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Since arriving in this world, Arthur had never experienced such a headache. This paradoxical dilemma was practically killing off his brain cells!
There were many Devil Fruits in the world capable of affecting the soul, but the Op-Op Fruit was the only one that could guarantee the success of any surgery performed on a soul. It could operate on anyone and anything!
However, he had already eaten the fruit! This meant that while the Op-Op Fruit could perform surgery on everything else, it could not perform surgery on itself!
If he couldn't operate on himself (specifically, on the Op-Op Fruit within him), it meant the combative factor within that fruit's devil soul could never be excised. Once it encountered another fruit, they would inevitably fight.
This implied that Arthur's ambition to gather all the world's Devil Fruit abilities into one body was impossible. It was a complete contradiction!
"I already have two abilities. The Op-Op Fruit can operate on the devil soul of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but it cannot alter its own soul..." Arthur grabbed his hair. The more he thought, the paler his face became, bordering on madness.
He had clearly succeeded with the test subjects, yet it seemed he was destined to only pave the way for others, forever unable to collect all the abilities for himself.
"Should I have Vegapunk create a body for me using Lineage Factors, have that body consume all the Devil Fruits, and then transplant my soul into it?"
"But even then, the problem with the Op-Op Fruit remains unsolved... Wait!"
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Arthur. He realized there was a solution that didn't require solving the problem of the Op-Op Fruit itself. His mind cleared instantly, as if blessed by a refreshing rain.
He had fallen into a mental trap!
Devils will inevitably fight when they meet—that is absolute.
But that only applies to ordinary people... Arthur was an "Atypical Body." He perfectly accommodated two Devil Fruit abilities.
The Op-Op Fruit could perform surgery on other Devil Fruits to remove their combative factors. True, it couldn't operate on itself to remove its own aggression. But why did he need to operate on "himself"?
He could just remove the combative factor from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
An Atypical Body can perfectly house two Devil Fruits and allow the two abilities to coexist without conflict!
Why don't they fight? Because the devils of the two fruits effectively cannot "meet" inside his body. naturally, there is no conflict!
An Atypical Body is like a house with two rooms. The two Devil Fruits each stay in their own room. If they never meet for all eternity, how can they fight?
Thinking of this, Arthur's eyes suddenly burst with light, glowing with vitality...
He only needed to perform surgery on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. By excising its combative factor, he could then place other surgically altered Devil Fruits into the "room" occupied by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, keeping them away from the Op-Op Fruit.
As long as he left the Op-Op Fruit's "room" alone and ensured they never met, the issue of conflict would never arise!
It would be like the Op-Op Fruit—whose devil soul was untreated and aggressive—occupying one room alone, while the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and all other treated, non-aggressive fruits crowded into the other room.
Never seeing each other for eternity, never fighting. His hypothesis would naturally succeed!
"Ahahahaha!" Understanding the key to the puzzle, Arthur laughed aloud and threw himself back into the experiment.
However, the devil soul of every Devil Fruit was slightly different, which led to the bizarre variety of abilities.
This meant the surgical method for each devil soul would also differ. To excise the combative factor of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he could only experiment on himself.
If the surgery failed, he would die without a doubt. But inside the "ROOM," there was no such thing as a failed surgery—provided he didn't deactivate the ability.
Arthur thought for a moment and decided to rest and gather his strength, starting tomorrow.
Maintaining the ROOM was extremely draining on both stamina and mental energy—more exhausting than battle. If he used it continuously, he might not even last ten days.
Arthur walked out of the bottom-level brig, ate and drank his fill on the deck, watched the scenery for a while to relax, and then narrowed his eyes to rest and recharge.
The next day, he had someone clean up the blood and bone fragments in the cell, removed all the prisoners, and locked the doors and windows...
This would be a continuous series of surgeries. He had to finish before his stamina ran out.
having found the right approach, combined with his experience from handling Devil Fruit souls in previous attempts, gave him great confidence.
His heart surged with emotion. He was on the verge of completing his most important vision...
"ROOM."
The spherical operation room enveloped his body. Then, Arthur began to take the knife to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit he had consumed over a decade ago.
When a fruit is eaten, the ability acts upon the soul, faintly merging with one's own soul before reflecting onto the body.
This is the fundamental reason why one can use the ability after eating the fruit.
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The surgery began!
A heart-rending pain radiated from his soul. Arthur felt as if his very spirit were being torn apart.
Although the surgery was on the soul, the pain reflected onto his physical body.
Cold sweat poured down his face, but he forcibly endured it. He picked up the More-More Fruit—which had already been treated to not fight—and ate it...
"Not good!"
The moment the adverse reaction hit, Arthur knew this attempt had failed.
The devil soul of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was like a ferocious tiger, attempting to tear the intruder—the More-More Fruit's soul—to shreds. However, in the split second the conflict began, Arthur used his scalpel to extract the More-More ability and transfer it to a nearby apple.
"Again!"
The surgery restarted!
Once, twice, three times...
In the dimly lit cell at the bottom of the Rockwell Pirates' ship, Arthur's shirt was completely soaked in sweat. His face was as white as a sheet from the excruciating pain, devoid of any trace of blood.
But the experiment would not stop here.
Performing surgery within the ROOM meant that failure wouldn't result in death; he could keep going until he succeeded. But if he deactivated the ROOM while the surgery was still a failure, the consequence would be... Arthur's immediate death!
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Grand Line, First Half, Seventh Route.
Because they were close to the Calm Belt on the right, and the triangular current connecting Impel Down, Enies Lobby, and Marineford lay directly ahead, they had to shift to the left route upon reaching the central islands.
Arthur had ordered that absolutely no noise disturb him, so the Rockwell Pirates had to proceed with extreme caution.
The navigator and lookouts used every ounce of their ability to observe the weather and the sea, doing their utmost to avoid any trouble!
"Captain, Lord Arthur hasn't come out for almost eight days..." a crew member said casually, glancing toward the cabin.
Recalling the hellish task of cleaning the blood from that cell eight days ago, his stomach churned slightly, and he swallowed involuntarily.
"Shut up. Lord Arthur's business is not for us to speculate on!" Rockwell glanced at the crew member, continuing to stand by the railing and train his Steel-Steel Fruit ability.
Hearing that the captains of the Thunder God Pirates were all monsters on the level of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, he naturally couldn't slack off.
While developing his fruit ability, Rockwell continued to face the sea.
"Hmm? That is..."
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