"Ding-dong! Host, please wait!"
The ethereal notification rang out once again.
Lucas stared at the treasure chest slowly opening within his consciousness. His eyes immediately lit up, and a hint of wild delight appeared on his face.
"Ding-dong! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained Dark Magic!"
"Ding-dong! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained a Fusion Card!"
Two dazzling golden beams of light erupted.
When the radiance finally faded, only two objects remained suspended in the void: a pitch-black book radiating an intense aura of darkness, and a card forged from gold.
Looking at the book and card before him, Lucas was momentarily stunned.
These were completely different from the usual weapons of mass destruction he received.
Could Jesus be telling me to turn over a new leaf?
Lucas rubbed the tip of his nose before reaching out to touch them.
The instant his fingers made contact, information about the magic book and Fusion Card suspended in the void rapidly flooded into his consciousness.
As this enormous stream of information poured into his mind, Lucas felt his head roar.
When the sensation subsided, he suddenly understood everything about the two items, causing his eyes to brighten.
He glanced at the black book that had materialized in his hand.
If he remembered correctly...
This should be the Dark Magic Grimoire of Yami Sukehiro, captain of the Black Bulls from the world of Black Clover.
The grimoire contained numerous spells Yami had developed as he repeatedly surpassed his own limits.
As a swordsman who was also exceptionally skilled in manipulating ki, Yami Sukehiro was practically more suited to being called a magic swordsman.
His Dark Magic possessed the terrifying ability to transform darkness into slashing attacks capable of tearing through space and cutting across dimensions.
Then there was his Dimension Slash: Equinox, an iaijutsu technique executed at incredible speed—even the Gravity Devil, Lucifero, the strongest of the three members of the Dark Triad, could barely react to it.
Within the world of Black Clover, Yami was absolutely a borderline cheat-level existence.
After his battle with Jack, Lucas had already realized that he was somewhat lacking in powerful trump cards.
He never expected that opening this Golden Treasure Chest would give him such an overwhelming prize.
It had filled the gap in his swordsmanship and ability utilization.
As long as he could fully master Yami Sukehiro’s Dark Magic, Lucas believed that the resulting increase in his strength would be far more than a simple one-plus-one combination.
Whoosh!
Lucas exhaled deeply, suppressing the excitement in his heart.
He then turned his attention to the golden Fusion Card in his hand.
If he remembered correctly, this Fusion Card was somewhat similar to the Fusion cards from Yu-Gi-Oh!.
It could fuse two different abilities together.
No.
More precisely, it could grant one of Lucas’s own powers the ability to fuse with another power.
Once activated, the target of the card’s effect could not be changed.
In other words, the Fusion Card in Lucas’s possession could only be used once.
After it was used, the power it affected would permanently acquire the property of fusion.
It would then be capable of merging with Lucas’s other powers.
Seeing such a peculiar effect, Lucas couldn’t help but develop a headache.
If the Fusion Card could be used an unlimited number of times, he wouldn’t hesitate at all. He would simply activate it and see what kind of changes it could bring to his powers.
Unfortunately, this card was a one-time-use item.
If he used it incorrectly, there was no telling whether he would ever obtain another one in the future.
After pondering for a while, Lucas ultimately decided to set the Fusion Card aside for the time being.
He would wait until he came up with a suitable idea before using it.
"Admiral Lucas, you’re finally awake!"
Ain hurried over, slightly out of breath. She was carrying a stack of mission documents in her hands.
"After you went off duty yesterday, Vice Admiral Tsuru sent over an adjustment to the mission. Admiral Kizaru will be taking over for you and going to negotiate the transaction with Blackbeard Teach."
"Vice Admiral Kizaru is taking over for me?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
"What about the 20 million Berries we agreed upon as compensation?"
"Admiral Lucas, you can rest assured."
Ain gave a wry smile as she explained,
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku anticipated that you would insist on receiving the agreed compensation. That’s why he approved the payment of the voyage bonus even after you withdrew from the mission."
Originally, when Ain saw this particular sentence highlighted in the documents, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that Lucas would actually care about a mere 20 million Berries.
After all, taking down Jack the Drought had earned him a 1-billion-Berry bounty.
But judging from the situation now, she had clearly underestimated just how obsessed Lucas was with performance bonuses and mission rewards.
However, Ain glanced back at Jack and Ulti, who were still unconscious.
Seeing the way Lucas fought without caring who stood in his way, all for the sake of performance and bonuses, Ain suddenly realized that she rather liked this side of him.
She couldn’t help but secretly wave her little fists a couple of times.
"Hehehe..."
"What is it?"
Lucas glanced back at Ain.
"You seem rather excited."
"Come to think of it, we just got paid. That’s certainly something worth celebrating!"
Ain’s cheeks immediately turned bright red.
She had never expected herself to unconsciously display such a girlish expression. Faced with Lucas’s salary-based reasoning, she could only hurriedly nod in agreement.
"Admiral Lucas! This is bad!"
From the lookout tower atop the mast, an observation Marine hurriedly poked his head out and reported,
"There is a huge wooden raft approaching us from a distance! Based on the wind direction and its speed, it’ll probably reach us in only fifteen minutes!"
Ain’s expression changed slightly.
She immediately intended to climb the lookout tower to confirm the situation herself, but Lucas reached out and stopped her.
"There’s no need to panic."
Lucas took a swig of alcohol and gazed toward the horizon.
"It’s not Kaido of the Beasts. Kaido would never make an entrance this cheap."
His gaze traveled into the distance.
The enormous wooden raft was gradually becoming clearer, as was the pirate flag fluttering in the wind.
"It’s Blackbeard Teach."
"I didn’t expect him to come looking for us himself. Looks like he’s very confident about this transaction."
"Oh, right. Tell him this: the transaction is canceled during my vacation."
The transaction was canceled during vacation?
Ain and the surrounding Marines were stunned.
Blackbeard Teach was someone who had even dared to kill Whitebeard’s men.
Yet Lucas didn’t seem to care about him in the slightest.
No.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that if Blackbeard Teach had another price tag attached to him, his treatment might have been completely different.
As for the fact that Kizaru had taken over his mission, Lucas was effectively on vacation now, albeit involuntarily.
Meanwhile, roughly seven or eight nautical miles from Uss Island...
On a crude but enormous wooden raft, Blackbeard and his men stood on deck.
Before them stood a figure shrouded in a white cloak.
Blackbeard Teach wore a mocking smile as he spoke.
"Heh heh... I never expected the intelligence from CP0 to be so useful."
"No wonder the various powers of the sea turn into startled birds whenever they hear your name."
Teach took a bite of cherry pie before laughing loudly.
"But there’s something I really want to know."
"Why did you provide us with all kinds of intelligence concerning the Marines’ fourth Admiral?"
"Don’t forget, we’re pirates, after all. Even if we eventually become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, that won’t change."
The moment those words fell, everyone’s eyes in the vicinity turned toward Spandine.
Even Ace, who was bound up like a dumpling, was no exception.
As a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace despised nothing more than seeing one of his own betray their comrades.
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