Through the battle with Ivankov, the Okama King,
Storm completely mastered the power of the awakened Clay-Clay Fruit.
After awakening, the Clay-Clay Fruit gained the ability to forcibly assimilate its surroundings.
Coupled with the seemingly inexhaustible "natural energy" supplied by the Devil Ring,
Storm could now—given sufficient preparation time—
completely assimilate an entire island into a clay island.
In a sense,
Storm now possessed island-destroying power.
"Ideally, I should develop a few more 'awakening techniques'—single-target, group, and area-of-effect…"
"The reference models should be Paramecia users who have reached awakening…"
"Doflamingo, Katakuri, Tesoro, Douglas Bullet…"
Storm reined in his scattered thoughts and turned his attention to the six-star Grand Trophy he had just obtained.
[Diamond Trophy]!
After confirming that "six-star awakening" was required, Storm gained a clearer understanding of six-star power.
Based on past experience,
a four-star [Golden Trophy] roughly corresponded to a bounty of one hundred million Berries—
in other words, a Supernova-level pirate.
"So six-star should correspond to a Shichibukai…"
"And eight-star would be Admiral or Yonko level?"
Storm gently rubbed the Devil Ring on his finger.
"Then the Devil Ring is even more powerful than I expected."
"Nine-star… that's probably already at the level of an Ancient Weapon."
"As expected of the wisdom of the ancient kingdoms."
With the Devil Ring,
maximizing Devil Fruit development was clearly a win-win strategy.
Storm stared at the dazzling Diamond Trophy floating in the void.
In the past…
he would have fed the Diamond Trophy directly into the Clay-Clay Fruit without hesitation.
But now,
Storm had quietly changed his mind.
The Grand Trophy possessed the ability to grant wishes.
Storm's greatest asset—the Devil Ring—
had been obtained through a wish.
If one Devil Ring was already this powerful…
then two Devil Rings would be terrifying.
Storm had ten fingers.
He didn't want one, two, or three Devil Rings—
he wanted many.
To be fair,
as a special Paramecia, the Clay-Clay Fruit was solid, but far from top-tier.
Leaving aside the "super-evolved mythical Zoan" Nika Fruit,
there was the Op-Op Fruit's immortality surgery,
the Paw-Paw Fruit's conceptual manipulation,
and the Hobby-Hobby Fruit's causal effects.
Compared to these,
the Clay-Clay Fruit was undeniably weaker.
In Storm's view, there were two paths forward.
First: push the Clay-Clay Fruit itself all the way to nine-star.
Second: hunt other powerful Devil Fruits and fuse their abilities with clay.
For example—
Mr. 5's Explosion-Explosion Fruit,
and Gladius's Boom-Boom Fruit.
Both could make the Clay-Clay Fruit far more "artistic."
At the extreme,
it might even evolve into—
Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Deidara Form.
Even excluding explosive abilities,
many Devil Fruits could strengthen the Clay-Clay Fruit.
But no matter which path he chose,
to become a multiple Devil Fruit user,
Storm needed more Devil Rings.
Everything came back to Devil Rings.
"The only question is…"
"Can a six-star Diamond Trophy grant a Devil Ring?"
"Even a weakened six-star version?"
The wish-granting power of the Grand Trophy wasn't omnipotent.
When Storm defeated the Chameleon Fruit user,
he had once tried wishing for a Devil Ring—
only to obtain a three-star Chameleon ability instead.
The Diamond Trophy was far stronger.
But was it enough?
Storm didn't know.
He only had one Diamond Trophy.
The risk was too high.
If the wish failed—
ending up with something like a new Okama fist technique or a gender-switching ability—
that would be disastrous.
After long consideration, Storm put the Diamond Trophy away.
"If only I had a second six-star trophy…"
If it were merely for stat upgrades, one Diamond Trophy wasn't worth it.
But if the wish succeeded—
two Devil Rings would bring a qualitative leap in power.
"The six-star powerhouses in Impel Down…"
"There was Ivankov in New Okama Paradise."
"And in Infinite Hell…"
"…Shiryu of the Rain?"
Storm suppressed the thought.
He summoned his Grand Trophy interface and checked his attributes.
When he had declared his ambition as "Edward Teach,"
he had clearly felt a surge of aura within himself.
"Could it be… Conqueror's Haki?"
Storm checked his Haki panel.
[Armament Haki: ★★★★★]
[Observation Haki: ★★★★★]
[Conqueror's Haki: Unawakened]
"…Was it really just my imagination?"
Storm frowned.
"No. That feeling wasn't fake."
He closed his eyes, trying to recreate it.
Nothing.
"Maybe Conqueror's Haki needs more accumulation… or a special trigger."
Annoyed, Storm exhaled.
He looked at the restored Frozen Hell.
Then he casually extended his hand, assimilating the ground back into clay and dragging Ivankov out.
After being blown apart and buried underground,
even a "miracle worker" looked pale.
Storm didn't care.
He wrapped clay around Ivankov's ankle and shook him violently.
Ivankov's eyes snapped open.
"Who am I? Where am I? My head's spinning!"
Storm's voice came from below.
"Ivankov. Are you ready?"
Ivankov looked down.
"Eh? Vongola Storm? Why are you upside down in the sky—"
He froze.
It wasn't Storm upside down.
It was him.
"W-wait! Hold on!"
Ivankov clasped his hands.
"I'm badly injured! I can't fight anymore!"
"Is that so?"
Storm glanced at him indifferently.
"Then why do you still look so lively?"
"Clay Rain."
Long strips of clay shot skyward, sealing Ivankov's mouth instantly.
[Platinum Trophy: Emporio Ivankov]
[Trophy Star Rating: ★★★★★]
"One defeat lowers quality…"
"But a Platinum Trophy—acceptable."
Storm dragged Ivankov back into New Okama Paradise.
None of the okama had escaped.
Ignoring Whitebeard III in the corner—
they didn't even have the courage to move.
Storm knocked them all unconscious with clay.
A rain of trophies appeared.
Mostly Silver.
Only one Gold.
"Okama King… what have you been doing?"
Storm tossed Ivankov beside Morley.
"Couldn't you recruit a few stronger ones?"
Receiving no answer, Storm used the Gold Trophy.
It dissolved.
No Devil Ring.
"…Another ability."
[Name: Death Blink]
[Star Rating: ★★★★]
[Effect: Releases an explosive gust of wind through rapid blinking]
[Comment: Absolutely adorable!]
Storm stared at it.
"…Art really has arrived."
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