The moment the Pipe-Pipe Fruit chip was implanted in his body, Liam felt an immediate change, it was similar to when he implanted Robin’s Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi) chip.
It was as if a new instinct had been awakened in him. He looked down at his hands, recalling the memory from ‘B.I.B.’ when the leader of the ‘Gunpowder’ Gang used the Pipe-Pipe Fruit ability.
‘What’s that kid doing?’ Shanks, with one hand playing with the green Den Den Mushi and the other resting on his chin, watched Liam from the fragmented plank with a puzzled expression.
From his perspective, Liam’s shadowy ghost suddenly split into several pieces, reminiscent of someone Shanks knew. Then Liam grabbed one of those parts, pulled a white object from another part, and forcefully implanted it into his chest.
Is this an application of his spirit ability?
As Shanks pondered this, he saw Liam place his hand on the ice surface. The moment Liam’s hand touched the ice, a circular hole suddenly appeared.
“Aaahhh?” Shanks was taken aback.
“Huh?” Liam was also surprised. He looked up to meet Shanks’ gaze, and in the next instant, with a splash, Liam fell through the ice hole into the sea.
Shanks, with his excellent Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), could even hear the bubbling sound of Liam sinking under the ice.
The hole in the ice sealed immediately after Liam fell through, leaving no trace of the opening.
“Damn it! What’s going on?”
Without hesitation, Shanks executed a perfect dive form and plunged into the sea. Almost simultaneously, as Liam slipped into the water, the floating “armor pieces” of ‘B.I.B.’ sprang into action.
Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh… The faceplate of ‘B.I.B.’ led the charge, followed closely by the chestplate, armguards, shoulderguards, backplate, and legguards. They phased through the thick ice like phantoms, diving into the sea without disturbing the water.
With his cheeks puffed out to hold his breath, Shanks swam like a fish, following the trail of bubbles. He soon spotted the sinking, drowning Liam, looking typically comical with his eyes rolled back – the classic look of a Devil Fruit user in the water.
Just as he was about to pull Liam to safety, Shanks sensed movement and turned to see a pair of ghostly, glowing eyes rushing past, heading straight for the drowning Liam.
With a snap, the faceplate locked onto Liam’s face, covering his mouth and nose. The helmet followed and locked into place.
The shoulder plates, chest plate, back plate, and leg plates followed in quick succession, coming together on Liam’s body.
Liam’s empty eyes suddenly focused.
Underwater, he clenched his fist, realized his strength had returned, and quickly understood the situation.
Damn, this is embarrassing…
He saw Red-Haired Shanks swimming towards him. Under Shanks’ astonished gaze, Liam kicked his legs and swam gently to the surface.
“Huā lā!”
“Splash!”
Water splashed as Liam and Shanks’ heads broke the surface almost simultaneously.
Liam, clad in his armor, quickly climbed onto the nearby ice.
“Phew…”
Liam lay on the ice and exhaled deeply. The helpless feeling of being a Devil Fruit user in the water was truly unbearable.
The dark armor peeled off his body and reassembled into ‘B.I.B.’ beside him.
Shanks climbed back onto the ice, squeezed water out of his soaked clothes, and asked curiously, “What happened? You’re a Devil Fruit user, but you managed to swim up on your own?”
He shook the water from his straw hat and put it back on his head.
Plop!
‘B.I.B.’ pressed against Liam’s chest, causing a gush of water to spurt from his mouth.
Liam wiped his mouth and sat up. “It’s a special feature of my ‘Ghost’ ability. When I wear it as armor, if my ‘Stamina’ is lower than its current state, I can move using its ‘Strength’ as the primary source…”
It’s like having a portable reserve of stamina.
This concept is simple because ‘B.I.B.’ has always been a stand in its own right, separate from Liam’s main body. B.I.B.’ copies Liam’s status at the moment of separation.
So even if Liam is exhausted from training, badly injured, or, as he just did, feeling helpless after falling into the sea with his Devil Fruit abilities, he can still use the stamina ‘B.I.B.’ carries by wearing it as armor.
Liam had previously instructed ‘B.I.B.’ that when the main body is a Devil Fruit user, it can never return to him; only when separated can it transfer the Devil Fruit ability to the main body. This ensures that if Liam falls into the water as a Devil Fruit user, the non-Devil Fruit user Stand ‘B.I.B.’ will always save him.
But in reality…
Liam thought that there were at least three ways that B.I.B. could save him after he fell into the water:
First, as demonstrated, B.I.B. could form a suit of armor for Liam, allowing him to use the power of the stand to swim back up.
Second, B.I.B. could directly pull the powerless main body back to the surface.
Third…
B.I.B. could extract the Devil Fruit chip from Liam’s body, thus nullifying his Devil Fruit abilities. This would naturally lift the “curse” of the sea, preventing him from becoming a helpless swimmer.
B.I.B.’ probably avoided the third method to prevent Red Hair Shanks from discovering that it could nullify Devil Fruit abilities, a precaution Liam considered unnecessary.
After all, someone like Red Hair Shanks, a straightforward, big-hearted, and charismatic figure, probably wouldn’t care if Liam revealed all of his secrets, including his journey across dimensions.
Shanks would probably just laugh it off.
“That’s really convenient!” Shanks said, surprised but not too shocked by Liam’s explanation. While it was rare for Devil Fruit users to overcome the weakness of the sea, it wasn’t unheard of. He had seen Navy Vice Admiral Kuzan (Aokiji) freeze water to move freely.
“But it’s unusual that your ability wasn’t nullified when you fell into the water,” Shanks pointed to the hole Liam had made in the ice. “The hole you made disappeared after you fell in… That’s strange and seems contradictory.”
Liam chuckled, “You could think of me as someone with the abilities of multiple Devil Fruits.”
“Is that even possible?” Shanks was shocked. “I thought eating two Devil Fruits would be fatal!”
Liam replied, “In such a vast world, there must be such people, right?”
And such a person will one day leave a lifelong scar on your face… It’s your destiny nemesis.
…
…
In this way, the adventures of the boy and Red Hair Shanks at sea continued…
Time passed and the sun set in the west.
Liam experimented with the newly acquired Pipe-Pipe Fruit as night slowly descended, reflecting countless stars on the ocean. Unlike the well-documented Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi), the Pipe-Pipe Fruit was something Liam had never heard of, so he was eager to explore its potential.
“This is like Doraemon’s teleportation ring… Maybe it’s a lower level version of the Door-Door Fruit?”
Feeling exhausted, Liam lay sprawled on the shattered plank. With black earphones in his ears and a virtual screen in front of him, he watched the replayed memories of ‘B.I.B.’ through its eyes.
“What are you grinning at?”
Feeling bored from drifting on the sea in the middle of the night, Shanks noticed Liam lounging with his legs crossed and couldn’t help but be curious.
“Watching a cartoon. Want to join?” Liam waved his hand, and ‘B.I.B.’s helmet disassembled and locked onto Shanks’ head.
Through ‘B.I.B.’s glowing eyes, Shanks saw what looked like a Den Den Mushi broadcast screen playing a cartoon…
On the screen, a blue, chubby figure took out a small hula-hoop-like ring and placed it on a wall, instantly creating a circular hole.
……
……
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