"It's a pleasure working with you," Stussy said, a ferocious smile spreading across her face.
"Hmph. You'd better start researching the Seraphim soon and work to produce them as quickly as possible," Whitebeard grumbled, giving her no friendly looks despite their new alliance.
"Seraphim? No, no, no," Stussy said, shaking her head. "I have no intention of producing Seraphim."
"What?" Whitebeard frowned.
Beside him, the Straw Hat crew and the Whitebeard commanders all wore confused expressions.
Not developing Seraphim?
"Then what do you plan to do?"
Stussy smiled without saying a word.
She turned and walked toward Luffy. "Straw Hat, don't move."
Luffy stood dumbfounded as Stussy carefully wiped some dried blood off his arm.
"Actually, I was nearby when you were fighting."
"So, you saw our whole battle," Luffy realized.
"That Pigeon guy has become a dual-ability user!"
Stussy nodded with a smile. "Exactly. And this blood is indeed his; I saw it very clearly when his blood splattered onto your arm. Using this lineage factor, I will reverse-engineer and recreate the second Devil Fruit developed by the marine's scientist, Dr. Leon!"
Hearing this, Whitebeard was startled.
Even Marco, Luffy, and the others showed shocked expressions.
"What?! You can recreate the second Devil Fruit?" Whitebeard's face filled with excitement.
For a long moment, he couldn't calm his racing heart.
It was well known that the power boost from a Devil Fruit was enormous.
If he could eat two, his strength would reach another level entirely, perhaps even rivaling his former captain, Rocks.
If his commanders could consume them, their strength would increase significantly—it was even possible a few could reach the power of an Admiral.
Beside them, the Golden Lion's face was also alight with excitement.
A second Devil Fruit!
If they could use this to cultivate a group of dual-ability users, their power would be immense, far greater than that of some imitation Seraphim.
"Alright! Then I'll leave this in your hands," Whitebeard nodded to Stussy.
"Shall I help?" Franky asked with a grin.
"Of course!"
******
On the Holy Land, Mariejois.
The injured Rob Lucci and his companions had arrived to report to the Five Elders, who looked down on them with extremely gloomy expressions.
"Five Elders, we... failed to complete the mission! Please forgive us!"
"Lucci," one of the elders said, his voice dangerously low. "If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, you know what will happen."
Lucci and the others trembled. "Elders, it happened like this: just as we were about to finish off the Straw Hat crew, Whitebeard's Moby Dick flew down from the sky. Whitebeard himself was there, and beside him was Shiki the Golden Lion. They had their commanders and their own Seraphim..."
Hearing this, the Elders were shocked.
"Why would the Whitebeard Pirates be with the Straw Hats? And how did Shiki end up with Whitebeard?"
They didn't doubt Lucci's words; they would send agents to confirm the details later, and they knew Lucci wouldn't dare lie to them.
"Hmm... in that case, you are exempt from punishment for this mission's failure."
Lucci and the others let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Yes, thank you, Elders!"
"It seems even the Emperors are starting to form alliances," an elder mused.
"We need to accelerate our plans to eliminate them."
Killing intent flashed in their eyes.
Suddenly, their Den Den Mushi rang.
It was a call from Sengoku.
"What? The fifth second-generation Devil Fruit from Leon is about to be completed?"
Hearing this news, the faces of the Five Elders lit up with joy.
"Hahahahaha! We'll be right over!"
They had told Sengoku they wanted to witness the birth of the next dual-ability user personally.
Opening a door, they headed straight for Leon's laboratory, with Lucci and his team following behind.
*****
At Marineford, in Leon's laboratory.
"Leon, the fifth one is already finished? Your efficiency is incredible!" Sengoku's face broke into a smile.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before the Marines had a large group of dual-ability users.
Leon nodded with a cunning look on his small face.
"Is the research funding application going well? We'll need more soon!"
"Hahaha, I'll work on it!" Sengoku laughed.
Garp and the three Admirals smiled beside them.
The next moment, a pink door opened and the Five Elders walked out.
"Elders!" Sengoku and the others greeted them.
"So, Dr. Leon has successfully developed another Devil Fruit?" one of the elders asked, looking kindly at the young genius.
"Yes! It's right here."
"Good, good, good!" The elders beamed with joy.
"Greetings, Dr. Leon," Lucci and the others who followed behind bowed respectfully.
It was because of Leon's second Devil Fruit that Lucci had been powerful enough to overwhelm Straw Hat and almost achieve his revenge.
All of these recent changes were thanks to Leon.
"Alright, since everyone is here, I'll start the activation," Leon smiled, turning to press a button.
With a flash of golden light, a silver-white box slowly opened, revealing a peculiarly shaped Devil Fruit.
At that exact moment, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Leon's mind.
[Ding! The task of creating five second Devil Fruits is complete!]
[Officially unlocking new technology...]
Leon was immediately overjoyed.
He quickly searched his mind.
[Acquired new technology - Third Devil Fruit!]
[Acquired new technology - Waterproof Spray!]
"A Third Devil Fruit?" Leon was stunned.
He quickly looked at the description.
[Third Devil Fruit: Developed specifically for dual-fruit ability users, allowing them to obtain a third Devil Fruit ability!]
A third ability slot? Leon's face showed his surprise.
This was too overpowered!
The power of two Devil Fruits was already terrifying.
Three abilities complementing each other could make a person unstoppable, perhaps even more formidable than Rocks.
"Hehe, not bad. Let's look at the cost... hss!" Leon inhaled sharply.
The production cost of a Third Devil Fruit was a staggering 100 billion Berries and the required materials were extremely rare and needed in massive quantities.
It seems this isn't something that can be easily mass-produced.
Shaking his head, Leon looked at the second technology.
"Waterproof Spray? Interesting name..."
[Waterproof Spray: After spraying, forms an invisible insulating film on the user's body, allowing the user to breathe and move freely in seawater for 1 hour!]
"Oh?" Leon's expression froze, then broke into a wide smile.
This is not bad at all! For a Devil Fruit user, this is a divine artifact! With a sufficient supply, they could completely ignore the disadvantages of seawater and even fight on the sea surface, greatly enhancing their combat capabilities!
He then saw that the development cost was extremely cheap—only 10 million Berries per bottle.
"Leon? Why are you smiling so happily?" Sengoku asked.
"Hehe, we'll talk about that later," Leon smiled, looking at the second Devil Fruit.
"Who do you plan to give this one to?" the Five Elders asked.
"Leon, you should make the arrangements," Sengoku said, then looked at Kizaru.
"Borsalino, I suppose it's your turn."
Kizaru sighed internally.
He was the only one of the three original Admirals without a second fruit, so he had no choice but to accept his fate.
Leon handed him the Devil Fruit.
Kizaru slowly took a bite.
"Oh?" he frowned.
The next moment, endless arcs of electricity surged from his body.
Crackle!
Thunder boomed from within him.
"It's the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!" Leon exclaimed, his face filled with wild joy.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, once considered by many to be one of the most powerful Logia fruits ever!
"Hahahahaha! It's actually the Rumble-Rumble Fruit! Not bad, not bad at all!" Sengoku's face also broke into a smile.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit combined with the Glint-Glint Fruit would surely result in a massive surge in power.
"Congratulations, Borsalino," Akainu and Aokiji said with a smile.
"Hmm, i think this will make me too strong," Kizaru said, shaking his head with mock regret.
"If I were a bit weaker, I wouldn't have to do so much work."
After they shared a laugh, Leon looked toward the Five Elders.
"I need to apply for more funding. This time, over 200 billion Berries. I just had a flash of inspiration for a new technology."
Hearing this, the Five Elders were overjoyed.
"Alright! No problem! We'll transfer the money as soon as we get back."
They didn't even ask what the new invention was.
Facts had proven that every Berri invested in Leon was money well spent.
"By the way," Leon said, "I wanted to ask about the Rocks matter you mentioned last time."
This was related to his development of an Overlord-class Seraphim, and Leon had kept it in mind.
As soon as he said this, the Five Elders fell silent, their faces showing hesitation.
After exchanging glances, they nodded to each other.
Nusjuro sighed deeply.
"Leon, wait here."
He disappeared through a door and returned shortly after.
He slowly took out a cloth bag and opened it.
Inside of it was a broken piece of gray bone.
-----------------------------
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