In Link's vision, the corpses of Luffy and Monkey D. Dragon each housed an energy akin to chakra.
Unlike chakra's blue, Luffy's was violet and Dragon's cyan.
Within both colors drifted the same black vapor.
The living having inner energy was normal.
But why would the dead have it too
It wasn't a soul's blue—these were different hues.
After only a few seconds of surprise, Link understood.
Barring accidents, this was Devil Fruit power.
When a user dies, a Devil Fruit's power does not vanish at once; it slowly leaves the host.
That is how Teach could seize the Paramecia Gura Gura no Mi.
Without question, the energies in Dragon and Luffy were Devil Fruit powers in the process of fading.
That identical black vapor was surely the sea's curse.
Link reached out toward Luffy's body and murmured, "Banshō Ten'in."
An unseen hand of gravity drew the corpse into his palm.
The pull clamped it to him like a giant magnet.
But Luffy's Devil Fruit power did not budge.
Unlike Teach's Yami Yami no Mi, this gravity did not drag Devil Fruit power free.
So the Dark-Dark Fruit's pull had unknown properties.
A little disappointed, Link was about to drop the body—
then a spark flashed.
He used Banshō Ten'in again to bring Dragon's body over, gripped father and son, and with Amenotejikara jumped from Wano back to Amazon Lily in a few blinks.
Appearing on the balcony of the viewing room, he set them down, then with Amenotejikara fetched a piece of fruit from a platter.
Cradling the fruit in one hand and holding Luffy's corpse with the other, he whispered, "Hungry Ghost Path."
A clear white dome appeared, wrapping Link and Luffy's body.
Seconds later, the fruit in Link's hand began to change.
It had been an ordinary red apple, but it swelled rapidly until it was bigger than Link's head.
Its peel turned from bright red to purple, etched all over with special spiral patterns.
Others could only see the scene.
In Link's sight, the Devil Fruit power lingering in Luffy and slowly dissipating was tugged out by a special suction, flowed into Link's body, then—
he could have kept it like Teach would, but chose not to.
He let the Devil Fruit power run one circuit through himself, enter by one hand and exit the other, and sink into the red apple.
The apple transformed into a Devil Fruit.
This was the Devil Fruit the World Government had misnamed the Paramecia Gomu Gomu no Mi—actually the Zoan Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, the Sun God.
Having proved the Hungry Ghost Path could seize a Devil Fruit, Link's mood brightened and his sense of safety surged.
From now on he no longer needed to rely on Teach.
Even without the system, Link and Karina's group could achieve immortality.
He now had all three conditions for immortality.
They were the Paramecia Ope Ope no Mi, the Hungry Ghost Path, and a perfect clone.
Next came waiting for Yafilandora to amass medical knowledge until she could perform the Perpetual Youth surgery and carry it out on Karina and the others.
With Pudding's Memo Memo no Mi, that accumulation would be swift—she only needed to read the memories of the sea's great physicians.
Before Yafilandora conducted the surgery, they would use Lineage Factors to produce a perfect clone body and then transplant memories into it.
When the original body died, they would use the Hungry Ghost Path to reclaim the Ope Ope no Mi and have Yafilandora eat it again.
The price for Link's crew to gain immortality was only some clone materials and the time needed to collect medical knowledge.
With that, Link no longer cared much that his link to the system had abruptly gone silent.
Even if the system left the next second, so be it.
His current strength was invincible in this world. Even if Imu's power matched Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's and wielded Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei, Link still had a one-shot trump card.
But plainly, Imu could not possess such might.
Before reaching Six Paths level, Link had guessed Imu's power sat somewhere around Yonko tier to perhaps a God Among Men. As the final boss, the Five Elders' undying state was likely related to Imu; in mystery and rule-bending they stood above the Emperors, so the odds Imu had God Among Men–level power weren't small.
Once Link truly broke the world's ceiling and became a high-tier Six Paths God Among Men, he no longer spared Imu a thought.
At best, as a final boss, Imu might reach the level of Six Paths Obito.
And Six Paths Obito could be handled by Naruto with half of Kurama and Sasuke with the Mangekyō Sharingan once they had Sage chakra.
Against someone like Uchiha Madara with both Rinnegan and high-tier Six Paths, even the Six Paths–blessed Naruto and Sasuke would struggle one-on-one.
Such power makes Super Kage mere toys.
Just like when Link faced Monkey D. Dragon and the others—there wasn't even time to display abilities for fun before they were nearly instant-killed.
With that level, there was no need to care about the sea's balance, Joy Boy, or the three Ancient Weapons.
Even if every force in the world joined hands, they could not match a high-tier Six Paths.
If Imu truly had that strength, no external props would be needed—whenever bored with the performance of lesser beings, a single sweep would wipe the board.
Therefore Imu absolutely was not at Link's tier; even reaching Six Paths Obito was doubtful.
If so, seizing that little playground would be as easy as the instant deletion of Shanks and the rest.