14 Unknown enemy

TaJi Island, within the massive stone castle.

At this moment, this castle, which has stood for thousands of years, lies in ruins, with fires burning everywhere and the sounds of fighting echoing constantly.

"Monsters, monsters!"

"What on earth are these creatures?"

"Hey, Jil, where are you biting? I'm Old Bidden!"

It can be said that the revelation of King Bias's trump card has caused huge trouble for the pirates brought by Nicholas.

Let's rewind to a short while ago.

As King Bias's words fell, the hundreds of armored soldiers began to rapidly transform, much to the surprise of Nicholas and others.

Their arms became muscular, and their hands, originally holding swords, turned into claws with sharp talons. Human faces were no longer visible, replaced by wolf heads with jagged fangs and saliva constantly flowing from their mouths.

With the transformation into werewolves, the speed and strength of these people increased significantly, and anyone bitten by them would also undergo the same transformation.

Before long, the pirates brought by Nicholas suffered heavy casualties, with only a few strong pirates escaping death.

Facing a werewolf rushing towards him, Nicholas directly slashed it in half with one stroke, then looked through the gap in the body towards King Bias, who was in front of the throne, and smiled.

"So, is this your reliance?"

After Nicholas finished speaking, he gripped his long sword with both hands and activated the "Thunder Discharge" with tiny lightning traversing through his body, causing his entire figure to appear as after-images fragmented in various corners of the hall.

Almost all the pirates and guards who turned into werewolves had not reacted yet, feeling numbness first, then coldness, and finally a violent pain, before losing consciousness completely.

After cutting the last werewolf into pieces, Nicholas shook off the blood from his sword. Meanwhile, the hall had turned into a hellish scene, with blood splattering everywhere and the floor littered with limbs and organs.

Clap! Clap! Clap! 

Faced with the hellish scene before them, everyone had little reaction. After all, they had seen or done scenes bloodier than this.

"The captain of the 700 million bounty, the seventh division captain of the Rocks Pirates, truly possesses terrifying strength!"

Facing the dead and wounded underlings, King Bias seemed to feel no remorse at all, as if those who died were inconsequential, rather than knights who had followed his family for generations.

"Howl!"

Just as Nicholas was about to directly deal with King Bias in front of him, a wolf howl suddenly came from a distance, seeming to trigger a chain reaction. Wolf howls echoed all over the island at the same time.

Amidst the continuous howling, many werewolves ran out of the castle, judging from the tattered clothes on them; they should have been former castle staff.

King Bias's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and then he took out a green syringe and injected it directly into his neck. Under the gaze of Nicholas and others, King Bias transformed into a terrifying werewolf over ten meters tall.

"Howl!"

With an angry roar, a shockwave erupted from King Bias's mouth at a visible speed, making the surrounding hall even more dilapidated.

Watching the werewolf-transformed King Bias, Nicholas silently grinned, then picked up his long sword and charged forward.

Meanwhile, Vista held his massive shield in front, protecting Simon and Stussy behind him.

"Idiot, two minutes."

Stussy, squatting on the ground studying the werewolf's corpse, said without looking up to Vista.

"No problem!"

After saying that, Vista swung his axe and sent a pouncing werewolf flying.

"Hey, what's going on, can you guys not talk like solving riddles? My brain isn't enough, I can't understand!"

After shooting a werewolf flying into the air, Simon looked confused. Since the Blood Banquet ended, he and Kaido naturally became trainees of the Sabre of Xebec, but after witnessing the cold-blooded cruelty of the Rocks Pirates, facing Nicholas's invitation, he chose to join Nicholas's Seventh Division without hesitation. After all, compared to the unknown Rockss, Nicholas, who saved his life, seemed more reliable.

However, after boarding the ship, he realized that the ordinary pirates on Nicholas's ship were completely different from the recognized companions of Nicholas. Like now, ordinary pirates, no matter how many die, it doesn't matter. Besides Nicholas, the other two core members on the ship, Vista and Stussy, are also strange fellows.

After rushing towards King Bias, Nicholas first shattered a werewolf leaping at him with a sword, then kicked another werewolf next to him directly away, and then chopped towards the werewolf-transformed King Bias.

Facing Nicholas's attack, King Bias did not retreat at all. It seemed that after transforming into a werewolf, he only had the instinct and savagery of battle left. The sharp claws, like long knives, collided with Nicholas's long sword. When the long sword and claws touched, numerous sparks flew out. Nicholas's sword was very sharp, but facing the sharp claws covered with Armament Haki, it was not easy to cut them off. It seemed that with the transformation into a werewolf, the opponent's Armament Haki level had also increased.

Just as the two sides were deadlocked, a hint of cunning flashed in King Bias's eyes. Then, his huge wolf head suddenly opened its bloody mouth and bit towards Nicholas.

Nicholas seemed to have not reacted in time and was bitten on his side.

"Hey, the captain is about to be bitten."

Simon, watching the battlefield between Nicholas and King Bias in the distance, said to Vista under his feet. Yes, he was standing on Vista's head, using him as a sniper platform.

"Don't worry, the captain won't die so easily."

Vista said in a muffled voice, but his tone was full of confidence in Nicholas's strength.

As Vista's words fell, it was clearly visible that the half of Nicholas's body bitten began to emit dazzling lightning, and cracking sounds came from the air. With a loud explosion, smoke billowed from King Bias's mouth, and half of his face had disappeared, with some remaining flesh and blood hanging on his face, emitting a burnt smell, and exposed bones visible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, Nicholas, with a flash of lightning, appeared unscathed ten meters away from King Bias.

"The terrifying Color of Observation, Elementization in advance, huh? It's indeed a troublesome ability."

King Bias's eyes, looking at Nicholas, were filled with more fear. 

Just as Nicholas was about to speak, a sense of crisis suddenly came from the side. This is Nicholas's Color of Observation, enhanced by the Goro Goro no Mi's ability, the sixth sense, which can be said to never be wrong.

At the moment when the sense of crisis appeared, Nicholas made the fastest action to block with his sword. With a clang, a bullet emitting the breath of Sea Stone slid off the black blade.

Then, in Nicholas's perception, a ship quickly sailed away in the distance.

"Tch, they're escaping so fast." Nicholas said disdainfully.

Then he looked towards King Bias in front of him.

"You're not King Bias, are you?"

"Oh, you found out."

Werewolf King Bias looked at Nicholas and smiled, but with his blood-stained face revealing his bones, he looked particularly eerie.

"I'm indeed not King Bias. As for my true identity, of course, I can't tell you. Enjoy what's coming next."

As his words fell, a confused voice came out of King Bias's mouth.

"What's going on, how did I become like this!?" 

King Bias, looking at the mess of the hall and the monster werewolves, was filled with panic, especially when he realized that his perspective seemed a bit different. When he looked down and found that he had also turned into a monster, he was even more overwhelmed.