"I finally found you, Pops!"
A whale shark fish-man boarded the Moby Dick, slumping down with an exhausted look on his face.
It was Jinbei, the Knight of the Sea, who had searched the ocean for three days and nights before finding the Whitebeard Pirates.
Whitebeard glanced at him and grinned.
"What's the matter, Jinbei?"
Jinbei smiled. "Pops, you're about to go to war with the Marines. How could I not come to help?"
Hearing this, Whitebeard was stunned for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed.
"Gurararara, good lad!" His eyes were filled with softness.
Jinbei's strength was not to be underestimated; with another Warlord-level fighter on their side, their chances of victory would be even greater.
"Jinbei, have a drink!"
"Yes, Pops." The two sat facing each other and began to drink.
At that moment, from the laboratory specially cleared out on the Moby Dick, the sound of fierce arguing could be heard.
"Kid! I don't need you to teach me how to do my work!"
"Old hag! I absolutely will not allow you to do this!"
Whitebeard frowned, puzzled.
Why were Franky and Stussy arguing so intensely?
"What's going on?" Shiki asked, looking over with the rest of the crew.
This was highly unusual.
In their arrangement, Stussy was the lead scientist and Franky was the assistant.
Why had such a heated argument suddenly erupted?
"What happened?" Whitebeard asked as the two stormed out of the lab and onto the deck.
"Whitebeard..." Stussy shot Franky a cold look and began to explain.
"Our time is tight. In order to produce this second Devil Fruit faster and better, we must spare no expense! We are pirates! We should put away unnecessary kindness!"
Hearing this, Whitebeard frowned.
Franky sneered, "Is that a reason to use living people as sacrifices? Should innocent civilians be victims of your technology?"
Stussy snorted coldly. "For the sake of efficiency and to have a higher output than the Marines, what's wrong with that?"
Franky retorted, "Don't you think that's too cruel?! We can use artificial blood!"
"Artificial blood is too inefficient and the effect is mediocre! You know that!"
"That's still better than heartlessly slaughtering countless civilians! Does our research have to be built on murder?"
"You need to be clear about your position! You're a pirate, not a Marine! If you delay the output of the second Devil Fruit and drag down the entire crew, can you take responsibility for that?!"
The two argued endlessly.
Seeing that neither would back down, even Whitebeard didn't know how to choose.
On one hand was efficiency, but it violated his principles.
On the other hand was doing the right thing, but it might weaken their forces right before a major war.
He couldn't bear the thought of his sons getting hurt or killed.
For a moment, he was caught in a dilemma.
"What's the matter?" Shiki suddenly spoke up. "I have enough living beasts. Perhaps we can try with them?"
"Huh?"
Stussy and Franky both nodded.
That was an acceptable compromise.
Franky wouldn't mind sacrificing beasts instead of people, and Stussy figured that, for now, any blood source would do.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Shiki," Whitebeard grinned, relieved.
"It's a small matter!"
.....
A thousand of Shiki's beasts were sacrificed for the process.
Not long after, bursts of silver light flashed from within the lab's processors.
When the light faded, a strangely shaped, spiral Devil Fruit lay quietly in one of the containers.
"The second Devil Fruit! Hahahaha, we finally succeeded!" Stussy's face lit with wild excitement.
Franky was smiling too.
Their desperate research had finally borne fruit.
"Is this it?" Whitebeard and Shiki looked at the Devil Fruit with astonishment.
"A heaven-defying fruit that allows one to gain a second ability!"
Their own excitement was indescribable.
With such a divine tool, their strength would skyrocket.
"Hehe, it's done. Who's going to eat it?" Stussy asked, looking at the assembled pirates.
Everyone hesitated.
Although it had been successfully developed, it was the first one.
The risk was still great, and the idea that eating a second Devil Fruit causes you to explode was deeply ingrained in their minds.
"Pops! Let me do it!" Marco gritted his teeth, a flash of determination in his eyes.
"Someone has to be the first to try..."
He was about to step forward with a resolve to die, but before he could finish, a loud munching sound was heard, followed by a complaint.
"Ouch, it tastes so bad!"
"Huh?!" Everyone whipped their heads around to see Luffy, a straw hat on his head, with a bite taken out of the fruit.
"Luffy! How could you just eat it like that?!" everyone shouted, their expressions changing to panic.
"Huh? Doesn't someone need to try it?" Luffy tilted his head, looking confused.
"I'm a Devil Fruit user too!"
"You're a person who's about to die!" Nami shrieked, grabbing Luffy by the neck and shaking him frantically.
"Spit it out, Luffy!!"
"Ah ah~~" Luffy was shaken dizzy, and then, a scene that shocked everyone appeared.
His body began to fade until it completely disappeared.
"Lu-Luffy, you..." Nami fell to the ground, looking blankly at the empty space in front of her.
"Wh-what's going on?!"
"Huh? What's happening?" the now-invisible Luffy asked, looking down at his own hands before exclaiming.
"AHHHH!! How did I disappear?! I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"
However, someone was crying even louder than him.
"The Clear-Clear Fruit!! I missed it again! The fruit I've dreamed of my entire life!"
It was Sanji, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zoro and the others just rolled their eyes.
"Huh? So it's the Clear-Clear Fruit! Hahaha!" Luffy laughed, finally understanding.
"Gurararara..." Whitebeard threw his head back and roared with laughter.
"Looks like it worked."
"This ability is not bad," Shiki noted, sensing Luffy's aura despite not being able to see him.
"In the future, Luffy's attacks will be much harder to predict. This will greatly increase the chance that his enemies won't be able to dodge."
"Stussy," Whitebeard asked with a smile, "what's the production rate for this fruit?"
"As long as we have strong enough living subjects, we can produce two per day! This is definitely much faster than the Marine's conventional method!"
Hearing this, Whitebeard and Shiki's eyes lit up.
Two a day!
At that rate, all of their capable users could be equipped with a second ability.
How terrifying would that be?
It would greatly increase their chances of victory in the massive battle to come.
"But..." Stussy's expression soured.
"We don't have enough funds. With our current resources, we can only produce three more at most."
"Three?" Whitebeard frowned, but quickly nodded.
Three was better than none.
"Then please develop them as soon as possible."
"Purupurupuru-"
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi rang.
"Pops, it's a call from Big Mom!" Marco said.
Whitebeard picked up the receiver.
"Mamamama, Newgate, I finally manage to contacted you!" Big Mom's laughter came from the other end.
"Linlin, what is it?" Whitebeard asked coldly.
"The Marines has declared war on you. Do you still plan to go it alone? Join us, and we can deal with the Marines together. Of course, we'll be the leaders."
Hearing her arrogant tone, Whitebeard snorted.
"Linlin, thank you for the kind offer, but we don't need it."
"Newgate! Don't be a fool! The Marines is extremely powerful now. Even with Kaido and our advanced Seraphim, I can't guarantee a victory. How can you possibly deal with their Imperial Angel and dual Devil Fruit users? I'm telling you, you are bound to fail in this war! I'm giving you a chance. Join us!"
Whitebeard was about to hang up, but then an idea flashed in his mind.
"Linlin, speaking of dual-fruit users... do you want a second Devil Fruit?"
There was a stunned silence on the other end.
"Newgate... what do you mean?"
"That's right," Whitebeard continued. "We have a second Devil Fruit, just like the Marines. We've already developed it. The price is 20 billion Berries."
"How is this possible?! Even with our three crews cooperating, we can't produce such a thing! How could you possibly have it?!" Big Mom exclaimed in disbelief.
As far as she knew, there were no scientists among the Whitebeard Pirates.
"You don't need to worry about that, Linlin. If you want one, we can arrange a trade."
Hearing this, Big Mom frowned.
She turned to look at Kaido, who looked just as shocked before giving a silent nod.
"Okay," she said into the receiver. "Then the transaction will take place at..."
******
In a contested sea area in the Grand Line, two huge fleets gradually approached each other.
"Kaido. Linlin. You've come."
"Newgate! Shiki! So have you!"
The two sides looked at each other from across the water.
On one side were Whitebeard and Shiki; on the other, Kaido and Big Mom.
It was the first time these four former members of the Rocks Pirates had met like this since the crew's dissolution.
"Alright Newgate, stop wasting time," Big Mom urged impatiently.
"Bring out the second Devil Fruit!"
"No need to be so impatient, Linlin," Whitebeard smiled and opened a treasure chest.
Inside was a strange fruit with spiral patterns.
"Is this it?" Kaido and Big Mom stared at the fruit, a hint of disbelief still in their eyes.
"The second Devil Fruit that can give a person another ability?"
-----------------------------
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