[U.T] Ch 29: Everything Taken Away!

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"Plunder!"

Luen's gaze locked onto Kuro, his eyes narrowing sharply.

Buzz!

A line of purple light—visible only to Luen—shot out of Kuro's body and was instantly absorbed by him.

[Plunder successful. Skill obtained: "Shakushi (Deep Purple)"]

And then, the next moment—

Kuro, who had been knocked out cold, suddenly began to twitch. His muscles twisted unnaturally, and then, like a balloon deflating, his entire body went limp—drained of all strength.

That was the price of having his ultimate trait plundered by Luen: the victim lost all of their strength.

"What… what's happening to him?"

Nami watched the scene unfold with a chill creeping up her spine.

"Took something from him, that's all," Luen said with a casual smile.

"Wake him up, Usopp." Luen turned to Usopp.

"Huh? Oh—okay!"

Usopp blinked in surprise, then hurried over to the unconscious Kuro.

"Hey! Wake up! The ground's cold, you're gonna catch something lying there!"

His tone was caring, but his hands weren't. Usopp didn't hold back one bit.

Talking trash about his dad? That was something he'd never let slide.

Slap! Slap!

After some rather aggressive 'assistance' from Usopp, Kuro finally began to stir.

"Klahadore, are you alright?"

Kaya still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the man who had taken care of her for three whole years... was actually a pirate.

"Feeling better now, 'Captain Kuro'? Though even if you admit who you are, it's too late—you're not him anymore."

Luen gave him a mocking smile.

"What... was that power...?"

Kuro was still trying to process the overwhelming force of Conqueror's Haki. He shook his head hard to snap out of it, then suddenly froze.

His pupils shrank.

"My… my power… I…"

He stared at his hands in disbelief, tried to get up—but his legs gave out and he collapsed again.

"Losing all your strength will do that to your body. Relax, it's normal."

Luen smirked like a devil.

"What… what the hell did you do to me?!"

Kuro completely lost his cool, screaming at Luen.

"'Captain Kuro,' 16 million berries bounty."

"Your signature move? That silent-step assassination technique—'Shakushi,' right? The one that mimics a cat's silent, high-speed movement."

As he spoke, Luen performed the very move himself.

"My… my Shakushi…!"

Sweat poured from Kuro's forehead.

His strength—was actually gone... no stolen?!

"Whoa! That's crazy fast! Luen, have you always been this quick?"

Luffy's eyes widened in amazement.

"What did you do to me?! Give me back my power!"

Kuro had completely lost it, all thoughts of hiding his identity thrown to the wind.

Without his strength, forget about a peaceful life inheriting Kaya's fortune—he'd be dead by tomorrow!

According to his original plan, the Black Cat Pirates would arrive tomorrow, massacre everyone here, and force Kaya to write a will leaving everything to him.

But as the former captain of that crew, Kuro knew all too well what kind of scumbags they were.

Now that he had no power, those guys would never accept a leader who'd gone into hiding for three years. In fact, the first thing they'd do was probably kill him.

"So you really are Captain Kuro!"

Usopp tensed up the moment Kuro admitted it himself.

"No way..."

Kaya covered her mouth, staring at him in disbelief.

But with everything laid out in front of her, even someone as kind as Kaya couldn't lie to herself anymore.

Klahadore really was that notorious pirate, Captain Kuro.

"Relax, Usopp. He's powerless now. Even you could take him down easily."

Luen sneered at the fallen Kuro.

To be fair, Kuro was a natural talent—he'd developed a technique similar to the "Shave" of the Navy's Six Styles on his own.

But once he got tired of being hunted by marines and bounty hunters, he faked his death and took on a new identity.

And then he infiltrated Kaya's home, playing the loyal butler for three years, just to inherit her wealth and live the good life.

Trying to act noble while doing all that? Total hypocrisy. Disgusting.

"That's insane, Luen! You can actually steal other people's powers? Is that a Devil Fruit ability?"

Luffy was visibly stunned.

"Nope. It's something I was born with. Has nothing to do with Devil Fruits."

Luen wasn't planning to hide it.

Not just because he spent so much time with Luffy and the others—hiding it would only create mistrust and slow down his progress in copying their abilities.

But more importantly, in a world built around Haki, pretending to be weak could actually make you weak.

Look at Blackbeard before he found the Dark-Dark Fruit—hiding his ambition nearly made him settle for a life of mediocrity.

In a world like this, revealing your power wasn't a weakness—it was a statement.

The stronger your reputation, the more powerful your presence. That's how you build real Haki.

With Luffy's connections, it's not like they'd ever run into someone they couldn't handle anyway.

So why hide it?

Besides, Luen wasn't going to shout about it from every rooftop. A king's pride wasn't the same as stupidity.

What people saw was just the surface of what Luen could really do.

And when he eventually revealed even more of his abilities to solidify his fearsome reputation, he'd already be one of the strongest in the world.

By that point, every bit of info about his powers would be a weapon in itself—a massive deterrent.

Same way it worked for the Four Emperors. Everyone knew how strong they were, but how many dared to actually challenge them?

Their fame only made them more terrifying—and boosted their Haki even further.

In the end, it all came down to one thing: Haki ruled everything.

And Luen, with his ultra-rare "Born for the Sea (Super Gold)" trait, had absolute confidence.

"You're one scary guy, Luen."

Zoro couldn't help the chill that ran down his spine.

A power that could straight-up steal another person's abilities? That was terrifying—even to him.

Good thing Luen was on their side.

"Convert."

Luen gave the command.

He had no use for a technique like Shakushi—uncontrolled, chaotic speed wasn't his style. Better to convert it and strengthen his existing arsenal.

[Conversion complete. Gained 1 Deep Purple-tier Power Trait Fragment.]

A faint light flickered in front of his eyes.

"It's over, Kuro."

Luen looked down at him with a cruel grin.

"W-Wait! I have something to say!"

Kuro's voice trembled in terror as Luen stepped toward him.

Right now, he was like a beaten, stray dog.

This man—this monster—had taken everything from him.

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