Yami gathered his words and said slowly, "I know of two places where there are two of the strongest abilities among the three classes of Devil Fruits. One is prepared for Nami. The other is in the New World and will take time to find."
"So your choice is this: eat this guy's Logia, the Sand-Sand Fruit, and then, once we reach the New World, we'll go look for that other fruit?"
"Master, may I ask what that Devil Fruit is?"
Carina didn't decide right away and asked, "Compared to this person's Logia—Sand-Sand Fruit—how does that Devil Fruit measure up? Which is stronger?"
Yami set Crocodile on the ground, sat on his body like a chair, and answered, "The fruit I prepared is a Mythical Zoan. Its name is Zoan: Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Model: Vampire!"
"A Mythical Zoan?!" Robin was visibly surprised.
Seeing that, Carina immediately asked, curious, "Robin-nee, are Mythical Zoans that powerful?"
"Mhm, extremely powerful and rare."
Robin nodded lightly and explained, "Among the three classes of Devil Fruits, Paramecia abilities are myriad, but the books don't give them a strict taxonomy. Logias are publicly regarded as the strongest class."
"Only Zoans are clearly subdivided among the three classes."
"There are three major categories of Zoans: first, the regular types—ordinary animals. For example, eating a Zoan: Dog-Dog Fruit grants a dog's keen nose, a dog's strength, and even lets your body transform into a dog."
"Among Zoans, regular types are most common, followed by Ancient types."
"Every Ancient Zoan is based on creatures recorded as extinct or extremely rare—dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mammoths, and so on."
"Above the Ancient types is a category rarer than most Logias: the Mythical types."
"Mythical Zoans, as the name suggests, are modeled on beings from myth and legend—like the Buddha, angels, the Azure Dragon, vampires, nine-tailed foxes… all of those are Mythical types."
"Those who eat a Mythical Zoan can transform into that very being and wield the powers it holds in myth and legend!"
"Th-That's amazing!"
After Robin's explanation, Carina and Nami were both wide-eyed.
Carina decided at once and told Yami, "Master, I don't want his fruit. I want the Mythical Zoan—Vampire."
"Don't rush. Let me lay out both fruits' abilities, then decide."
Yami lifted a hand to calm her and continued, "The Logia: Sand-Sand Fruit is one of the top-tier Logias. Every top-tier Logia is synonymous with a natural disaster."
"Those who eat the Sand-Sand Fruit can turn their bodies into sand, ignoring all attacks except Seastone and certain special methods. Aside from the Dark-Dark Fruit, every Logia grants elementalization."
"Each top-tier Logia has a devastating specialty—Ice freezes, Magma melts and burns, Thunder shocks and heats… The Sand-Sand Fruit's specialty is desiccation."
"If you eat the Sand-Sand Fruit, your hands can drain moisture from whatever you touch, organic or inorganic—turning objects into sand and people into desiccated corpses."
"Anyone caught and dried out like that is almost certainly doomed."
"In addition, any top-tier Logia can unleash large-scale, disaster-level destruction. That sandstorm just now was created by the Sand-Sand Fruit."
"As for the Mythical Zoan: Vampire, it doesn't grant elementalization, but it does give the user an animal's physique and traits."
"If you eat the Mythical Zoan: Vampire, you gain bat traits and vampire traits."
"I checked the Devil Fruit compendium and know a little—users of the Vampire Fruit have ultrasound, flight, and night vision, can create night, and can drain life through bloodsucking."
"Especially that life-draining—like the Sand-Sand Fruit's desiccation, it can one-shot if you seize the chance, and it can grant eternal youth."
"As for whether the Vampire has broad-area destructive techniques, I'm not sure."
"..."
After hearing Yami out, Carina fell silent.
It had to be said—both the Sand-Sand Fruit and the Mythical Zoan: Vampire are top-tier among the three classes.
First, both fruits come with instant-kill potential.
Second, the Sand-Sand Fruit offers large-scale destructive power and the defensive boon of elementalization; the Mythical Zoan: Vampire can create night and grant eternal youth.
With both laid out, it really was a hard choice.
But Carina quickly made up her mind. "Master, I choose the Mythical Zoan—Vampire."
"Even if I don't know whether the Vampire has any wide-area finishers, that fruit will strengthen my physique, which meshes perfectly with Rokushiki. I feel it suits me better."
"It can keep me eternally youthful, too—no fear of getting old. Ufufufu…"
In the end, Carina let out her distinctive laugh.
"Good. Then I'll leave this guy as he is," Yami said with a smile and a nod.
"Eh?"
Nami blinked. "Master, a fruit that strong—you're not going to take it for yourself?"
"Yeah. If Master took his fruit, the Sand-Sand Fruit's desiccation combined with Dark Vortex would be lethal," Carina added.
"That ability doesn't suit me, and it's not one of the fruits I want."
Yami shook his head, not telling the girls about the power of Haki.
Dark Vortex plus desiccation is potent, but it only one-shots those without Haki.
If the enemy has Haki, desiccation won't work.
In this world, Haki is the universal answer.
Yami possesses a steel-like body; his core fruit is the Paramecia: Momo-Momo Fruit; he's walking a path where raw power breaks all arts. Elementalization would only dull his will.
So aside from the Logia: Dark-Dark Fruit, Yami has no intention of eating a second Logia.