Chapter 9 — Dual Fruit User!
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The sun was shining, the sky was clear—a truly beautiful day.
No pirates were disturbing them, and the captured ship sailed smoothly across the sea.
Jack was alone in his room, his left hand moving up and down nonstop…
Don't get the wrong idea—he wasn't doing that kind of thing. He was hesitating about whether to embed the Slip-Slip Fruit into his Infinity Gauntlet.
After thinking it over, Jack decided to use it!
Something is better than nothing. After all, there were six slots on the gauntlet, and it wasn't like embedding a fruit would make it permanent—he could swap it out for a more powerful one later. At worst, it could serve as a pure energy boost.
No matter how you looked at it, this deal wasn't a loss.
Of course, Jack wouldn't admit that his curiosity about just how much the fruit could beautify him played a big part.
So, decisively, he took the pink, plump "pineapple" and brought it toward the second slot on the Infinity Gauntlet.
Another crisp "BANG!"
The rapidly shrinking Slip-Slip Fruit perfectly fit into the gauntlet. With that, Jack officially became a legendary dual-fruit user—though admittedly, his powers were still a bit weak.
What Jack didn't expect, however, was that embedding just two Devil Fruits caused the basic energy of the fruits to begin ripping through his body!
It was true that the Infinity Gauntlet allowed its user to perfectly wield six abilities—even merge them—but the premise was that the user needed an indestructible body!
Think of Thanos: every Infinity Stone he embedded in the Gauntlet increased the burden on his body exponentially!
Even without the Infinity Gauntlet and Stones, Thanos as a Titan was already a cosmic-level powerhouse. Apart from actual "gods," he was the strongest in the universe.
Yet when he gathered all six Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers, the Gauntlet—and his left arm—entered a shattered, broken state!
This was because the energy exceeded what the user's body could handle. Without the Gauntlet to buffer it, Thanos might have been completely torn apart in the instant of the snap.
Jack only realized all this when he felt the energy ravaging his own body.
Although over a year of training and combat had strengthened him considerably, in this pirate world his body was only a few times stronger than a normal Marine, and that was largely thanks to the latent benefits of his Zoan Devil Fruit.
Now, after embedding dual fruits, his physical strength was far from sufficient!
Why do people say that under normal circumstances, a human can only eat one Devil Fruit, and the second one will explode their body?
Bullshit curse!
The real reason was simple: the human body cannot withstand the energy clash from a second Devil Fruit!
This wasn't a simple doubling—it was geometric multiplication.
Jack now felt that pain firsthand.
Even with the Infinity Gauntlet reducing over 90% of the energy damage, the remainder was still too much for his body to handle.
And it wasn't just physical; he felt his mind being slowly torn apart as well.
At this rate, he would die.
Jack forced himself to stay calm and think of a strategy. The screams that had drawn Old John and the others were swiftly chased away with his angry roars.
Relying on others was useless—he had to rely on himself!
A frail human had survived over a year hunting ferocious beasts—there was no way he would fall here!
There were still so many beauties waiting to be saved!
There were still countless delicacies waiting to be tasted!
There were still vast, magnificent landscapes waiting to be admired!
There was no way he could die here!
Gritting his teeth, Jack struggled to communicate with the Infinity Gauntlet. Tasks that normally took just a thought were now extremely difficult under the ravaging energy.
But in the end, through sheer willpower, he managed to connect with the Gauntlet and instantly activated his Zoan form!
Zoan Devil Fruits may have various flaws, and their potential is generally considered inferior to Paramecia and Logia types. Except for the ancient species, few sought Zoan fruits willingly (except for crazy people like Kaido).
But there was no denying that in physical enhancement, Zoan fruits offered gains that Paramecia and Logia could not match.
After transforming into Badger Man, Jack's body strength and regenerative abilities increased dramatically!
Parts of his body torn apart by the energy began to heal!
Tear!
Repair!
Rupture!
Restore!
The destructive energy raged unrestrained, venting its fury—but it was not infinite.
After a grueling one-hour tug-of-war, Jack exhausted all his stamina and finally wore down the energy.
Returning to human form, he was drenched in stinking sweat, with darkened, congealed blood covering him.
As the saying goes, "Surviving a great disaster brings future blessings."
The destructive energy that had battered his body was gradually being repaired by another energy force—breaking to rebuild.
After resting briefly and regaining some stamina, Jack stood up. He tested his body and realized his strength had increased multiple levels!
His speed and power had grown noticeably—two to three times his previous level.
His whole body felt light, as if he could fly.
Of course, that was just an illusion.
But now was not the time to analyze his body changes—and damn, it smelled terrible!
He quickly opened the door and dashed out, ignoring Old John and the others' strange stares, diving headfirst into the sea!
He didn't even bother with his clothes, swiftly cleaning himself off before returning to the ship.
"Mr. Jack… what are you doing?"
Old John had been shocked by the screams from his room, and seeing him covered in blood when he burst out just made things worse.
"Ah, I'm fine. Just a small injury during training—just clean it up for me," Jack said casually, changing clothes and making up a quick story to brush it off.
No one was foolish enough to believe that training could cover someone in that much blood—what a character!
Still, Old John clearly didn't want to dwell on small matters. The journey was only halfway done, and with danger ahead, having a powerful bodyguard was important.
Only a young man with a hint of resentment in his eyes slightly smirked when he saw Jack dive into the water and come back up.