Paramecia - Life-Life Fruit

Half an hour later, Louis stood on the bloodstained deck of a warship, holding the lifeless body of a Navy Rear Admiral, lost in thought.

"Is this really the East Sea?" Louis's mouth twitched slightly. Recalling the unknown powerhouse he'd encountered in the storm a while back, his expression stiffened. "Does that mean the powerful Haki in the storm was Garp's?"

As far as he knew, the only strong figure who frequently showed up in the East Sea was Garp. Aside from him, there didn't seem to be any other powerhouse roaming around.

Moreover, the Navy's movements were suspicious. The Rear Admirals Louis had run into shouldn't have been the caliber of combat power appearing in the East Sea.

"What major event is happening in the East Sea right now? Why are so many warships all heading in the same direction?" After leaving the sunken Rear Admiral's vessel, Louis continued his journey, only to encounter several more warships led by flag officers along the way.

This left Louis deeply puzzled. Had the Fleet Admiral lost his mind, deploying Rear Admiral-level forces in such a concentrated cluster in the East Sea?

"Buster Call?" Louis casually tossed the Rear Admiral's body into the sea, but quickly shook his head.

That was because the warships he'd seen so far were only standard issue for flag officers. Vice Admiral-class vessels were nowhere in sight, let alone ships on the level of a Buster Call.

Unable to make sense of it, Louis flicked the blood off his spear and turned back toward the bridge island.

As he walked, a golden radiance emanated from Louis's body. Looking at him, he was bathed in a mysterious dawn light, as enigmatic as an angel.

Then, strands of light scattered like fireflies in the night, falling onto the warship beneath Louis's feet.

The next moment, a faint glow rose from the ship's surface, and it began to show signs of life, briefly transforming into a living entity.

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

Aside from healing external injuries without side effects, it also granted the power to temporarily imbue lifeless objects with life.

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

Louis had also managed to infuse Life Force into the bacteria and viruses inside a human body, but that technique seemed useless beyond torture.

Of course, Louis could also drain the vitality of living creatures.

Unlike Charlotte Linlin's ability, objects given life by Louis had no thoughts—only obedience to commands and the instinct to survive.

But Louis speculated that once he achieved Devil Fruit Awakening, he might be able to create true life.

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

Once Louis entered the warship, it automatically furled its sails and began cruising in the direction he had set.

Inside the Rear Admiral's office, Louis leaned back in a chair he'd cut in half, closing his eyes to ease the fatigue from prolonged supersonic travel.

But soon, he snapped his eyes open and sat bolt upright.

"Human Hunt!!"

It suddenly hit Louis that so many warships rushing toward the same destination in the East Sea were likely coordinating with the Celestial Dragons to blockade an island for their Human Hunt.

Louis's expression turned strange. He mused that if his guess was correct, should he use a Den Den Mushi to notify Akuldona on Sky Island and the old muscle-bound geezer deep in the Calm Belt to pull a stunt for the Celestial Dragons?

Participating in the Human Hunt carried extreme risk, but the rewards were equally rich if successful.

He could kill the Celestial Dragon participants to avenge his fallen kin, or seize Devil Fruits that the Celestial Dragons had their eyes on.

In the previous era, a few years before the Celestial Dragons, Navy, and Cipher Pol had cornered and wiped out his clan, a female warrior had intercepted a Devil Fruit coveted by the Celestial Dragons from the Navy.

Later, relying on that fruit, she single-handedly saved many of her people, settling them in the Calm Belt and Sky Island.

Louis remembered her well. Years ago, already aged, she had placed great hope in him and told him about her experiences.

She had passed away from old age a year ago, and Louis, along with a few clan members, secretly buried her in a cliff on the Red Line.

Before dying, she sensed Louis didn't want to stay on Sky Island and instructed him to retrieve the Devil Fruit she had eaten.

She said it was a Twin Devil Fruit that, even in the hands of a weakling, could single-handedly rewrite the fate of a war.

Back to the matter at hand, after some thought, Louis began ransacking the Rear Admiral's office, searching for possible clues.

A few minutes later, he found something.

A letter bearing a transfer order. But it completely overturned his earlier guess.

Stripped of its flowery language and formalities, the content read: "Proceed to the Kingdom of Jacob, coordinate with Vice Admiral Gumir, and escort a person with Oni Clan bloodline to Mary Geoise."

"..." Louis fell silent for a long moment. Then, expressionless, he set down the letter and abandoned the idea of using the Den Den Mushi to call for backup.

Afterward, Louis silently commanded the warship beneath him to accelerate to top speed and sank into sleep.

"..."

Several hours later, the Den Den Mushi on the desk suddenly rang, jolting Louis awake. His eyes flashed with murderous intent as he grabbed the snail and tossed it out of the room, then closed his eyes again.

A few more hours passed, and Louis slowly came to. Stretching lazily, he yawned, grabbed his weapon, and headed for the door.

After replenishing his strength in the warship's mess hall, Louis flapped his wings and took off again, igniting the flames on his back midair as he vanished with a fierce roar.

At the same time, the fire-man left behind on the warship walked into the ammunition depot and detonated himself.

"Boom..." The ammunition magazine exploded, flames shooting skyward, blasting the entire warship to pieces. The massive shockwave spread for several nautical miles on the sea breeze.

Aboard a large Vice Admiral-class warship, a man in a Navy soldier's uniform saluted the middle-aged officer standing with arms crossed beside him. "Reporting, Vice Admiral. All three warships dispatched to the Kingdom of Jacob have lost contact. Presumed destroyed."

The elderly Vice Admiral in the red suit, sporting a Mediterranean hairstyle, furrowed his brow upon hearing this, as if deep in thought.

After a long pause, the communications soldier once again heard the Vice Admiral's order: "Transmit a message to Marine Headquarters, stating that aside from the Marines, other forces have also gotten involved in this matter, and three ships under Rear Admirals have already lost contact."

The communications soldier responded respectfully, "Understood!"

Then, the aging Vice Admiral left the communications room and turned to his long-waiting adjutant, commanding, "Notify all crew members to increase the ship's speed. We must complete the capture before any other forces."

"Yes." With short black hair and soft facial features, the adjutant Doll nodded, then turned and flicked her cloak of justice as she departed.