One Gamma-Ray Burst.
Sephiroth let out a deep breath.
It wasn't post-nut clarity...
In terms of how it felt, he was about as tired as he had been after running 400 meters back in his previous life, when he was still an ordinary high school student.
He wasn't exhausted to the point of collapse. He was just tired in the ordinary sense.
He floated in the air and rested briefly, then recovered.
At this stage, without support from the Wide-Area Silent Ship, this was as far as he could go on his own.
He could strike buildings at intercontinental distances, but to hit a particular person accurately, he would have to shorten the range to within 400 kilometers and lock on with a more precise Mantra.
He had originally aimed 100 meters to Kizaru's left. The shot had actually landed more than 30 meters to his right.
An error of 130 meters over 1,400 kilometers... not bad. It would do.
If he described it in traditional RPG terms...
"Raigo," which could destroy a Sky Island in one strike, looked like this-
[Raigo] MP cost: 10,000 Attack area: 1,000 Attack range: 1,000 Damage per second: 1,000 (magic damage) Skill duration: 200 seconds Total skill damage: 200,000
After converting one Raigo into a Gamma-Ray Burst, it looked like this-
[Gamma-Ray Burst] MP cost: 10,000 Attack area: 10 Attack range: 2,000 Damage per second: 25,000 (true damage) Skill duration: 2 seconds Total skill damage: 50,000
It was basically the ultimate loss of card advantage-the feeling of trading six cards, or even five, for one just to summon his archetype's boss monster.
In a sense, the loss was staggering.
After his Observation Haki detected Kizaru's departure, Sephiroth also turned into a streak of lightning. When he reappeared, he was already at the beam's impact site.
Looking at the faintly glowing sea before him, he felt that such a nasty move had limited applications.
Sephiroth wasn't that deranged. He wasn't Imu, who could ruthlessly erase an entire country on a whim.
He began using electromagnetic force to gather the "residue" in this stretch of sea.
Gamma rays were high-energy electromagnetic waves and left no residue of their own.
Low-intensity gamma rays could even be used to sterilize food, without leaving any residue themselves.
Nuclear contamination, in the usual sense, involved actual "contaminants."
It wasn't as though high-energy electromagnetic waves could keep appearing without an "energy source."
However, at the intensity of a Gamma-Ray Burst, small amounts of radiation would remain in the biological tissue that had been "melted."
But this radiation mainly came from certain atoms and molecules activated by irradiation. They would decay rapidly over a short period rather than become long-term sources of contamination.
"..."
Still, this stuff might linger for several hours, or even a few days at most.
Sephiroth used electromagnetic force to drag up the "glowing radioactive residue" anyway, gathered it into a "ball of light," and launched it into outer space.
-Ten kilometers above Water 7, aboard the Thunderhawk.
"Lord Shining was too reckless! That was an Admiral! An Admiral from Marine Headquarters!"
Perona flew back and forth in the common lounge. She certainly approved of Sephiroth being invited to become one of the Shichibukai.
But fighting a Marine Admiral-
"So it really wasn't possible... oh dear, I had a vague feeling it wouldn't work either. Yohohoho!"
Brook had seen that man's underhanded fighting style. He really couldn't imagine Sephiroth being defeated.
The two of them were currently aboard the Thunderhawk because of the so-called "safety rules" Sephiroth had laid down.
When encountering a powerful enemy, their first priority was to board the Thunderhawk and ascend to the stratosphere.
Once the situation became clear, they could consider a counterattack.
In other words, "run, think, attack"-a true inheritance of the Saotome school.
Broadly speaking, it could even be considered an old predecessor of the Ashina school.
While the two anxiously waited for news, a Bunbu slowly walked over and lazily sat down on the U-shaped table.
It had to be said that Perona was raising these little fellows to have increasingly strange AI.
"...At a time like this! Kumashi-"
The stuffed bear Kumashi stood upright and began his operation to capture the Bunbu. They clearly had the same core-why were they so eager to turn on their own kind?
After surrounding and cornering him, Perona grabbed the Bunbu, who kept struggling to escape.
Perona deftly scratched his throat to relax him, then hummed as she carefully stroked him from his head to his tail.
[-Are you two all right?] (This was Telepathy from Sephiroth.)
"Waaaaah-Bunbu spoke in Lord Shining's voice... huh?"
Perona realized that the voice seemed to be coming from inside her head.
[Anyway, the problem is solved.]
"Yohohoho! Mr. Shining, don't tell me you can peer into my heart... even though I don't have one."
Even Brook could hear Sephiroth's "voice," and all the bones in his body rattled involuntarily.
[You're too far away. I can't "hear" what you're saying. You can only hear me...]
Through Telepathy, Sephiroth didn't mention the details of his fight with Kizaru. He only said that Kessoku Band just needed to wait in Water 7 for the World Government's envoy to arrive for negotiations.
Besides gaining valuable experience in a battle between speedsters from his clash with Kizaru...
Even if he didn't want to admit it, the awakening of his Conqueror's Haki had indeed been an unexpected bonus... embarrassing or not, he would take it.
No one knew anyway...
Beyond that, there was another bonus. After his mental breakthrough, he had gained a new understanding of the "Psychic Suppression Wave."
Originally, he had simply created harmonic resonance between his brain waves and electromagnetic waves, putting pressure on both his opponent's bioelectric field and brain waves.
It was a simple, brute-force approach. At maximum power, it could turn someone with a weak body or mind into an idiot.
Now, however, he could combine it with Mantra to some extent, forming a new kind of advanced Observation Haki-Telepathy.
Its nature was a little like Queen Otohime's ability on Fish-Man Island, but not quite as outrageous.
Otohime's Observation Haki could sense others' thoughts and emotions, and convey her own consciousness to them.
It could influence others' minds and thoughts, produce powerful resonance, and even change their values and outlook.
Otohime transmitted empathy, subtly "corrupting" others toward goodness.
Sephiroth's "Emotion Absorption" couldn't read specific thoughts, only emotions and intentions.
His new Telepathy ability didn't transmit empathy either. It was a one-way "Emotion Release."
It fed "words" into another person's surface thoughts. It was like making a phone call, not direct brainwashing-a refined application of the Psychic Suppression Wave.
Combined with Emotion Absorption, it barely qualified as a form of mental communication.
Turning into lightning in an instant, Sephiroth appeared in the Thunderhawk's common lounge.
He immediately spotted his two crewmates.
"...What's with those looks?"
"Lord Shining!"
"Mr. Shining-I'm sorry. A perverted skeleton like me should just ferment and rot in a beautiful girl's bathroom-"
Both lunged toward him at once, and a Negative Hollow instantly took Brook down.
Perona's eyes... to put it descriptively, looked as though they had turned into fried eggs.
With one flying tackle, that adorably fairy-like face of hers pressed straight against Sephiroth's...
-Marine Headquarters, the Fleet Admiral's Office.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's knuckles struck the peachwood desk heavily, shifting the papers on it slightly with the vibration.
The setting sun slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows, gilding the calligraphy plaque reading "Justice that reigns over the world" in blood-red light.
In the silent office, only the crunch of Garp chewing rice crackers remained.
Along with Vice Admiral Tsuru's silent sigh.
-How could that boy, whose physical abilities were only at the level of a lieutenant colonel, be so absurdly good at developing his Devil Fruit?
(I posted images in the author's note for the previous chapter. There are some in this chapter too.)
(Tomorrow, he takes up his position as one of the Shichibukai, and volume one ends. Next volume: beating up the Heavenly Yaksha.)
Before you continue