Upgrading Ulquiorra!

But however angry he was, Sengoku knew that, at this point, he could no longer bargain.

After all, the Marines had been on the back foot in these negotiations from the start. If the talks broke down, Ye Yang really would send the two Admirals to the New World and sell them to those pirates.

Even setting everything else aside, someone among the Four Emperors would definitely be willing to pay. Ten Devil Fruits and one billion Beli was no small sum, but with their wealth, those Emperors could absolutely afford it.

Then things would truly be disastrous!

Losing the fighting strength of two Admirals at once would not only drastically weaken the Marines, but also shake their morale. With only one Marine Admiral remaining, they would have no way to suppress those powerful pirates in the New World.

Then the balance of power at sea would be shattered outright, inevitably triggering massive upheaval!

And the ones who suffered the greatest losses would undoubtedly be the Marines!

After considering the consequences, Sengoku could only grit his teeth and say reluctantly, "Understood. Ten Devil Fruits and one billion Beli as ransom. But Marine Headquarters can't produce that many Devil Fruits right now. Can we owe you the rest?"

"No. I wouldn't feel comfortable letting the Marines owe me." A slight smile curved Ye Yang's lips. "How many Devil Fruits can you produce right now?"

"Six! That's all Marine Headquarters has!" Sengoku snorted angrily, feeling deeply aggrieved.

"Six? That works." Ye Yang formed a chair with Wood Release and sat down, propping his head on one hand. With an amused smile, he said, "Then six Devil Fruits and one and a half billion Beli. Pay Beli in place of the four Devil Fruits you can't produce. Five hundred million for four. That's a very fair price I'm giving you."

Even the cheapest Zoan Devil Fruit had a market price of one hundred million Beli apiece, and there was no supply despite that price. When put up for auction, one would usually fetch more than one hundred and fifty million.

Five hundred million Beli for four-he really wasn't ripping Sengoku off this time.

Though all this ransom was being extorted.

Sengoku's tightly clenched teeth ground audibly. "Fine! Six Devil Fruits and one and a half billion Beli. I'll arrange the ransom right away. Wait for us at the Sabaody Archipelago!"

Click!

With that, he abruptly hung up the Den Den Mushi.

Otherwise, he feared that if they kept talking, Ye Yang would anger him to death.

As Fleet Admiral, he had actually been coerced like this by a criminal today, yet he had no way to resist.

If word of this got out, it would absolutely be a stain on his entire life!

"Bastard!" Sengoku roared, throwing a punch that blasted the wooden table fragments on the floor into powder.

Ding! Congratulations, Master, on gaining Negative Points!

The Forbidden Magic Book's notification sounded in his mind once again. Ye Yang shook his head with a smile. "His anger has reached a new high. Looks like Sengoku must hate me to death."

In just a few dozen minutes, Sengoku had contributed Negative Points to him twice, with each contribution exceeding ten thousand. It was quite a haul.

(Note: I forgot to explain earlier that the protagonist can gain Negative Points from the same person an unlimited number of times, as long as that person's negative emotions are stronger than they were the last time they contributed Negative Points.)

Ye Yang asked inwardly, Forbidden Magic Book, how many Negative Points do I have now?

The Forbidden Magic Book's emotionless voice immediately sounded. "Master, your remaining balance is Negative Points."

"Over fifty thousand Negative Points..." Ye Yang pondered briefly, then said, "Forbidden Magic Book, upgrade Ulquiorra to four stars."

"Upgrading the character Ulquiorra to four stars requires Negative Points. Confirm upgrade?"

"Confirm." Ye Yang nodded without hesitation.

Negative Points were completely useless to him on their own. Rather than leave them sitting there, he might as well upgrade Ulquiorra and make him stronger, so he could better assist him in earning more Negative Points and unlocking more powerful characters!

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint black light suddenly flickered over Ulquiorra's body beside Ye Yang, disappearing in a flash.

Immediately afterward, Spiritual Pressure even stronger than before surged from his body and swept through the surroundings.

The Spiritual Pressure vanished as quickly as it came. In just an instant, Ulquiorra drew it back into his body.

Ulquiorra lowered his head slightly and said respectfully, "Thank you, Lord Ye Yang."

"Don't mention it." Ye Yang waved a hand, looked at Ulquiorra, and continued, "How do you feel after the upgrade?"

At his question, Ulquiorra raised his expressionless face and said slowly, "My power has grown somewhat. Compared to before, it has increased by roughly 50%."

"Mm." Ye Yang nodded and said nothing more.

He had more or less figured out the improvement from Ulquiorra's upgrade to four stars. He should have reached the absolute peak of his first-stage Resurrección.

Previously, at three stars, some of his power after first-stage Resurrección had likely been suppressed by the Forbidden Magic Book, leaving him short of his strongest state.

Reaching four stars had unsealed that portion of his power.

"With some of his first-stage Resurrección power suppressed, Ulquiorra's combat strength was probably somewhat greater than an Admiral's, but he couldn't completely overwhelm one or kill one instantly."

Ye Yang stroked his chin, silently analyzing, Now that his power is fully released, he should be able to overwhelm one, but it's still unclear whether he can kill one instantly. Compared to those Four Emperors in the New World, even if he can't match them, he should only be slightly weaker.

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