Gigue now felt the same way he had when he obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit in God Valley: the Demonic Sword: Muramasa seemed like a part of his body.
With a thought, Muramasa instantly transformed into a stream of black mist and fused with Gigue's right hand, finally forming a black sword-shaped mark on the back of his hand.
Garling witnessed the entire process. His expression had shifted from initial shock to calm. Looking at the mark on the back of Gigue's hand, he slowly said,
"Just as I thought. With the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, you are the master most compatible with Muramasa."
Garling's words sounded rather mysterious, so Gigue pressed on.
"Uncle Garling, do you mean that any Dark-Dark Fruit Ability User can become Muramasa's master?"
"Of course not. To become the master of the Demonic Sword: Muramasa, one must first possess the bloodline of the Figarland Family. Otherwise, Muramasa will devour them instead."
"Devour them?"
"That's right. Eight hundred years ago, our ancestor Saint Cassius was also a Dark-Dark Fruit Ability User, and his development of the Dark-Dark Fruit had nearly surpassed its limits. He could even actively separate the Devil's Power within his body."
When Garling had mentioned "surpassing its limits" earlier, Gigue initially thought he meant an Awakened Devil Fruit.
He had even thought that ancestor's level of development was somewhat lacking. He had only been "close to surpassing" it—didn't that mean he had not even achieved an Awakened Devil Fruit?
But after hearing that final sentence, Gigue immediately dismissed that notion. Actively separating Devil's Power sounded far too absurd. Even with his memories of Blue Star, he had never heard of such a thing.
That meant an Ability User had touched upon the most fundamental power of a Devil Fruit. It also meant that an Awakened Devil Fruit was not the limit of Devil Fruit power; beyond it lay an even higher realm!
The information Gigue had learned from Garling today completely overturned his understanding of the Pirate World and made him set aside the sense of superiority born from his Blue Star memories.
Thinking about it, the manga had never even been completed, and no one could guarantee that this timeline would be exactly the same as the one in the manga. There were simply too many unknown factors.
Gigue believed he had developed the Dark-Dark Fruit quite well using his memories of Blue Star, but Awakening was still far beyond his reach, let alone the realm of surpassing its limits.
His thirst for knowledge was intense at that moment. Garling did not hide anything from Gigue, the family's heir, and continued speaking about that ancestor.
"Eight hundred years ago, our ancestor used this Demonic Sword: Muramasa to land a critical blow on Joy Boy. However, he was severely wounded himself, and not long after the World Government was established, he died from his injuries."
Although he already knew of Joy Boy's existence, Gigue still feigned curiosity and asked,
"Uncle Garling, who was this Joy Boy you mentioned? Was he that powerful? Even an expert like our ancestor was no match for him?"
"Joy Boy was the common enemy of all Celestial Dragons, and the only person who trained the power of a Devil Fruit beyond its limits. He wielded a terrifying power of rules. Moreover, because he completely fused his own power with the power of a Devil Fruit, a Devil Fruit possessing the traits of both a Paramecia and a Zoan was born—the Nika Fruit."
The moment the name Nika Fruit was spoken, the mark on Gigue's right hand suddenly flashed with black light. The Demonic Sword: Muramasa was actually conveying an emotion called unwillingness to him.
He suppressed the restless Muramasa and asked in a low voice,
"So Joy Boy is already dead, right?"
This time, Garling did not respond immediately. After a moment of silence, he slowly said,
"By the standards of the ordinary world, he is certainly dead. He died at the hands of the Twenty Kings. But everyone knows that when an Ability User dies, their Devil Fruit is reborn. As long as that Devil Fruit containing his will still exists, he has not truly died in the real sense!"
After speaking, Garling looked deeply at Gigue and said,
"Of course, we would never allow that fruit to wander the world. We have been searching for it for eight hundred years, but like your Dark-Dark Fruit, it seems to possess a will of its own. Whenever we are about to find it, it has either already been eaten, or some accident suddenly occurs and it disappears once again."
"Fortunately, over such a long period of time, those lucky enough to obtain the Nika Fruit were unable to wield its power at all. Not a single one even managed to achieve an Awakened Devil Fruit. Thus, the world only knows of the Rubber Fruit we fabricated to conceal it, and knows nothing of the Nika Fruit."
After saying all that in one breath, Garling suddenly reached out and placed a hand on Gigue's shoulder, speaking earnestly.
"But we still cannot let down our guard. This world belongs to us Celestial Dragons. Once someone fully awakens the power of the Nika Fruit, they will become our greatest threat. During your years outside, you must have heard quite a few things about the Celestial Dragons, haven't you?"
"Yes. The world's descriptions of us Celestial Dragons are far from favorable."
"Hmph. The words of ants are beneath notice. Still, most Celestial Dragons today truly know only how to indulge in pleasure. Lives of long comfort have corroded their minds. Of the kings from back then, only one remains. If the power of the Nika Fruit revives, I can hardly imagine how we, as we are now, could resist it."
Gigue nodded in agreement, thinking that if not for Garling and the few clear-headed Celestial Dragons, they might not even need to wait for the Nika Fruit to awaken. The Rocks Pirates alone might have wiped out the Celestial Dragons.
Garling sighed and said,
"Actually, aside from the Nika Fruit, the Dark-Dark Fruit has also been one of our primary search targets. In that battle eight hundred years ago, its power undoubtedly played a crucial role. But our ancestor had not truly reached Joy Boy's realm, so to prevent the Dark-Dark Fruit from becoming difficult to deal with should it fall into someone else's hands, he separated a portion of the Dark-Dark Fruit's Devil's Power before his death and infused it into the Demonic Sword: Muramasa."
"This Demonic Sword accompanied our ancestor through years of battle, and he often nourished it with his own blood. The Dark-Dark Fruit may leave the Figarland Family, but this sword never will. It will forever belong to our clan."
"With its help, as a Dark-Dark Fruit Ability User, things like achieving an Awakened Devil Fruit will become much easier for you. I do not know the specifics. You will need to experience that for yourself."
"Facts have proven how farsighted our ancestor's idea was. A powerful Devil Fruit like the Dark-Dark Fruit truly is difficult to find. If not for that fool Rocks, we have no idea how much longer it would have taken before we saw it again."
"Now, it has finally returned to our Figarland Family. I believe this is Heaven's arrangement!"
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