One Piece: Saving Hancock with the Batto Batto no Mi

A Week Later...

Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 71.

In the living room of a grand villa, Sephiroth, dressed in a sharp white suit, sat casually with his legs crossed on a single-seater sofa. Beside him, Tesoro and Stella sat on a long sofa, observing the scene before them.

After a week, Jim's physique had drastically swelled, transforming from a thin bamboo pole into a round sphere. His rate of weight gain was truly excessive, a result of his continuously developing abilities. At this moment, Jim stood before the three of them, holding a heavy, 1.6-meter-long rocket launcher in his hands. He patiently introduced it to them:

"This Javelin Rocket Launcher, after incorporating the special alloy metal I created with my ability, not only has an effective range of 1000 meters, but as long as the custom-made armor-piercing shell is loaded and fired, even a medium-sized sailing ship will be instantly blown to smithereens," Jim explained, his voice filled with pride mixed with a hint of disappointment. "Although it didn't reach the 2500-meter effective range the Boss requested, and the parameters didn't meet the standard... still, for now, it's the strongest weapon in our weapon factory."

"Oh? In that case, here you go..." Sephiroth smiled mysteriously, leaning slightly forward, and opened a box on the table, revealing two Devil Fruits inside. One was the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Wolf, and the other was the Doa Doa no Mi. He picked up the gray Inu Inu no Mi and handed it to Jim.

"Try combining this fruit with the rocket launcher, just like you would make an alloy metal... However, I suggest you swallow it whole, don't chew it..." Sephiroth said, his gaze testing.

Gulp!

Hearing this, Jim instantly shivered, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He wasn't a fool who knew nothing about Devil Fruits. He knew that if someone ate two Devil Fruits at the same time, the different powers would clash within the body, and then the entire person would explode! Jim glanced at Sephiroth, who was seated on the single sofa, and his heart was filled with unease. Clearly, this was a test of his loyalty... If he didn't obey, Sephiroth certainly wouldn't let him off easily!

Finally, Jim sighed inwardly, accepting his fate. His body began to swell and expand, growing to over three meters in height. A wooden door appeared on his stomach, and a chimney grew atop his head. At that very instant, he opened his mouth wide, transforming into a bloody maw more than a meter wide—the Jim Processing Plant! This was a different space he had opened within his body with the help of his Baku Baku no Mi ability, which allowed him to modify and combine living and inanimate objects! But... processing a Devil Fruit was something he was trying for the very first time now.

Jim first threw the Inu Inu no Mi in his hand directly into his stomach without chewing it, and then he lifted the rocket launcher with both hands and stuffed it into his gaping throat.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...!

Puffs of black smoke billowed from the chimney on Jim's head, and clanging sounds echoed from within his stomach, like a manufacturing process in progress.

Crack!

As Jim reached out and opened the wooden door on his stomach, a gray wolf with gray fur all over its body and two meters in length walked out of the door.

"Owooo~!"

After howling, the gray wolf opened its mouth, stuck out its tongue, and sat on the ground, its tail still wagging incessantly. This gray wolf clearly looked majestic, yet for some reason, it exuded a silly aura, very similar to a certain dog breed known for destroying homes—much like the Husky breed in our world.

"Huh!?" Sephiroth took two steps forward, squatted down, and carefully examined the gray wolf. He was surprised that there were no parts or traces of the rocket launcher on its body at all. So, he hesitantly asked the goofy-looking 'Husky': "Can you transform into a rocket launcher?"

"Woof!" After a howl, the gray wolf's form shifted, instantly transforming into a rocket launcher and falling to the ground.

"Can you make a hybrid form?"

As Sephiroth's words were uttered, the rocket launcher on the ground vibrated, and the limbs, tail, and head of a wolf grew from it, creating a peculiar hybrid creature. The Baku Baku no Mi's fusion and modification ability was truly a BUG—an incredible cheat! It could perfectly blend two completely unrelated objects.

"Alright, excellent! From now on, you'll be called Husky..." After casually naming the gray wolf, Sephiroth excitedly stood up, drew the sword hanging at his waist, and took out the Doa Doa no Mi from the box.

"This cursed sword is too sharp and violent, you'd best not touch it... just open your mouth wide!" Sephiroth said to Jim, pointing to the Butcher's Blade. Having successfully fused a Devil Fruit once, Jim felt more confident. Naturally, he no longer panicked or feared, but opened his mouth wide, waiting to be fed.

Sephiroth held the blade of the sword with his right hand and slowly pushed the Butcher's Blade into Jim's throat, starting from the hilt. After the sword was fully inside his stomach, he casually tossed the Doa Doa no Mi in.

A moment later, Jim reached out and opened the wooden door on his stomach, whereupon a black-blue sword clanged onto the ground. Sephiroth squatted down, picked up the Butcher's Blade, and held it in his right hand, feeling a new energy flowing through it.

After carefully sensing the changes in the sword, he slowly swung it in the air.

Whoosh!

The front part of the Butcher's Blade vanished whereabouts unknown and reappeared beside the table next to it, leaving a deep scratch on its surface.

"This...!?" Seeing his blade instantly split in two, Tesoro couldn't help but reveal a shocked expression on his face.

"It's just the Doa Doa no Mi's ability..." Sephiroth explained, a mysterious smile on his face. "I used the sword to cut a spatial channel, which caused the blade to appear in a different spot, creating an unexpected attack trajectory." The three of them observed carefully and only then found an extremely subtle light green rift where the blade had disappeared. Sephiroth had used the Doa Doa no Mi to construct a temporary different space by distorting space, thereby allowing him to disregard the relative positions of objects in normal three-dimensional space—an extraordinary ability!

Seeing that both Devil Fruits had merged perfectly, Tesoro couldn't help but ponder and say: "Boss, since Jim can merge Devil Fruits and weapons, we won't need to buy that technology, right? After all, the other party hasn't brought the technology yet, we can just cancel this agreement..."

"No! We still need to buy the technology that allows weapons to 'eat' Devil Fruits, but not merely for the technology itself, rather for the principle of Lineage Factor contained within it..." Sephiroth explained in a serious tone, his eyes radiating a far-sighted vision.

"What's that for?" Tesoro asked with a puzzled expression.

"As long as we can thoroughly understand and utilize the Lineage Factor, we can mass-produce Devil Fruits."

Hearing this, all three people present held their breath, their faces showing expressions of disbelief and shock.

"Aren't Devil Fruits naturally formed?" Stella murmured, her voice barely audible.

Hearing this, Sephiroth smiled faintly and shook his head: "I'm not entirely sure about that... but using the Lineage Factor can artificially create Zoan and Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities. Logically speaking, Logia types should also be able to be created..."

Tesoro gently rubbed his chin and said hesitantly: "Since that Lineage Factor can artificially create Devil Fruit abilities... does that mean the Devil Fruits we're using now were also created by someone?"

"Well?" Sephiroth smiled meaningfully and raised his hand, pointing upwards. "Then, you'll have to ask the Moon People of ancient times..."

Although Vegapunk speculated that Devil Fruits were created from various possibilities of human evolutional desires, which was why these non-natural evolutionary powers were hated by the mother of life, the sea, turning ability users into landlubbers. But... the ability to manifest such imaginations always required technology as a medium. Believing it to be true, it was not achieved simply by relying on imagination! Therefore, Sephiroth thought long and hard and could only attribute the origin of everything to the Moon People—an ancient mystery still unsolved.

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