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Rockwell Pirate Ship, Bottom-Level Brig.
Heart-rending agony radiated from his soul to his body. Arthur's hands were completely beyond his control, trembling violently.
His face was frighteningly pale, his breathing rapid and shallow. He looked as if he had just been fished out of the water, his entire body drenched in sweat.
The continuous experiments had drained his physical strength and mental energy to their absolute limits. His body teetered on the edge of collapse; he could pass out at any moment.
Maintaining the "ROOM" operation space to experiment on his own soul was an excruciating task. Without immense willpower, it would be impossible to sustain.
Fortunately, within the operation room, there was no such thing as a failed surgery—even if it didn't succeed, he could continue experimenting endlessly.
"My stamina will last less than a day at most. If I don't succeed by then, I'll have to face the regrettable consequences of failure!" Arthur chanted silently in his heart, though his eyes shone with abnormal brightness.
Failure didn't exist inside the operation room, but once his stamina was insufficient to support the ROOM, failure would descend. The only consequence would be severe trauma to his soul, with the probability of death far outweighing survival.
The scalpel sliced across the part of his soul flickering with lightning. Arthur had lost count of how many attempts this was.
"Hope this works!" Under the intense pain, his stiff facial muscles twisted into a crazed smile.
Just as his scalpel descended...
BOOM!!!
The shockwave from a clash in battle slammed into the outside of the Rockwell ship's hull, causing the entire vessel to rock violently on the sea.
The sudden tremor, combined with a body already overdrawn from eight continuous days of exertion, caused Arthur's hand—unable to hold the scalpel steady—to jerk. The blade landed on a position in his soul's "heart" that he had never even considered!
Indescribable pain caused him to collapse onto the floor, his eyes rolling back, veins bulging, his expression utterly hideous. Yet, Arthur did not forget to consume the Float-Float Fruit and the More-More Fruit...
Throughout history, countless successes have been born from accidents.
Arthur, who had already prepared to transfer the Devil Fruit souls into apples upon failure, was shocked. He felt no rejection or conflict between the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's devil soul and those of the Float-Float and More-More Fruits.
"It... worked?"
Although he had prepared himself to accept either failure or success, Arthur still found it hard to believe. An accident he hadn't calculated into the experiment had brought success to a venture that had kept him sleepless for eight full days without a breakthrough.
Forcing down his inner excitement and the dizzying urge to rest, Arthur didn't immediately deactivate the ROOM. Instead, he began to verify if he truly controlled four Devil Fruit abilities!
Unprecedented? Arthur didn't know, nor did he care to know. The only thing he knew was that if he succeeded today, perhaps many years later, Devil Fruit users would become legends of the sea, existing only in records.
All extraordinary, inconceivable abilities would be gathered in him alone.
Adjusting his excited mood and suppressing his heavy panting, Arthur took the apple that was originally meant to hold the devil souls. With a thought, he activated the Float-Float Fruit ability, manipulating the object he had touched.
Without any surprise, under his control, the apple seemed to break free from gravity, hovering directly in mid-air.
"More-More · Tenfold Cannon!!"
Arthur flicked his finger. The apple, small enough to fit in one hand, traced a straight line through the air and slammed into the cell door.
The immense force bent the iron bars of the gate, while the apple shattered into pieces upon impact...
"Ahahahahahaha!!"
Unwarned, unrestrained laughter spread from the bottom of the ship in all directions. Arthur, surrounded by crackling electricity, finally withdrew the ROOM.
At this moment, he gathered four Devil Fruit abilities in one body: the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit, and the Paramecia-types Op-Op Fruit, More-More Fruit, and Float-Float Fruit. All were top-tier existences!
Although he had currently only used methods to excise the combative factors from their souls, unable to truly merge the devil souls—keeping the abilities distinct from one another—he was certain he would find a way to fuse them sooner or later.
His eyes were bloodshot from lack of rest, and his entire being was exhausted, yet Arthur was as hyperactive as if he had taken a stimulant.
BOOM!!
The ship rocked again from the fierce clash outside. Ripples of shockwaves shook Arthur from his contemplation.
"Hmm? Fighting..."
Opening his Observation Haki wide, he saw Rockwell displaying great prowess with his Steel-Steel Fruit ability, fighting like a ferocious tiger.
Hancock, whom he hadn't seen in three years and who had matured significantly, was leading the Kuja warriors in a duel against the Rockwell Pirates.
"Is that Hancock? Over three years of growth, and she's become this strong!"
Good news puts one in high spirits. Arthur was in a fantastic mood, taking in the battle between the two pirate crews with great interest.
However, both sides were his people. Although he didn't know why they had met on the sea and started fighting, continued conflict would inevitably lead to casualties.
When he guided Hancock for three months and instilled his philosophy in her, it was with the intention of bringing the entire warrior nation of Amazon Lily under the Thunder God Pirates' banner. If deaths or injuries occurred, it would create unavoidable animosity between the two sides in the future.
His body turned into lightning, instantly flying out of the cabin and arriving on the deck of the pirate ship.
"Enough. Stop!"
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Fists collided with feet, energy rampaging. Neither Rockwell nor Hancock's strength could be underestimated; they fought like two human-shaped beasts in a fierce duel on the pirate ship.
Suddenly, their movements to attack again froze mid-air. Everyone on both pirate ships stopped fighting at the sound of that voice, which seemed to contain a magical power, as if time itself had paused.
"Lord Arthur!" Rockwell explained anxiously. "We didn't avoid this pirate crew. I will accept punishment after I kill this woman!"
"Don't attack anymore. Come back!" Arthur waved his hand indifferently, issuing the command to the hundred or so men about to board the Kuja ship. As long as no lives were lost, everything was fine.
"Hancock, it's been almost four years. Your strength has improved quickly... You haven't disappointed me!"
"Impudent! How dare you call Snake Princess by her name!"
"Are all men this audacious?!"
Arrows turned, aiming directly at Arthur. The Kuja warriors were all Hancock's loyal supporters, though some were beautiful young girls on their first expedition, curious about everything.
"Ar... Lord Arthur?"
Upon hearing Arthur's voice, the three Gorgon Sisters were all stunned, their faces blank with bewilderment. As for Hancock herself, her expression changed several times before her fair face instantly flushed red with blood.
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