Paramecia-Life-Life Fruit

Half an hour later, Louis stood on the bloodstained deck of a warship, holding the now lifeless Rear Admiral as he fell into thought.

"This is actually the East Sea?" The corner of Louis's mouth twitched. He recalled the unknown powerhouse he had encountered in the storm some time ago, and his expression froze. "So the powerful Haki in the storm belonged to Garp?"

As far as he could remember, Garp was the only powerhouse who often showed up in the East Sea. Aside from him, there didn't seem to be any strong people wandering around there.

Moreover, something was off about the Navy's movements. The Rear Admirals Louis had encountered one after another shouldn't have been stationed in the East Sea.

"Did something major happen in the East Sea around this time? Why are so many warships rushing in the same direction?" After leaving the sunken warship of the officer, Louis continued on his way. Along the way, he encountered several more warships led by officers.

This left Louis thoroughly confused. Had the Fleet Admiral lost his mind? Why were so many Rear Admiral-level forces being deployed to the East Sea?

"Buster Call?" Louis casually tossed the Rear Admiral into the sea, but soon shook his head.

The warships he'd encountered were only the standard kind assigned to officers. There wasn't a single warship of the Vice Admiral class in sight, let alone any on the scale of a Buster Call.

After thinking it over to no avail, Louis wiped the blood from his spear and turned toward Bridge island.

As he walked, golden light shimmered across his body. He was bathed in a mysterious glow, looking as enigmatic as an angel.

Then, strands of light spread outward like fireflies in the night, drifting down onto the warship beneath Louis's feet.

In the next instant, a faint glow rose over the entire ship. Then the warship showed signs of life, briefly becoming a living creature.

This was one of the abilities granted to Louis by the Paramecia Life-Life Fruit he had obtained from Sky Island.

Besides being able to heal external injuries without any side effects, he could also briefly give life to inanimate objects.

They could keep moving indefinitely, as long as they weren't killed or Louis didn't reclaim the Life Force himself.

Louis could also imbue the bacteria and viruses inside a human body with Life Force, but aside from tormenting people, the trick didn't seem to serve much purpose.

Of course, Louis could also strip other living creatures of their vitality.

Unlike Charlotte Linlin's power, inanimate objects given life by Louis had no thoughts of their own. They only obeyed orders and acted on their instincts.

But Louis speculated that once he achieved Devil Fruit Awakening, he might be able to create life in the truest sense of the word.

Species with emotions, lifespans, and the ability to reproduce and thrive in the world.

Once Louis boarded the warship, it automatically lowered its sails and began sailing in the direction he had chosen.

Inside the warship, in the Rear Admiral's office, Louis leaned back against a chair he had cut in half. He closed his eyes to ease the exhaustion caused by traveling at supersonic speeds for so long.

But soon, Louis's eyes snapped open, and he jerked upright in his seat.

"Human Hunt!"

Louis suddenly realized that so many warships rushing toward the same place in the East Sea might well be there to help the Celestial Dragons blockade an island and carry out their Human Hunt.

Louis's expression turned strange. He wondered: if his guess proved correct, should he use a Den Den Mushi to notify Akuldona on Sky Island and the musclebound old man deep in the Calm Belt, so they could put on a show for the Celestial Dragons?

Taking part in a Human Hunt was extremely risky, but the rewards would be just as substantial if they succeeded.

They could kill the participating Celestial Dragons to avenge their fallen clansmen, and they could also seize the Devil Fruits the Celestial Dragons coveted.

In the previous era, a few years before the Celestial Dragons, Navy, and CP forces hunted down their clan, a powerful woman among them had intercepted a Devil Fruit the Celestial Dragons wanted from the Navy.

Later, using that fruit, she had saved many of their people by herself and settled them in two places: the Calm Belt and Sky Island.

Louis remembered her well. A few years ago, when she was already old, she had placed great hopes in him and told him about what she had been through.

She had died of old age just a year ago. Louis and a few members of their clan had secretly buried her in a cliff on the Red Line.

Before she died, she had realized that Louis didn't want to stay on Sky Island. She had even instructed him to find the Devil Fruit she had eaten.

She had said it was a Twin Devil Fruit that could turn the tide of a war single-handedly, even in the hands of a weak person.

Returning to the matter at hand, Louis thought it over, then began rummaging through the Rear Admiral's office in search of any possible clues.

A few minutes later, Louis found something.

It was a sheet of paper bearing orders. But what it said completely disproved his earlier guess.

Stripped of the formal wording, the message read: "Proceed to the Kingdom of Jacob, assist Vice Admiral Gumir, and escort a person of Oni Clan descent to Mary Geoise."

"..." Louis fell silent. It was a long while before he set down the paper without expression and abandoned the idea of calling in reinforcements by Den Den Mushi.

Afterward, Louis quietly controlled the warship beneath his feet, pushed it to full speed, and fell asleep.

"..."

Several hours later, the Den Den Mushi on the desk suddenly rang, waking Louis. His eyes flashed with murderous intent. He picked up the Den Den Mushi, threw it out of the room, then closed his eyes again.

A few more hours passed before Louis slowly woke up. After stretching, he yawned, grabbed his weapon, and headed out.

After replenishing his strength in the warship's cafeteria, Louis beat his wings and took off again. Midair, he ignited the flames behind him and sped away amid a violent rush of wind.

At the same time, the fire man left inside the warship walked into the ammunition depot and blew himself up.

"Boom..." The ammunition depot detonated, flames shooting into the sky as the entire warship was blown to pieces. The tremendous roar carried several miles on the sea breeze.

Aboard a large warship of Vice Admiral class, a man in a Navy uniform saluted the middle-aged man standing beside him with his arms crossed. "Reporting to you, Vice Admiral. The three warships ordered to proceed to the Kingdom of Jacob can no longer be reached. We believe they have been lost."

The old Vice Admiral, dressed in a red suit and sporting a receding hairline, furrowed his brow as if deep in thought.

After a long while, the communications officer heard the Vice Admiral's next order. "Send a message to Navy Headquarters. Tell them that another faction besides the Navy is involved, and that three warships assigned to Rear Admirals have gone missing."

The communications officer replied respectfully, "Understood!"

Then the elderly Vice Admiral left the communications room and turned to his long-waiting adjutant. "Tell all the crew to increase the warship's speed. We must capture the target before the other factions do!"

"Yes, sir." Doll, the adjutant with short black hair and soft features, nodded. Then she turned and strode away, her Justice cape whipping behind her.