"Well, it looks like the game is over."
Once it was confirmed that the Dark-Dark Fruit had been eaten, the people on the field basically lost all interest in continuing to fight.
"A new era has arrived. Your competitor is quite something. You'll have to work even harder, Luffy..."
In the corner, Red Hair, who had been slacking off and watching the battle, took one last look at Allen, smiled faintly, and turned to stride away.
On the roof of a hotel above, Kid stared intently at Allen, who had just obtained the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, a flash of hesitation in his eyes.
"What do you say, Kid? Are we making a move?"
"That guy has gotten even stronger. If this keeps up, he'll only become harder to deal with in the future."
"Though he's already hard to deal with right now."
Behind him, Heat and Wire cast inquiring glances, their eyes restless and eager for action.
Kid did not respond, silently watching the scene below.
...
After a long while, he finally released his clenched fists.
"Forget it. Now is not the time. Let's go," Kid said in a flat tone, turning around and waving for his subordinates to leave.
Haki.
If he wanted to defeat Allen, Haki was the only key. He needed to train and become even stronger!
...
"It looks like the Demon Lion crew is about to clash with World's men."
"Are we just going to leave like this, Grandpa?"
"Hmph, just let them fight. What else do you want to do?"
Chinjao, having just returned to their base, glared grumpily at Sai and Boo.
"Let's go. We're heading back to the Kano Country first."
Soon, many pirates on the island began preparing to leave. With the Dark-Dark Fruit already eaten, some had lost interest in whatever was to come.
Others simply did not want to be caught in the crossfire between Allen and World's crews.
Of course, there were also plenty of pirates who loved a good spectacle and chose to stay, eager to see exactly what the Dark-Dark Fruit Allen had just consumed could do.
The competition might be over, but the battle certainly was not.
Sanji leaped onto a rooftop, his gaze sweeping over the area below. By now, everyone else had left the arena, leaving only Allen fighting World.
On the opposite side, the other members of the World Pirates could no longer hold back and were rushing onto the field.
Sanji quickly began issuing orders. "Gin! I'll leave that giant Fish-Man to you. Take the Second Division and intercept their crew."
"Leave it to me!" Gin shouted, grabbing his tonfas and swiftly charging out.
Sanji continued to command, shouting, "Nami-san and Robin-chan! You two handle that old man with the hammer and that alluring, sexy, incredibly well-proportioned, and gorgeous female doctor with glasses!"
"You don't need to describe her in such detail, you idiot!"
"We got it."
Nami and Robin replied. They descended, with Nami summoning Little Qing and Robin using her Flower-Flower Fruit powers to form wings and fly down.
Perona blinked and asked, "What about us, Sanji?"
Sanji glanced back at Perona and the Nyaban Brothers before looking around the arena again.
Aside from World's crew, there were several other pirate crews itching to make a move.
"They aren't the only ones after our heads. Buchi, Sham, and Perona-san, come with me to intercept the other pirate crews!"
"Hehehe, roger that."
"Time to get to work, Buchi."
The Nyaban Brothers curled their lips into sinister grins, transforming into their beast-man forms and pouncing forward.
"Horo horo horo! Go play to your hearts' content!" Perona smiled with a look of sheer delight, waving her hand to release dozens of ghosts that flew out in all directions.
Once everyone had moved out, Sanji did not follow them into the fray. Instead, he quickly dashed toward the location of the Donquixote Family.
The other pirate crews were one thing, but aside from World's group, there was another faction on the field that he had to be wary of.
That was the Charlotte Family members led by Katakuri.
He hadn't forgotten their previous conflict with the Big Mom Pirates. If the enemy took this opportunity to strike, they would have to face two powerful forces simultaneously. They couldn't do it without backup.
He just didn't know if Allen and Doffy's alliance was reliable. If Doffy didn't lend a hand, they would likely be in deep trouble today.
...
Meanwhile, the battle in the arena below was growing increasingly fierce.
Taking advantage of Allen closing the distance, World reached behind his cape, pulled out a shotgun, and pulled the trigger!
"More-More: Hundredfold Buckshot!!"
Bang!!
The gunshot was deafening. As a flash of fire erupted from the muzzle, over a dozen lead pellets blasted out, instantly magnifying to the size of fists the moment they left the barrel!
Allen's pupils shrank in shock. He hastily raised his arms, coating them in Armament Haki to block.
Enhanced by a hundredfold speed, the fist-sized pellets reached dozens of times the speed of sound. They smashed into Allen's arms, causing a massive spray of blood to erupt!
Boom!!
The terrifying impact sent Allen flying on the spot, his body crashing heavily onto another stone slab in the arena.
"Idiot. I was only careless earlier because I was trying to snatch the fruit. You didn't actually think this was all I was capable of, did you?" World mocked with a disdainful expression. He pumped the action to reload, stowed the shotgun behind his back, and drew a large-caliber revolver in its place.
"Don't think that just because you have the Dark-Dark Fruit, you can counter all ability users. As long as you don't touch me, you can't seal my powers."
"In the face of the More-More Fruit's power, even the most ordinary handgun can unleash enough force to destroy a warship. I won't give you the chance to get close to me," World sneered smugly, raising his hand and aiming the barrel at Allen.
"That really hurt. Your ability is indeed trickier than I imagined. But don't rush, this is just an experiment."
Allen sprang up from the ground, doing a backflip before landing on his feet. He looked at World with a playful gaze.
As he spoke, thick black fog surged from his back, flowing down his body toward his two limply hanging arms.
The black fog covered his wounds, and after a brief moment, it slowly dissipated, revealing Allen's perfectly healed arms.
Previously, relying on Life Return combined with his salamander regeneration abilities, he could only heal his injuries slowly.
But now, with the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to absorb damage, the combination of the two allowed him to restore his nearly crippled arms to their original state in the blink of an eye.
Allen looked at his arms with satisfaction, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "Next experiment: absorbing matter."
"Black Hole!!"
Allen shouted loudly, slamming his palm onto the ground. Darkness billowed and surged from his palm, spreading outward at an incredible speed like a black tide!
'He's actually using me as a test subject for his abilities? This guy is a real bastard...'
Realizing this, World gnashed his teeth and glared furiously, completely taking Allen's actions as a sign of utter contempt.
In the blink of an eye, a massive amount of rubble in the arena began sinking into the darkness.
World quickly leaped into the air, aimed his gun at Allen, and pulled the trigger repeatedly!
"More-More: Hundredfold Pistol!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets blasted out in response! Enhanced by the More-More Fruit's power, both their mass and speed were magnified a hundred times over!
"Black Vortex!!"
Allen raised his hand, releasing a massive amount of black fog that churned and spun in front of him, forming a giant vortex.
The three bullets, now the size of cannonballs, plunged into it and were instantly swallowed whole by the Black Vortex!
"He even absorbed the attacks!"
Seeing this, World's face filled with shock.
The Black Vortex gradually shrank. Allen waved his hand, retracting the billowing black fog back into his palm, and couldn't help but laugh triumphantly.
"Jahahahaha! My darkness can absorb all physical matter. Weapons, human bodies, buildings—no matter the size, it can devour them all!"
"What I'm going to test next is how it works against ability users' techniques."
Allen's lips curled into a cold smirk. He raised his hand toward World, the black fog in his palm churning and spinning, unleashing a powerful gravitational pull like a black hole!
"Blackwater!!"
"What! My body...!!"
The gravitational pull acted on him instantly. World's expression changed as he was horrified to find himself flying uncontrollably toward Allen!
Once he was caught and lost the enhancement of his abilities, his physical combat skills and ordinary firearms would be absolutely no match for Allen.
Thinking of this, World hurriedly pulled out his shotgun from behind and pulled the trigger the moment he was just a few meters away from Allen!
"More-More: Hundredfold Buckshot!!"
Bang!!
A massive gunshot echoed through the sky as over a dozen small lead pellets erupted from the muzzle, instantly transforming into cannonballs!
However, the moment those cannonballs touched the black fog in front of Allen's palm, their enhanced abilities were instantly nullified, reverting them back into ordinary small steel balls.
Under World's incredulous gaze, the dozen or so lead pellets harmlessly dropped to the ground.
"Blackwater can absorb all abilities, which naturally includes the power you imbued into those bullets."
Smack.
Allen sneered, his large hand grabbing World's shoulder, his five fingers curling to lock on tightly.
"It's a pity, but your fate today is already sealed."
"Are you kidding me?!"
World roared furiously, clenching his fists and coating them in Armament Haki.
"More-More: Hundredfold Speed...!!"
Just as he was about to activate his ability to accelerate, World's face changed. He was horrified to discover that the powers within his body were completely sealed!
'So that's how it is. This is the technique that absorbs abilities.'
World instantly realized what was happening. An unfamiliar sense of dread welled up in his heart. Gritting his teeth, his eyes turned ruthless as he continued to bring his raised fist crashing down!
Bang!!
The massive fist struck Allen squarely in the face. However...
Allen's face remained completely unfazed. His forehead was covered in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki. He took the punch head-on, yet his body didn't budge an inch.
"The More-More Fruit is indeed strong, but you are too weak."
"Destroying the world or whatever... it sounds ambitious, but in reality, it's nothing more than an inflated ego after suddenly gaining immense power."
"A person who has lost their convictions is destined to never become truly strong."
Allen's eyes were cold. He raised a hand, releasing a few wisps of black fog from his palm that condensed into a rapidly spinning sphere.
"Dark Star Bullet!!"
Bang!!
Allen's gaze darkened as he thrust his palm forward, slamming the soccer-ball-sized sphere of darkness—filled with terrifying mass and endless gravity—into World's abdomen!
"Gwaaah—!!"
The chaotic gravity felt as if it would tear everything apart. World howled hoarsely, his body flying backward at breakneck speed like a kite with a snapped string, crashing heavily into the black fog permeating the ground!
"Dark Devour!!"
Allen opened his palm toward World and clenched his five fingers tightly!
The endless black fog on the surrounding ground rapidly surged upward, forming a hemisphere that completely enveloped World's body.
The dark hemisphere continuously spun, gradually shrinking until it completely vanished from the spot, taking World along with it.
With a thought from Allen, the black fog covering the ground receded like the tide, drawing back to his feet from all directions.
World had already been devoured into his darkness space, along with the rubble, weapons, and all sorts of miscellaneous debris.
Unless Allen used Darkness: Liberation to release them, everything swallowed inside would suffer endless crushing gravity within the darkness space until they were pulverized and destroyed.
This was the most brutal ability in history, the special Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit!
Even without its ability to counter other Devil Fruit users, the Dark-Dark Fruit was still incredibly powerful. It all depended on whether the user could fully develop its potential.
After Teach stole the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his offensive methods mostly relied on it, using the Dark-Dark Fruit merely for combat support. This was understandable.
After all, no matter how much one developed the Dark-Dark Fruit, its offensive capabilities would never match the results of putting the same amount of effort into developing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
This was the same for Allen. In terms of offense, he also had techniques stronger than the darkness abilities. He could even go find or plunder a fruit with greater offensive power.
The real reason Allen insisted on eating the Dark-Dark Fruit was actually just one thing: to use it to counter other ability users.
Kaido's Flame Dragon Torch?
He'd counter it with a Blackwater!
Big Mom's Soul Domination?
He'd counter it with a Blackwater!
Imu's Black Shift Domination? Immortality? Abyssal Contract?
He'd counter it with a Blackwater!
A single trick could conquer the world. The Dark-Dark Fruit's main selling point was using Blackwater to break all techniques!
Of course, the other abilities that came with the Dark-Dark Fruit were actually quite useful too, such as plundering Devil Fruits from other ability users.
Allen could feel the strange power inside World's body trembling before the power of darkness within the darkness space.
Speaking of which, should he eat the More-More Fruit himself, or give it to Gin...?
A hundredfold amplification was theoretically absurd. Allen had even wondered if a powerhouse like Garp ate the More-More Fruit, could a hundredfold Galaxy Impact sink an island with a single punch?
But after reading the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he knew that was impossible. The More-More Fruit could magnify an object's size, mass, speed, and so on.
However, it only applied to physical matter.
Haki was not physical matter. Haki did not possess attributes like mass, volume, or speed that could be magnified by the More-More Fruit.
Garp's fists were incredibly strong, but that was primarily because his Haki was strong. If the More-More Fruit couldn't amplify Haki, then it held little appeal for Allen.
Of course, even so, the More-More Fruit was still immensely powerful.
Allen felt that giving this fruit to Gin to eat would be quite a good choice.
World's own strength was actually quite average, but with the enhancement of his ability, Allen still couldn't block a move like the Hundredfold Buckshot head-on.
The lead pellets traveling at dozens or even hundreds of Machs had directly crippled both of his arms in a single strike.
Gin had always possessed great potential, whether it was his learning ability, combat talent, or the indispensable willpower needed to train Haki. His only flaw was that his base physical constitution was a bit lacking.
After integrating the Buccaneer Tribe's Lineage Factor, his only shortcoming had been fixed, and he was on the verge of grasping both types of Haki. Allen had long since placed him on the list of people to nurture.
He was also confident that Gin could train his Armament Haki to an advanced level.
Ever since integrating the Buccaneer Tribe's Lineage Factor, in Allen's mind, the future Gin would be a fierce combatant capable of rivaling the All-Stars.
If he could also gain the enhancement of the More-More Fruit, he would even be able to trade blows with an Admiral.
As for Sanji, once his genes awakened, he would have everything he needed.
Giving the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit to Sanji seemed like a pretty good idea too. It was flashy and flamboyant, perfectly matching his temperament.
Allen couldn't help but imagine it in his mind.
A little pink dragon-man... sporting blond hair, with Sanji's face, and two eyes shaped like pink hearts...
No, he couldn't hold it in.
"Cough, cough!!"
Allen forcefully restrained himself from laughing out loud.
Anyway, the harvest was plentiful. It was time to return to Punk Hazard and retrieve the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit.