One Piece: Reborn in God's Valley

Evening. In a sealed chamber of the Fernando Club.

Ashen stood before the masked man, the black ice encasing the latter now cleared away. His body remained frozen and stiff, but he was still alive.

Ashen had gone out of his way to fish this man from the sea for one reason.

He'd been nursing a bold idea, turning the masked man into a powerful companion, something akin to Big Mom's thundercloud homie, Zeus.

And calling it bold was no exaggeration. 

Turning a living person into a Zeus-like homie was, for all intents and purposes, impossible. If it weren't, Linlin would have succeeded long ago.

Back in the Whole Cake Island arc, Lola's father had explained the creation of Homies in detail. 

It involved Big Mom's soul-infused avatar extracting slivers of soul from the citizens of Totto Land and forcibly inserting them into inanimate objects, plants, doors, chess pieces, or low-intelligence animals like crocodiles.

Technically, Ashen could already recreate something like that. 

But forcibly extracting another person's soul, thereby shortening their life span? That wasn't something he could, or wanted, to do.

Besides, most Homies weren't very powerful. Their intelligence was rudimentary at best, and their potential for growth was practically zero.

What made Zeus and Prometheus strong was the fact that Big Mom used her own soul to create them, infused into elemental bodies.

A Devil Fruit user's own soul was simply on another level compared to the fragments extracted from others.

Using her own soul meant seamless communication. That's why Big Mom had said Zeus and the others were like parts of herself when speaking to Brook.

But even these "clones" had flaws, they lacked intelligence, no more than children. A cloud of thunder held no real wisdom. That's how Nami had lured Zeus away so easily.

So really, Zeus couldn't be called a true clone, more of a sentient support weapon.

"I once ran an experiment while training on a deserted island. Tried to insert a soul into a rabbit's corpse. But the rabbit's brain just couldn't handle it."

Now, staring at the masked man in front of him, Ashen still wasn't sure where to begin.

"If I were to insert my own soul into his body, there'd be three possible outcomes.

First, my soul leaves my body and forcibly ejects his. His soul would then dissipate, vanish into the underworld, he'd be dead. 

All his memories, experiences would be lost, and his Devil Fruit power would disappear, at least for a while. I'd essentially be swapping into an incompatible body, which would be pure lunacy.

Second, I insert only a tiny fragment of my soul. His soul resists and easily overpowers the fragment. My effort would be completely in vain.

Third, I try to shatter his soul and insert a fragment of mine. But my fragment would be too low in intelligence, only capable of basic thought and communication. 

It wouldn't be able to maintain proper brain function. I'd end up creating a zombie or a human vegetable." Ashen rubbed his temples, frustrated.

"Speaking of zombies, Brook once said that a person's shadow is like a second soul. It shares the same personality and combat skills as the original. 

Think of it like this, the body is a film negative, and the shadow is the projected image, an exact replica.

That's why when Moria cut someone's shadow, he didn't kill them. If the original dies, the shadow vanishes too. 

So for every zombie Moria had, there was an enemy wanting to reclaim their shadow. And digging up people's corpses?

That earned him even more grudges from the dead's loved ones. That Devil Fruit is a grudge magnet," Ashen thought with a rare moment of sympathy for the future Warlord of the Sea.

"Moria's technique, at its core, is just grafting shadows onto corpses. Grafting…."

Ashen's eyes lit up.

"I can graft my soul fragment onto the masked man's soul. Sure, my fragment is low-intelligence, but it can absorb his soul's energy and grow stronger over time. 

That way, my soul fragment becomes the core of his soul. His body, memories, experiences, even his Devil Fruit power, will all serve me."

Ashen felt like he'd struck gold, practically trembling with excitement.

"To make soul grafting work, his soul must be in a non-resistant state. If he regains consciousness mid-process, my fragment won't be able to merge. 

Until my fragment grows strong enough, I'll need to keep his soul frozen, to keep him unconscious the entire time."

Wasting no time, he pressed his left palm against the masked man's head, activating his ability. 

A chilling, ghostly cold spread from his hand, freezing the man's soul in a deep, unconscious state. 

Then, from his right palm, a pale wisp of soul emerged, his own fragment, slipping silently into the man's body.

Two days later. Outside the sealed chamber.

"Hey, Salles… the captain's been in there for two days. You don't think something's happened, do you? Maybe you should go check?" Walton nudged his crewmate.

"You idiot. If you're so curious, go in yourself. I'm not looking for a problem today." Salles wasn't about to be the guinea pig.

"Hehehe... Just messing around. If I interrupted the captain's plan, he'd kill me himself." Walton laughed nervously.

Creeeak…

Just then, the chamber door opened. Ashen stepped out. Following behind him was the masked man.

"Uh… why is that bird guy unfrozen?" Walton's stance immediately shifted to one of caution.

"He's called Abbas. From now on, he'll be reporting directly to me. Salles, take him to get his body treated, then introduce him to the others. I'm going to rest for a bit," Ashen said without elaborating.

"Yes, Captain."

The next morning. In the dining hall.

Ashen ate quietly, mentally replaying the soul grafting process. Honestly, he hadn't been completely confident it would work. 

After inserting the fragment, all he could do was let it grow on its own while he monitored the process using his Nether Eye.

Once he saw the fragment absorbing energy and growing steadily, he finally relaxed.

In the end, his soul fragment replaced Abbas's soul core. The experiment was a success.

"Big Mom's Zeus, Moria's zombies, and my own clone, all three have strengths and weaknesses.

Zeus has the elemental body and destructive power of a Logia. Near-indestructible. But it's dumb.

Moria's zombies are durable, possess the combat skill of their shadow, and don't die easily. 

But they're weak in stamina, vulnerable to seawater. And once the original body dies, the shadow vanishes.

My clone, on the other hand, is like a living person, retains memories, abilities, and can grow stronger. But if killed, that's it. No coming back. And the hardest part… I need to capture the 'raw materials' alive."

Ashen weighed the trade-offs in his mind.

"Lord Ashen, Ulysses, the one who came with me, he's calling." Abbas entered with a Den Den Mushi in hand.