Further Enhancement

"I never expected you, Yamato, to be a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit user too."

A group of lackeys aboard the Spade Pirates' ship stared enviously at Yamato, who had now transformed into a giant white wolf.

A Mythical Zoan-type! These Devil Fruits were even rarer than Logia-types, and potentially even more powerful!

Especially Yamato's White Eyed Wolf... ahem, Okuchi no Makami-form Devil Fruit. It even possessed freezing abilities and was no longer afraid of seawater, one of the Devil Fruit's only two natural weaknesses.

Hearing the Spade Pirates' crew flattering her, Yamato was positively smug. She even deliberately leaped onto the sea and ran around twice.

The moment she landed on the ocean, Cold Air surged beneath her feet, instantly freezing a sheet of ice. As she ran, that ice kept spreading outward, like a road of frost.

Ace sat cross-legged on the deck like a dried fish and could not help saying enviously, "That's nice. Both you and Yota can walk directly across the sea, unlike me. If a Flame-Flame Fruit user like me falls into the ocean, my fire really goes out."

Yota stood with his arms crossed, his eyes closed as he pondered something. Hearing Ace's complaint, he casually replied, "What's there to envy? Your Flame-Flame Fruit abilities can use fire bursts to fly directly into the sky. Yamato and I can't fly with our Devil Fruit abilities."

Of course, no matter how Yamato developed the Okuchi no Makami Fruit, she would never be able to fly. But if Yota truly wanted to fly, it was not impossible for him.

He only needed to swallow something like a jet engine. He could also modify himself with rocket boots, and even an entire Iron Man suit of armor would not be impossible.

It was simply that Yota specialized in bodily modification and had never dabbled in mechanical modification. But that did not really matter. As long as he could find a scientist capable of such things, then swallow that scientist's creations, he could directly gain the abilities of those scientific creations.

On the other hand, if he did not understand bodily modification, then even if there were scientists who did, they would have no way to alter his body.

That was precisely why he had chosen bodily modification rather than specializing in machinery.

Of course, the biggest reason he could possess such bodily modification abilities was the Munch-Munch Fruit. The Munch-Munch Fruit's modification abilities could practically be called wish-fulfillment level, reducing the difficulty of bodily modification by an unimaginable amount.

Yota continued, "I advise you to train hard, Captain. You're no match for Yamato right now. And after removing those Sea Stone handcuffs, Yamato's strength should continue to steadily grow after its initial burst. If you don't work hard, she might leave you even farther behind."

"Ahhh! I get it! I'll work hard!" Ace immediately wore a bitter expression. During his recent spar with Yamato, she had thoroughly rubbed his face into the deck.

It could not be helped. While wearing the Sea Stone handcuffs, Yamato could only fight with her physical constitution. She could not bring out any of her Devil Fruit's abilities at all.

But now that she could fully unleash her Devil Fruit's power, Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit was completely countered.

The Flame-Flame Fruit's fire held no real advantage against Yamato's Cold Air. At best, the two merely canceled each other out.

With Armament Haki, a Logia-type Fruit's Elementalization was greatly diminished in usefulness. In contrast, the exceptionally powerful physique granted by a Mythical Zoan-type could be useful at any time.

Under such circumstances, Ace was already weaker than Yamato to begin with, and his Devil Fruit was countered as well. It was perfectly normal for him to get utterly crushed.

Watching Ace grit his teeth and put on low-purity Sea Stone handcuffs to train, Yota could not help but smile.

Train hard, Ace. I don't want to go through the Summit War again and have to run off to save someone with my eyes wide open.

While Ace trained diligently, Yota closed his eyes and continued contemplating his gains.

His greatest gain this time had not been the Beasts Pirates' treasures, but Yamato's bodily structure!

Yamato's potential was in no way inferior to Ace's. Naturally, her bodily structure would also be enormously helpful in enhancing Yota's own potential.

When Yota had first modified himself, he had been like a blank sheet of paper, while Ace's bodily structure had been like an exquisite painting. He only needed to copy it directly, allowing him to inherit nearly eighty percent of Ace's potential.

Now that he had Yamato's bodily blueprint as well, the Munch-Munch Fruit made it easy for Yota to wash himself clean and return to a blank sheet. But he now had two paintings to copy, and he needed to combine the strengths of both. Naturally, that was much more difficult.

Moreover, Yamato belonged to the Oni race. Though she was still human and had no reproductive barrier with humans, she could already be considered a demihuman. Many subtle aspects of her body differed from those of humans, making the modification more difficult than ordinary human modification.

Yota had actually modified himself several times already, yet none of the results had fully satisfied him. Fortunately, the Munch-Munch Fruit was reliable enough. No matter what he changed himself into, he could revert directly. With enough trial and error, he would always find the most satisfactory solution.

After thinking for a while, Yota felt that he had mostly sorted through his ideas. He then opened his mouth wide again and swallowed himself with a gulp.

At first, the Spade Pirates had been rather shocked by Yota's behavior, but now they were used to it. After all, the One Piece World was full of freaks. One more Yota hardly mattered.

After the giant mouth wriggled for a while, Yota was spat out again. He clenched his fist, felt the vitality brimming within his flesh, and smiled.

"Not bad. After this modification, my potential is no longer inferior to Ace's or Yamato's. It may even surpass theirs. At this point, the modification is already close to perfect!"

"Next, perhaps only Whitebeard, Kaido, and Charlotte Linlin can further improve my physique."

"And Blackbeard, that treasure-bearded guy, of course..."

Yota's bodily potential had greatly increased. Yamato was in the period of rapid growth that followed the removal of her Sea Stone handcuffs, while Ace, spurred on by Yamato, was now training hard. For a time, the entire Spade Pirates stopped searching for the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates, instead beginning a period of intensive cultivation.

Of course, after witnessing Yamato's strength, Ace had gained a deeper understanding of the Four Emperors' power. He also knew very clearly that if he went looking for Whitebeard with his current strength, he would only be throwing his life away.

So this period of training could also be considered Ace's preparatory strengthening regimen.

However, though the tree wished to be still, the wind would not stop. This time, unlike in the original story, the Spade Pirates had not merely visited Wano Country without changing anything.

Yota had robbed the Beasts Pirates' treasure vault, and the Spade Pirates had abducted Yamato. This time, the grudge between the Spade Pirates and the Beasts Pirates was no small matter.