Speaking of which, over the past few days, the outcome Belo Betty feared most was exactly this.
As a core executive of the Revolutionary Army, she understood the situation perfectly. The Revolutionary Army simply could not produce five Devil Fruits, let alone five with high-tier abilities.
This left Dragon with only two real choices.
One was to save as many people as possible using whatever fruits they could spare.
The other was... war.
Of course, there was a third possibility: doing nothing at all. But that was out of the question. In Dragon's eyes, Belo Betty's ability was far more valuable than those two Devil Fruits.
However, making that choice would create a massive internal vulnerability for the Revolutionary Army.
Sean didn't just want to kill the enemy's body; he wanted to destroy their spirit. He intended to use Dragon's choice to strike a blow to the Revolutionary Army from within.
The worst part was that even though Dragon knew it was a trap, he had no choice but to walk straight into it.
Belo Betty gave Sean a deep, lingering look, but in the end, she said nothing and simply departed. She knew all too well that everything was now moving along the tracks Sean had laid.
No matter what she said now, it was too late.
'''
Branch Manager's Office.
"Rear Admiral, just as you predicted, Dragon only saved Belo Betty."
"Expected. Belo Betty's ability is highly specialized; she is undoubtedly more valuable than the two fruits he sent over," Sean replied with a smile, idling with the two fruits in his hand.
One was the Paramecia-type Recovery Fruit.
The other was the Paramecia-type Compression Fruit.
"Lucci, have you looked into the abilities of these two fruits?"
"I have cross-referenced them with the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia."
"Let's hear it."
"The Recovery Fruit provides a passive ability that allows the user to rapidly heal their own injuries. Rumor has it that upon awakening, the user can achieve instantaneous recovery, becoming essentially immortal as long as they aren't killed instantly."
"Such a powerful ability... Dragon was actually willing to give it up?"
"Rear Admiral, those are merely rumors. In reality, over the last 800 years of records, no one who possessed this fruit ever achieved awakening. The person who developed it the most only reached a five-fold increase in recovery speed."
"I see."
Sean nodded. While a five-fold recovery speed sounded impressive, it was practically useless in the heat of battle. At most, it meant wounds healed faster after the fight. For example, an injury that would normally take a month to heal would now take only six days.
In that sense, it was quite underwhelming.
But what if the rumors were true?
Even if no one had reached awakening in 800 years, what about him? With his Multiplier System, reaching awakening shouldn't be that difficult, right?
"And the Compression Fruit?"
"The primary ability of the Compression Fruit is to compress objects. However, it can only compress and restore them; it cannot enlarge them."
"Any object?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Including elemental substances?"
Lucci paused. According to the records, the target could be any object, but elements... it seemed no one had ever thought to try that. Historically, the most the previous users had done was compress a massive stockpile of weapons to carry them easily, restoring them only when needed.
But if it could compress elements as Sean suggested...
Could it be that throughout history, no one had realized the true potential of this fruit?
"Rear Admiral, theoretically, it should be possible, but no one has ever done it!"
"Tsk, tsk. If this fruit is developed correctly, it might be even more terrifying than Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Since you and Jabra have already eaten Devil Fruits, we'll give this one to Kaku."
"Understood. And the Recovery Fruit?"
"I have some interest in this one!"
"Rear Admiral, those are just rumors..."
"Don't worry, I have a plan."
Hearing this, Lucci didn't press further. He nodded, took the Compression Fruit, and left.
Sean looked at the Devil Fruit before him.
To eat it, or not to eat it? That was the question.
It wasn't that Sean was afraid the fruit would be useless. The key was whether the system would categorize this as another attribute once he consumed it.
After all, he possessed a Shinigami template. Whether he learned swordsmanship or physical arts, the system always translated them into corresponding Shinigami attributes rather than the power systems of the pirate world.
'Whatever, it's just wasting one Devil Fruit.'
Sean picked up the Recovery Fruit and took a massive bite.
"Blegh...!"
The taste was absolutely revolting.
Fortunately, he only needed one bite; he didn't have to finish the whole thing. Otherwise, he feared he'd suffer lasting psychological trauma.
Forcing the fruit pulp down his throat, Sean spent a full thirty seconds just trying to catch his breath.
[Ding! Unknown energy intrusion detected. Beginning conversion. Updating attribute panel...]
[Ding! Attribute panel update complete. Host has acquired a special attribute: High-Speed Regeneration. Current Level: Lv.1]
[Ding! The initial recovery rate of the High-Speed Regeneration ability is 100x. Each level increase doubles the recovery rate.]
'It really was converted.'
'Wait, High-Speed Regeneration? Is that what I think it is?'
Sean let out a sigh of relief, but soon his eyes widened in shock. He knew exactly what High-Speed Regeneration entailed.
An initial recovery multiplier of 100x, and it doubled with every level.
That meant Lv.2 was 200x, Lv.3 was 400x, Lv.4 was 800x, and so on. By the time he hit Lv.10...
51,200 times?
That was absurd!
However... did he now count as someone who had eaten a Devil Fruit, or not? After all, the energy of the fruit he just ate had been converted into a different power by the system.
"System, give me an explanation."
[Ding! The host does not currently possess a Devil Fruit ability. Therefore, eating a second fruit will not produce any adverse effects.]
[Ding! Special Note: Upon consuming a Devil Fruit of this world, if there is a corresponding ability within the Shinigami system, the system will automatically convert it. If no such ability exists, the system will automatically expel the Devil Fruit energy from the host's body.]
'Expel it? What does that mean?'
[Ding! According to the rules of this world, Devil Fruit energy is expelled upon the original owner's death to find a temporary host until a new owner appears.]
[Ding! The "expulsion" referred to by this system is fundamentally the same concept. However, each expulsion will consume 3,000 points of the host's maximum Reiryoku. Therefore, the host is advised to consume Devil Fruits with caution.]
Sean understood now, and a cold sweat broke out across his brow.
'You tell me this 'now'?'
If he hadn't eaten the Recovery Fruit and had eaten the Compression Fruit instead—which likely had no Shinigami equivalent—he wouldn't have gained anything and would have lost 3,000 points of his maximum Reiryoku.
His current Reiryoku cap had only just broken twenty thousand.
As expected, Devil Fruits came with risks; one had to be cautious when consuming them. Otherwise, far from gaining any benefits, one could end up weakening their own strength.
If he were to accidentally eat seven of the wrong Devil Fruits in a row, wouldn't that be an immediate game over? After all, every one of his abilities relied on Reiryoku to function.
Still, despite nearly falling into a trap, he had to admit... he had come out on top. In fact, he had made a massive profit.
The only question was how to increase the level of this high-speed regeneration. Did it require self-harm?
'Knock, knock, knock...'
Just as Sean was about to test that theory by attempting to injure himself, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!"
"Rear Admiral!"
"What is it?"
"The prison staff says that Ashiru wants to see you, sir!"
"Tell them I'll be there shortly."
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
'Ashiru wants to see me?'
The timing felt off. She shouldn't have been "ripe" enough to reach out yet.
'Whatever. I'll find out what's going on once I get there.'
Standing up, Sean grabbed his officer's coat, threw it over his shoulders, and left the office.
'''
"You wanted to see me?" Sean asked as Ashiru was brought into the interrogation room.
"Yes!"
"Speak. What is it?"
"You said the Revolutionary Army is using the wrong method. If so, what is the correct one?"
"Interesting. I didn't expect you to be the one to ask that," Sean replied, looking at Ashiru with genuine curiosity.
The question had caught him off guard. He had initially assumed Belo Betty would be the one to ask, but unfortunately, she had left without ever bringing it up. Now, Ashiru was the one pushing for an answer.
"Can you not answer?"
"It's not that I can't. It's just that hearing the question come from you is a bit surprising."
"And?"
"It's simple: Rule the entire world!"
'As I thought...'
Ashiru let out a soft sigh. Through their few interactions and conversations, she had already realized that Sean was absolutely not the type of person content to serve under someone else.
"And once you rule the world, what do you intend to do?"
"Order!"
Ashiru's eyes widened. 'Order?'
"The goal of your Revolutionary Army is to establish a world of freedom and equality, right?"
"That's correct!"
"Then let me ask you: does absolute freedom and absolute equality actually exist?"
"That..."
Ashiru wanted to say yes, but the words caught in her throat. She wasn't one of those ordinary Revolutionary Army soldiers who had been completely brainwashed.
"Absolute freedom and equality are like castles in the air—completely unrealistic. Excessive freedom leads to chaos. Similarly, a completely equal class system strips people of their drive to move forward."
Sean leaned in. "Tell me, why do people strive? Isn't it to climb to a higher class so they can live a better life? Once the entire world is perfectly equal, who would bother working hard? People would think, 'No matter how much effort I put in, the result is the same as those who do nothing.'"
"Therefore, neither excessive freedom nor absolute equality is desirable. Only order—a system devoid of the Celestial Dragons and guided by pure justice—can bring a tomorrow to this world."
"And to achieve that, one must first rule the world."
Ashiru pondered Sean's words.
Freedom... equality...
Was the Revolutionary Army's philosophy wrong? Those two words sounded beautiful and were incredibly persuasive. But what was the truth?
Excessive freedom meant a lack of restraint. Absolute equality meant a lack of motivation. Was a world without boundaries, stagnating in place, truly a good thing?
Conversely, perhaps a world with restraints and limited freedom—a world with classes, but with a proper order to manage them—would actually yield a better result.
Ashiru didn't know. At least, not yet. She needed more time to think about this.