Chapter 303

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Abel examined the high-tech handgun in his hand. It had a sleek design with a smooth outline, and its fiery red color gave it a unique sense of beauty.

At this moment, he had returned to the first half of the Grand Line, attempting to activate the new form of Baby-5's weapon – the handgun!

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

A huge rock was blasted to pieces and burst into flames!

After a series of test shots, he gained a certain understanding of the gun's handling, firing rate, and power.

Firstly, in its normal form, the handgun had two firing modes: single-shot and burst fire.

The former had higher accuracy while the latter was slightly less precise.

There were no safeties or switches; everything was controlled by thought.

This meant that Abel could switch between the two modes with just a thought.

Moreover, ammunition wasn't needed because the bullets were formed by soul power. Therefore, the total ammo depended on the combined soul strength of Baby-5 and Abel.

As for its power, there was no need for elaborate explanations; it was far superior to ordinary firearms.

One shot could break a tree; a few could shatter a rock.

The bullets also had a flaming effect, allowing for sustained burning.

Its effective precision range was 100 meters, with a maximum range of 300 meters.

With the addition of Observation Haki, it was a formidable long-range weapon for most situations.

However, Abel was not yet satisfied. He believed this weapon form had more potential to unlock.

Baby-5 was naturally willing to assist him.

This experimentation truly led to some distinctive discoveries.

Normally, it is possible to coat bullets with Armament Haki for shooting, but this requires a high level of skill in using Armament Haki.

It is only when the bullets are coated with Armament Haki that they can cause effective damage to enemies.

This is one of the reasons why many forces do not have sniper positions.

A remarkable sniper is hard to cultivate as the required talent and personality are crucial.

On the other hand, an outstanding sniper poses a significant threat in battle.

Returning to the main point, it was already extremely difficult to coat physical bullets with Haki, and Abel attempted to do the same with energy bullets, which was even more challenging.

So, it was not surprising that he failed.

However, after multiple attempts, he realized the reason for failure was not that it was impossible, but rather that his current Armament Haki level was insufficient.

Once he improved his Armament Haki to a higher level, it shouldn't be a problem.

Another discovery was purely accidental joy.

Abel pondered whether his innate abilities could influence the properties of the bullets created with his and Baby-5's soul power.

Following this line of thought, he successfully created two types of special bullets!

One was the plague bullet, generated by harnessing the talent "Heart of the Ghoul."

The specific effect was that any flesh target hit would be infected with plague, ultimately leading to death by poisoning.

However, if the victim had a strong enough constitution or some resistance to poison, they might withstand the effect.

Put simply, it transformed the plague ability of the "Heart of the Ghoul" talent into a long-range attack; everything else remained unchanged.

The second type was the freezing bullet, created by imbuing the "Legacy of the Ice Dragon" talent.

The target that is hit is immediately encased in ice.

Of course, if the target is too large, only a part can be frozen.

Therefore, Abel named the three types of bullets as incendiary, poison, and freeze bullets.

Their selectivity and practicality were greatly enhanced.

"Baby-5, Soul Resonance!"

"Okay!"

As their soul wavelengths synchronized and resonated, Abel's handgun also transformed amidst a burst of light.

A thick cannon with red flame patterns, half a meter in diameter, attached itself to his right arm, extending over a meter long.

This was the hidden ability of the Devil-Fruit-Enhanced Pistol form—Death Cannon!

Skill: [Death Cannon]

Level: Non-upgradable

Consumption: Mental and physical stamina

Requirement: Pistol form

Effect: Adds high-temperature, explosive, and scattering special effects. The higher the fury value, the wider the attack range, the greater the attack density, and the stronger the power, with no upper limit.

...

At this moment, Abel was on an uninhabited island, which was perfect for testing the true power of this move.

He raised the muzzle and aimed at the center of the island.

"Death Cannon!"

With a roar!

A fiery orb immediately soared into the sky and, upon reaching a certain height, exploded instantly, dispersing countless smaller fireballs that then plummeted to the earth.

BOOM!!!

In an instant, a series of continuous explosions resounded.

Each small fireball caused a powerful explosion, and their explosive force did not cancel each other out.

Surveying the damage, Abel estimated that the destroyed area was about seven thousand square meters, roughly the size of a soccer field, and this was under the condition that he was calm and not fueled by 'rage.'

Once the explosions finally subsided, the land had essentially turned to scorched earth, with the residual heat distorting the air in his line of sight.

Abel, feeling the heat wave as he approached, decided not to move forward and instead took a step back, tossing a large tree into the affected area.

To his astonishment, the moment the tree entered the area of residual heat, it ignited and quickly turned into charcoal.

He was left in awe.

Looking at the cannon in his hand, Abel wondered if the newly modified ammunition with different elemental attributes would still work.

With that thought, he decided to try and change the attribute of [Death Cannon] using the talent [Dragon of Ice Legacy].

The red flame pattern on the cannon suddenly turned into a blue frost pattern.

Overjoyed by the sight, Abel aimed the cannon at the sky once more.

This time, the [Death Cannon] fired a huge sphere of frost.

It then exploded with a bang, turning into numerous smaller iceballs that scattered and fell to the ground.

The expected explosion didn't occur, but the scene before him was exceptionally shocking!

Countless blossoms of ice crystals bloomed on the land, encasing trees, stones, and all living beings within the forest in ice.

It felt as if one had stepped into a world of ice and snow, or was witnessing an ice sculpture exhibition.

This time, Abel chose the talent [Heart of a Ghoul].

The blue frost pattern on the cannon then turned into a lurid green with a skull pattern.

And so, another area of the island was stricken by a plague, contaminated by the poison.