~ Thank you, This is the Bonus Chapter For Hitting 600 Powerstones~
~ Long Chapter Everyday, Including the Bonus Chapters.
~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
<><><><><><><><>
"Plunder!"
An exceptionally brilliant purple light, visible only to Rowen, separated from Smoker's body and was absorbed by Rowen.
"Gurgle! Gurgle!"
Under Tashigi's disbelieving gaze, Smoker's powerful physique began to wither strangely.
Moments later, he seemed completely drained of strength.
A Devil Fruit Trait was classified as a Strength-type Trait. It contained not only the Devil Fruit ability itself...
But also all of the user's associated physique, strength, and even the desire developed through training and using the fruit!
Everything—was plundered by Rowen.
Yes—after plundering the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, Rowen's mind, through feedback from the Strongest Trait System, was flooded with deeper knowledge about Devil Fruits.
He now understood why he could plunder Devil Fruit abilities without suffering their side effects.
It was exactly as Vegapunk stated in the original story.
Devil Fruits were the physical manifestation of humanity's desires from a bygone era.
Humans possessed countless desires. Long ago, people wished:
'If only I could become lightning!'
'If only I could split myself apart and be immune to swords!'
'If only I could become a mythical creature from legends!'
These diverse desires gave birth to the various Devil Fruits.
Someone wished to become lightning, and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit appeared, allowing its eater to become a Lightning Human.
Someone wished to be able to split apart, immune to blades, and the Chop-Chop Fruit appeared.
Someone wished to become a creature of myth, and the rarest Zoan type, the Mythical Zoan, came into existence.
As long as people harboring such desires existed in the world, the corresponding Devil Fruits would continue to manifest.
But obviously, this defied the natural laws of evolution; it was profoundly 'unnatural'.
This 'Unnaturalness' naturally incurred the wrath of Mother Nature herself—the Sea.
Thus, anyone who ate a Devil Fruit and became an ability user was cursed by the sea, becoming unable to swim.
Rowen, however, acquired Devil Fruit abilities by plundering them via the Trait System. They existed within him as Traits. The System itself shielded him from the Sea's perception of this 'unnaturalness'.
Meaning, although Rowen could use Devil Fruit powers, Mother Sea didn't recognize him as an ability user and therefore couldn't curse him.
Furthermore, Rowen now fully understood the process of Devil Fruit Awakening.
Devil Fruits were manifestations of desire. For example, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit Rowen just acquired was born from someone's past desire to become smoke.
Eating it allowed one to become a Smoke Human.
By continuously using the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's power, constantly strengthening that inherent desire—to be smoke...
When the user's physique reached a certain threshold, and that specific desire peaked—Devil Fruit Awakening could occur!
This also explained the high risk associated with Zoan fruit Awakenings.
To Awaken a Zoan fruit, the user had to constantly reinforce the desire to become the animal corresponding to their fruit.
When that desire peaked, Awakening could happen.
But the intense desire to become a beast could easily overwhelm the user's human consciousness during the Awakening process.
Lost within that desire, they risked becoming a true, mindless beast.
<><><><><><>
Moreover, after obtaining the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, feedback from the System revealed another drawback inherent to Devil Fruits.
The desire embedded within the fruit itself... As the user continuously strengthened that desire, pushing towards Awakening...
It inevitably created a psychological dependence on the Devil Fruit's power.
Desire and dependence went hand-in-hand.
No wonder Zephyr had warned Kizaru not to rely too heavily on his Devil Fruit ability!
Becoming overly fixated on that desire, excessively dependent on the fruit's power, hindered the development of one's Haki.
Haki—whether it was Observation Haki (manifestation of the senses), Armament Haki (allowing harm to ability users), or the supreme Conqueror's Haki—could all be considered manifestations of spiritual strength.
It required absolute self-confidence to wield Haki effectively.
Losing that confidence weakened Haki, or in severe cases, rendered it unusable.
Moria, after his devastating defeat by Kaido and the loss of his crew, was a prime example. He lost all confidence, relying solely on his Shadow-Shadow Fruit to create zombie armies, trying to fill the void of fear and emptiness within him. His Haki, naturally, became useless.
All Devil Fruit users, through the process of strengthening the inherent desire within their fruit, developed some level of dependence, varying only in degree.
Minor dependence had little impact. Kaido, for instance, could still declare "Haki transcends all!" and possessed extremely powerful Haki.
Severe dependence, like Admiral Kizaru's reliance on the Glint-Glint Fruit, made Haki their definitive weak point.
But even Kaido, who uttered those words, didn't possess the absolute strongest Haki on the seas.
The Strongest Haki belonged to the man who hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit, renowned as the world's most powerful Haki user—Red-Haired Shanks!
Of course, this didn't mean eating a Devil Fruit precluded having the strongest Haki.
Joy Boy's Haki, echoing across time, made even Imu tremble and kneel.
But for a Devil Fruit user, achieving supreme Haki was significantly more difficult than for a non-user.
Naturally, powerful Devil Fruits did enhance combat strength. Kaido, while perhaps inferior to Shanks in pure Haki, possessed one of the strongest Mythical Zoan fruits, the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. This earned him the title 'World's Strongest Creature', unbeatable in a one-on-one fight!
Pros and cons—that was the nature of Devil Fruits!
However...
A smile touched Rowen's lips.
With his Strongest Trait System, he could ignore these drawbacks!
Because the System shielded him from the Sea's rejection of the 'unnatural' Devil Fruit power...
Born of the Sea (Apex Gold) could still function perfectly, continuously enhancing Rowen's Haki!
Rowen could gain Devil Fruit powers without hindering his Haki development in the slightest!
Unlike the original owner of Born of the Sea (Apex Gold), Buggy—who lost the Trait upon eating a fruit and suffered a backlash, crippling his Haki potential—Rowen, with his System, could possess both supreme Devil Fruit abilities and the world's strongest Haki!
It was truly—a BUG-like existence.
And Rowen could acquire more, even stronger, Devil Fruit abilities. The Smoke-Smoke Fruit was merely a stepping stone.
Furthermore, the System also categorized Devil Fruit Awakening itself as a potential upgrade path. Meaning, Rowen could potentially force an Awakening through Trait upgrades!
Naturally, he wouldn't waste such upgrades on a mediocre fruit like Smoke-Smoke.
Use the Smoke-Smoke Fruit as a stepping stone -> Defeat the Warlord Crocodile -> Obtain the Sand-Sand Fruit (a top-tier Logia) -> Plunder Crocodile's 'fortune' via Faction Fortune (Apex Gold) for a massive boost -> Then, aim for that fruit atop the Sky Islands, hailed as one of the most invincible Logia abilities!
The Ultimate Devil Fruit—the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
<><><><><><>
After plundering the Smoke-Smoke Fruit and receiving detailed information about Devil Fruits via System feedback, Rowen's understanding deepened further.
The absolute top-tier Devil Fruits in this world—even without Haki—could reach the Apex Gold tier upon Awakening, based solely on the fruit's power. Meaning, they inherently provided the potential for Admiral-level combat strength!
Of course, such fruits were exceedingly rare. Weaker Logias like Smoke-Smoke only reached Pale Gold tier effects upon Awakening (below Yonko Commander level) based on fruit power alone.
But the Rumble-Rumble Fruit—was one of those top-tier fruits.
Upon Awakening, just its inherent power could grant Apex Gold tier status—the threshold for Admiral-level combat!
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit's offensive power, as recorded, was second only to Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit among Logias. Combined with Infused Conqueror's Haki, its combat ceiling would reach terrifying heights.
And the Rumble-Rumble Fruit served another purpose for Rowen...
Connecting to Emperor Kaido's fruit—one of the strongest Mythical Zoans—the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon!
Every Mythical Zoan, besides granting superior physique and recovery compared to normal Zoans, provided a unique special ability. That was their true power.
Luffy's Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, provided the BUG-like ability of Imagination—allowing fighting with absolute freedom, even partial reality warping.
The Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, granted control over natural elements!
Fire! Lightning! Storms!
All these natural forces fell under the command of the Azure Dragon user.
Kaido's 'Thunder Bagua' utilized lightning to supercharge his hybrid form, achieving near-instantaneous speed—so fast that even Observation Haki capable of seeing the future couldn't reliably dodge it!
That's right! The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, and other powerful elemental Logias, could—through the Trait System—perfectly synergize with and enhance the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon!
It could elevate the Azure Dragon's innate elemental control to an entirely new level! Making its power even more terrible!
Even without the boost from powerful Logias like Rumble-Rumble, the element-controlling Azure Dragon fruit was already incredibly strong, earning Kaido the title 'World's Strongest Creature', unbeatable one-on-one!
With the addition of top-tier Logia abilities like Rumble-Rumble... how terrifyingly powerful could the Azure Dragon fruit become?
Rowen eagerly anticipated finding out.
Rowen clenched his fist, a confident smirk playing on his lips.
——
—[Physique energy contained within Smoke-Smoke Fruit (Apex Purple) has been digested. Superhuman Demonic Physique (Apex Purple) enhanced!]—
——
The gains continued!
Another notification appeared, visible only to Rowen.
When Rowen plundered a Devil Fruit Trait, the inherent physical energy contained within it was also absorbed and automatically digested.
The physical energy plundered from Smoker boosted Rowen's Superhuman Demonic Physique Trait by the equivalent of one Apex Purple tier upgrade material!
Eating the Smoke-Smoke Fruit turned Smoker into a Smoke Human. Filling his room with smoke was his way of training the fruit's power, pushing towards Awakening. This process, because he was smoke, naturally enhanced Smoker's physique as well, granting him Apex Purple level physical stats.
But now, that physical energy belonged to Rowen.
——
—[Born of the Sea (Apex Gold) activated. Armament Haki strengthened!]—
——
The Haki training cheat code activated again, further increasing Rowen's Armament Haki intensity!
<><><><><><>
"Hah..." Under Tashigi's disbelieving gaze, Rowen's hands dissolved into swirling smoke.
"S-Smoke?! Th-That's Captain Smoker's ability! W-Why?!" Tashigi stammered, her eyes wide with horror.
"No matter how many times I see it, your ability is terrifying, Rowen. Being able to steal everything from someone else," Zoro commented, watching Rowen's arms turn to smoke.
A smirk touched his lips, but a faint bead of cold sweat also appeared on his brow.
'Good thing Rowen is our comrade.' An ability that could strip someone of everything... was truly frightening. Just witnessing it sent a chill down his spine.
"Ah. This ability—isn't half bad," Rowen remarked, experiencing elemental transformation for the first time. The sensation was strange but intriguing. His lips curved slightly.
Just as expected.
Like Sabo being able to wield the Flare-Flare Fruit powerfully immediately after eating it—Devil Fruit abilities didn't actually require 'development'. Before Awakening, their strength depended primarily on the user's physique.
Because the moment you ate the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, you became a Smoke Human. Using its powers was as instinctive as a normal person waving their arms; there was no inherent difficulty.
'The feeling of becoming a natural element... truly strange.' Rowen smirked.
"Ability acquired. Let's go," Rowen said, turning to Zoro.
"Got it." Zoro dropped the Seastone jitte he was holding and followed Rowen.
"Wait!" Tashigi's voice stopped Rowen.
"W-Why?! Why do these evil things?! You... you should be a good person! I could feel it—you weren't lying... you truly acknowledged my dream—You respected me—treated me as a swordsman, not just as a woman inherently weaker than men... But you—killed Captain Nezumi of the 16th Branch... and you did this to Captain Smoker—Why?! Why do these evil things?!" Tashigi yelled, tears streaming down her face, her voice cracking with anguish and confusion.
The first person to acknowledge her dream, the first to truly respect her as a swordsman, the first person Tashigi felt truly understood her... Why was he a pirate? Why did he do such terrible things?
"Evil deeds?" Rowen turned back, looking at the tearful Tashigi.
"Regarding good and evil... I have no need to explain myself. You only need to know this: You have your dream. And I—have my ambition!" Rowen declared, spreading his arms wide, a powerful, confident curve to his lips.
Rowen wouldn't bother with justifications about Captain Nezumi's corruption, or the hypocrisy of Marine HQ serving the Celestial Dragons, masking their actions under the guise of 'justice'.
Does a King need to explain his actions to others?!
"Ambition?" Tashigi stared blankly at Rowen.
"That's right! From here on out—I WILL STAND ABOVE ALL!" Rowen declared, laughing boldly.
RUMBLE! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The sky above suddenly darkened, storm clouds gathering rapidly as fierce winds began to howl.
"Hm? Looks like we need to leave," Rowen commented, sensing the abrupt, unnatural weather shift, a knowing smile touching his lips.
This was the power of Luffy's father... Monkey D. Dragon.
"I-I can't accept it! You shouldn't do evil things!" Tashigi yelled into the whipping wind and rain, staring at Rowen's back.
"Then... strive to become stronger. You are a swordsman, are you not? Solve this the swordsman's way. Whether I am good or evil... what kind of person I am... follow in my footsteps—watch closely, Tashigi!" Rowen called back over his shoulder, not pausing as he walked away with Zoro into the brewing storm.
"I will definitely—capture you! Rowen!!!" Tashigi screamed into the tempest, her voice filled with heartbroken determination.
"I'll be waiting! Hahahaha!" Rowen's laughter echoed, then vanished into the wind and rain.
<><><><><><><><>
~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><><><><>
~# Keep the chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!
~# Every 300 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter