoes.

After a while, the person in charge came over to Luo Ya. "Mr. Luo Ya, based on its estimated value, the treasure comes to around one billion Beli."

Luo Ya nodded. "Okay. Maynard will get in touch with you about anything further."

"This is a Den Den Mushi reserved for the valued customers of our chamber of commerce. Mr. Luo Ya, if you have any other business in the future, you can use it to contact the nearest representative at any time."

As he spoke, he handed over a Den Den Mushi meant for communication. Luo Ya nodded, took it, then turned and waved to signal that Leisel could set sail.

Afterward, he yawned and headed into his room. He'd barely rested the previous night, and now that everything had been settled and he'd eaten, sleepiness was crashing over him.

As for the treasure on the island, Luo Ya trusted the people Maynard had found. Besides, he hoped the other side would be stupid enough to try cheating him out of his money.

After all, restoring Ryujin Jakka required far too many souls.