“Hell Hound!”
Sakazuki’s entire body was engulfed in magma. His fist, transformed into the shape of a vicious hound, struck forward at the giant scorpion. The scorpion’s exoskeleton offered little protection; in an instant, the magma pierced through it.
A smell of scorched lake wafted out as the giant scorpion hissed and swung its pincers at Sakazuki. Having learned his lesson once, he dodged, and the pincer smashed a crater into the ground. The wound Sakazuki inflicted hadn’t diminished the scorpion’s fighting ability.
As a result of being freed by Queen, it has already obtained the extraordinary regenerative powers associated with a Zoan User’s awakening.
Moreover, since it wasn’t truly inhabiting a human body, in the strictest sense, it was a creature without a “physical form”. It had only temporarily possessed this shell through the energy provided by Queen, making its regeneration even stronger than a typical Devil Fruit User.
“Has he really advanced his research on Devil Fruits to this extent?”
Seeing it with his own eyes, Sakazuki witnessed how Queen summoned this scorpion. He clearly saw a Devil Fruit transform into this creature under Queen’s control, and, somehow, it could even harm Logia-type bodies.
This didn’t frighten him. If regular attacks were ineffective, he’d simply prepare an even stronger move.
Sakazuki stomped on the ground, causing streams of magma to pour out from his body and disappear into the island.
On the other side, Queen was admiring his handiwork.
What effects this move might yield, and whether the harvested ability could allow the consumed Devil Fruit to reincarnate in another fruit afterward—he wasn’t sure because the cost of the experiment was just too high.
The last test had used up a Devil Fruit. While basic Zoan-types were relatively cheap, they were still treasures of the sea, not something you could always buy with money.
Research burns through even more resources than warfare. At least after a war, you gain spoils, but with research, no matter the investment, you have to be prepared to get nothing back. Until the final stages of an experiment, no one could predict the outcome.
Each experiment costs at least 100 million Berries, and that’s after conversion. The value of a Devil Fruit often far exceeds its monetary worth. Even the Beasts Pirates, with their vast resources, can’t afford such experimental losses at the moment.
“You’ve really discovered something incredible. But what about Paramecia and Logia-types?”
“I don’t know. Remember, I told you Zoan-type fruits are unique; they inherently carry a special will. That’s why I tried it with them.
“Paramecia-type fruits are rarer and their effects are unclear, so I haven’t experimented with those. And as for Logia-types… all these years, we haven’t been able to obtain even one.”
Queen didn’t hide his research results. There was no reason to conceal them from Zeraora, but he did sigh at the rarity of Logia-type fruits. Despite many years of searching through various channels, not a single one of them had been found.
“That should be enough. Zeraora, get us a good distance away. You’ll soon witness the third phase. Give me a lift while you’re at it—I can barely fly right now.”
With Zeraora’s help, Queen and he began moving away from the island. Logically, Sakazuki should have ignored the scorpion and gone after Queen or Zeraora first. Yet, for some reason, he felt a deep hatred for the scorpion.
It slightly clouded his judgment, making him decide to kill this odd scorpion first.
“Inferno Surge!”
The ground slowly cracked, wide fissures surrounding the scorpion. Magma surged up from underground like a fountain, encasing and drowning the giant scorpion within seconds.
Sakazuki had discovered an underground river-like space beneath this island.
Just now, Sakazuki injected a large amount of magma into the underground space. As he kept pouring it in, the pressure below kept building up. Just before reaching its limit, Sakazuki cracked open a fissure, guiding the magma to the surface.
This was the advantage of being a Logia user; most elements allow you to alter the terrain effortlessly and launch wide-area, indiscriminate attacks.
The scorpion’s exoskeleton turned red under the magma’s searing heat, and Sakazuki’s body gradually condensed within the magma. He is the magma, and the magma cannot harm him. On the contrary, he can move freely within the magma.
“Hound Blaze!”
His right arm pierced into the scorpion’s abdomen, flooding it with magma. Under this relentless onslaught, the giant scorpion’s body began to weaken and eventually collapsed into the lava.
But instead of burning up into charred remains like a normal creature, it emitted an eerie white light.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The third phase: explosion.
A massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and a powerful shockwave swept across every inch of the island, obliterating any remaining structures. This explosion revealed the true essence of the Natural Gift attack.
An incredibly powerful move unleashed using a Devil Fruit as its catalyst, its power has reached the peak. It can be said that this Natural Gift has essentially taken the power of explosion to a whole new level, marking a significant upgrade.
—
Out at sea, the explosion’s winds ruffled Zeraora’s fur as Queen looked on at his masterpiece. He had told Zeraora to get them out of there precisely because of this. This explosion didn’t discriminate between friend and foe; had he stayed within range, he wouldn’t have fared well either.
During the previous experiment, he hadn’t even used his full stamina, and that alone had obliterated the testing site. Now, watching the full power of Natural Gift, a maniacal grin spread across Queen’s face.
“Muhahaha, not bad if I do say so myself! After an explosion like that, there shouldn’t be anything left on that island… hmm… absolutely nothing left…”
Sometimes people laugh only to suddenly end up crying. Thinking of the nearly ripe bananas on the island, a wave of sadness washed over him, and the joy brought by the explosion quickly faded.
As for going back to check the results? He had no intention of doing so. They’d made a clean escape, after all. Sakazuki was a Marine powerhouse, and Queen doubted someone of his level would die from an explosion. Not everyone is Ashura Doji.
His sadness didn’t last long, though; the thought that he and Zeraora together could stand up to a Marine Admiral rekindled his hope for the future. It seemed he had been too cautious before—he really was quite strong.
This was all Queen’s inner monologue. To Zeraora, Queen seemed like a madman, laughing one moment and crying the next, as if he couldn’t decide what he wanted.
“Want me to give you some news to calm you down?”
“What?”
“You helped Lord Arceus share a lot of pressure before, but with what you just did, it seems like it won’t be just blame anymore.”
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