Enel was stunned upon hearing that he had to give more blood.
"Ah? That's... not a good idea, is it?" he stammered, quickly taking a few steps back.
The memory of being drained like a juice box was still painfully fresh in his mind.
"Hmm? You're right, it isn't good," a crew member said with a frown, before his face suddenly brightened with a predatory grin.
"Then how about we just spar instead?" He rolled up his sleeves, a shimmering coat of Armament Haki instantly encasing his fists.
"A little bloodshed during a friendly spar is perfectly normal, right?"
"...N-no... that won't be necessary," Enel shook his head frantically, but he knew it was useless.
Since he couldn't escape, he might as well face it.
Fine, he resolved with a pained sigh, one drop.
Just one tiny drop.
Meanwhile, another group had surrounded the newly empowered Jozu.
"Jozu, we want to replicate your ability! We want to be Diamond Men!"
"Huh?" Jozu was taken aback, but then a delighted, proud smile spread across his face.
"Someone actually wants to copy my ability?"
"That's right, Commander! Tremor, plus Diamond, plus Glint—now that's art!" another chimed in.
"Art is... an explosion!" a third declared with philosophical certainty.
******
Once everyone was aboard, the massive coated boat plunged headfirst into the sea, beginning its long, silent descent to Fish-Man Island.
The journey into the 10,000-meter abyss was a descent into another world of crushing pressure and absolute darkness.
Outside the shimmering bubble, the only light came from the eerie, silent ballet of deepsea creatures and the faint, truly colossal silhouettes of distant shadows that reminded them this was a world full of unknown, ancient dangers.
Occasionally, one of these behemoths, a giant Sea King, would try to swallow the ship whole.
But each time, a single, brilliant beam of golden light would silently lance out from the ship's bubble, piercing the creature's tiny brain and sending its massive corpse sinking silently into the crushing depths.
"Hahaha, Jozu's control is getting more and more precise!"
"A diamond-lensed, eight-fold scope, plus a diamond-focused laser cannon? How could he miss? I'm so envious!"
Amid the chatter, a new, terrifyingly ambitious idea was born: a Devil Fruit blood bank.
A dark, pirate-led organization that would send shivers across the seas, where they could mix and match powers at will.
.....
Back inside the ship's main cabin, the atmosphere was euphoric.
"Pops' ability is just too overpowered! I've actually become a Tremor-man!" a burly pirate roared, a shimmering quake-bubble forming around his fist before he gleefully shattered it against his own palm.
"I think the Azure Dragon suits me best," a nimble young man said, admiring the two small, draconic horns that had just sprouted from his head.
"Tough, strong, and most importantly, I can fly!"
Amid the jubilant scene, Whitebeard sat quietly in a corner, guzzling his drink and watching his "sons" revel in their newfound strength, his heart swelling with a deep, quiet gratitude for the young scientist who had given his family a new future.
....
Inside his makeshift laboratory, Ron focused on his work.
He performed the final, delicate step on the one-hundredth fruit and a profound sense of completion washed over him.
As the last person outside successfully consumed the Devil Fruit, a familiar, shimmering blue interface, visible only to him, materialized in his eyes.
The mission progress bar ticked over.
[100/100] [Congratulations, Host! Mission Complete!]
Ron let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
It's done. It's finally done.
Then, two new lines of text appeared, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
[Reward 1: Unlocked Haki Replacement Technique!]
[Haki Replacement Technique: Can replace one of the specified Three-Color Haki! Reusable!]
[Consumables: 1. Ten billion Belly 2. Target's blood]
His mind reeled.
Replace Haki? Not just a fruit, but the very essence of a person's will?
The implications were staggering.
Before he could even fully process it, another reward materialized.
[Reward 2: Devil Fruit Item Fusion Technique!]
[This technique allows Devil Fruits to be fused with items, granting the target item the abilities of the Devil Fruit!]
This time, Ron's jaw literally dropped.
Fusing fruits with objects... that was a power on the level of the World Government's greatest secrets.
The two rewards together... it was a paradigm shift.
He couldn't suppress a wide, manic grin.
"Double rewards!!!" he whispered to the quiet lab, his voice filled with awe.
Ron sprang up from his chair, a current of pure excitement coursing through him as he fixed his gaze on the reward information displayed on the shimmering screen before him.
The first technique, "Haki Replacement," sounded revolutionary.
As the information integrated into his mind, he discovered that to use it, the target must already possess at least one type of Haki.
For the steep price of ten billion Belly, he could then upgrade that Haki to its absolute peak.
His mind immediately ran through the possibilities.
Ace's Armament Haki, pushed to the highest level... Jozu's Armament Haki could become as impenetrable as his diamond body...
The potential for this was immense.
Still, a flicker of personal disappointment crossed his mind.
"I thought the system might finally grant me Conqueror's Haki," he mused.
But any disappointment was instantly incinerated by the second reward: Devil Fruit Item Fusion.
The technique was simply outrageous.
His imagination caught fire.
What if he fused a pair of boots with the Glint-Glint Fruit?
He could unleash dazzling kicks of pure light with every step.
And a coat fused with the Azure Dragon fruit?
He could summon fiery clouds at will and take to the sky.
Or even more thrilling, the Door-Door Fruit!
He could create a network of doors across the seas, a private transit system that would make them truly untouchable.
The one downside was the hefty price of thirty billion Belly per fusion, but the success rate was an astonishing one hundred percent.
"Ah, finally," he let out a long sigh.
"After all that shit, I can take a good rest."
Just as he was about to relax, the familiar, shimmering blue interface materialized in his eyes once more.
"New tasks again?" Ron frowned, scrutinizing the content.
[Task 1: Complete Haki Replacement 10 times to unlock new techniques!]
[Task 2: Complete Devil Fruit Item Fusion 100 times; every successful fusion of 10 will yield a phase reward!]
He did a quick, mental calculation.
The first task would cost a staggering one hundred billion Belly.
The second... a mind-boggling three trillion.
"I need a plan," he murmured to himself, his fingers lightly tapping his chin.
"A very, very good plan."
*****
Meanwhile, the Navy Headquarters at Marineford was shrouded in an atmosphere of organized chaos.
Throughout the base, from the spacious corridors to the busy command rooms, the sight of Marine soldiers urgently gathering was everywhere.
The piercing shriek of the alarm echoed repeatedly, a grim counterpoint to the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore.
Every face was etched with seriousness and a quiet determination, for the news had spread like wildfire: Whitebeard had appeared.
Right at the Sabaody Archipelago.
In the barracks, a group of young marines were hastily putting on their uniform, their faces pale under the harsh fluorescent lights.
"I can't believe it," one of them whispered, his voice trembling as he struggled with a buckle.
"They're really sending us to intercept Whitebeard... at Sabaody."
"Sigh, sending us out is basically a death sentence," another said with a grim finality.
"Who told us to be cannon fodder?"
"Hey!" the first marine shot back, a flash of desperate anger in his eyes.
"Should cannon fodder just lie down and die?!"
An older, more experience soldier sitting nearby just sighed, not even bothering to look up as he cleaned his rifle.
"Shh! Keep it down. What's the point of shouting? We have our orders."
-----------------------------
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