Dark Annihilation

After the explosion, the power of darkness did not turn into dust. Instead, it reverted to darkness and swallowed every fragment from the destroyed branch headquarters.

The power of Black Hole.

Mark panted heavily, his expression somewhat grim.

"The consumption is indeed terrifying, but the power is enormous too!"

He had used two moves at once—Dark Annihilation and Black Hole. Used together, the results were surprisingly good.

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 wanted to swallow those fragments... Mark had some ideas about developing Liberation. If he improved the effect of that ability after releasing it, it could definitely unleash disaster-level destruction.

Among the abilities Mark currently possessed, 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 suited the current Mark perfectly.

Moreover, Mark believed that if he continued developing it according to his ideas, the Dark-Dark Fruit would absolutely surpass countless Devil Fruits in raw power.

Just as his strength was beginning to run dry—

Mark suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy pour into his body.

The energy brought a faint stinging sensation to his body, along with an incomparably pleasant thrill.

That was... the feeling of growing stronger.

Unlike before, this time his physique had increased by more than double.

Mark looked at the Combat Bracer in delight.

With a thought, he opened the energy panel and saw that the ☆ energy bar in the Combat Bracer had changed to ★☆.

After killing dozens of Marines, his physique had evolved to the second stage, and the energy within the ☆ had accumulated to one-fifth.

This was a huge gain.

After all, the further he progressed, the harder it would become to accumulate energy.

After his physique broke through, Mark's stamina had also returned to its peak.

He was extremely pleased.

"Cough, cough! Boss, could you warn me before you blow things up? You nearly blew this bird to death!" Chiu Chiu said resentfully as he came to Mark's side, covered in dust and grime.

Mark laughed and brushed the dust from Chiu Chiu's body. "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 physique had broken through, and his great vengeance had been avenged.

It was just a pity Mouse had been blown to death so quickly. Mark had not been able to torment him.

Plans could not keep up with change. With dozens of guns aimed at him, if Mark had not used his ultimate 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 unleashed Black Hole three more times upon the remnants of the Marine branch.

After his physique had broken through, Black Hole's range had increased considerably. Three uses were enough to swallow the entire Marine branch.

"Boss, this ability of yours is really great for taking out the trash!" Chiu Chiu remarked.

Mark smiled and patted Chiu Chiu on the head. Glancing at the 16th Marine Branch, which he had already razed to the ground, he smiled faintly. "Let's go. We're heading back to find Daisy!"

"Alright, Boss, hold on tight!"

Whoosh!

A golden afterimage streaked through the sky with golden lightning trailing behind it. Mark gripped Chiu Chiu's talon with one hand, and before long, the two of them arrived at the pirate ship.

"Why did you take so long?" Daisy complained slightly. Then she hurried into Mark's arms and hugged him tightly.

Mark smiled gently, warmth filling his heart as he reached out and stroked Daisy's silky hair.

"The 16th Marine Branch no longer exists!"

No longer exists? 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.

From childhood to adulthood, all Mark had ever wanted was to kill that Marine. Now that he had finally avenged himself, as his family... Daisy was naturally happy for him.

To celebrate this—

Daisy declared that she would cook for him herself.

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 wouldn't be suitable for me to eat this kind of rich meat."

"I see..."

When Daisy took a bite of the grilled meat she had made herself, her eyes instantly filled with tears.

It was so salty it tasted bitter, and it even got stuck between her teeth. Fine sea king turtle meat had somehow been turned dry and nearly inedible by her cooking. Even Mark had to admire her for it.

"Um... Daisy, everyone has a first time. Cooking is something you have to try many times before you can get good at it."

"Is... is that so?" Daisy's eyes gleamed with eagerness.

"Yeah... m-maybe!" Mark replied stiffly. He suddenly felt as though he had said something wrong, so he hurriedly added, "Leave it to me this time. Chiu Chiu, wash the dishes!"

"Yes, Boss!"

At once, Chiu Chiu swiftly cleared the tableware from the table, even using his lightning ability.

The two hurriedly got to work, afraid Daisy would return to the stove.

Finally, tempted by the delicious food, Daisy gave up on the idea of 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 waiting for me there, and there's someone I want to recruit into our pirate crew!" Mark said firmly.

"A new recruit?" Chiu Chiu looked puzzled.

"Mm..."

Mark did not have especially deep memories of Cocoyasi Village. He only remembered his biological parents clearly.

But as a transmigrator, 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 the place where Luffy, the child of the world and one of the original protagonists, as well as the genius navigator Nami, lived.

Come to think of it, he seemed to have met Bellemere and the others when he was little, though his memories of it were vague.

But that did not matter.

From the moment he had made up his mind to become a pirate, the best navigator he had imagined was Nami.

There were not many genius navigators in the entire pirate world.

If she had not been talented enough, the arrogant Arlong would never have kept her specifically to draw charts for him. He had even given Nami a high position in the Arlong Pirates—as one of the core officers.

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 requirements for a navigator were even higher.

"Let's go... to Cocoyasi Village!"