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"It really shocked me," Ikki said, taking a long breath and looking at the beautiful woman before him in great surprise. "Nero Claudius, the Fifth Emperor of ancient Rome! I never expected to be able to meet the real you and communicate with you. I thought it would just be your apparition."
It was as if Nero had jumped from Hancock's dimension to his. Unfortunately, with Nero's arrival, Robin and the others who had been standing around Ikki were ejected from the illusion.
"Hehe, I didn't want to come here in person," Nero said with a smile, looking at Ikki carefully with her eyes. After a while, she nodded heavily. "Mm, it looks like I came at the right time. You seem to be a pretty good performer."
"Come now, player," she continued. "Train that empress well. After her strength reaches a certain level and she fully masters the power of Aestus Estus, just summon me here. I also want to see what kind of world you live in."
"As a souvenir, I give this to you." Nero took off the silk ribbon that tied up her hair and handed it to Ikki.
"Is this... a holy relic used to summon heroic spirits?" Ikki raised his eyebrows and asked with some confusion. "Speaking of which, can I really summon you to this world?"
"Mm, it's okay!" Nero replied. "The premise is that the person who inherits our power reaches the peak of strength, and if you consume a certain amount of things, you can summon us here. Of course, we also need to be willing to come. As for what needs to be consumed, that strange voice didn't tell us. That's something you need to explore on your own."
She paused, her body beginning to shine with bursts of golden light. "Speaking of which, that empress inherited my Noble Phantasm as Saber. When you summon me here, you might as well summon me as a Caster."
"It seems that the time for my visit has come to an end," Nero said, shaking her head and raising her hand to hold Ikki's. "Remember to train that empress well. I'm looking forward to the day when you summon me."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nero's body disappeared without a trace, and Ikki fell out of the illusion.
"Ikki, how are you?" Robin asked quickly as she and Hancock saw him appear.
"Ikki, are you okay?" Hancock added, with Nami and the others looking at him curiously.
"Nothing, just chatted with Nero for a few words," Ikki replied with a smile. He took out the challenge permission card of 'Mountain-Cutting Realm Swordsman Yoriichi Tsugikuni' and used it.
The next moment, the figure of Yoriichi Tsugikuni appeared in the center of the arena.
"Hancock, you've obtained the right to use Aestus Estus," Ikki said, patting her on the shoulder. "You should be able to defeat the being at the center of the arena. Take a good look at his swordsmanship. After you defeat him, you can directly obtain his power."
He activated Yoriichi Tsugikuni's swordsmanship demonstration mode. Hancock understood what to do and quickly focused on the sword shadow of Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
Ikki looked at the red headband he'd gotten from Nero and fell into deep thought.
'If I train Hancock's ability to the limit, will I have a chance to summon Nero? By the way, if I summon Nero through the Caster class, does this still count as a crew with all great swordsmen? That Nero spoke of "us" – in other words, I can also summon others. Can Kyōraku Shunsui, Unohana Retsu, and other Soul Reapers be summoned? Or, after summoning them, their existence mode is similar to that of heroic spirit servants?'
Thinking of this, Ikki couldn't help but remember the scene when he demonstrated Minazuki. At that time, he'd felt something strange – the look in Unohana Retsu's eyes was as if she was truly alive.
'The system doesn't explain anything and needs me to explore on my own. What exactly does it take to consume, and to what extent do I need to train my partners before I can summon a Heroic Spirit Servant? Do I have to raise my partner's life force level and sword level to the top? Forget it, let's take it one step at a time.'
Ikki shook his head, tied up his much longer hair with the hair tie from Nero, and looked up at Yoriichi Tsugikuni in the center of the arena.
He was naturally happy to be able to summon swordsmen from other worlds, but he understood it was better to focus on cultivating his partners now. As for summoning, after his partners met the conditions, Ikki felt the system would naturally give corresponding prompts.
[Ding! Host's partner Boa Hancock defeated the 'Mountain-Cutting Realm Swordsman' Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and obtained the abilities 'Sun Breathing,' 'Innate Demon Slayer Mark,' 'Transparent World,' and 'Mountain-Cutting Realm swordsmanship.']
[Boa Hancock's personal attributes have been refreshed, please check them yourself.]
[Name: Boa Hancock]
[Age: 29 years old]
[Weapon: Aestus Estus]
[Life Force: 50,013, S-level]
[Sword Realm: Mountain-Cutting Realm]
[Sword School: Sun Breathing]
[Abilities: Advanced Armament Haki, Intermediate Observation Haki, Intermediate Conqueror's Haki, Love-Love Fruit, Innate Demon Slayer Mark, Transparent World]
'Really powerful attributes,' Ikki thought. 'With this kind of ability, coupled with Aestus Estus, she may be able to challenge even stronger opponents.'
He sighed inwardly, his eyes falling on Boa Hancock as she emerged from the arena. At this moment, there was a small flame-shaped Demon Slayer Mark in the center of her forehead. However, as her aura stabilized, the mark gradually became transparent and invisible.
'The mark can become invisible, just like Tanjiro's,' Ikki observed with a smile as he walked up to Hancock.
"Congratulations, Hancock," he said warmly. "With this, even if you participate in the war prepared by Marine Headquarters, you'll be fine."