For a moment, silence filled the cabin.
Then—
"Hahahahaha!"
After a brief pause, Crocodile burst into loud laughter. His eyes burned with excitement as he stared at Yuuki.
"Nico Robin told you, didn't she?"
"As long as we obtain the power of the legendary Ancient Weapon Pluton, no one on this sea will be able to oppose us!"
Faced with Crocodile's almost manic enthusiasm, Yuuki simply sighed.
"So, after suffering defeat, you plan to rely on external power."
"That's the extent of your ambition, Crocodile."
"The small talk ends here."
Yuuki waved his hand lazily.
A black chain immediately appeared and sealed Crocodile's mouth.
Being effortlessly defeated by opponents like Whitebeard and Conrad had clearly shaken Crocodile far more deeply than before.
Thinking about it—
Crocodile should actually be grateful to Luffy.
If he hadn't been defeated by someone even weaker later on, he might never have regained his resolve.
Yuuki glanced briefly at the trembling figures of Mr. 1 and the others before turning his attention back to the test tubes in front of him.
Silver magic flowed.
A test tube containing Crocodile's blood floated into the air.
"The influence of a Logia Devil Fruit on its user really is completely different from that of a Paramecia."
"Or rather… they're practically two entirely different situations."
Yuuki picked up the test tube, watching the crimson liquid swirl inside.
Silver light flickered in his eyes.
Through magic, Yuuki could maintain the vitality of the blood for long periods.
He didn't have advanced scientific instruments here—
but magic could accomplish many things even better than machines.
At first glance, the blood looked no different from ordinary human blood.
Yet through his research, Yuuki had discovered something interesting.
Crocodile's blood existed in an unstable state.
Of course, this instability was relative.
Purely physical methods couldn't alter the blood's composition.
But other forces could.
For example—
Haki.
Yuuki infused Armament Haki from his palm into the blood within the test tube.
The next moment—
The blood trembled slightly.
Yuuki could clearly sense that the blood had changed.
The unstable state vanished.
At the same time, the trace of Devil Fruit power within it disappeared.
Earlier, Yuuki had conducted another test.
He had placed a fragment of Seastone into the blood.
The results were nearly identical.
The effect was so noticeable likely because the Devil Fruit energy present in the blood was extremely faint.
Neither result was particularly surprising.
After all, both Haki and Seastone were known to suppress Devil Fruit abilities.
What truly caught Yuuki's attention was another discovery.
He placed the now useless test tube aside and picked up another sample of Crocodile's blood.
As mentioned earlier—
Crocodile's blood existed in a volatile state.
But to trigger that instability, a catalyst was needed.
Among the four elemental attributes—
sand belonged to a branch of the earth element.
"Earth Magic."
Yuuki allowed earth-element mana to flow into the blood.
Instantly, the unstable state was triggered.
Before Yuuki's eyes—
the blood in the test tube rapidly transformed into fine grains of sand.
Seeing this, Yuuki chuckled softly.
"No wonder Vegapunk hasn't been able to advance his research on Logia fruits."
Yuuki muttered to himself.
Caesar Clown, using lineage factors, had created artificial Zoan Devil Fruits.
Vegapunk, using those same lineage factors, had extracted Paramecia abilities through a substance known as Green Blood, allowing the creation of the Seraphim.
But—
Even Vegapunk, hailed as the greatest mind in the world, had never successfully replicated Logia-type abilities.
Now Yuuki understood why.
In essence—
Lineage factors were equivalent to genetic information.
Artificial Devil Fruits and Green Blood were both created by copying the genes of ability users.
But Logia users were fundamentally different.
Take Crocodile as an example.
Under the influence of his Logia fruit, his body had become nearly indistinguishable from actual sand.
Trying to replicate a Logia ability using sand, ice, magma, or light—
was practically impossible.
Because at that point—
the phenomenon had already stepped beyond the boundaries of simple science.
Yuuki clicked his tongue.
"If only Zoan and Paramecia fruits existed…"
"Even I might suspect Devil Fruits were artificial creations."
He withdrew the earth mana from the tube.
The sand reverted back into blood.
Watching the change, Yuuki sighed softly.
"But the existence of Logia fruits effectively disproves that theory."
"And when a user dies, the Devil Fruit ability leaves their body and reappears somewhere in the world."
"That behavior resembles the rules of the world itself."
However—
Yuuki set the test tube down on the table.
Though he had answered some questions, it did little to advance his true goal.
He hadn't been researching Devil Fruits merely out of curiosity.
Aside from the Luck Fruit he sought—
Yuuki was also extremely interested in abilities like the Soul-Soul Fruit, the Return Fruit, the Slow-Slow Fruit, and others.
But gaining multiple Devil Fruit abilities was a difficult problem.
Yuuki didn't know what method Blackbeard used.
But it clearly came with limitations.
Otherwise, Blackbeard wouldn't have waited decades for the Dark-Dark Fruit.
However—
Vegapunk's creation of Green Blood had given Yuuki inspiration.
If Vegapunk could use Green Blood to create Seraphim possessing the abilities of former Warlords—
then perhaps Yuuki could do something similar.
He might obtain multiple Devil Fruit abilities.
And if that proved impossible—
he could create magic tools infused with Devil Fruit powers instead.
Of course—
this was merely a preliminary idea.
Many obstacles remained.
Thinking this, Yuuki turned toward Crocodile.
"Now we begin the second experiment."
Ignoring Crocodile's furious glare, Yuuki smiled faintly.
He walked forward.
Under the terrified gaze of Mr. 1 and the others, Yuuki grabbed Crocodile and carried him out of the laboratory.
BOOM! BOOM!
Thunder exploded from the storm clouds above.
The sky was dark and oppressive.
Waves surged violently around the ship.
The Magic Eye Pirates' vessel looked as though it were sailing into a bottomless abyss.
Yuuki glanced at the deck.
Not a single drop of rain had fallen there.
Cabaji stood in the center, maintaining a wind barrier.
"Good control over wind mana."
Yuuki praised casually.
"Th-thank you… Captain!"
Cabaji felt as though his body was about to collapse.
Yet hearing the compliment gave him renewed strength.
He continued sustaining the barrier with renewed determination.
Meanwhile—
Buggy hurried over.
His eyes immediately fell on the pale, weakened Crocodile hanging in Yuuki's grip.
Buggy shivered.
"Captain!"
he said with a flattering grin.
Crocodile clearly looked like someone suffering from severe blood loss.
"The things I asked you to prepare?" Yuuki asked.
"I'll bring them right away!"
Buggy nodded frantically and ran off.
His panic caused his feet to detach from his body automatically.
His upper body floated awkwardly through the air.
Moments later—
Buggy returned carrying a large basket filled with fruit, nearly half his height.
He carefully placed it before Yuuki.
Yes.
Yuuki was preparing to strip Crocodile of his Devil Fruit.
"Captain… why do you need so many fruits?"
Buggy asked curiously.
"You really want to know?"
Yuuki smiled at him.
Buggy's face immediately paled.
He shook his head wildly.
A small whirlwind lifted the fruit basket into the air.
Holding Crocodile in one hand, Yuuki walked toward the bow with the floating basket following him.
The next moment—
he stepped into the raging ocean storm.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Cradle."
Splash!
Before the crashing waves could touch him—
they were pulled together by an invisible force.
Water formed a spherical barrier, enclosing Yuuki completely.
Then—
the sphere sank beneath the sea.
Descending rapidly toward the depths of the ocean.
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