Chapter 183: If Only I Could Swap For A Devil Fruit
“Whether it’s true or false, won’t you know if you go see it with your own eyes?”
“If you’re worried I’m deceiving you, there’s no need. If I wanted to use force, you wouldn’t have any way to resist, would you?”
“The reason I’m not using forceful methods is because I hope you, Doctor, will willingly dedicate yourself to the work.”
Elus’s explanation was very direct.
However, with the added title of ‘Black Prince,’ it was enough to be convincing, or rather, to make one dare not disbelieve. If the Black Prince were to resort to force, the entire combat power of Thriller Bark would likely be insufficient to change the predetermined outcome.
This point,
Moria understood most clearly.
The Black Prince could contend with the Beasts without falling behind. Moria, whose entire crew had been killed by the Beasts, honestly had no desire to go to war with Elus.
However,
Stealing his subordinates right in front of him,
was a bit unbearable.
Just as he was contemplating whether or not to make a fuss and show some backbone,
“Hey, Moria, interested in a cooperation?”
Elus’s timely olive branch immediately dispelled the dangerous thoughts in Moria’s mind.
“Cooperation?”
Moria was puzzled.
Cooperate on what?
Fighting together?
“Yes, cooperation. You are creating zombie armies in Thriller Bark with the aim of someday taking revenge on Kaido, right? Or is your dream to become the Pirate King?” Elus tapped the table with his finger. “No matter which you desire, or if you desire both… it’s up to you. In any case, it doesn’t conflict with my goals at all.”
“The lack of conflict means we can absolutely cooperate. For example, you could send Doctor Hogback to help me. In return, I can provide you with high-quality corpses… The New World is not short of corpses of strong people. It’s a win-win cooperation! So… what do you think?”
Elus extended an invitation for an alliance to Moria.
Frankly speaking, Moria’s strength was not great; among the Seven Warlords, he could be considered the absolute bottom. However, this did not mean Moria had no value. The Soul-Soul Fruit’s abilities, if used well, still held significant value. If he could cut off the shadows of strong individuals…
Navy Admirals would be difficult, but cutting off the shadows of a few Vice Admirals would be achievable. Not only could powerful zombies be created, but the Navy’s combat power could also be weakened and restricted.
“Black Prince…”
“No need to be so formal, just call me by my name.”
“Heeheehee!! Prince Elus, you’ve said so much… what do you want? Your objective… what is it?” Moria shook his neck, his heavy body causing the chair beneath him to creak.
He bared his teeth, revealing two rows of sharp fangs, his grin terrifying and ferocious, the kind that could scare children into wetting their beds at night from nightmares.
“Does that matter?”
Elus asked back.
Without waiting for Moria to answer, he himself shook his head, “That doesn’t matter at all. For something like cooperation… the most important thing is what you gain. As long as you don’t feel like you’re being taken advantage of… isn’t that enough?”
“Cooperation is just about taking what you need!”
That statement sounded reasonable, but Moria was not an inexperienced idiot child. His shut-in tendencies had only arisen after being severely beaten by Kaido. In the past, Moria was quite arrogant, charging from the West Sea all the way to the New World. Before encountering Kaido, he was virtually invincible…
His experience and intuition told him that the Black Prince harbored a great, unspeakable scheme.
It was a greed no less than his craving for the Pirate King.
“Heeheehee!!! Since you’re unwilling to say, then… alright! Such matters are indeed not important. As for cooperation, it can be done.”
Moria agreed.
He couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.
As the Black Prince said, as long as he gained enough benefits from the cooperation, it was normal for the Black Prince to have some schemes, wasn’t it? It would be strange if he didn’t! As long as it didn’t interfere with his cultivation of his zombie army and didn’t obstruct his ambition… everything was negotiable.
“…Does this count as an alliance?”
Perona asked softly.
“Don’t we need to sign any documents?”
“No need for such things. No matter how many meaningless documents are signed, they are all waste paper. Only tangible benefits can allow our cooperation to proceed smoothly.” Elus waved his hand, showing disdain for documents and contracts, viewing them as waste paper, too rough even to wipe his backside with.
“Heeheehee!!! That’s right, discussing trust is the most foolish behavior. Until I see enough excellent corpses, Doctor Hogback is better off staying here.” Before seeing tangible benefits, Moria had no intention of backing down.
“…Alright! This is not a big problem. I will arrange for corpses to be sent. Until then, I will stay here.”
Elus thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
When he arrived, he was already prepared to stay here for a period of time. Thriller Bark attracted him not only for Moria’s Pirate Crew but also for another target: the skeleton that had lost its shadow and was still drifting in the mist…
This skeleton, which had eaten the Underworld-Underworld Fruit and been resurrected, was, in Elus’s view, an important tool for him to deeply understand the concept of souls.
The Gothic lolita in front of him was also one.
Soul-Soul Fruit, Spirit-Spirit Fruit, Underworld-Underworld Fruit… there weren’t many Devil Fruits that involved the power of souls.
BIG·MOM was too difficult to deal with and was the first to be ruled out by Elus.
The remaining two options were wandering in the same area, so there was no way to miss such a good opportunity to directly touch soul power.
As the Fifth Overlord of the New World, he had contended with Big Mom and the Beasts without falling behind. To many, he might have seemed powerful enough, but even an Emperor like him was still confined to the New World. To oppose and even replace the World Government, such a colossal entity…
Elus needed more power.
Far more power than he had now.
However, at his current level, it was not easy to advance further. After careful consideration, he chose the research of souls as his subject.
“By the way, I need Moria’s assistance with something.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a moving skeleton drifting at sea in the Thriller Bark. I hope to find him.”
“That skeleton! I’ll have someone look for him.”
Moria readily agreed.
In his opinion, this was no big deal. He remembered the talking, moving skeleton who was skilled in swordsmanship. After all, he was the one who had personally cut off that skeleton’s shadow and placed it into the corpse of Ryoma, the Dragon-Cutting Swordsman, thus creating the strongest Zombie General.
Oh, right.
This strongest Zombie General was defeated by the Black Prince not long ago, and even the famous sword Shuusui was stolen.
With the Spider Rat Zombies gathering intelligence on Thriller Bark, Elus’s movements since boarding the ship were crystal clear to him.
He didn’t know why Elus was looking for that skeleton, but it didn’t concern him either. At worst, he could find another strong swordsman to collect shadows. To be honest, that skeleton’s shadow had never truly tapped into the full power contained within the corpse of Ryoma, the Dragon-Cutting Swordsman.
Of all the corpses he had collected,
Ryoma, the Dragon-Cutting Swordsman, and Oars were the two most outstanding.
It was a pity that neither of them could unleash their true power due to their weak shadows.
If… if he could obtain stronger shadows, perhaps he would truly have the capital to return to the New World. Moria’s thoughts raced as his gaze fell upon Elus. Perhaps the Black Prince could provide some assistance.
————
Elus temporarily settled on Thriller Bark.
As a colossal ship comparable to a small island, the available space on board was vast. Moria waved his hand, allocating a territory from the unused area to Elus, more than enough for a hundred people to reside comfortably, let alone Elus’s subordinates, who numbered less than fifty in total.
The group lived there as if they were on vacation.
The idle sailors even went to the graveyard to have fun with the zombies. With Absalom, a lecherous individual who dreamed of becoming the “King of the Graveyard,” watching over them, nothing untoward was likely to happen.
The moving skeleton, Brook, had already been captured by Absalom and Perona.
The Thriller Bark, though large, was not so big. The Moria Pirates had been entrenched here for years and knew this sea area like the back of their hands. Brook alone… a skeleton piloting a large ship, drifting through the fog; the Moria Pirates knew his exact location.
However, since Brook’s shadow had already been harvested, he was seen as having no other value by the Moria Pirates. Killing him would also cause his shadow to disappear, and imprisoning him was also troublesome due to Brook’s formidable combat abilities.
So, they simply let him be and paid him no mind.
When Elus, their new ally, made his request, the afro-headed skeleton was swiftly captured alive and brought before Elus.
And so,
time flew by, and the year 1519 of the Marineford Era was nearing its end.
The original plan was to stay on Thriller Bark for no more than a month, but now it was already the end of the year. Doctor Hogback had already left the Thriller Bark and was currently conducting research with Caesar, Miss Bakkin, and others.
The reason for the extended stay,
was that the research on souls proved to be far more complex than initially anticipated.
“Still not done?”
“Wait a little longer… Are you in a hurry?”
“……No, it just feels strange.”
In a study on the second floor of a castle on Thriller Bark,
Perona said indignantly.
Seeing her ghost clones being studied like dolls, and then feeling the strange sensation when her spiritual body returned… how could she pretend nothing had happened? Although, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a major issue.
It was just research,
and she wasn’t the only one being studied; there was also a lecherous afro-headed skeleton.
However, the girl’s pride made her constantly feel displeased. Even though Elus had agreed to many of her requests – cute toys, cute pets, cute clothes… well, those treasures were nice! But displeasure was displeasure; there was no reasoning with that.
“You’ll get used to it. Besides, you can’t go back on your word,” Elus said with a smile.
“Hmph!”
Perona’s face showed displeasure.
If not for the fact that this guy in front of her was outrageously strong,
getting him for free would have been a good option too!
As Elus spoke, he didn’t neglect his research. The semi-transparent ghost was tinged with a greenish-blue color by his spiritual pressure. The wondrous touch was so novel; even though he had been in contact with it daily, he always gained new insights…
He had fought Big Mom,
He came into contact with those anthropomorphic creations that housed souls, also known as ‘Homies’, but those things had their inner souls concealed by external forces. At that time, he had not reached his current state, but looking back now, he still gained some insight.
He compared the ghost clone created by Perona, which he was holding in his hand, noting the similarities and differences between the two.
He gained a new understanding of the power of Spiritual Pressure.
Initially, he thought Spiritual Pressure was a special power attached to a Devil Fruit mutated by the Hogyoku, but as he used this power repeatedly and delved deeper into understanding it, Elus gradually discovered… Spiritual Pressure was indeed inseparable from the mutated Devil Fruit.
However,
this so-called Bat-Bat Fruit · Mythical Zoan · Black-Winged Great Demon form was merely the external manifestation of the power, the opening, the gateway to bring out the power of Spiritual Pressure, the key to unlocking hidden power.
Spiritual Pressure indeed appeared because of the Devil Fruit.
But the Devil Fruit was not the foundation of Spiritual Pressure’s existence.
“Tsk! Black-Winged Great Demon form…” Elus released the ghost in his hand and quickly calculated and recorded in his notebook with a pen, integrating the messy and disordered insights in his mind through clear writing. “After going in circles, it turns out Devil Fruits don’t matter at all. The Hogyoku… the Hogyoku is my future…”
A long sigh echoed in the room.
Perona impatiently retrieved her ghost clone, looked at Elus with confusion for a moment, but she couldn’t be bothered with the mumbling guy, and quickly left with her plush bear.
On the other end of the sofa, the afro skeleton sat obediently, not daring to move.
After being researched for so long, Brook understood that he was different from Perona. Although they were both subjects of research here… it was clear that Perona’s status was higher than his. As a prisoner, he didn’t have much agency here.
It wasn’t until Elus waved his hand, signaling the end of the day’s research, that the afro skeleton cautiously left the room.
In the blink of an eye,
the study became much emptier.
Elus sat alone at the desk, deep in thought.
The so-called Black-Winged Great Demon form, frankly speaking, was nothing more than a choice made by his subconscious.
If he had eaten a branch of the Ox-Ox Fruit back then, he would have likely awakened the ‘Minotaur Hollow White Form’. It would be the same for Paramecia and Logia type Devil Fruits. The Hogyoku would naturally change it to the most suitable option according to Elus’s hidden desires…
The birth of the Black-Winged Great Demon form was not the Hogyoku’s arbitrary decision.
The Hogyoku,
possessed self-awareness.
But unlike conventional independent consciousness, the Hogyoku’s self-awareness attached itself to Elus’s consciousness, echoing Elus’s consciousness. The relationship between the two was like an echo; when Elus unintentionally emitted a ‘sound’, the Hogyoku would give an ‘echo’.
The Hogyoku’s self-awareness had no initiative whatsoever.
The Devil Fruit was merely a template for Elus, a reference, a catalyst to elicit power. The source of the power he now wielded was always his own soul.
When he ate a common Bat-Bat Fruit, his subconscious was dissatisfied with this constrained choice, wishing for greater power. Thus, the Hogyoku responded to Elus, selecting the ‘Black-Winged Great Demon Form’ from his mind, a form that did not exist in this world.
Furthermore,
the Hogyoku’s abilities were never conjured from nothing. It could fulfill Elus’s various conscious and unconscious wishes with near-unlimited potential, but there was always a necessary price to pay for fulfilling those wishes. Free lunches were impossible for the Hogyoku; “pay first, then ride” was its principle.
Only by paying the price could a wish be fulfilled.
This price,
was the soul.
It could be one’s own soul, or the souls of others… Consuming one’s own soul was naturally disadvantageous, so one could only collect the souls of other deceased individuals.
The Hogyoku continuously devoured souls, feeding back to strengthen Elus’s soul and help him achieve breakthroughs and evolution in his life level… This was not a conscious choice by Elus, but rather a reverse choice born from the deep-seated fear of death in his heart.
Because he feared death,
he chose to evolve.
Thus, the soul evolved, and Spiritual Pressure was born… To put it bluntly, Spiritual Pressure was merely a manifestation of his soul’s power. The Devil Fruit merely helped him guide this power, appearing in the form of the special power of a Mythical Zoan.
He could now skillfully use Spiritual Pressure.
This Devil Fruit held little significance for him anymore. His combat power was basically entirely based on the application of Spiritual Pressure. The powerful physical characteristics of a Zoan Devil Fruit were of little use to him; he now had little interest in close-quarters combat.
It would be great if I could switch to a Paramecia-type fruit… A sudden thought surfaced in his mind.
A spark of inspiration was ignited at this moment!
Switching Devil Fruits… might not be impossible.
If Blackbeard could master the power of two Devil Fruits, why couldn’t he switch his Devil Fruit?
“Hogyoku…”
Elus pulled open his collar and looked down at the jewel on his chest, which was flashing with blue-black light. “Help me remove my Devil Fruit!” he earnestly wished, praying with all his heart to regurgitate the Devil Fruit he had once eaten.
The Hogyoku’s light flashed slightly.
He didn’t regurgitate it.
However… in the blink of an eye, he heard a light “bang” sound, like something falling to the ground.
He looked down,
and a green, banana-shaped Devil Fruit lay at his feet.
Even though a considerable amount of time had passed, given the horrific taste of Devil Fruits, he still remembered the appearance of the Devil Fruit he had eaten: its deep green color, its light yellow stem, its ‘Tangsang pattern’ spiral markings, and its banana-like shape…
No mistake,
the Devil Fruit at his feet was the one he had eaten in his memory. He picked it up and examined it carefully, confirming it was exactly as he remembered.
Bat-Bat Fruit [Common Type · Great Flying Fox Form].
His wish,
had been realized.
“Moonlight Sword.”
Elus gripped the air with his right hand, spiritual pressure gushing out like a fountain, and a pale blue lightsaber firmly in his grasp. He swung it in the air, its sharp blade slicing through the room with piercing shrieks… He stopped himself just in time before he could cut the castle to pieces,
moving his feet, he stepped on Sound Step and transferred to the spacious, empty courtyard through the open window. He began to experiment with other techniques: Cero, Bala, Steel Skin, Neuro-Scan, Sound Step…
The already dilapidated courtyard was completely reduced to ruin.
Of course, the sacrifice of the courtyard was not in vain; it helped Elus verify his own abilities.
All powers centered around spiritual pressure were now mastered flawlessly.
The only things lost were the transformation abilities of ‘Beast Form’ and ‘Human-Beast Form’. His wings had naturally disappeared. Having grown accustomed to flying with wings, he felt a slight discomfort, but thankfully, it wasn’t a major issue. Lacking wings didn’t mean he could only fight on the ground.
The technique of using spiritual pressure to create footholds in the air was something he had learned long ago, but he hadn’t used it much because it wasn’t necessary. After all, the Sound Step, a high-speed movement technique, was even more difficult.
“Devil Fruit… what exactly is it?”
Elus returned to his study.
Sitting at his desk, he stared at the banana-shaped Devil Fruit on the table and fell into deep thought.
Recalling the wings that felt like an extension of his own arms, and how he could transform into bat form without any awkwardness… it was as if he had gained the very consciousness of a bat the moment he ate the Devil Fruit, with no interference from human habits hindering its use.
Even now, having lost the Devil Fruit, the memories and experience were still firmly etched in his mind.
He had a feeling,
that if he truly had wings, he could fly freely without any practice.
All that was lacking was the human body’s inability to transform into a beast’s form… This was a limitation of the body. But if he were to replace a Zoan Devil Fruit with a Paramecia, could he still use the corresponding abilities after losing the Devil Fruit?
Elus’s heart pounded.
If he could achieve what he envisioned, his future plans might need another significant revision…
“A true bat?”
His finger traced the arabesque pattern on the Devil Fruit.
As he continued to ponder, several hypotheses about Devil Fruits emerged in Elus’s mind… but which guess was closer to the truth, or if all his guesses were entirely wrong, he needed to conduct experiments to prove them.
To conduct experiments, experimental materials were indispensable.
“Ruru ruru!”
The Den Den Mushi awoke from its slumber.
“Your Highness!”
Dillon’s steady voice came from the other end.
“Dillon, help me collect Paramecia Devil Fruits. No matter what kind, get me as many Paramecia ones as possible. Also… if you find any living Paramecia Ability Users, as long as they aren’t from the Navy, the Revolutionary Army, or the Four Emperors, capture them. Remember, I want them alive, and send them to the Devil Triangle Sea Area.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
Dillon responded in a deep voice.
Then, he cautiously asked, “Your Highness, aren’t you returning to the New World?”
“…What? Has something happened in the New World? Is someone causing trouble in my absence?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just that His Majesty the King often mentions it, and… the experimental progress at the Research Institute…”
“That’s good. Have Kappas keep a close eye on the Research Institute and don’t slack off. I still have research to busy myself with. Remember, send me what I need as soon as possible. Don’t wait to accumulate ten or eight; send them one by one as you get them.”
“Oh, right, I almost forgot. Dillon, bring me the guy locked up in the dungeon. Since he still refuses to surrender even now, I might as well put him to waste. He can’t have eaten prison food for all these years for nothing.”
“The dungeon… Your Highness, are you referring to the King of Maritime Transport’s loyal confidant?” Dillon racked his brain on the other end before remembering the unfortunate soul still imprisoned in the deepest part of the dungeon.
“Him.”
“I understand.”
After reiterating his instructions,
Elus ended the call.
The Research Institute was very important to his future ambitions, but compared to research that would make him even stronger… it naturally took a backseat. In a world where one person could sweep through a nation, individual martial power was the decisive factor.
If Elus could crush Navy Admirals and sweep through the Four Emperors,
he would have long since overthrown the World Government’s rule and stormed the Holy Land to see what trump cards the Celestial Dragons held. For them to dare treat the Navy like dogs, and for the upright Navy Admirals to tolerate those idiots lording over them.
One must be strong oneself to forge steel.
Whether he could overthrow the World Government would depend on whether Elus’s fists were hard enough.
