An Explosion of Abilities

Dill was indeed floating along.

His newly acquired ability: flight.

The arrangements on Cologne Island had probably taken effect.

Barring any surprises, he would soon enter a period of explosive growth in his abilities.

Rumble!

The stone door closed, and the three returned to the master bedroom along the way they had come.

Dill gently laid the sleeping Perona on the bed, then turned and looked Vlad up and down.

"Are you interested in becoming a Marine?"

Staying here as king would only waste Vlad's talent.

The same would be true if he stayed by Dill's side. Dill disliked fighting and kept a fairly low profile.

If Vlad wanted to grow quickly, joining the Marines was undoubtedly the better choice.

They had a complete training system, with no shortage of opportunities for actual combat.

Vlad could develop better there.

His fully demonized form should be quite large, and with that bone sword that could extend and retract freely, his future prospects would put him at least at the rank of Vice Admiral.

Vlad hesitated. "But... what about this country?"

The old king was dead, Tia was dead, and he was the only prince...

"That's a minor issue. It's not like I'm telling you to leave right now."

Dill waved a hand and said casually,

"I'll stay here a while longer and pick out someone suited to managing things;

when the time comes, you'll still be king in name. Just leave the actual administration to someone else."

As long as they kept the three armies under their control and appointed someone smart to handle administration, having a king or not made little difference.

"Then I have no objections. As long as the people can live well."

Vlad nodded firmly, his expression resolute.

He had feared ghosts and similar things since childhood, so staying cooped up here as king would also be a form of torment for him.

But he could not bear to see the people suffer either. Now that he had Dill's promise, he could leave without worry and go to the Marines to thoroughly correct his cowardly nature.

With his future path decided, Vlad went out to announce the outcome of the war to everyone.

The people cheered in unison, celebrating the birth of their new king.

Mr. 1 was in a bucket, temporarily confined to the master bedroom.

Gunpowder and the other three were secretly brought into the royal castle. Keeping his promise to Hina, Dill found her an opponent.

"See that pink-haired girl?"

Dill bent down and said to the Blood Descendant Army's commander,

"Kill her, and you can live. Otherwise, you die."

"Do you understand?"

His hypnosis activated, and the thought of killing that girl gradually filled the commander's mind.

"Aaaah!!!"

His eyes turned bloodshot, and he roared as he charged at Hina.

A little nervous, Hina clenched her fists, then shouted and rushed forward to meet him.

Neither carried a weapon, and they fought barehanded.

Sure enough, Hina immediately fell into a disadvantage.

Around a month was not enough to transform her completely, and the commander forced her back again and again.

Dill turned and sat on the sofa, unconcerned about her safety. He even started eating snacks.

The Cage-Cage Fruit's ability was not just making black spears.

As long as Hina wanted to, she could easily deal with the enemy before her. But what she wanted to train was close combat, which was why she was tangling with the commander here.

Compared with her Devil Fruit ability, her current close-combat skills were practically nonexistent.

After taking a few punches, she ultimately activated her Devil Fruit ability.

She ducked under a punch, planted both hands and her right foot on the ground, and swept her leg at the commander's lower legs.

He had no intention of dodging. Hina was weaker than him, and he did not think the sweep would hurt him.

To his surprise, Hina's leg passed straight through both of his legs. By the time he reacted, a black iron ring had appeared around them.

Hina spread her arm and passed it sideways through his body, leaving an iron ring around his torso as well.

Once she used her ability, Hina dealt with her opponent in the blink of an eye.

Clap, clap~ Clap, clap~

Watching from the side, Dill and Robin offered timely applause.

Hina could not help blushing. She had clearly decided to train her close-combat skills, yet in the end she had still relied on her ability to win.

"There's no need to rush."

Dill walked over, took out some medicinal liquor, and dabbed it on the injuries on her face as he reassured her,

"You're only fourteen. You still have plenty of time ahead of you."

"All right, let Robin help you with the injuries elsewhere."

He handed Hina the medicinal liquor and carried the bound commander toward the master bedroom.

There was still a Mr. 1 there to deal with.

Next came the tedious process of hypnosis.

He did not intend to keep Mr. 1 by his side, or even hand him over to Bege to deal with.

He wanted Mr. 1 to grow on his own as he had in the original story, eventually catching Crocodile's eye and being recruited to become the real Mr. 1.

That crocodile plotting to obtain an Ancient Weapon would definitely make a move against him and Robin someday. Mr. 1 would serve perfectly as an inside man, passing along information in advance.

Once the hypnosis was complete, he instructed him to leave through the back of the castle.

What he did from then on was entirely up to him. Dill would not interfere in the slightest.

An unconscious commander still remained in the room, so Dill woke him as well and hypnotized him.

That evening, everyone gathered in the castle and enjoyed a royal banquet.

To be fair, the food tasted mediocre, and its presentation was hideous.

Roast meat served with diluted ketchup, a bowl of pasta like wriggling worms-even the drinks were an unnatural shade of red.

The young Perona did not eat a bite. Dill, on the other hand, turned nothing down, and everything the three girls left untouched went into his mouth.

At noon the next day, Vlad officially became king at the succession ceremony.

That same day, Dill gained the ability to communicate through thought.

Just as he had expected, he would acquire new abilities one after another over the coming period.

The flight ability he had gained yesterday was hardly practical. He could barely hover a centimeter off the ground and fly at an ordinary person's walking speed.

The telepathic communication ability he gained today was much the same.

Robin was reading in the castle's study.

Click~

Dill barged in, then stood three meters away from her without saying a word, simply staring at her.

"What is it? Did you need something?"

She looked up, a little puzzled.

Dill said nothing and silently took two steps forward.

Robin took out a small mirror and found no dirt on her face.

Dill said nothing and took another two steps forward.

Robin toyed with her hair and silently lowered her head.

Dill still said nothing and continued forward.

Only when Robin's cheeks were bright red and they were almost face-to-face did Dill's muttering sound in her mind.

I want meat, I want meat, I want meat...

Robin's expression froze. She pressed a hand against Dill's face and pushed him away, snapping in embarrassment,

"If you want meat, go find the cook! Stop bothering me here!!"

As she spoke, she activated her ability. Pairs of arms sprouted from the floor, pulled Dill down, and carried him out of the room.

She took a deep breath and dialed a number on the room's Den Den Mushi.

"Vlad, have the kitchen prepare some meat dishes and send them to the dining room."