Devoured!

Chapter 31: 031. Eaten!

"Ying?"

Fire is something animals naturally fear.

Mercer watched Bear Cub, who had just finished gnawing down to the bone, now staring longingly at the charcoal embers glowing with roasted meat grease.

"Don't drool," Mercer said with a laugh. "If you've got the guts, try eating a piece."

"Your teeth are good anyway, and you're not afraid of getting burned. I heard charcoal even helps with digestion?"

Only charcoal, though.

But for Bear Cub, there were no side effects. After all, the digestive ability granted by the Gulp-Gulp Fruit was too incredible.

Bear Cub looked at Mercer as if he believed him, whimpering, "Ying ying ying?"

Mercer nodded affirmatively, giving Bear Cub a thumbs-up.

The Gulp-Gulp Fruit could devour anything, so why wouldn't it be able to eat something like this?

However, animal instinct was at play. He just didn't know if Bear Cub would be brave enough to try.

Receiving Mercer's affirmation, Bear Cub blinked his eyes.

A layer of black iron claw covers appeared on his right paw through his ability. He reached out and grabbed a piece of charcoal, stuffing it into his mouth.

Crunch crunch!

He chewed with his eyes half-closed, tiny sparks flying from the corners of his mouth.

His eyes immediately lit up, as if a new world had opened up.

"Ying."

Charcoal that tasted like roasted meat, delicious!!

He chirped, then picked up a piece of charcoal and offered it to Mercer, his black bean-like eyes full of sharing.

Mercer watched as the heat from the charcoal continued to press against his face. He gave a dry laugh.

"I appreciate the thought, but I really can't do that."

Bear Cub glanced at Mercer with an expression that said 'what a weakling.' Seeing this, Mercer's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth.

"If you've got the guts, go up to the second floor. Doctor Doriel's lab has good stuff. Go eat it if you dare."

Bear Cub's bear face froze. He looked at Mercer somewhat subtly, then in the next second, let out a series of unintelligible yelps, "Wu ao wang wu."

Mercer narrowed his eyes.

He playfully pulled up Bear Cub's round face, pinching a bit of its flesh. "What is it? Judging by your expression, you've been up there before?"

Bear Cub subtly shifted his gaze, looking guilty. He shuffled his hindquarters backward, one paw instinctively protecting his rear.

Mercer burst out laughing, "Pfft!" He reached out and patted Bear Cub's head.

"I can't believe you've done something like this? Why didn't you tell me? Are you that brave?"

Bear Cub shot Mercer a glare, then angrily devoured the charcoal with big gulps, crunching loudly.

"You keep eating. I'm going to go ask about this." How could Mercer not investigate something so interesting? "I need to ask when you accomplished this glorious deed of yours."

With that, Mercer stood up, brushed himself off, and headed towards the treehouse.

He heard Bear Cub's exasperated "Wu ao wu" from behind him, and the smile on his lips grew wider.

A moment later.

Mercer appeared in the second-floor laboratory, looking at Kureha as she dissected and examined a dead white mouse.

Under a high-powered microscope nearby, a faintly wriggling mass of flesh and blood could be seen.

On the experimental table beside her, a disassembled APTX 4869 capsule lay open.

Inside the capsule, transparent, colorless granules were visible.

Mercer said, "You've already started experimenting?"

Kureha replied without turning her head, "It's quite an interesting drug. It induces programmed cell death but simultaneously strengthens the activity of telomerase within the organism."

"However, the white mouse didn't make it and just died. But I haven't found nothing."

"This drug is like Pandora's Box, extremely interesting. It has the effect of inducing cellular reverse growth."

Kureha, busy with her work, calmly explained her new findings to Mercer using professional terminology.

She even went on to elaborate on the myths and legends surrounding "Pandora's Box."

Mercer was utterly bewildered by these myths and legends. Many of the myths in this world were quite strange.

There were myths he'd heard of in his past life, like those from the Bible, Greek mythology, and Norse mythology.

There were also local indigenous myths and legends, like those of Nika and the Seven Star Gods.

There was always a strange sense of incongruity.

It felt like a hodgepodge.

Like Mercer knew.

There was a church here.

There were temples.

There were witches.

Was that a Bible in Bartholomew Kuma's hand?

Charlotte Linlin's homies, named after Greek gods, were souls.

Elbaf's names were from Norse mythology.

The three ancient weapons were named after myths: Poseidon, Pluto, Uranus.

Some base on the moon.

Some intelligent, laser-shooting stone men.

The various phenomena in this World gave Mercer the feeling of a world rebuilt on a wasteland after a great cataclysm.

"It couldn't be that the current world is like the world after the dinosaur extinction in my past life, where a more brilliant civilization existed millions or tens of millions of years ago?"

"But for some reason, it was annihilated?"

Mercer thought, then shook his head. These things were meaningless to him; thinking too much was useless. He had to focus on the present.

Pulling his scattered thoughts back, Kureha continued her lecture, not noticing Mercer's distraction. It was less like she was talking to Mercer and more like she was summarizing her own understanding.

Mercer also took the opportunity to ask about Bear Cub.

Kureha pouted, looking disgusted. "That brat ran up here one day when you went back to East Blue to visit family. I don't know what he was thinking, but he took a bite out of my experimental equipment.

Then I gave him a good beating, and he hasn't dared to run up here since."

Mercer chuckled, "So you beat him soundly, huh?"

"Kids, if you don't give them a good beating, how will they learn their lesson?"

"Then why don't I have any memory of you beating me?"

"Oh? Why?" Kureha raised an eyebrow, busy with her experiment, and glanced at Mercer. "Do you want me to add more happy childhood memories for you?"

"I'll pass," Mercer shook his head. "Let's skip those memories; they'd definitely be black history."

"Since you're idle, come over and give me a hand."

"Go get me a salamander. We'll use it for this experiment."

Mercer put on a pair of medical gloves, picked up a salamander, and began assisting Kureha with the experiment, feeding it "APTX 4869" pellets, observing its physiological condition, and recording data.

A few minutes later, the salamander died.

Then, using a surgical knife, she precisely dissected flesh from different body areas and placed them under a microscope. Kureha observed the samples.

She dictated her conclusions, and Mercer recorded them.

During the experiment, Mercer said, "Oh right, Doctor Doriel, could you help me prepare some of the medicines from the Cashew Crow Taming Manual tomorrow?"

"I'll need them later."

"Are you raising crows?" Kureha asked, then nodded.

"No problem, but we're missing some medicinal ingredients at home. You'll need to go to Skaina Town tomorrow to buy some."

"Okay, I got it."

Time passed.

After the experiment, Mercer and Kureha went downstairs to wash up and sleep.

The next day.

After breakfast.

Mercer went to the herb shop in Skaina Town and bought over a dozen types of medicinal ingredients.

He brought them back to Kureha.

It was a sunny day.

The sun in the sky was exceptionally bright.

Mercer and Bear Cub walked through the snowy forest. Snow piled up on the tall pine trees, shimmering with colorful halos under the sunlight.

Mercer observed the traces of birds around them.

Since the pine cones hadn't ripened yet this season, there weren't many birds in the pine forest.

However, they saw some snow chickens, snow rabbits, and other small animals.

Mercer moved through the forest, watching Bear Cub, who was about ten meters away, with a snow chicken in his mouth. He saw him waddle over and offer the still-alive snow chicken.

Seeing Bear Cub's greedy expression, wanting him to roast it and eat it.

Mercer had a good idea and said with a smile, "Eat it, and then have it manifest on your body so I can see?"

Bear Cub froze, tilted his head to look at Mercer, and let out a "Woo?"

Meaning, can it be done like this?

Mercer nodded affirmatively, and had an even more interesting idea. If it succeeded, he might even manifest a new Gifted Ability.

Bear Cub had never tried to eat a live creature whole since birth, though bamboo worms didn't count.

Seeing the curiosity in Mercer's eyes, Bear Cub fell into thought, then gritted his teeth, opened his mouth, and took a huge bite.

"Caw—"

With a sharp squawk, it was swallowed by Bear Cub.

Watching Bear Cub gaze at him expectantly, Mercer instructed him:

"Imagine it, just like the weapons you've eaten, manifest the Snow Chicken's body on yourself."

Seeing the thought appear in Bear Cub's eyes, a chicken's head soon appeared on its chest, letting out a loud "Cluck cluck cluck~".

Suddenly, Bear Cub shivered, a look of panic on its bear face. It grabbed the chicken's head with its paws and squeezed hard. Mercer heard a "crack".

The chicken head on its chest disappeared, but then Bear Cub's arms changed, becoming a pair of chicken wings.

Bear Cub's eyes suddenly lit up, and he flapped his chicken wings, hopping in place.

Mercer's face darkened.

Within seconds, Bear Cub's face showed a wronged expression, "Wuwu!"

Saying why he couldn't fly.

Mercer put his hand to his forehead and said with a speechless laugh, "How big are you, and how big are your chicken wings?

Besides, Snow Chickens can't fly anyway, at most they can glide a little. Try it yourself if you don't believe me."

Bear Cub followed Mercer's advice and flapped its chicken wings with all its might.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

Only a gust of wind arose.

Blowing away a few snowflakes.

Seeing that he was still in the same spot, Bear Cub drooped his head in dejection and retracted his chicken wings.

Immediately after, Mercer sensed that the Snow Chicken's aura within Bear Cub had disappeared.

"You ate that chicken, you digested it?"

Bear Cub nodded, letting out a confused "Ying?" from his mouth.

Wasn't that food?

Mercer rolled his eyes, then reached out and patted Bear Cub's head. His words were not wrong. He thought for a moment, and an idea he wanted to verify arose:

"Since you digested it, try it now and see if you can turn yourself into a chicken?"

Bear Cub's eyes widened, and its bear face became incredibly awkward at a visible speed, letting out a subtle "Caw" from its mouth.

But there was also some curiosity in its bear eyes, and it immediately activated its ability.

Bear Cub's body changed.

Its arms became a pair of chicken wings.

Its legs became a pair of chicken claws.

The black and white fur on its body turned into white feathers.

There was also a tuft of long feathers on its backside.

However, its head only changed slightly. Although its mouth became a beak, it was still recognizable as Bear Cub.

Appearing before Mercer, Bear Cub had already transformed into an exceptionally plump Snow Chicken, even larger than Mercer himself.

But even though it resembled a chicken, it still retained some of Bear Cub's features.

At this sight, Mercer's eyes suddenly lit up. He suddenly thought of a type of creature, the Sphinx, which was a human-faced lion-bodied beast.

There was also a creature, the owl, not the kind found in nature, but a true owl with an owl's head and an eagle's body.

"Chimera, Hybrid, indeed, the Gulp-Gulp Fruit's ability can easily achieve this level."

Bear Cub looked at Mercer in confusion, not understanding what Mercer was saying.

"Ying?"

Hearing Bear Cub's confusion, Mercer smiled, "Do you want to truly fly?"

Bear Cub's eyes lit up, and he flapped his wings vigorously, but it only made him feel cooler.

"Later, when you eat a bird that can truly fly. But if you want to fly, you'll have to practice flapping your wings more from now on."

"Ying!" Bear Cub nodded earnestly, his mouth slightly open, "Ao."

Mercer smiled, watching Bear Cub return to his original form.

"Actually, in my opinion, your abilities can be divided into two types.

One is static, where you manifest the shapes of weapons on your body by eating weapons and equipment.

The other is dynamic, where you obtain the 'shapes' of other creatures by eating them, and manifest their shapes on your own body."

Bear Cub looked at Mercer with a stunned expression, surprised that Mercer understood so much. He had never thought of using his Devil Fruit ability this way before.

Mercer smiled at Bear Cub's astonished look, not thinking much of it, but he did find the Gulp-Gulp Fruit quite interesting.

In short, this Devil Fruit had immense potential for development, much like the 'Requip Magic' from the neighboring "Fairy Tail" set, but it was even more "free."

It allowed for the arbitrary combination of living and non-living entities.

"Yip!"

Bear Cub's ears drooped.

Mercer chuckled, amused.

He reached out and fiddled with Bear Cub's ears, massaging the thick parts. Bear Cub immediately began to hum comfortably.

Mercer parted Bear Cub's mouth with both hands and peered down his throat, which seemed to have no bottom.

A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, then he looked at Bear Cub and steeled himself. "I'll go inside your belly. Eat me, and then let's 'Fuse.' I want to know what that feels like."

Bear Cub looked at Mercer and tilted his head, "Yip?"

Mercer's mouth twitched. "It's not like I want to be your food. Speaking of which, would you digest me as food?"

Upon hearing this, Bear Cub's face filled with resistance, and he shook his head like a rattle drum.

"Wuu!"

"So, I'll just go in and take a look. Remember to Fuse with me, I want to know what it feels like. You can spit me out when we're done."

Bear Cub reluctantly nodded.

He sat down in the snow with a plop, his mouth opening wide. Mercer looked at the mouth that was almost larger than himself.

He made up his mind.

Leaning forward, he stuck his head right in.

He grabbed onto the tongue with his hands, like climbing into a tree hollow.

As Mercer's feet disappeared down his throat, Bear Cub closed his mouth.

The surrounding space also became quiet.

New author, new book! Please follow!

Requesting monthly votes! Requesting investment! Requesting recommendations!