Pirates: I Rely Only on Myself

With the underworld mafia forces of the Western Sea secretly united, the power of the Noah Family soared.

However, Noah did not set sail again; instead, he remained at the secret base on York Island.

At this moment, he had completed the creation of the sixth Major Arcana Apostle.

Currently, Noah commands six Major Arcana Apostles, each with unique abilities:

[The Devil: Pan Barton (Swap-Swap Fruit)]

[The Emperor: Shiki (Float-Float Fruit)]

[The Death: Mushuru (Spore-Spore Fruit)]

[Justice: Gairam (Cube-Cube Fruit)]

[The World: Capone Bege (Castle-Castle Fruit)]

[The Hermit: Hanover (Corrode-Corrode Fruit)]

The Corrode-Corrode Fruit had increased Noah's offensive power significantly. The ability was simple yet formidable: it could corrode anything, even Armament Haki.

However, to corrode an opponent's Armament Haki, Noah would need ample stamina, along with a superior Observation Haki, or else he'd risk a scenario where he had powerful attacks but couldn't land a hit.

With the sixth Major Arcana Apostle in his deck, Noah's Card-Card Fruit abilities grew even stronger, advancing his Devil Fruit awakening to about 27%.

Moreover, he could now wield two Devil Fruit powers simultaneously instead of just one.

Still, Noah consulted his tarot divination and learned that his body could only handle three external Devil Fruit powers at once.

This meant that even upon reaching full Devil Fruit awakening, he would only be able to use the abilities of three Apostles in addition to his own Card-Card Fruit.

This limitation was expected; after all, human bodies have limits—unless one ceases to be human.

However, since his Apostles were crafted from human bodies, they could enhance their strength through their own cultivation.

In the training field, Noah controlled his corrosive power, merging it with iron sand, and then applied the Float-Float Fruit's control.

The corrosive sand instantly riddled the nearby rock wall with dense holes; anyone with trypophobia would likely be shocked senseless at the sight.

"Combining two Devil Fruit abilities is indeed challenging," Noah remarked, although he had anticipated this result.

Taking out the Bear's card, he mused, "Steel-Steel Fruit… It seems it needs to be modified."

Previously, Noah misunderstood the awakening mechanics of the Card-Card Fruit, thinking he needed to collect both the Minor and Major Arcana to achieve full awakening.

Now he knew that gathering the Major Arcana alone was enough for full awakening, making the Bear unsuitable to remain within the Minor Arcana deck.

He placed his palm on the Bear's forehead, withdrawing the card spirit embedded within it, then pulled out the "Strength" card from the Major Arcana.

"Let's fuse."

The Bear's body was again encased in a golden cocoon.

Soon, the seventh Apostle of the Major Arcana was born.

[Strength: The Bear (Steel-Steel Fruit)]

Noah's Card-Card Fruit had moved one step closer to awakening.

As Noah transformed the Bear into a Major Arcana card, his connection to it grew even closer.

In truth, the Steel-Steel Fruit was currently as crucial to Noah as the Float-Float Fruit.

Among his seven Major Arcana Apostles, only the Steel-Steel and Castle-Castle Fruits belonged to the Paramecia type, while the rest were superpower and construct types.

The Castle-Castle Fruit didn't provide enough physical enhancement, and Noah, being a normal human, even with the enhancements from the Source Blood Potion, had his limits.

If he were to face top-tier opponents with Mythical Zoan fruits, the Steel-Steel Fruit would be essential.

Take heavyweights like Sengoku, Kaido, or the Five Elders—their physical prowess was near the pinnacle of the world. Without a naturally gifted physique, Noah would have to rely on the Steel-Steel Fruit to close the gap against Mythical Zoan users.

Fortunately, Noah's Conqueror's Haki was extremely powerful, having mutated after years of mental conditioning and self-imposed reinforcement.

In its condensed form, Noah's Conqueror's Haki was not the usual dark or purple color but rather a deep crimson.

This mutation was logical, as Haki is a manifestation of one's will, spirit, and emotions.

Those with ambition or ruthless dominance usually possess dark or purple Conqueror's Haki, which is the most common hue.

But given Noah's mindset, his Conqueror's Haki naturally took on a crimson hue.

Furthermore, this mutation granted Noah's Conqueror's Haki new abilities.

The first was "Mind Resonance," similar to the advanced Observation Haki ability possessed by Queen Otohime of the Ryugu Kingdom.

The second was "Crimson Surge," the core feature of Noah's Conqueror's Haki, allowing those who share his beliefs to merge their willpower into his Conqueror's Haki.

Of course, this ability had a range limitation.

Currently, it could only draw from allies within a three-kilometer radius.

The Crimson Surge had effects similar to "Haki Suppression," and could even wrap around Armament Haki to break through an opponent's Haki defense, offering greater potency than Flowing Sakura Haki.

In fact, Crimson Surge and Mind Resonance worked as a combined skill.

Those who didn't align with Noah's ideology couldn't connect through Mind Resonance, and without that connection, they couldn't merge their will into his Conqueror's Haki.

Crimson Surge also had a reverse application: it allowed Noah's allies, within a specific range, to gain immunity to the Haki pressure of others.

But Noah hadn't tested this ability yet.

After all, up to now, the Noah Family hadn't encountered any enemies with Conqueror's Haki.

The training in the field continued.

At that moment, Robin appeared on the edge of the training area.

Noah stopped, using iron sand to bring a towel from the lounge. As he wiped his sweat, he asked, "What's the news?"

"Word from the North Blue: Doflamingo hijacked a treasure ship carrying Heavenly Tribute and intends to use it as leverage to pressure the Five Elders into making him a Warlord of the Sea," Robin reported.

Noah took a sip of lemon water, remarking, "An upside-down choice. Without power, what difference does it make to be a Warlord of the Sea? The ocean only respects strength."

Robin continued, "The Navy Hunter Mihawk has accepted the World Government's invitation to become the third Warlord; the Terror Weapon Dahlia has become the fourth."

"The Terror Weapon? The one with the Weapon-Weapon Fruit? Where is he located?"

"He's currently in the Orlando Sea in the New World."

"Have the Syndicate intensify surveillance," Noah instructed.

"No problem," Robin continued, "The East Blue Division has identified a target with the Copy-Copy Fruit, named Bon Clay, but he entered the Grand Line yesterday."

"Copy-Copy Fruit?" Noah took another sip of lemon water, unperturbed.

"There's also word from the agents in the Sabaody Archipelago. Members of the Big Mom Pirates have purchased a Devil Fruit, confirmed to be the Heat-Heat Fruit."

Noah's eyes narrowed slightly, "The Heat-Heat Fruit? Can we confirm their location?"

"They should still be on Fish-Man Island…"

Hearing this, another thought crossed Noah's mind: Why travel through Fish-Man Island? Could it be that Charlotte Brûlée hasn't yet consumed the Mirror-Mirror Fruit?

If it were the Noah Family, such a valuable Devil Fruit would have been secured by someone like Ah Ray and immediately brought back to the family.

Yet, since Big Mom's agents opted to go through Fish-Man Island, there could be only one explanation: Charlotte Brûlée hadn't yet obtained the Mirror-Mirror Fruit.