Demon King

At that moment, Locke felt the energy within the fruit spread from his stomach through his limbs. As it did, his body continuously grew stronger. The Haki training method Master Koushirou had taught him had originally been beyond his physical strength, but now Locke felt fully capable of training in it.

After the energy made a circuit through Locke's limbs, it charged straight toward his brain.

Once it reached there, the energy stopped. Locke felt the barrier that had been blocking his awakening break open directly, and his mastery of the Illusion-Illusion Fruit grew across the board.

If the illusions Locke created before had merely been illusions, then now they could become real. These real illusions were somewhat like the Shadow Clones in Naruto, but the greatest difference was that Shadow Clones could only use their user's own abilities, while Locke's illusions could use any ability Locke could imagine, even ones he himself did not know.

As for an illusion's attack power, it depended on Locke's own stamina. The more stamina he expended, the stronger the illusion's attacks would be. Locke had no way to test the upper limit right now, and his opponents were not giving him the time to do so.

Just as Locke got to his feet, the enemy attacked again. Having only just stood up, Locke had no choice but to roll to the side, barely dodging the attack.

Locke avoided the blow, but it struck the wall of the tomb chamber instead.

With a loud bang, the entire tomb chamber began to tremble, and dirt and stones continuously fell from above.

"Kid, stop right there! You dared steal something Sis had his eye on? You're dead!" Sis shouted as he attacked Locke once more.

The people caught up in the melee also noticed what was happening. Seeing their captain chasing down an unfamiliar kid, along with the red light that had filled the tomb chamber disappearing, they quickly understood what had happened.

They immediately abandoned the three brothers and charged toward Locke.

Sis's punch had shattered Locke's disguise, revealing his true appearance. Moreover, the effects of the Awakening Fruit had brought his Devil Fruit power to a critical stage of awakening. He could not spare any effort to fight back and could only keep dodging Sis's attacks.

While Locke was overwhelmed, he saw the sailors closing in around him. He knew what he needed most now was time—time for his Devil Fruit power to stabilize completely.

So, after dodging Sis's attack once again, Locke ran straight out of the tomb chamber.

"Get him!" Sis roared at his crew before chasing after Locke.

Hearing Sis's command, the crew members also rushed toward the exit. Soon, only the three brothers remained in the tomb chamber.

After watching everyone disappear through the exit, the three brothers could no longer maintain their transformations and reverted to normal. Only then did it become apparent that they had gained many more wounds. They had not had an easy time during the melee either. If Locke had not suddenly appeared, they likely would not have lasted much longer.

"Big Brother, who was that guy just now?" the youngest panda asked.

"I don't know either, but he did save our lives!" the black bear eldest brother said.

"Mm! Big Brother's right!" the polar bear third brother agreed.

"So what do we do now?" the panda fourth brother asked again.

"Let's tend to our wounds first, then go out and take a look," the eldest brother replied.

"We'll do as Big Brother says!" The third and fourth brothers both nodded.

Soon, the three used their clothes to roughly treat their wounds. Then, led by their eldest brother, they slowly headed toward the entrance of the tomb chamber.

They moved very carefully, afraid that the sailors outside had already dealt with Locke and were waiting for them to walk right into their trap.

The distance was not very far. Though they walked slowly, they soon reached the exit. When the three cautiously appeared at the cave entrance, they found that there was no one outside.

However, not far from the entrance, they spotted the man who had saved them in the tomb chamber. He had already been caught and surrounded.

Yet that group did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. Instead, they started talking first.

"Kid, who the hell are you? Don't you know how to spell death?" Sis asked viciously.

Surrounded by the group, Locke's internal energy had yet to settle completely. He had already prepared to counterattack even if it meant suffering injuries, but instead of attacking, Sis simply stood there and started chatting with him.

"You don't even know who I am?" Locke asked, buying time.

"Is he famous? Have any of you seen him before?" Locke's question caught Sis off guard, and he quietly asked those beside him.

Because of Locke's words, the crew members began whispering among themselves, only to discover that none of them recognized him.

"Looking at you lot, it's obvious you country bumpkins have never heard of me. Listen up! I'm Phantom Locke, captain of the Phantom Pirates."

"Phantom Locke? Never heard of him," Sis muttered.

"Fine, Phantom Locke, what's your bounty?" Coby, who had been so arrogant earlier, shouted.

By now, Locke could feel the energy inside him gradually calming down. He no longer wanted to play around with these people, so he said, "My bounty? I only just went to sea. I don't have one yet!"

After saying that, Locke looked at them with a teasing expression.

"Damn it! Kid, you dared fool us!" Coby was enraged by Locke's words and attacked him directly.

Seeing Coby make a move, the surrounding crew members followed suit.

Perfect. Time to try out my new move. Locke watched them charge toward him, full of confidence.

"Phantom: Demon King"

As soon as Locke spoke, purple flames enveloped him. The flames continuously expanded, and before long, they formed an over eight-meter-tall Demon King holding a massive hammer made of fire.

The appearance of this Demon King was based on a boss from a game Locke had played in his previous life. In the game, the Demon King's entire body was made of fire. It stood within lava, and every movement it made dealt incomparably devastating damage.

The one Locke created still differed somewhat from the version in the game. The game version was surrounded by orange-red flames, while Locke's was surrounded by purple flames. Its attack power also could not compare to the game version at all. Still, Locke believed that while it might not be enough to deal with a captain like Sis, crushing these small fry would be more than easy.