Devil Fruit Awakening

Yamato lay down inside the coffin-like experimental apparatus and quickly fell into a state of suspended animation under the influence of the medicine inside.

The instrument placed on top of the coffin immediately began to function, gradually drawing out a strange energy wave that soon completely filled the transparent Crystal Ball at the top of the instrument.

Vegapunk removed the transparent Crystal Ball that sealed the power of the Devil Fruit, then placed Crystal Ball behind a spiral-shaped, spear-like device. He then aimed the spear tip at the Azure Dragon Fruit, directly activating the entire device. The energy wave of the Artificial Devil Fruit was then directly injected into the Azure Dragon Fruit.

"It doesn't seem like anything has changed... No, the energy contained inside the Azure Dragon Fruit has indeed increased, but not by much."

Vegapunk glanced at the instrument in his hand and stroked his chin. The Devil Fruit did indeed contain some kind of strange spiritual power, very close to the so-called soul. This was also the reason why Vegapunk was able to test the increase in its internal energy.

However, the energy did not increase significantly when the two fruits were fused. If the original Azure Dragon Fruit contained ten units of energy and the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit contained five units of energy, then the energy of the two Devil Fruit fused together would be eleven units.

Scratching his head, Vegapunk was somewhat puzzled, but he still turned off the equipment, opened the coffin lid, and soon all the medicine inside had been drained away.

Yamato opened his eyes, clenched his fist, and felt that the Devil Fruit power that he used to have complete control over his body had completely disappeared. He looked somewhat disappointed.

However, the husky quickly turned its head and looked at Vegapunk, or more precisely, at the Azure Dragon Fruit in Vegapunk's hand.

Seeing Yamato's expectant expression, Vegapunk didn't hesitate and threw the Azure Dragon Fruit to Yamato, Yamato immediately jumped up to catch it and took a bite.

"Waaaaah!! Power, power is surging up!!!"

Yamato's eyes turned bloodshot, and her aura surged instantly. Fine dragon scales sprouted from her body, and in a moment, she transformed into a giant azure dragon!

However, judging from her appearance, she seemed to be a little intoxicated. Vegapunk frowned, activated his Electromagnetic Ability, and the ceiling of the entire Laboratory immediately opened.

With a long dragon roar, Yamato soared directly from the Laboratory into the sky. As soon as she arrived, a large amount of fiery clouds gathered around her and transformed into black clouds.

A rumbling sound rang out, faint flashes of lightning flickered in the dark clouds, a strong wind arose, and a torrential downpour ensued. The wind, rain, thunder, and lightning seemed to be sentient spirits, coiling around the Giant Dragon in the sky.

However, Vegapunk's gaze was somewhat strange:

"This is... the Devil Fruit Awakening?"

"Judging from the energy index on the instrument, the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit has indeed increased, but it doesn't seem to be permanent; rather, it seems to be an explosive increase!"

"It seems that this method doesn't significantly increase the power of Devil Fruit... or rather, integrating a similar Artificial Devil Fruit into a real Devil Fruit doesn't bring any fundamental improvement; it merely causes the Devil Fruit's power to go berserk for a short period of time!"

The result of this short-term rampage is naturally the Awakening of the Devil Fruit. However, it is clear that this Awakening is a forced Awakening, which is obviously very unfriendly to the Devil Fruit User.

Putting everything else aside, Awakening Zoan Devil Fruit ability is very dangerous. If you're not careful, you might be controlled by a powerful beastly impulse and become a half-human, half-animal forever. You might even become mentally confused and indistinguishable from a wild beast.

In fact, Awakening other Devil Fruit abilities is by no means easy either. If the Awakening user loses control, they may be overwhelmed by the instincts contained within the Devil Fruit.

The reason this situation rarely occurs is that those who can develop Devil Fruit to the point of Awakening already have extremely high control over the Devil Fruit's abilities and are extremely powerful, which is why they are able to suppress the power contained within the Devil Fruit.

Similarly, the more powerful Devil Fruit, the stronger its inherent instincts and the more dangerous it is to the Awakening user.

However, because the stronger the Devil Fruit, the harder it is to Awakening, by the time the Devil Fruit power is truly honed to the point of Awakening, the Devil Fruit User's mind and body are already tempered and refined. Therefore, those powerful Devil Fruit User are actually less likely to lose control.

However, although Yamato has honed her mind and body to a high level, she is still far from Devil Fruit Awakening! Even Kaido hasn't truly Devil Fruit Awakening! Let alone Yamato at her current Yamato.

The Awakening of Zoan Devil Fruit is arguably the most dangerous among those of the same level, because Zoan- Zoan Devil Fruit have a strong sense of self, and Mythical Zoan- Zoan are naturally the most dangerous of all.

The Azure Dragon Fruit is undoubtedly among the top of the Mythical Zoan! Naturally, once Awakening, the danger brought by its instinctive impulses far exceeds that of ordinary Devil Fruit!

To be honest, Vegapunk wasn't very optimistic that Yamato could completely suppress the instinctive impulses brought about by this Devil Fruit.

In this respect, the Human-Human Fruit has an advantage, because the Human-Human Fruit itself includes some intellectual abilities, while the wild instincts within it are not strong. It will not make people lose their minds, but will only change their personality.

The Azure Dragon Fruit contains pure bestiality; even divine beasts have no rationality whatsoever.

Seeing the Giant Dragon soaring in the sky, the lightning that had been dancing in the air began to strike directly downwards, and at the same time, the Giant Dragon with blood-red eyes began to breathe dragon fire onto the earth. Vegapunk frowned:

"This guy seems to be losing control. I guess... let's arrest her first!"

With that in mind, Vegapunk activated his Electromagnetic Ability, and the Azure Dragon, which had been roaring in the sky, fell to the ground with a mournful cry.

Just kidding. Given Vegapunk's personality, how could he not have some backup plan for Yamato?

You know, it's a classic plot where experimental subjects go berserk, destroy the entire Research Base, and kill the scientists who created them. Vegapunk couldn't possibly have been unprepared for this, could he?

With a deafening roar, as the azure dragon plummeted from the sky, the raging storm instantly dissipated, revealing bright sunshine and a rainbow.

The Azure Dragon crashed to the ground, creating a large crater. After twitching a few times, it remained motionless.

"Yamato, can you turn back into your original form?"

Reaching the head of the Azure Dragon, Vegapunk patted its horns and asked a question, but looking at the Azure Dragon's blood-red and murky eyes, it was clear that the question was pointless.

"This is really troublesome... but it also seems like a good opportunity?"

Vegapunk muttered something, then began to Hand Seals:

"The Kotoamatsukami Technique!"

Yamato's strength was already considerable, and he also possessed Conqueror's Haki, so under normal circumstances, there was no possibility of him being controlled.

Although Yamato was initially quite friendly and obedient to Vegapunk because she ate Artificial Devil Fruit, the effect naturally disappeared now that the Devil Fruit has been extracted and replaced with a real Azure Dragon Fruit.

However, now, with her mind in such a state of chaos, it is the perfect time to control her, making it much easier for Kotoamatsukami to infiltrate.

It could even be said that the Kotoamatsukami Genjutsu is now a lifeline for Yamato. Yamato will instinctively rely on the power of Kotoamatsukami to sort out his completely chaotic thoughts. In this process, he will naturally take Kotoamatsukami as the core of his thinking.

It can be said that the effect of Kotoamatsukami this time far exceeded that of usual. This is equivalent to Yamato letting go of all his mental defenses and even making an effort to actively accept the power of Kotoamatsukami.

The pale red Genjutsu light gradually faded, and the previously cloudy eyes of the Azure Dragon, which was lying on the ground, gradually regained some clarity, and its bloodshot pupils returned to normal.

"It feels so strange..."

Yamato groaned, and then his body began to shrink gradually, returning to its human form.

Covering her head, Yamato slowly stood up. She felt as if a steel needle had been inserted into her head, stirring her mind and making it muddy. However, the effects of Kotoamatsukami quickly solidified her mind. When she looked up at Vegapunk, her eyes were filled with submissiveness and obedience.

"What's going on, Dr. Vegapunk! Is it really that dangerous to eat the real Azure Dragon Fruit?"

"It's probably because you originally ate the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit, so the real Azure Dragon Fruit clashed with the residual Artificial Devil Fruit power in your body, which caused you to go berserk."

Vegapunk didn't hesitate to spout nonsense, and his words actually sounded quite plausible. Yamato, who had Yamato experience, was immediately fooled by him.

"So that's how it is! But as expected, the genuine Azure Dragon Fruit. I feel like my strength has increased a lot!"

"And it seems I have some special powers... I can now directly summon wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, and even control the weather! That's strange, I don't remember my stupid Pops having this ability!"

"Probably because of the power going berserk, your Devil Fruit ability has now Awakening! It can be said that you are now stronger than Kaido in terms of Devil Fruit development!"

Vegapunk didn't continue with the riddle, but spoke directly to Yamato.

Yamato's face immediately lit up with excitement:

"Really? That's fantastic! I'm even better than that bastard Pops now!"

As he spoke, Yamato raised his head, revealing a smug expression.

Vegapunk shrugged, unconcerned about Yamato's misinterpretation. In reality, top-tier Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit like the Azure Dragon Fruit do indeed provide terrifying power boosts after Awakening. If Kaido at his Yamato, his chances of winning would be quite substantial.

Vegapunk sighed slightly. Although the experiment was not entirely fruitless, he was still somewhat disappointed.

After all, the upper limit of Devil Fruit abilities hasn't fundamentally increased; it's just that there's now another way to forcibly Awakening Devil Fruit, and it's quite dangerous.

Of course, this is not a complete loss. Awakening Devil Fruit has always been a major challenge. It's not that being strong Awakening of Devil Fruit. Sometimes it depends on one's circumstances, the development of the Devil Fruit, and the compatibility between the two.

Now that there's a forced Awakening method, it's not bad. Anyone with the required strength and mental fortitude can Awakening their Devil Fruit through this method.

For example, Nico Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit can be Awakening in this way. Robin's strength is already sufficient, and the hardships she suffered in her childhood have also made her temperament quite good.

Most importantly, the Flower-Flower Fruit is clearly a gentle Devil Fruit, with little difficulty and impact in Awakening. With Nico Robin's current strength, she can definitely withstand it easily.

With his research on Devil Fruit coming to a temporary halt, Vegapunk turned his attention back to the sea.

The time Vegapunk spent researching Devil Fruit was roughly the time when the story was about to begin. Thinking that it was around the time when a certain Straw Hat set sail, Vegapunk couldn't suppress his curiosity and prepared to go see the current Nika Devil Fruit User.

While I'm at it, I'll draw some blood from this Devil Fruit User. I seem to have forgotten that this protagonist's Devil Fruit is one of the top fruits in the entire Pirate World.

Well, it's probably because this rubber Devil Fruit User's fruit evolution was too abrupt! That's why Vegapunk always had an inexplicable awkward feeling about the Nika Fruit, subconsciously not considering it a top-tier Devil Fruit.

Furthermore, the situation this Nika Devil Fruit User faces on this voyage is likely vastly different from that in the original story. Whether it will be as smooth as in the original work remains to be seen.

Putting everything else aside, two of the Three Admirals of the Navy are now out of commission. Originally, after Akainu was eliminated, Ryokugyu would have taken over. But this time, Vegapunk captured Kizaru, and in such a short period of time, the Navy has not appointed any new Admiral.

Furthermore, the World Government is currently in a state of rage after being dealt a triple blow by Vegapunk, so ordinary pirates are not having an easy time these days.

Because of the repeated setbacks, both the Navy and the World Government needed an outlet for their frustrations and an opportunity to regain their prestige. The tough guys in the New World were not easy to deal with, so the small pirates in the first half of the Grand Line and the Four Seas all became their machines for gaining prestige.

I've heard that the commanders in charge of the Four Seas have all become Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, and many of the officers in the Four Seas Marine Base have also been replaced or replaced, raising their strength by at least one level.