Elric held the crimson ability crystal, preparing to absorb its energy, when he noticed something peculiar.
Erin Summers was leaning heavily against his shoulder, shaking her wavy black hair back and forth repeatedly like a malfunctioning bobblehead doll.
He raised an eyebrow with mild concern.
What is wrong with this woman? Her emotional aura is fluctuating wildly.
"...Nothing," Erin muttered quickly, turning her head away to hide her expression.
Of course she wasn't going to admit she was spiraling internally about her sexuality, her complicated feelings toward Elric, and the chaotic mixture of lingering fear and unexpected physical attraction churning violently in her brain.
I like women. I've always liked women. So why did that feel... good? Am I broken now? Did he break me? Can I still chase pretty girls or am I ruined forever?
Her internal crisis raged silently.
Elric studied her briefly, then simply shrugged and stopped paying attention to her emotional turmoil.
Whatever psychological crisis she was experiencing could wait. Power progression took priority.
He gripped the crystal tightly—
And began systematically absorbing its concentrated supernatural energy.
[DING!]
"Host has successfully absorbed supernatural ability crystal."
"Concentrated energy converted into → 13 Devil Fruit Experience Points."
Thirteen points.
Elric's eyes widened slightly with genuine satisfaction.
This was the highest amount he had ever received from any single ability crystal so far in his apocalypse journey.
It immediately confirmed his developing theory:
The stronger the original creature or ability user, and the harder they are to kill, the more concentrated ability energy their crystal will naturally contain.
His mind drifted to strategic considerations.
If that giant cocoon monster on the Houston University campus is eventually classified as a "superpowered creature" by the System... how many experience points would its massive core crystal provide?
The number must be absolutely terrifying. Possibly hundreds.
He exhaled slowly, refocusing on immediate decisions.
He was ready to distribute the newly acquired 13 points optimally across his Devil Fruit abilities.
But before allocating—
A strategic thought suddenly struck him.
Originally, his plan had been straightforward and simple:
Dump all 13 points directly into the Surgical Fruit and push it significantly closer to the distant Level 4 threshold.
But reconsidering the tactical situation...
The Surgical Fruit currently sat at Level 2 (19/20).
It needed literally just 1 single point to breakthrough to Level 3.
I don't actually need to rush toward Level 4 immediately, Elric calculated coldly. Even Level 3 Surgical Fruit capabilities will already be ridiculously powerful with expanded ROOM, new techniques, and enhanced precision.
So instead of concentrated investment—
He wanted to spread the points strategically across multiple fruits for balanced growth.
Optimal distribution would be:
1 point → Surgical Fruit (Immediate Level 3 breakthrough)
12 points → Upgrading another critical fruit
He mentally questioned the System interface:
"Can Devil Fruit experience points be freely split and distributed between different fruits, or must they be allocated to one ability at a time?"
[DING!]
"Affirmative. Devil Fruit experience points may be distributed freely across any acquired abilities in any proportions desired."
Perfect flexibility.
Elric nodded with satisfaction, his mind already calculating optimal paths.
Time to optimize his entire power portfolio.
He mentally reviewed all his current Devil Fruit abilities requiring potential upgrades:
Surgical Fruit (Main core utility ability - medical, spatial, tactical)
Magma Fruit (High offensive damage output)
Allosaurus Zoan (Physical enhancement and combat forms)
Emotion Perception Fruit (Support, detection, social manipulation)
He considered each option carefully with strategic analysis.
The Magma and Allosaurus abilities were already extremely strong offensively and provided overwhelming direct combat power.
His current offensive capability portfolio was genuinely ridiculous:
Devastating magma fists that melted everything Surgical spatial cutting attacks Ancient Zoan hybrid combat form Full prehistoric beast transformation Elemental magma body (near-invulnerability)
What he fundamentally lacked wasn't more offensive firepower.
It was something entirely different:
Better situational awareness
Enhanced threat detection
Expanded emotional/psychological scanning
The critical weakness was obvious:
His Emotion Perception Fruit's effective range was far too limited—barely extending beyond close conversation distance.
He essentially had to walk directly up to someone to accurately sense their true emotional state and intentions.
That limitation was genuinely dangerous in apocalyptic scenarios.
What if a cunning ability user disguised themselves as a harmless survivor, approached me with false friendliness, and attempted a backstab assassination when my guard was down?
Even with his magma elemental form providing defensive protection, getting ambushed by a prepared enemy with unknown abilities would still represent unacceptable risk.
And hostile ability users would only grow stronger and more sophisticated as time progressed and they gained experience.
Therefore—
Elric made his final tactical decision with cold certainty.
Final Distribution:
1 point → Surgical Fruit
→ Immediate breakthrough to Level 3 with new abilities
12 points → Emotion Perception Fruit
→ Massive upgrade from Level 1 → Level 2 and beyond
He mentally confirmed the allocation to the System.
Supernatural energy surged through his entire body instantly—
The Surgical Fruit's latent potential unlocking and expanding dramatically—
The Emotion Perception ability's sensory range exploding outward in all directions—
Transforming Elric into someone exponentially harder to ambush, deceive, manipulate, or outmaneuver through any psychological tactics.
The System chimed with detailed notifications:
[DING!]
"Surgical Fruit Experience +1"
"Surgical Fruit BREAKTHROUGH achieved → Level 3"
"Current Status: Level 3 (1/100 experience toward Level 4)"
[Displaying updated Surgical Fruit complete skill information...]
Elric focused intently, and comprehensive data appeared before his mental vision:
SURGICAL FRUIT — LEVEL 3 COMPLETE SKILLSET
1. ROOM (Operating Space Domain):
Create a spherical film-space barrier with maximum diameter of 1,500 meters.
(Previously 1,000m at Level 2. The expanded range now covered approximately half the entire Ginkgo Heights residential community.)
Within ROOM, the user has complete spatial awareness and manipulation authority.
2. SCAN (Medical Diagnostic Vision):
Inside active ROOM domain, automatically perceive, map, and analyze the complete internal structure and physical condition of every object or living creature—functioning essentially like a supernatural 3D CT medical scanner.
NEW FUNCTION ADDED AT LEVEL 3:
While scanning any human target within ROOM, automatically detect and diagnose:
All diseases and illnesses (acute and chronic) Internal injuries (visible and hidden) Genetic conditions and abnormalities Allergies and immune responses Tumors, cancers, and cellular mutations Organ dysfunction or damage
Practical application: If Elric scanned Shay right now, he could instantly pinpoint the exact medical cause of her severe facial scarring and allergic reactions, potentially enabling targeted treatment.
Extremely useful for medical applications and support.
Less directly useful for immediate combat, but invaluable for maintaining his harem's health and loyalty.
3. SHAMBLES (Spatial Position Swap):
Instantly swap the spatial positions of any objects or living creatures within active ROOM domain.
Enhanced capacity at Level 3:
Maximum swappable object weight = 15× user's body weight × mental power coefficient
Practical meaning: Cars, large monsters, massive boulders, entire groups of enemies—all viable targets for instantaneous position manipulation.
4. BATON (Telekinetic Object Control):
Freely manipulate and control any non-living objects within ROOM with precise telekinetic force.
Capabilities include:
Levitation and sustained flight Rapid acceleration to projectile speeds Using environmental objects as weapons Throwing items like electromagnetic railgun projectiles
Stamina consumption scales with object mass and manipulation complexity.
With his newly enhanced Allosaurus-powered physical body, this ability's practical power had become genuinely monstrous.
5. SCALPEL (Surgical Cutting Energy):
Coat fingers or any held weapon in invisible spatial cutting energy.
Unique properties:
Severed targets do not bleed Remain fully alive and conscious Experience no pain during separation Can be precisely reattached later
Only targets possessing mental power 10× greater than the user can resist this effect.
Current reality: Practically no one in the apocalypse could resist Elric's Scalpel cuts.
6. SHIFT VALUE (Surgical Reassembly):
Perfectly reassemble, reattach, or reorganize anything previously cut by Scalpel ability.
Applications include:
Restoring severed limbs to original owners Swapping limbs between different bodies Creating hybrid "chimera" combinations Attaching weapons directly to flesh Building grotesque combat forms if desired
A miracle in the hands of a surgeon. A nightmare toolkit for a mad scientist.
Up to this point, skills 1-6 represented enhanced versions of abilities Elric already possessed at Level 2.
ROOM's range had expanded 50%.
SCAN gained comprehensive medical diagnostic functions.
All manipulation abilities increased in power and flexibility.
Everything had improved exactly as anticipated based on the leveling system's established patterns.
But what truly mattered—what made Level 3 genuinely transformative—
Were the four completely new skills unlocked at this threshold.
The System continued its detailed explanation:
NEW SURGICAL FRUIT SKILLS (LEVEL 3 EXCLUSIVE)
7. SCALPEL — HEART EXTRACTION:
The user's five fingers can phase through a target's chest cavity and extract their living heart without causing death.
Effects:
Extracted heart remains beating inside protective supernatural membrane Target immediately falls unconscious from shock Tremendous physical and psychological pain inflicted Heart can be reinserted later using Shift Value or standard Transplant Works even on superpowered ability users Extracted heart can be held hostage for absolute control
This was the exact same terrifying technique Law used against his enemies in One Piece—complete control through literally holding someone's heart in your hand.
Elric's lips curved into a slight, cold smile.
Perfect for hostage situations and absolute control.
8. ANTIBACTERIAL ARMAMENT:
Generate a transparent spherical protective barrier around yourself and designated allies—functionally similar to surgical sterilization fields.
Defensive capabilities:
Complete poison immunity Biological contamination filtering Weak physical attack deflection Minor supernatural effect nullification Disease transmission prevention
Extremely practical for apocalypse survival where contamination, poison, and biological warfare represented constant threats.
9. COUNTER SHOCK (Reverse Impact):
Channel concentrated high-frequency electrical energy through both thumbs simultaneously.
Combat effects:
Powerful stunning and paralysis Internal organ disruption Severe nerve system damage Temporary induced coma Instant death for weaker opponents
Essentially: weaponized cardiac defibrillation turned into a devastating close-range attack.
10. GAMMA KNIFE:
Materialize a mysterious glowing green energy blade composed of pure concentrated radiation—the Surgical Fruit's ultimate assassination technique.
Unique properties:
Ignores ALL forms of external defense Bypasses physical armor completely Penetrates elemental transformation forms Cuts through enhanced durability powers Directly destroys internal organs and cellular structure Leaves absolutely no external wounds or traces Consumes massive stamina per use
A pure execution ability—an invisible death sentence that no defense could withstand.
Elric exhaled slowly, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction and anticipation.
"The Gamma Knife... finally."
This was the specific ability he had been strategically waiting for—the technique that made the Surgical Fruit truly lethal rather than just versatile.
A capability that could kill almost anything—regardless of their defensive abilities, elemental immunities, or enhanced durability.
With this, even ability users who think they're invincible become vulnerable.
Perfect.
There is 50 chapter Advance, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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