The Donquixote Family is full of lunatics who like to betray their own class.
Hogback was like that, Christopher is like that now, and Mjosgard will be like that in the future.
Even Rosinante had more or less some issues.
Among them, Hogback was more like an idealistic person unfamiliar with the ways of the world, regretting giving up his Celestial Dragon status just a few years later.
Mjosgard, after being rescued on Fish-Man Island, experienced a kind of great enlightenment.
In fact, it might have been influenced by Queen Otohime's innate Observation Haki.
Christopher, however, was completely different from the other two.
The biggest difference was that Christopher possessed extreme strength, even capable of contending with Garin for a short period of time.
But it is foreseeable that this guy's ending will not be a good one.
Even if the God's Knights and the Gorosei are wary of the repercussions and refuse to directly confront him in Mary Geoise, Christopher has already alienated himself from the Celestial Dragon class.
A person who betrays his own class easily becomes disliked by both sides, belonging neither here nor there.
What's more, this goes directly against Imu's fundamental policy toward the Celestial Dragons.
Imu grants the Celestial Dragons infinite privileges, placing them at the pinnacle of the world from birth, allowing them to enjoy all glory and wealth.
Do they want to enjoy it forever?
Then they must listen to Imu and do things that satisfy Imu by joining the God's Knights.
In return, Imu will bestow immortality upon them.
However, once they do something that displeases Imu, their ability to live forever will be revoked just like Saturn and they will instantly turn into withered bones.
A carrot in one hand and a stick in the other.
And class traitors like Christopher, who sympathize with Fish-Men and are unwilling to even take the first step of indulging in the Celestial Dragons' lifestyle, are destined to never stand on the same side as Imu.
It is easy to predict that if Christopher is not dealt with this time, he will definitely cause even greater trouble in the future.
But this is normal. After all, the Gorosei are best at dragging simple matters until they become complicated and unmanageable.
Of course, none of this has anything to do with Black, who is far away in North Blue.
Black didn't even know what had happened in the Room of Authority.
He had few friends among the Celestial Dragons and chose to remain low-key and unsociable while blending into their society.
Black had already finished spending time with Stella and turned his attention to his system.
Before Black turned sixteen, he had accumulated ten unbeatable cards.
After a period of improvement, Black had already defeated the young Kizaru and the infant Linlin among them.
The remaining eight cards were all top experts with Admiral-level combat power.
Monkey D. Garp (Youth)
Gol D. Roger (Youth)
Figarland Garin (Youth)
Zephyr (Youth)
Shiki (Adult Stage)
Patrick Redfield (Adult Stage)
Edward Newgate (Elderly)
Sakazuki (Elderly)
Judging from the appearance of the first four, this so-called youth stage referred to a time earlier than the God Valley battle, when their strength had not yet reached its peak.
Golden Lion and Red Earl were the strongest among the eight, both being in their prime during their adult stage.
The elderly Whitebeard represented his state during the Marineford War, where his strength had clearly declined.
Although his explosive power was still extremely strong, his body could no longer sustain repeated exertion, and his overall combat power had begun to fall.
The elderly Akainu was an image that had never appeared in the original story.
However, judging from the general condition of Marines, even a seventy-year-old Akainu would likely still maintain a very formidable state.
After thinking for a long time, Black concluded that the weakest among the eight was Zephyr in his youth.
He looked at Zephyr's card stored above and then glanced at the card he had just drawn: Dracule Mihawk (Youth).
Black still decided to challenge Zephyr first.
Hawkeye was the world's greatest swordsman, and even in his youth his mastery of swordsmanship would not be low.
Black planned to have a sword duel with him, believing it would deepen his understanding of swordsmanship and allow him to better utilize his sword-related ability cards.
Before that, however, he could use Zephyr's card to strengthen himself.
Entering the System Space, the battlefield was once again a dark rocky beach.
Black slung the three-meter-long blade over his shoulder.
His Conqueror's Haki, mixed with ghostly aura, caused cracks to spread across the surrounding rocks.
Both the blade and his cape rose in exaggerated arcs.
Clearly, his Conqueror's Haki had reached a level where it could influence reality itself.
Black transformed into an afterimage.
The silver rainbow dragged by his long sword carved a persistent vacuum zone in the air, releasing a sword slash that stretched for dozens of meters.
Zephyr's counterattack resembled a precisely calibrated war machine.
When his right fist, coated in top-tier Armament Haki, struck forward, the air compressed into a translucent cone-shaped shockwave.
The moment Black spun to dodge, he realized that the straight punch contained three layers of reserved strength, and the following elbow strike perfectly predicted every one of his possible evasion angles.
Zephyr's elbow slammed heavily into Black's chest, sending him flying dozens of meters backward.
Black glanced down at his torn clothes, felt the surging blood and qi inside his body, and showed a surprised expression.
"Hey, hey, hey! What is this? A humanoid combat computer?"
At that moment, Black finally understood why Zephyr held the rank of Admiral despite lacking Conqueror's Haki or an overwhelmingly powerful Devil Fruit.
Aside from his Armament Haki, which had been refined to the extreme, Zephyr's mastery over the human body had reached a terrifying level.
Essentially, his fighting style was very similar to Black's.
Both relied on striking their opponent's vulnerable points to compensate for insufficient raw attack power.
The difference was that Zephyr's physical techniques were far more refined, and his combat experience was far more seasoned.
If it weren't for the Iron Balloon talent obtained from Charlotte Linlin, Black would have suffered a huge loss during their first exchange.
Before he could think further, Zephyr had already rushed forward again.
Black raised his sword to block, and the two immediately began grappling in close combat.
...
It was nearing noon when Stella noticed that Black had not yet come out of his room.
After thinking for a moment, she entered the cabin to take a look.
Seeing that Black was still resting, she quietly left the room again.
Although Black inside the card space was aware of the movement outside, he had no intention of leaving the system space.
His battle with Zephyr had already reached a fever pitch.
Black's long sword danced with dazzling silver light.
Meanwhile, Zephyr moved through the sword shadows with millimeter-level precision in his dodges.
When Zephyr launched his eighteenth consecutive combo punch with a 0.3-second interval, Black finally grasped the pattern.
The long sword spun once in his hand.
Its tip suddenly stabbed toward Zephyr's left rib like a venomous snake, just like when he fought Bullet.
"Surprise!"
"What?!"
Before Black could celebrate for long, Armament Haki suddenly seeped out from Zephyr's pores like black magma, forming a crystallized second layer of armor over his skin.
Zephyr abandoned his defense of his heart and instead punched Black directly in the head, sending him flying once again.
Black slowly climbed back up from the ground, his expression somewhat stunned.
The crystallized armor covering Zephyr's body shattered into countless fragments.
"The opening at the heart was bait?!"
"I see..."
"He developed Life Return to the point where he could instantly strengthen specific organs, combined with that crystallized Armament Haki armor."
"No wonder he dared to take my thrust directly with his heart."
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