—Real World—
The Sky Screen had proven with undeniable facts that Caesar Clown's scientific speculation was absolutely correct—perhaps the most important discovery in Devil Fruit research history. Devil Fruits genuinely possess independent consciousness, self-aware entities capable of thought, planning, and ultimately replacing the human hosts who consumed them.
In most other Devil Fruit users across the seas, the phenomenon of gradual possession proceeded so subtly—operating on timescales measured in years or decades rather than immediate takeover—that it did not attract widespread attention from maritime populations. The slow erosion of original personality, the gradual replacement of human thoughts with demonic logic, the creeping subsumption that ended with consciousness wearing familiar face—all these processes occurred beneath most people's awareness thresholds.
But the vivid example of Charlotte Alluka had forced everyone to pay attention—or more accurately, to become profoundly wary of the Devil Fruits residing inside their own bodies. Watching five-year-old child's eyes fill with absolute darkness, seeing his small form wrapped in oppressive black aura, witnessing the entity called Nanica seizing complete control and speaking through borrowed mouth...
That visual evidence couldn't be dismissed, rationalized away, or ignored through willful blindness.
As expected, there is no free lunch in this world. The ancient wisdom proved accurate once again—power always carried costs, shortcuts always demanded payment, and bargains that seemed too favorable always concealed terrible prices within their terms.
Becoming stronger by consuming Devil Fruits had historically represented the quickest and easiest path to power—single bite granting abilities that might take decades to develop through conventional training, instant access to supernatural capabilities that transcended human limitations entirely.
But nobody had expected that far more sinister conspiracies lay hidden behind these miraculous artifacts. The fruits weren't merely tools or power sources—they were parasitic entities gradually consuming their hosts from within, wearing down human consciousness through erosion measured in fractions so small the victims never noticed until replacement reached completion.
No ability user wanted being the mount instead of the king—nobody desired becoming passenger in their own body, consciousness retreating while demonic entity assumed permanent control. The King versus Mount framework that Caesar and Vegapunk had discussed now haunted every Devil Fruit user's nightmares.
Those who had not yet consumed Devil Fruits found themselves facing profound existential calculation: Should they take the gamble? Should they accept immediate power knowing it came with risk of eventual possession? Did they want bearing the risk of another consciousness occupying their body in some unknown future?
The questions tormented ambitious individuals worldwide, creating paralysis where previously existed eager consumption. Devil Fruits that would have been eaten immediately now sat untouched as potential users weighed costs against benefits with new understanding of what "costs" actually meant.
Mary Geoise - Pangaea Castle
While the outside world descended into uproar over the Wish-Wish Fruit's revelations and broader Devil Fruit consciousness implications, Pangaea Castle in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise fell into oppressive silence—the kind of quiet that preceded catastrophic violence, the stillness before executioner's blade descended.
The murderous intent emanating from the Five Elders who perpetually held meetings in their circular chamber could no longer be concealed through diplomatic facades or political restraint. The killing aura radiated from all five ancient authorities simultaneously, creating atmosphere so thick with malevolence that servants entering the room physically recoiled.
Dr. Vegapunk knew too much.
The world's greatest scientist had discovered secrets that should remain buried for eternity—truths that the Five Elders had concealed successfully for eight hundred years, knowledge whose exposure threatened their entire institutional foundation.
"As expected of you—you truly are the strongest scientist in this human world," Saint Jaygarcia Saturn stated with voice mixing grudging admiration and profound resentment. His tone suggested complimenting worthy adversary while simultaneously planning their execution.
"You've only worked alongside me for relatively short period, yet you've already discovered my secrets completely. Vegapunk, you possess genuinely terrifying intelligence—you are really smart, the kind that makes you extraordinarily dangerous to permit continuing existence."
Saint Saturn's face remained covered by thick beard that concealed most facial features, making it impossible to discern what specific expression he wore. But his eyes blazed with resentment—pupils reflecting tremendous anger toward Vegapunk that had been building across years of collaboration, filled with fury that could barely be contained.
I still underestimated humans, Saturn's thoughts seethed with self-recrimination. I didn't expect the sense of incongruity—the subtle wrongness—would be discovered so easily. I thought my disguise was perfect—centuries of practice maintaining human appearance, mimicking human emotions, pretending to age naturally. But Vegapunk noticed. Of course he noticed. That's why he's the world's smartest man.
Saint Saturn found himself profoundly conflicted about whether he should completely eliminate Vegapunk immediately—arrange fatal "accident" or order CP0 assassination—thereby ensuring the secret would never spread across the seas beyond what the Sky Screen had already revealed, letting the knowledge die with him permanently.
But if I kill him now, Saturn's tactical analysis warred against emotional impulse, we lose the only scientist capable of completing the Seraph Project. We lose our primary technological advantage. We lose decades of research investment. Can we afford that sacrifice merely to silence one man whose knowledge has already been partially exposed?
Charlotte Alluka represented merely one vivid example of Devil Fruit consciousness manifestation—the most obvious case, the smoking gun that couldn't be rationalized away. But the Five Elders knew other instances existed, fruits whose demonic awareness proved equally undeniable.
They also knew that the Nika Fruit—the supernatural artifact they'd hunted desperately across centuries—possessed self-awareness beyond question. The fruit that was particularly good at running away, that chose its successors strategically, that seemed to actively evade World Government pursuit generation after generation.
The Five Elders wanted making Joy Boy disappear from this world completely—erase the legend, eliminate the prophecy, destroy every trace of the Warrior of Liberation who threatened their carefully maintained world order.
But such permanent elimination proved impossible with methods currently available to the Five Elders—even with all their tremendous authority, all their technological resources, all their ancient knowledge accumulated across eight centuries of rule.
Eight hundred years, the collective frustration simmered. Eight hundred years hunting a single Devil Fruit, and it continues eluding us. Because it's not merely supernatural power—it's an entity that thinks, plans, chooses its successors carefully. We're not fighting an object. We're fighting a consciousness that's outsmarted us for nearly a millennium.
"The revelation has already occurred," Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro stated with cold pragmatism that cut through Saint Saturn's emotional turmoil. "Killing Vegapunk now would prove completely useless—the knowledge exists beyond him. The Sky Screen broadcast it globally. Millions witnessed Nanica's manifestation. The secret cannot be restored through assassination."
The ancient authority's weathered face displayed calculating expression as he articulated damage control strategy. "We can only attempt weakening this particular hint—dilute its impact, redirect attention, allow natural human psychology to work in our favor."
Saint Nasujuro Saint possessed deep understanding that human beings fundamentally represented a group of mobs—not individuals capable of sustained critical thinking, but herd animals responding predictably to information stimulus patterns the Five Elders had perfected across eight hundred years of psychological manipulation.
"After being bombarded with high-density information like the Sky Screen delivers across multiple broadcasts," Nusjuro continued with aristocratic contempt barely concealed beneath clinical assessment, "they will naturally forget some less important content—especially abstract philosophical threats. Human memory proves selective and easily manipulated."
"They will instead pursue more eye-catching insider information—gossip about powerful figures, revelations about political conspiracies, dramatic combat footage showing spectacular abilities. The Devil Fruit consciousness issue will fade into background noise, remembered vaguely but not actively feared by most."
For example: Charlotte Alluka possessed a Devil Fruit capable of fulfilling literally any wish—power that transcended conventional causality, reality-warping ability that could reshape world according to spoken desires.
Even though people knew that the demon Nanica was extraordinarily dangerous—even after witnessing the black aura, the void-filled eyes, the complete takeover of innocent child—if conditions were genuinely right, most people would absolutely not miss the opportunity to make a wish.
They would attempt it even if success required paying tremendous price—because human greed and desperation combined to override rational threat assessment. Someone dying of incurable disease would risk possession to be healed. Someone seeking wealth would gamble their consciousness for financial freedom. Someone desiring revenge would trade their humanity for power to destroy enemies.
The Five Elders understood human greed with profound intimacy born from centuries observing it—too aware of this fundamental weakness that made humans predictable, controllable, exploitable. They'd cultivated, weaponized, and leveraged that greed systematically as primary governance tool.
The people who raise the pigs—the metaphorical characterization the Five Elders privately used for the Celestial Dragons they nominally served—epitomized the worst qualities of human beings existing in this world.
Greed. Cruelty. Willingness to sacrifice others for personal comfort. Ability to rationalize atrocities through self-serving logic. Every negative trait that humans could express found concentrated expression in the World Nobles' daily behavior.
The descendants of these twenty kings—the modern Celestial Dragons themselves—were standing in front and showing off conspicuously, drawing all attention and hatred toward their obvious excesses. Their slavery, their casual murders, their grotesque behavior served specific strategic purpose beyond mere indulgence.
The only substantial benefit of the World Government raising this group of worthless pigs was precisely to divert public attention completely—create obvious villains so repulsive that nobody looked beyond them for the real power. The Celestial Dragons functioned as perfect lightning rods, absorbing all revolutionary fury and assassination attempts.
The strategy allowed the Five Elders hiding within the city—concealing themselves behind institutional facade, operating as though they were merely senior administrators rather than immortal demon-possessed authorities—to control the world from behind scenes without direct scrutiny or meaningful opposition.
Let the Celestial Dragons be hated, the unspoken policy maintained. Let them absorb all rage, all revolutionary energy, all assassination attempts. Let the world believe that removing them would solve everything. Meanwhile, we remain untouched, unnoticed, continuing our actual work without interference.
The Celestial Dragons served as sacrificial lightning rods—attracting violence that might otherwise target the actual power structure, dying in place of authorities who actually mattered.
"Vegapunk cannot die yet," Saint Marcus Mars declared with absolute finality, overruling Saint Saturn's emotional desire for immediate assassination. "Without him, we cannot possibly complete the Seraph Project successfully. The second-generation models require his unique understanding—nobody else possesses sufficient knowledge to finish Homelander's siblings."
"Once his value is completely drained—once the Seraph army reaches operational capacity and we've extracted every useful innovation from his brilliant mind—that will be the appropriate time for him to die." The cold calculation reduced Vegapunk's life to mere resource expenditure analysis.
After saying this aloud—articulating the scientist's death sentence despite granting temporary reprieve—Saint Marcus Mars found his thoughts turning toward the missing York. The Satellite #06 who'd embodied GREED, who'd attempted betraying Vegapunk to the Illuminati during the Egghead Island invasion.
I estimate that this particular clone has already been dealt with by the original body, Mars's internal assessment concluded grimly. Vegapunk discovered her betrayal and executed her before we could leverage the situation. It represents unfortunate missed opportunity.
It was regrettable that we didn't learn about her willingness earlier—if York had somehow managed contacting the Five Elders first, if she'd reached out before Vegapunk discovered her treachery, perhaps the situation could have developed more favorably for World Government interests.
They might have kept her life preserved, utilized her as compliant dog serving the Celestial Dragons while continuing experimental work in exchange for survival and eventual ascension to World Noble status. York's ambitions aligned perfectly with exploitation opportunities the Five Elders excelled at manipulating.
However, Vegapunk had acted too quickly and decisively—recognizing York's betrayal and eliminating her before the Five Elders could extract maximum value from the internal division. The God's Knights members sent to Egghead Island had arrived far too late to save the potentially-useful clone, finding only her permanent absence.
The remaining satellites of Vegapunk—Shaka, Atlas, Edison, Pythagoras, Lilith—were all united around their original body completely, sharing same fundamental values and loyalty structure. They operated as unified entity rather than discrete individuals with potentially divergent interests that could be exploited.
The Five Elders possessed no meaningful influence over the relationships between Vegapunk and his satellites—no leverage points, no exploitable divisions, no ways to turn one clone against another or against their original.
If they suddenly cut off the funding for Egghead Island entirely—attempting to pressure compliance through financial strangulation—the primary result would be merely slowing down experimental progress, creating delays that ultimately harmed the Five Elders themselves by preventing weapons development they desperately needed.
That outcome represented shooting themselves in the foot—harming their own strategic interests while failing to actually control Vegapunk's behavior. Better to maintain current frustrating arrangement than destroy their own technological advantage through spite.
"We need exercising extreme caution regarding this obese black individual—Blackbeard Teach," Saint Topman Warcury stated while reviewing intelligence reports compiled from Marine surveillance and CP agent observations. "We genuinely didn't anticipate that he would prove far more threatening than Whitebeard himself in future timelines shown by the Sky Screen. We absolutely must not allow him continuing to grow stronger unchecked."
Saint Warcury had been receiving intelligence reports arriving from maritime operations, cross-referencing multiple sources to establish coherent picture of current strategic situation. The intelligence painted disturbing picture: Blackbeard Teach commanded massive fleet in future, possessed multiple Devil Fruit abilities simultaneously, orchestrated operations challenging World Government authority directly.
"The Whitebeard Pirates have begun moving with unusual frequency—deploying resources aggressively, abandoning normal territorial patrol patterns," Warcury elaborated while consulting recent dispatches. "Several division commanders have entered the first half of the Grand Line—Paradise, where Blackbeard currently hides."
"They're clearly probably searching for Marshall D. Teach's exact location, wanting to completely strangle this rebellious adopted son who murdered Thatch and stole the Yami Yami no Mi before he grows beyond their capacity to eliminate in his cradle."
Initially, the Five Elders had not particularly cared about this internal pirate conflict. In fact, they'd welcomed pirates fighting each other enthusiastically—every battle between criminal organizations weakened humanity's overall resistance to World Government authority. Humans killing each other through factional violence only diminished their collective strength.
The more brutal the killing, the greater entertainment value for the Five Elders who'd observed such conflicts across centuries. In previous eras, they would simply applaud from sidelines, enjoying bloodsport while their enemies destroyed each other. They might even arrange for information leaks that intensified hostilities, engineering maximum casualties on both sides.
However, the progress of Whitebeard's adopted sons hunting Blackbeard proved disappointingly slow. Marco and his fellow commanders kept missing their target, always arriving hours or days after Teach had departed. The hunt stagnated through combination of bad luck and Blackbeard's survival instincts.
The Five Elders decided not minding helping Edward Newgate's forces covertly—providing just enough intelligence to make the hunt successful without revealing their involvement. Through carefully leaked information and strategic CP agent positioning, they ensured that Marshall D. Teach's exact whereabouts in Alabasta became completely exposed to the assassination squad led by Marco the Phoenix.
Let the pirates solve this problem for us, the collective strategy operated. Whitebeard wants revenge for murdered crew member. We want preventing Blackbeard's rise to power. Our interests align temporarily. Why not facilitate the outcome we both desire?
During this strategic review, one detail from the Sky Screen broadcast suddenly captured the Five Elders' collective attention with implications they'd initially overlooked.
The captain of Blackbeard's Second Ship—Chrollo Lucilfer—had displayed abilities of the Nusumu Nusumu no Mi (Thief-Thief Fruit), the Paramecia-type allowing its user to steal other Devil Fruit powers temporarily and wield them as though they'd consumed the fruits themselves.
The revelation suddenly reminded the Five Elders of intriguing possibility—strategic application they hadn't previously considered despite its obvious value.
If we could obtain this particular Devil Fruit, Saint Saturn's thoughts raced with barely-contained excitement, would we be able to steal the power of the Nika Fruit and use it completely for the Five Elders' purposes rather than allowing it to perpetually oppose us?
Saint Saturn particularly found this prospect extremely appealing—his scientific mind immediately recognizing the elegant solution it represented. Instead of hunting the Nika Fruit across centuries, instead of trying to contain or destroy Joy Boy manifestations repeatedly, simply steal the liberation power whenever it appeared and redirect that tremendous capability toward World Government objectives.
The concept proved genuinely promising—perhaps the most strategically-valuable revelation the Sky Screen had inadvertently provided to them.
And Van Augur was actually marked as the user of the Doa Doa no Mi (Door-Door Fruit)—the Paramecia-type granting spatial manipulation capabilities through supernatural doorways that bypassed physical distance entirely.
This represented a Devil Fruit that some people proved extremely familiar with—specifically, the current user who was presently working for the World Government under CP9 designation. At this time, this ability user was working for the World Government loyally, having served for years employing door-based capabilities for infiltration and extraction operations.
Because he'd been implicated by colleague's actions, Blueno had recently been drifting on the ocean aboard surveillance vessel with assignment to monitor the powerful existence of the Four Emperors—specifically Kaido, whose movements required constant observation.
"Why does my Devil Fruit ability appear on members of the Blackbeard Pirates?!" Blueno demanded with voice mixing confusion and existential dread, his distinctive bull-horn hairstyle seeming to droop with despair as he processed implications.
"Does this mean my future self is dead?" The question emerged barely above whisper—Blueno confronting his own mortality through Sky Screen's merciless revelation.
Blueno was in complete daze at this moment—mind struggling to process the revelation while body went through motions of maintaining surveillance equipment mechanically. He did not possess the psychological fortitude of genuinely strong individuals who could face death with philosophical calm.
The man was competent agent, skilled combatant, loyal operative—but not someone mentally prepared for confronting inevitable demise. The fact that Kaku had been shot dead by Homelander's laser—their colleague executed on screen in future broadcast, death shown globally—had already delivered tremendous psychological shock to everyone in CP9.
Witnessing your friend die in future timeline, knowing that same fate potentially awaited you as well...
"There's substantial chance you won't actually die," Rob Lucci offered with attempt at reassurance to his not-especially-intelligent companion, the assessment delivered with characteristic bluntness that somehow felt reassuring through sheer confidence.
"Blackbeard Teach possesses demonstrated ability to extract Devil Fruits from other people's bodies," Lucci explained while analyzing the information presented by the Sky Screen systematically.
"In the future timeline, he will most likely take the Devil Fruit residing in your body and transfer it into Van Augur's body—providing his sniper with teleportation capabilities. This represents the most probable guess for why your fruit appears on their crew member."
"You might experience fate similar to Fleet Admiral Sengoku—falling into sleeping state after your Devil Fruit is forcibly extracted. Since the Sky Screen showed no obvious death scene for you specifically, we should avoid assuming worst-case scenario immediately."
The reassurance proved somewhat hollow—Blueno would still lose his abilities, still suffer whatever trauma accompanied forcible fruit extraction—but at least he might survive the process rather than dying outright.
In this cramped surveillance ship, the conversation occurred in vessel barely adequate for single occupant. Lucci, Kaku, and Blueno found themselves squeezed into minimal space—three skilled assassins reduced to tedious observation duty, living conditions approaching punishment rather than legitimate assignment.
The only purpose for maintaining position in this particular sea area was monitoring movements of Four Emperors Kaido the Beast. If he departed from Devil's Triangle where he'd recently established temporary base, they must inform the outside world immediately—reporting to World Government headquarters regardless of hour or circumstance so appropriate countermeasures could be deployed.
The assignment represented death mission thinly disguised as routine surveillance—Kaido possessed Observation Haki sophisticated enough to detect their presence if he bothered looking, and even slightest provocation might result in casual annihilation of their entire vessel.
Spandam had deliberately wanted sending the three operatives to what amounted to certain death—attempting to use Kaido to completely eliminate Rob Lucci, removing his perceived future romantic rival from competition for Ada Wong's affections.
The cabbages I've cultivated with such tremendous effort, Spandam's twisted logic operated in his increasingly deranged mind, absolutely must not be consumed by foreign wild boars! How dare some fatherless, motherless killing machine—Lucci who'd been trained from childhood as mere assassination tool—think himself worthy of Ada's attention?!
Spandam's psychology had deteriorated beyond mere jealousy into something approaching genuine madness. His obsession with Ada, combined with paranoid conviction that Lucci represented existential threat to their "relationship," had pushed him to extremes—only one step away from final complete psychological collapse.
The surveillance mission would either kill CP9's best agents through Kaido's casual violence or prove Spandam's suspicions baseless through their unlikely survival. Either outcome might satisfy the deranged commander's warped priorities, though he clearly preferred the former.
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