Risen from the Dead

By now, there was no need to keep fighting.

Wude could not defeat Shanks. He needed to learn Haki and gain experience.

As for Shanks, facing an opponent who could not be killed was giving him a headache too.

The two sat on the beach. Shanks looked at Wude drinking, marveling at how he no longer had even a scratch on him.

"To be honest, I really want you to become my crewmate now. This ability of yours is just too interesting." Shanks joked.

"Hahahaha, beat me in a drinking contest first~" Wude raised his cup.

The two laughed and poured drinks down each other's throats. Neither took those words seriously; they were simply looking for something fun to do out of boredom.

In the distance, Kuroh appeared again. He squatted on the beach and stared blankly at the seawater. "I really want to... pee."

Much later, Shanks, his face flushed with drunkenness, glared at Wude in exasperation. "Bastard, you cheated!"

Wude sliced his own throat with a knife and collapsed onto the beach with a smack, black particles drifting from his body.

Then he revived at full health, sat up with all traces of drunkenness gone, and continued drinking with loud gulps.

Shanks's eyes nearly popped out. He could revive whenever he wanted—and even use it to cheat at drinking?

Before long, Shanks sprawled on the beach and fell into a loud sleep while the shameless Wude continued drinking.

"You ran off by yourself to have fun instead of staying with your crewmates? I'll help your companions vent their anger." Grinning wickedly, Wude moved all of Shanks's alcohol onto his own little boat, pulled up the anchor, raised the sails, and slipped away.

Half a day later.

Shanks woke up with a yawn and looked around him.

"..."

The little sailboat sailed across the ocean. Wude sat aboard with a wineglass in hand, savoring the rich aroma of Red-Hair's wine. "As expected of the fine wine from Red-Hair's hometown. It won't be so easy to get next time we meet."

He drained the wine in one gulp, set the glass aside, and stretched.

"Ha~" Wude yawned, rubbed his eyes, and patted Kuroh. "You're already a mature IBM. You need to learn how to steer the boat."

A predecessor among the transmigrators had once developed Kuroh into a "heroine." Wude had no such intention. He only wanted to teach Kuroh how to sail the boat herself.

With that, he leaned against the railing and fell into a deep sleep, leaving everything to the tool-like Kuroh.

After Wude's training, Kuroh could already fight independently and release five Kurohs in succession.

Taking a short nap was still possible. Tool-person Kuroh was the GOAT~

Several days later.

East Blue, an island unknown to anyone.

Waves crashed against the shore as pirate ships docked one after another.

This place was called Saint Croix Island. It had once been a deserted island, but the young pirate Elton had discovered it and begun using it as a hideout while building up his forces.

Wude had learned the location of Saint Croix Island from Elton's trusted subordinates, whom he had intercepted and killed.

"Someone who doesn't fear death is coming! Men, capture him for me!" A pirate captain pointed at the little boat and shouted from the beach.

The little sailboat docked by the shore. Wude stepped onto land and looked at the pirates surrounding him so tightly that not even water could pass through.

"What a bother. I choose to surrender." Wude yawned and raised his hands in surrender.

The pirates burst into laughter, each of them laughing wildly.

"So he's just a coward." The pirate captain looked at Wude as if he had great potential. "But no matter what, the captain isn't someone just anyone can meet."

"If that won't work, then forget it." Wude yawned as Kuroh's figure appeared beside him.

He had originally planned to pretend to surrender, approach Elton, and carry out a decapitation strike.

But these fellows had forced him to slaughter his way through the pirate crew and go straight for Elton's dog head.

"Kill—!"

Wude ordered Kuroh. The pirates laughed even harder. What was this guy saying?

To say something like that in front of so many pirates—what arrogance!

Pfft!

The next moment, their smiles froze. The pirates stared at their companion in terror.

An invisible claw pierced through a pirate's body, spraying hot red liquid across the face of a nearby pirate.

"What the hell is that? Is it a monster?"

The invisible presence continued attacking. One pirate after another mysteriously bled to death.

One pirate's mind completely collapsed, and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The pirates' expressions changed as they looked at Wude. He was behind all of this.

"Don't panic! He's a Devil Fruit user. If we work together, we can definitely take him down!" the pirate captain shouted, ordering his men to surround and kill Wude while drawing his gun and firing.

Gunshots rang out in a dense, unbroken barrage as a large number of pirates fired repeatedly at Wude.

The bullets surged toward him like a swarm of bees, instantly turning Wude into a sieve.

The pirates looked at Wude lying on the beach, his body mangled beyond recognition.

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, they realized that the matter was far from over.

Kuroh was still cutting through the pirates, and the terror continued to spread.

"I'm telling you, you guys aren't very good."

The familiar voice reached the ears of every pirate. Wude sat up, frightening the pirates into a violent jolt as chills shot from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads.

If some of them had still regarded Wude as a Devil Fruit user before,

now... even the captain was shouting, "It's a monster!" as he turned and ran for his life.

The previous moment, he had eaten dozens, even hundreds, of "peanuts." The next, he sat up with a grin and said, "Your 'peanuts' taste pretty bland."

That was scary enough to kill someone, damn it!

"Don't go. I'll send you all off to restart your lives." Wude grinned wickedly. He gripped his sword hilt with one hand and seized a terrified pirate with the other, swinging him around like a great hammer into the crowd.

The pirate-shaped hammer knocked three pirates over. With a wave of his hand, Wude's blade pierced through another pirate's body.

"Attack again! I refuse to believe he can keep reviving!" The captain was about to be caught. He gritted his teeth and shouted hoarsely.

Fearful of his authority, the pirates had no choice but to stop running and continue attacking Wude.

They thought that with a hundred pirate companions, they could eventually wear this guy down, right?

There couldn't truly be someone in this world who was impossible to kill, could there?

"Kill!" a pirate shouted, raising his sword.

Wude had already blended into the crowd of pirates. They could no longer keep firing, lest they accidentally injure their companions.

The pirates raised their swords and attacked him from all sides.

Clang, clang, clang!

The ringing of clashing metal echoed endlessly as sparks flew in every direction.

More and more pirates died. During this time, Wude and Kuroh had already killed over thirty of them.

Facing the pirates' mass assault, Wude was covered in wounds, and the pirates saw hope.

Pfft!

A burly pirate endured having a sword thrust through his body and desperately lunged to hug Wude. Then a large group of pirates swarmed over.

"Sorry, my chest is reserved for my future wife. There's no room for you." Wude threw the pirate-shaped hammer with his other hand, knocking down a group of men. Then he drew his gun, aimed it at the strong man's head, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The strong man hit the ground.

A group of pirates charged over, but one after another they fell midway, killed by Kuroh. Kuroh seized their swords and hacked through the crowd with sweeping attacks, joining her master in what looked like an unstoppable rampage.

Whoosh!

Kuroh spread her wings, seized the pirate captain with the claws on her feet, and flew straight into the sky.

"Everyone, stop right now!"

The pirate captain's face was streaked with tears and snot, his limbs limp as he panicked completely.

He had ascended to heaven—he had been carried into the sky.

"..."

The pirates stopped one after another and looked up at the bizarre scene. Their weapons fell to the ground as they stood there dumbfounded.