Next Bonus, 100!!
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"Doflamingo might not show his face during this operation,"
Jin said, "but he'll be nearby, directing things. That means Dressrosa will be vulnerable. I want you to infiltrate the country, find Sugar, and take her. The reason Doflamingo is so hard to deal with isn't because he's so strong. It's because he's wrapped himself in layers of protection—Warlord, king, former Celestial Dragon, underworld broker... all those identities are his armor. The Marines can't touch him. And my hands are tied as well. But that doesn't mean he's untouchable. He uses those identities to do whatever he wants. So we'll just have to strip him of that armor, piece by piece. We'll start by taking out the cornerstone of his rule, and then, one by one, we'll peel away his layers of protection. Your chance for revenge is coming, Law. But not yet."
A light glinted in Law's eyes. Jin's analysis, his plan—it was sound. "Alright," he nodded.
"One more thing," Jin added. "Sugar herself isn't strong, but her ability is dangerous. Don't let her touch you. Your ranged attacks are the perfect counter. And she's protected by Trebol. You know his abilities. Be careful he doesn't catch you off guard."
"I know," Law said, his voice calm and steady.
Jin trusted him. After his time in Paradise and the New World, Law had grown quickly. He was a brilliant strategist, skilled at analyzing his enemies and finding their weaknesses. He was no reckless brawler.
And with the Op-Op Fruit and the Calm-Calm Fruit at his disposal, he was the perfect man for an infiltration mission.
G-5 and Dressrosa weren't far apart. A day and a half at the fastest, three days at the slowest.
After Law had departed on a merchant ship, Jin contacted Ai. She had been analyzing the artificial Devil Fruit.
Her conclusion was that artificial Devil Fruits didn't actually break the fundamental rule of "one of a kind."
Think of it this way: instead of creating a new fruit, it's just taking the power of a real one and splitting it among multiple people via their Lineage Factors. The core ingredient is the blood of the original Devil Fruit user.
The artificial Zoans, like Caesar's SMILEs, were the easiest to produce because their Lineage Factors were the most active.
The artificial Paramecias, like Vegapunk's Seraphim, required the Lineage Factor of a Paramecia user to be synthesized into a special "green blood."
The artificial Logias, like Judge's children, were created by infusing the Lineage Factor of a Logia user into their genes while they were still embryos.
It might seem like a new ability, but in reality, it's just an extension of the original Devil Fruit's power.
It's like taking one whole cake that belongs to one person, cutting it in half, and giving a piece to someone else. The cake is smaller. The power is weaker. The more people you share it with, the weaker it gets.
And the potential, the upper limit of an artificial Devil Fruit, is always inferior to the real thing.
Caesar's SMILEs produced all sorts of bizarre, deformed creatures, not to mention the Pleasures.
Vegapunk's Seraphim could use Paramecia abilities, but their real strength was in their own physical power. Their mastery of their abilities was nothing compared to the original user.
And Judge's children could use the elements of poison, fire, and lightning, but they couldn't turn into those elements like a true Logia.
Furthermore, Ai had concluded that a perfect artificial Devil Fruit, created from a user's Lineage Factor, would have the same abilities as the original. A perfect artificial Blue Dragon fruit, for example, not one of Caesar's half-baked creations, would have all the same skills as Kaido's real one.
But it would lower the total upper limit.
In other words, a complete Devil Fruit has an upper limit of "100."
After extracting the Lineage Factor and sharing the ability, that limit is lowered to "99."
Both users, through training and experience, can reach "99," but neither can ever reach the perfect "100."
"So," Jin mused, "the reason Kaido's Blue Dragon fruit could never Awaken... was it because his blood was taken a long time ago?"
It made sense. With Kaido's strength and his relentless training, he should have Awakened long ago. Zoans, with their active "demons," were the easiest to Awaken. If a perfect artificial version of his fruit existed, preventing him from reaching his full potential... it was a reasonable explanation.
It was like an emperor slicing off a piece of his own soul. Even if both the emperor and the piece he gave away can grow stronger, that original wound—that imperfection—will always remain. Neither can ever reach their true, perfect state.
"Yes," Ai confirmed. "And the more people the ability is shared with, the lower the upper limit becomes, exponentially."
"Can it be restored?" Jin asked.
"Based on the data, yes," Ai replied. "A Devil Fruit is a concept. If you kill the user of the artificial Devil Fruit, or the user of the real one, the ability will be restored to its unique state. For example, if you kill Kaido, the artificial Blue Dragon fruit becomes the one and only Blue Dragon fruit. The power of Kaido's fruit will transfer to it. It will become the real one. And its upper limit will naturally be restored to '100'."
So, kill you, and I become the real one? It was like a battle between a clone and its original.
"What about the flawed ones, like the SMILEs and Judge's children?" Jin asked.
"They affect the strength of the ability, not the upper limit. But the data is limited."
"So," Jin said, "the artificial Blue Dragon fruit... it would count as a dose of Biological Matter, right?"
"It would," Ai confirmed. "But its imperfection might affect the integrity of the next evolution. It was created from Kaido's Lineage Factor. In essence, it's still a part of Kaido's fruit's power. It would be like... fighting with one of Kaido's limbs."
A strange analogy.
"What about the other failed experiments?"
"The extraction technique for the Lineage Factor is too crude. It disrupts the body's genetic sequence, causing it to go haywire."
True, the Gifter's fruits were all flawed in some way, let alone the failed experiments.
So, the Lineage Factor technology wasn't "creation," it was cloning.
Did it have value?
Yes. It was like splitting one strong Yonko into one weaker Yonko and one Warlord. You lower the upper limit, but you increase the numbers. And not everyone can master their ability to its absolute limit anyway.
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Late at night.
The sky was a blanket of dark clouds, obscuring the moon. The sea and the sky were a single, black expanse.
A dozen ships, all running dark and silent, were approaching G-5 from several directions.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Ready..."
"Remember, one hit, and we're out."
"Draw as many of the Marines on the island away as you can."
On one of the ships, Diamante was relaying Doflamingo's orders to the hired pirates and bounty hunters.
"Understood."
"Don't worry. You can count on us."
Suddenly, a spotlight cut through the darkness. A Marine warship. It illuminated one of the ships, and a voice boomed across the water.
"You in the vessel ahead! Heave to and prepare to be boarded for inspection!"
Diamante frowned. What was a warship doing out here?
He remained calm. "Forget it! Light 'em up!"
The moment the words left his mouth, more lights flashed on. Two, three... eight Marine warships, all fully armed, were waiting for them in the bay outside G-5.
It was as if they had been expected.
Diamante was stunned.
"Heave to! All hands, heads down, drop your weapons!"
Diamante grit his teeth. "Forget it! Fire everything! Break out and scatter!"
The main cannons and broadside cannons of the numerous ships all took aim at the warships and fired...
A barrage of cannonballs screamed through the air, followed by a series of explosions. Some of them were hydrogen sulfide poison gas shells, which detonated near the warships.
"Disperse!" Gion commanded from the bridge. "Watch out for the gas!"
A fiercer volley of cannon fire answered the attack.
A short while later, the attacking fleet was in disarray, fleeing in all directions.
The Marine ships broke formation and gave chase, making sure no one slipped through and fired a gas shell at the island.
"An ambush?!" Doflamingo said, frowning, when he received Diamante's call. How? Who had leaked the information? A mole? He ran through the list of everyone who knew, his face grim.
Fortunately, he had a backup plan.
He looked up at the sky.
Buffalo, carrying a massive canister, was flying through the clouds, slowly approaching.
The Paramecia Spin-Spin Fruit.
He could turn any part of his body into a propeller, allowing him to fly like an airplane.
A rare and valuable ability.
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