The Power of the Fire Core

The matter of enchanting his sword left Luo Ze extremely satisfied. Each level-up increased the heat by 500 points. He felt that, sooner or later, he would be able to use the Fire Core to burn Akainu to death directly.

As for Ace, his temperature should no longer be able to compare to the Fire Core.

In the original story, Ace's flames had been inferior to Akainu's magma, while ordinary magma was only around 900--100°C.

Of course, it was also possible that Akainu had raised the temperature of the Magma Fruit through developing his Devil Fruit. After all, he was a Marine Admiral. Even Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, had developed such a trash String Fruit to such a powerful extent. Akainu surely would not have neglected to develop his own.

There was also the possibility that Akainu's Armament Haki had been stronger than Ace's. Aside from being suppressed by the flames' temperature, Armament Haki could capture the true bodies of Logia users. Perhaps during the Summit War, Akainu had been able to pierce Ace's chest in a single blow because his Armament Haki had been overwhelmingly strong.

"It's time to deal with those guys. I can also test out my flames while I'm at it."

Luo Ze quickly came back to his senses. He was still some distance away from the likes of Akainu and Ace. Although he had gained another ability, he still needed to learn Haki.

But for now, he should deal with those pieces of trash outside first.

With that thought, Luo Ze stopped paying attention to the system and returned to reality.

From beginning to end, he had only been evading, and these pirates were truly stupid. After swinging so many times, they had not landed a single strike on him.

"Hehehe! Keep it up! Killing Sword Luo Ze won't be able to hold on much longer. He doesn't have the strength to fight back anymore. Hit him a few more times, and he won't even have the strength to dodge!"

One of the pirates attacking Luo Ze sneered. He mistook Luo Ze's earlier actions for a lack of strength and believed victory was already in his grasp.

"Hmph. No strength?"

Luo Ze had already snapped back to his senses. Hearing the pirate's words, he curled his lip disdainfully.

With a casual step, he evaded the pirates' attacks. Then, gripping his steel sword, he slashed at the pirate who had just spoken.

His sword was incredibly fast, and its force was immense. Moreover, because of the Fire Core, the moment Luo Ze swung his sword, crimson flames covered its blade.

The flames blazed continuously over the steel sword, crackling and popping. The surrounding air seemed affected by the fire, growing dry and scorching hot.

"What? Wasn't he out of strength?"

Seeing Luo Ze suddenly slash at him, the pirate was horrified, nearly scared to death.

He had rushed to the front only because he thought Luo Ze had no ability to resist. He had never expected this guy to still have the strength to attack. Had he known, he would have obediently stayed at the back.

Still, though shocked, this pirate had some skill. Facing Luo Ze's strike, his expression turned serious as he swung his own sword, smashing it fiercely against Luo Ze's blade.

His weapon was one of the Skillful Grade swords, incomparably sharp and responsible for destroying many enemies' weapons. It had always been a source of pride for him.

Yet, at the very instant his Skillful Grade sword met Luo Ze's blade, something utterly unbelievable happened.

The moment the two swords touched, his Skillful Grade sword seemed as though it had been thrown back into a furnace. Its entire blade turned red-hot and was instantly cut in half by Luo Ze. The remaining half in his hand still radiated terrifying heat, scalding the pirate until he dropped it.

"What's going on? Flames?"

The other pirates were stunned at the sight. They were completely confused. How had Killing Sword Luo Ze's sword suddenly become a flaming sword? Could he be a Devil Fruit user too?

But before they could finish being shocked, Luo Ze's sword had already struck the pirate from before.

One slash killed him outright. Yet this time, there was not even any blood on the pirate's corpse. Luo Ze's steel sword was simply too hot. The instant it struck the pirate's body, it burned his flesh into black charcoal. As for blood? It had long since been burned into nothingness.

"Impressive!" A hint of delight appeared on Luo Ze's face. The high-temperature steel sword truly possessed boundless power. He felt that even if he faced opponents wielding Great Grade swords now, so long as they could not use Haki, he could burn their Great Grade swords into scrap metal.

What delighted him most was the temperature of the steel sword. He had previously worried that coating his blade in flames of such extreme heat might damage it, but it now seemed that, because this was inherently an enchantment attribute, his steel sword was completely unaffected. Though Luo Ze's sword was covered in flames, even he felt no heat at all while holding it.

"Killing Sword Form, Flame!"

Having gained new power, Luo Ze was in high spirits. He charged into the crowd and unleashed the Killing Sword Form.

Furthermore, because the Fire Core had no cooldown and no consumption, every strike he unleashed was a high-temperature flaming sword. Those pirates could not use Armament Haki and could only wait to die before Luo Ze's searing heat.

In just over a dozen breaths, all sixty or seventy pirates around him were cut down by Luo Ze. The corpses on the ground had been burned black, giving off the stench of charred flesh.

"Oh? Isn't this Truk, the one who ate the Twisted Fruit?"

Luo Ze swept his gaze around, only to suddenly spot Truk standing behind him. The man who had become somewhat carried away after eating the Devil Fruit made Luo Ze's expression turn strange.

This guy had seemed rather full of himself before and had even mocked him to his face. Now, he was perfect for sword practice.

"Don't! We can talk this out. I'll leave immediately."

Truk's face turned incomparably ugly. He hurriedly waved at Luo Ze and spoke in panic.

What a joke!

He had personally witnessed the combat power Luo Ze had just displayed. Although he had eaten a fairly powerful Devil Fruit, he was still no match for this guy!

Just look at that sword surrounded by flames, with a temperature terrifyingly high. Even if Luo Ze stood still and let him attack, Luo Ze was so fast that he would not be able to hit him!

Fighting Luo Ze was simply courting death.

He did not have that kind of courage.

"Enough nonsense. Fight."

Luo Ze's gaze turned cold. This guy had been arrogant when he did not know Luo Ze's strength, but now that he had seen it, he wanted to admit defeat and run away.

How could things be that easy?

With a cold sneer, Luo Ze stomped on the ground and used Shave. His body instantly appeared before Truk.

Then, holding his flaming sword, he slashed at Truk.

"It's over."

Despair filled Truk's face as he activated his twisting power to resist Luo Ze's sword.

But before he could even touch the blade, Luo Ze had already cut him down.