Three days passed by silently again.
During these seventy-two hours, Yun Lie devoted himself entirely to developing the abilities of the Karma Karma Fruit.
On the cold, gleaming metal table in front of him lay a light green Devil Fruit.
The uneven patterns on the fruit's surface resembled ancient and mysterious characters, exuding a chilling aura.
"Causality Power, Devil Manifestation!" Yun Lie roared, and a crimson light suddenly erupted around him.
The Causality Power, like a transparent veil, instantly enveloped the Devil Fruit.
The next second, a slender, blood-red thread slowly extracted itself from the fruit's core, drawing a strange arc in the air.
As the thread continuously extended and split, it began to intertwine and weave with a peculiar rhythm.
These crimson threads wove into a complex net-like structure in the air, their light growing brighter and brighter, so dazzling that it made people unable to open their eyes.
About half a minute later, the light gradually dissipated, and a palm-sized green-furred alligator snapping turtle floated in the void.
The little creature's black-bean-like eyes darted around, and its shell gleamed with a moist luster, as if it had just crawled out of the deep sea.
Immediately afterward, the Devil Fruit on the table suddenly trembled violently, its flesh surging and reorganizing like boiling magma, and the patterns on its skin rapidly moving and connecting like living things.
The wooden table groaned under the strain of the tremor, and in less than two minutes, the complete Devil Fruit transformed into a creature identical to the alligator snapping turtle in the air.
However, this newly born giant turtle was enormous, and the moment it heavily slammed onto the table, it caused the bottles and jars on the table to clatter, and even the cabin floor trembled slightly.
"Roar!" As soon as the giant turtle appeared, it opened its large, fanged mouth and let out an angry roar at Yun Lie, a fishy wind blowing in his face, mixed with a nauseating stench of decay.
Perhaps the frenzy of regaining freedom had clouded its mind; it suddenly raised its sharp claws, accompanied by a whooshing sound, and viciously swatted towards Yun Lie's throat, its sharp nails leaving a greenish afterimage in the air.
"Beast! Don't forget who gave you freedom!" Yun Lie's aura surged, and an angry roar boomed like a great bell.
The green-furred alligator snapping turtle's movements instantly froze, and a human-like expression of fear actually appeared on its originally ferocious turtle face.
Its massive body trembled uncontrollably, and with a "plop," it obediently lay down on the table, retracting its four limbs into its hard shell, leaving only its partially retracted head cautiously poking out.
"Yun Lie, what's going on?"
Nami's clear blue eyes widened, and the hand holding her book trembled slightly.
Robin, beside her, pushed up her glasses, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes; while Mitsuri hid behind Nojiko, peeking out half her head with curious glances.
A Devil Fruit turning into a living creature completely overturned their understanding of the world.
"This is a new ability I developed using the Karma Karma Fruit," Yun Lie took a deep breath and slowly explained.
"I manifested the Devil residing within the Devil Fruit, and here in my hand—"
He raised his palm, which was empty, "—is the core of this Devil Fruit. Controlling it is equivalent to controlling the lifeblood of this green-furred alligator snapping turtle."
All the girls craned their necks, their eyes wide as they examined it closely, but they saw only emptiness, their faces filled with confusion and incomprehension.
Yun Lie smiled mysteriously, lightly tapping his fingertip, and a gentle Causality Power enveloped their eyes like a thin mist.
In an instant, they saw a transparent little green-furred alligator snapping turtle floating in Yun Lie's palm, identical to the giant turtle on the table, even down to the tiny cracks on its shell and the distribution of its fur, without the slightest difference; they could even vaguely see its slightly rising and falling abdomen, as if it were breathing.
"How amazing!" Mitsuri couldn't help but reach out to touch it, only to find her finger passing straight through, as if the little turtle was just an illusion. "Why can't I touch it?"
"The power of Causality is truly wondrous," Robin stroked her chin, her eyes full of inquiry. "This little turtle should only be tangible to Yun Lie. From a physics perspective, this might be a special dimensional entity created by the law of causality."
"Indeed," Yun Lie pointed at the giant turtle on the table, a hint of expectation flashing in his eyes. "Don't dismiss its current size; given enough time to grow, there might be unexpected results."
In reality, this green-furred alligator snapping turtle was incredibly powerful.
As a materialized existence of a Devil Fruit, it possessed the characteristic of being immortal and indestructible—as long as the core little turtle in his hand remained safe, even if the giant turtle was completely destroyed, it would reappear beside him, just like a Devil Fruit regenerating.
Of course, after regeneration, the giant turtle would reset everything and need to grow again.
The Way of Causality is profound and boundless. All things in the world have cause and effect.
But mastering the Karma Karma Fruit was equivalent to holding the key to rewriting causality.
Through his research into the ability, Yun Lie successfully reversed the causal relationship between himself and the Devil Fruit, transforming the backlash of using the ability into consuming his own physical energy.
He granted the Devil freedom, allowing it to break free from the fruit's confines—this was the "cause"; after the Devil manifested, its lifeblood was controlled by him—this was the "effect."
"So how do we deal with this big turtle? We definitely can't eat it." Nojiko silently put away the kitchen knife at her waist and asked, puzzled, "Since it's a Devil Fruit, can it swim?"
"Uh, why don't we try?" Yun Lie wasn't sure either, scratching his head.
Everyone worked together to lift the green-furred alligator snapping turtle to the pool on the deck, then released it.
Surprisingly, after the giant turtle fell into the water, not only did it not struggle and sink like ordinary ability users, but it also flexibly moved its limbs, flipped over in the water, and moved as lightly as if it were crawling on land.
"This guy, he probably hasn't swum before, has he? Look how excited he is!" Karina laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Maybe it's his first time in the water!"
"That's hard to say." Yun Lie suddenly recalled Jack's experience in the original work and explained, "If a Fishman or Mermaid eats a Devil Fruit, they will lose their strength in the water, but they won't drown. Perhaps one of the previous owners of this alligator snapping turtle was a Fishman or Mermaid."
The girls listened to this novel information, their faces full of wonder.
And Yun Lie, looking at the green-furred alligator snapping turtle happily swimming in the pool, suddenly had a bold idea: "This guy makes me think of a potentially feasible new ability. Let's keep him for now."
The scene of acquiring this fruit resurfaced in his mind—that ability user had thick, green hair, even brighter than Zoro's hair color.
Without further ado, Yun Lie eagerly returned to the laboratory, once again immersing himself in the development of new abilities.
Outside the window, night fell, and Moonlight spilled onto the sea, casting a mysterious glow over this adventure full of unknowns.