After the explosion, the Darkness Power did not turn into dust. Instead, it reverted to Darkness Power and swallowed every fragment from the destroyed branch headquarters.
The power of Black Hole.
Mark panted heavily, his expression somewhat grim.
"The consumption really is immense, but the power is enormous too!"
He had used two moves at once: Dark Annihilation and Black Hole. Combined, the two techniques had produced an unexpectedly excellent result.
Dark Annihilation had been developed by imitating Ace's Flame Emperor, while Black Hole was responsible for swallowing the remaining debris. As for why he needed to swallow those fragments... Mark had some ideas for developing Liberation. If he improved the effect of releasing that ability, it could definitely unleash disaster-level destruction.
Among the abilities Mark had mastered, aside from Dark Fist and Dark Annihilation, which he had created himself, Dark Water, Black Hole, Liberation, and the rest were all basic applications of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
The inspiration for both Dark Fist and Dark Annihilation had come from Ace. Mainly because Ace's fighting style was simply too suitable for Mark at his current stage.
Moreover, Mark believed that if he continued developing it according to his own ideas, the Dark-Dark Fruit would absolutely surpass countless Devil Fruits in destructive power.
Just as his stamina was beginning to run dry,
Mark suddenly felt a powerful energy surge into his body.
This energy brought a faint prickling pain to his body, but also an incomparably pleasant sensation.
That was... the feeling of becoming stronger.
Unlike before, this time his physical constitution had increased by more than double.
Mark looked at the Combat Bracer in delight.
With a thought, he opened the energy panel. Mark saw that the ☆ energy bar within the Combat Bracer had changed into ★☆.
After killing dozens of Marines, his constitution had evolved to the second stage, and the energy in the ☆ had accumulated to one-fifth.
This was a huge gain.
The further he progressed, the harder it would become to accumulate energy.
After his constitution broke through, Mark's stamina also recovered to its peak.
He was immensely pleased.
"Cough, cough! Boss, could you warn me before you make something explode? You nearly blew this bird to death!" Chiu Chiu said resentfully as he came over to Mark, covered in dust and grime.
Mark laughed heartily, brushing the dust off Chiu Chiu's body as he apologized. "Sorry, Chiu Chiu. I'll definitely be more careful next time."
"There's going to be a next time?" Chiu Chiu cried out.
Mark was in an exceptionally good mood. His constitution had broken through, and his great revenge had been avenged.
It was just a pity Nezumi had been blown to death so quickly. Mark had not been able to torture him.
Plans could not keep up with changes. With dozens of guns aimed at him, if Mark had not unleashed a powerful move, he and Chiu Chiu would most likely have been in grave danger.
The man and bird killed all the remaining Marines on the island. Then Mark launched Black Hole three more times at the remains of the Marine branch.
After his constitution broke through, the range of Black Hole had increased considerably. Three uses were enough to swallow the entire Marine branch.
"Boss, this ability of yours is pretty good for taking out the trash!" Chiu Chiu remarked.
Mark smiled and patted Chiu Chiu on the head. Looking at the 16th Marine Branch, which he had reduced to flat ground, he smiled faintly. "Let's go. We're heading back to find Daisy!"
"Okay, Boss, hold on tight!"
Whoosh!
A golden afterimage streaked through the sky amid golden lightning. Mark held Chiu Chiu's talon with one hand, and the two quickly arrived at the pirate ship.
"Why did you take so long?" Daisy complained softly before running into Mark's arms and hugging him tightly.
Mark smiled faintly, warmth filling his heart as he reached out and stroked Daisy's silky hair.
"The 16th Marine Branch no longer exists!"
No longer existed? What did that mean?
Daisy stared blankly at Mark, unable to understand what he meant.
But a moment later, seeing the smile on Mark's face, she suddenly understood. Her face lit up with excitement. "Mark, you've avenged yourself?"
"Yeah!"
"That's wonderful!" Daisy's little face flushed red with excitement, and her grip on Mark's arm tightened slightly.
Ever since he was young, all Mark had wanted was to kill that Marine. Now that his great revenge had finally been fulfilled, Daisy, as his family... was naturally happy for him.
To celebrate this,
Daisy said she would cook personally and prepare a feast for him.
Then...
"Is it good?"
"G-Good!"
"Chiu Chiu, why aren't you eating...?"
"Well, Boss Daisy, I think I need to lose some weight lately. It's not suitable for me to eat such rich food."
"Is that so..."
When Daisy took a bite of the grilled meat she had made herself, tears filled her eyes.
It was so salty it tasted bitter, and it was tough enough to get stuck between her teeth. Fine Sea King meat from a turtle had somehow been cooked into something dry and nearly impossible to swallow. Even Mark had to admire her for it.
"Well... Daisy, everything has a first time. When it comes to cooking, you just need to try a few more times before you get it right."
"Is... is that true?" Daisy's eyes gleamed with eagerness.
"Yeah... maybe... maybe so!" Mark's tone was stiff. He suddenly felt as if he had said something wrong and hurriedly added, "Leave this time to me. Chiu Chiu, wash the dishes!"
"Yes, Boss!"
At his words, Chiu Chiu swiftly cleared the tableware from the table, even using his lightning ability.
The two hurriedly got to work, terrified that Daisy would step into the kitchen again.
Finally, tempted by the prospect of delicious food, Daisy gave up on cooking.
"Boss, are we going to take a look at Cocoyasi Village?" Chiu Chiu asked as he washed the dishes, turning to look at Mark.
"Yes. There's another problem there waiting for me to deal with, and there's someone I want to recruit into our pirate crew!" Mark's tone was firm.
"A new member?" Chiu Chiu looked puzzled.
"Mm..."
Mark did not have particularly deep memories of Cocoyasi Village. He only had deep memories of his biological parents.
But as someone who had transmigrated, he naturally knew what was happening in Cocoyasi Village.
Arlong and the Arlong Pirates ruled over Cocoyasi Village.
The villagers of Cocoyasi Village were still living in misery.
And this was also where Nami lived, the genius navigator and one of the original protagonist group alongside Luffy, the child of the world.
Come to think of it, he seemed to have met Bellemere and the others when he was little, though his memories of them were vague.
But that did not matter.
From the moment he had resolved to become a pirate, Nami had been the ideal navigator in his mind.
There were not many genius navigators in the entire pirate world.
If she had not been talented enough, the arrogant Arlong would not have kept her specifically to draw sea charts for him. He had even granted Nami a high position in the Arlong Pirates, that of a core officer.
After all, Arlong hated humans deeply.
With a navigator like her, their safety at sea would increase greatly. Especially since Mark was a Devil Fruit User, his demands for a navigator were even higher.
"Let's go... to Cocoyasi Village!"