Vampire

"Sleeping Guzheng, deep within Feist Cathedral. Lox slowly pushed open the door in front of him.

A sinister and terrifying aura accompanied by a strong scent of blood hit him. Lox's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he walked in slowly.

Just as Locke entered the room, the large door behind him suddenly closed tightly with a loud noise.

Turning to look at the closed door, Locke smiled. "How interesting it's getting." Ignoring the closed door, Lox calmly surveyed the room.

In the dimly lit room, hundreds of candles were burning slowly. The faint candlelight made the dim room appear even more eerie and terrifying.

Apart from the hundreds of burning candles in the spacious room, there was only a large black altar.

On the black altar, a dark red coffin emitted a strange red light under the candlelight. Apart from these two items, there was nothing else in the room.

"A breeze..." A breeze swept through, causing the candle flames in the room to flicker. The swaying flames, reflected in the light, appeared like a group of demons dancing with their grotesque figures.

Thud, thud, thud...

The sound of knocking suddenly rang out.

"Hiss..." Whispers, seemingly coming from nowhere, reached Locke's ears. The atmosphere in the entire room began to grow oppressive.

The scent of blood began to fill the room, the temperature dropped, and it stimulated Locke's nerves.

"Interesting." Despite all the changes, Lox remained calm. He smiled faintly as he walked towards the dark red coffin at the centre of the room.

"I didn't expect you to still be alive after hundreds of years, Count Eogaste." Saying this, Locke lifted the lid of the dark red coffin.

"Roar!" A piercing scream echoed through every corner of the room when Locke opened the coffin lid. Crimson eyes slowly opened.

"Whoosh!"

"Clang!"

A sound of metal clashing rang out as the pitch-black sword Crescent Moon clashed with sharp claws.

"Hiss... Roar!" The sharp, ear-piercing roar reached Locke's ears. Locke looked at the monster in front of him in surprise.

Purple skin, fangs, round eyes with dilated pupils filled with bloodshot veins. His body was bloated, distorting the elegant noble attire he once wore.

Golden curly hair flowed loosely behind him, and his slender nails had turned into sharp claws.

The black bat wings on his back had huge hollow gaps. The horrifying appearance was nothing like the elegant vampires that Locke had in mind.

"What is this monster?" Lox was somewhat surprised as he continuously defended against the monster's attacks.

"Roar!" Perhaps unable to progress, the monster let out an unpleasant roar, and its body instantly dissipated into thin air.

Endless darkness immediately enveloped the entire room.

"Whoosh." A cold light flashed, and sharp claws suddenly shot out from the darkness towards Locke's neck.

"Heh, this kind of darkness is useless against me." Lox chuckled, dodging the claw attack effortlessly, and then he struck with his sword.

"Poof!" The sound of the sword piercing the body echoed, and black blood splattered.

"Gravity Repulsion!"

"Buzz!" A burst of anti-gravity erupted, directly sending the monster flying. Under the violent anti-gravity impact, the monster slammed into the wall. The entire wall cracked under his impact.

"Hiss..." The monster, sliding down from the wall to the ground, continued to hiss and stared at Locke with madness in its eyes.

"Has it completely lost its sanity, or is it just a walking corpse?" Locke observed the monster before him, puzzled.

If Count Eogaste hadn't died, he shouldn't look like this. But if he had already passed, why did the Devil Fruit's ability remain with this corpse?

"Could it be because of this cathedral?"

"Hiss!" The monster's screams brought Locke back to reality. The monster roared, waving its claws, and rushed towards Locke, attacking wildly.

"Is it reduced to pure instinct now?" Continuously defending against the monster's attacks, Locke remained calm.

"Gravity Sword, Raging Tiger!" With a swing of his sword, Locke unleashed a burst of horizontal gravity that destroyed the room's walls.

The grotesque monster was also sent flying by Locke's blow. Black blood splattered, staining the pristine white floor black.

Locke approached the monster lying on the ground, coughing up black blood with a wilted spirit.

"Too weak. It can't muster any strength." Locke pierced the monster's heart with a sword, then picked it up and walked to the dark red coffin in the room.

"Hey, Locke, is it over so soon?" Aini Road appeared from somewhere, carrying a basket of apples.

"Huh?" Aini Road looked at Lox's actions curiously.

"What's that thing? It looks so ugly."

"Stop babbling. Come with me. I want to experiment." Locke said, beckoning to Aini Road, and threw all the apples he was holding into the coffin.

"Give me your apples." Locke gestured to Aini Road, who obediently handed over all the apples in his basket.

After completing these actions, Lox used his ability to bring the coffin lid over and cover the coffin. Aini Road watched Lox's actions in confusion.

"What are you doing, Locke?" He curiously tapped the coffin and then looked at Locke.

"Experimenting." Locke said and then fell silent, sitting cross-legged on the ground, waiting quietly.

While Lox waited, the pitch-black altar lit up with a dark light. Like a devouring force, the black light caused the entire room to dim slightly.

"Hey! Lox, what's going on?" Seeing the sudden appearance of the pitch-black light, Aini Road asked in surprise.

"I don't know, but perhaps my guess is correct." After about ten minutes, the pitch-black light dissipated, and the room returned to its original brightness.

Lox stood up and slowly opened the coffin lid. "Indeed, this altar has something peculiar."

Locke looked at the coffin, where the monster had vanished, leaving only more than a dozen apples and a purple apple with strange patterns illuminated by a soft light.

Standing on the side, Aini Road widened his eyes in amazement as he looked at the Devil Fruit in Locke's hand.

"A... Devil Fruit?! An apple turned into a Devil Fruit!" Ignoring Aini Road, Locke carefully examined the purple Devil Fruit.

Then, Locke put the Devil Fruit with purple patterns into his pocket.

"All right, you can come out now, Count Ryneheart."

"Clap, clap, clap..." Count Ryneheart clapped his hands from a dark corner and walked out with a smile. Behind him was Maria, the nun.

"Truly deserving of being the pirate captain with a bounty of two billion Berries, Captain Locke. You managed to defeat that monster so easily."