"It's no trouble. I won't be asking you again."
Daniel Davis wasn't surprised that Mobius was running into difficulties. If she had been able to solve the problem of Oripathy right away, he would've started doubting his own capabilities instead.
"This isn't just a matter of trouble. I suspect that even if I did manage to develop a cure for Oripathy right now, it might not even work once you bring it back there. Removed from its original world, Originium is like the Honkai energy you brought here—rootless, adrift."
"I get what you mean, but I'll say it again: I'm not taking you over there. And besides, that excuse of yours won't work on me. Don't forget—I've studied Originium too. It's different from Honkai energy. The consciousness inside the Originium doesn't vanish just because it leaves its world."
Daniel clearly understood Mobius's point—Originium and Honkai energy were similar in some ways, but fundamentally different. The biggest difference was that Honkai energy lost its sentient component outside its world, while Originium retained it.
"Tch." Mobius looked away with a disgruntled expression. But she quickly composed herself and spoke again.
"Of course I know that. My theory is that this is because the god of Originium has fallen, and its consciousness was fragmented. That's why those faint traces remain inside Originium. It makes me wonder—if the Honkai God fell, would Honkai energy show the same phenomenon?"
Her eyes lit up with a peculiar gleam. If she could, she really wanted to see what would happen if the Honkai God were defeated—would it result in something similar?
"That might be possible, but only theoretically. Honkai energy has a much higher conceptual rank than that so-called Originium god." Daniel thought over Mobius's theory and found it plausible—at least in theory. But at the moment, he had no way to defeat the Honkai God, which was a multiversal-level entity.
As for the Originium god, while it might exist across parallel universes, the sea-born apocalypse and their immunity to Oripathy implied that the Originium god hadn't reached a multiversal scale.
Daniel had his own speculation about the Originium god—that it was also a great beast, similar to Sui Xiang but far more powerful.
Sui Xiang had been slain and split into twelve parts, and their second brother had divided his consciousness into 108 fragments. So perhaps the Originium god had simply divided its consciousness even further.
"You know, I've been researching Terra's history, and I realized that the demi-humans living there now resemble what Dr. Mei envisioned as the complete version of the Stigmata Project—except they succeeded, and Dr. Mei failed."
Mobius referred to the various races living on Terra as demi-humans, since the world originally had humans.
"Honkai adaptability, Originium adaptability..." Daniel admitted Mobius had a point. Though many people on Terra suffered from Oripathy, the fact remained—they were surviving.
"I'm heading back over there. You coming?"
Even if they disagreed, Daniel had known this would happen when he brought Mobius in. She wasn't his subordinate—their relationship was more of a collaboration.
"Go back? What for? I've got no time for that now. Oh right, since you're going, give this to Kevin for me." As she spoke, Mobius retrieved a silver case from her lab.
"I'll deliver it."
"Gladius's Boom-Boom Fruit, Baby 5's Weapon-Weapon Fruit, Monet's Snow-Snow Fruit, Pica's Stone-Stone Fruit—these are all great Devil Fruits."
Before returning to the Honkai world, Daniel intended to collect the Devil Fruits he needed. He had to admit that Doflamingo was impressive—almost all his top officers were Devil Fruit users.
Daniel had been eyeing those fruits for a while but wasn't in a rush. He'd originally planned to swoop in after Luffy fought Doflamingo and pick up the spoils.
But now that he needed them, it was a different story. Since he was making a move, it wouldn't be for just one Devil Fruit. Aside from the Boom-Boom Fruit for W, he also wanted the Snow-Snow Fruit.
That one was meant for FrostNova. The Snow-Snow Fruit wouldn't enhance Esdeath much, but it was a perfect match for FrostNova.
He also had plans for Talulah—Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit. But since Akainu was a Navy Admiral, getting that fruit would take some time.
On Punk Hazard Island—because Akainu and Aokiji hadn't fought for the title of Fleet Admiral—the island hadn't become a half-ice, half-fire land. Instead, it remained a poisonous, gas-filled island.
When Daniel didn't find Doflamingo in Dressrosa and discovered he had gone to Punk Hazard, he followed him there. Coincidentally, the Snow-Snow Fruit he wanted was also on the island.
"What a coincidence. They're already here. So the alliance is beginning."
Daniel had originally intended to wipe out Caesar Clown and take the Gas-Gas Fruit—after all, it was a Logia-type fruit, and Daniel wasn't Luffy, who eventually treated Caesar as a friend. Caesar's crimes deserved death.
The same went for Doflamingo's officers. But unexpectedly, Daniel ran into Trafalgar Law and Luffy's Straw Hat crew.
The two were storming Caesar's lab together. This time they were lucky—Vergo wasn't present. Instead, Gladius was. While Gladius was powerful and his fruit ability strong, his Haki wasn't well-developed, so he couldn't defend against Law's Op-Op Fruit slicing attacks.
If Vergo had been here and Smoker wasn't helping this time, Law might've been doomed. But Vergo had been transferred by Marine HQ as the Revolutionary Army's rise forced them to reassign mid-tier officers from the New World.
To the World Government, pirates causing chaos didn't threaten their core control—but the Revolutionary Army did. They wouldn't leave a Vice Admiral like Vergo idle.
"Even in this situation, they're still going through with that plan. These two really don't care about what's going on in the wider seas. But that's fine—it'll be a good blow to the World Government's reputation."
Once the truth about Dressrosa was exposed, it would be a major hit to the World Government—possibly tipping the balance toward the Revolutionary Army. So Daniel decided to spare Caesar this time.
"Big Mom's tea party is about to start. If Luffy wants to crash Whole Cake Island again, it won't be so easy."
Though Whole Cake Island was actually under Aizen's control now, he hadn't interfered with the Big Mom Pirates' regular operations. So the tea party was still going ahead, as was Sanji's wedding.
The Vinsmoke family hoped to use this opportunity to secure Big Mom's support. They believed the current turmoil at sea was the perfect chance to seize control of the North Blue.
With the Revolutionary Army, Navy, and World Government in a standoff, getting support from one of the Four Emperors meant even the Revolutionary Army might hesitate to make a move.
"Loyal, but unlucky to have such a useless teammate."
Gladius and Monet were deeply loyal to Doflamingo, but with Caesar as their teammate, things fell apart. Even without Vergo, they might have won—but Caesar ruined everything.
"Got it. Losing two officers at once—Doffy's going to be pissed."
With the Devil Fruits secured, Daniel used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Wano. Dressrosa was still a ways off from Punk Hazard. Once the fighting started, it wouldn't be too late to return. For now, he just needed Chelsea to keep an eye on Dressrosa.
"This tastes awful."
Anyone who's ever eaten a Devil Fruit would never forget the taste. W and FrostNova both grimaced after the first bite.
They'd both endured much worse—eating tree bark and grass to survive—but nothing tasted as vile as Devil Fruit.
"Even though you gain the power after the first bite, it's best to eat the whole thing just in case—to fully awaken the power."
It was funny. Just one bite gave you the ability, but almost everyone still finished the whole thing. Better safe than sorry.
"Did Ace never reach his full potential with the Flame-Flame Fruit because he only took one bite?" Daniel wondered as he watched W and FrostNova grimace through the rest of their fruit.
Ace had gotten his Devil Fruit from a crewmate. They agreed to take turns eating it, and whoever gained powers, well—that was fate.
"Really powerful... If only it tasted better."
The power of a Devil Fruit manifested soon after being consumed. W tested her Boom-Boom Fruit powers and was ecstatic. Previously, she needed to carry Originium materials and convert them into bombs using her Originium Arts. Now, any inorganic material could become a bomb. She could turn entire paths into minefields.
FrostNova quickly grasped the Snow-Snow Fruit's power as well. Snowflakes began falling from the sky. The area was small for now, but with training—and eventual awakening—her power would become formidable.
"Kevin, Mobius asked me to give this to you."
In the Honkai world, after bringing Nian over, Daniel went straight to Kevin and handed over what Mobius had given him. He had wanted to bring others along too, but no one was interested for now.
The Rhodes Island group was fully focused on researching a cure for Oripathy. Talulah cared about it too, and they also needed to train in Armament Haki—so other matters would have to wait.
As for Xi and Ling, they planned to stay in the One Piece world for now. If Daniel hadn't pulled Nian along, she might not have come either.
He had brought Nian to the Honkai world to help construct the aerial battleship he had been planning. With her abilities, construction would be much faster.
"A god? Incredible. Can you lend a hand?"
Einstein and Tesla were stunned when they saw Nian. Once they learned about her powers and saw her craft a Titan mech by hand, Tesla's eyes lit up. She ran over, grabbed Nian's arm, and made her request.
When Nian heard what Tesla wanted, her eyes lit up too. They immediately went to the side to start discussing plans.
"Is it a giant beast's instinct? A unique obsession with giant mechanical beings..."
All of Nian's movie scripts ended with giant mechanical creatures like the Xuanji Golem. Now, she had a real one in front of her—the massive Titan, Heaven Father, that Anti-Entropy had unearthed from a previous civilization.
Tesla had always wanted to restore it, but funding had stalled the project. Now that Nian was here, there was hope—not just for repairs, but possibly rebuilding it with Soulsteel.
They hit it off immediately. And it benefited Nian too—Tesla's expertise in material science would be a great learning opportunity.
"Building a new Hyperion? With your funding and her help, it won't be a problem."
Constructing the Hyperion wasn't hard. The tricky part was the Moonlight Throne. Previously, Anti-Entropy had relied on Walter, the Herrscher of Reason, for much of it. But with Nian's help, they should manage.
"Thanks. By the way—interested in visiting a new world? It's similar to this one: a new civilization born from a destroyed previous one."
"What kind of disgusting world is that? Makes the Honkai look tame!" Tesla cursed after seeing some of Terra's conditions. Einstein didn't speak, but her furrowed brow said enough.
"Well, it's crawling with evil demons. This is a domestic medical repair pod from the previous civilization—yet it has an energy supply system beyond belief." As he spoke, Daniel showed them images of the sarcophagus.
"That power supply is insane. What kind of civilization builds a home device with that much power?"
A home-use repair pod, yet just a portion of its energy had powered a mobile city for years—and it was just a remnant of the previous civilization.
"No idea. That's why I'm inviting you two to study it."
"No problem!" Tesla agreed instantly, and Einstein nodded as well. Such technology was too interesting to pass up.
If they could uncover something applicable to fighting the Honkai, great. If not, even just the inspiration from the unknown tech would be worth it.
"Fu Hua, long time no see."
After leaving Nian with Anti-Entropy, Daniel headed to St. Freya Academy to meet Fu Hua and the others.
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