A Person!

It was hard to describe what the experience was like.

It was like passing through an indescribable passageway—warm, damp, slippery, and especially dark.

"It's like entering a black box. It's pitch-black all around, with no end in sight."

Mercer walked around. The ground beneath his feet was covered in some kind of sticky liquid. After only a couple of steps, he stepped on something.

He crouched and felt around. A few seconds later, he realized what it was. "A snow chicken?"

In the pitch-black space, Mercer's eyes flickered as a faint feeling of suffocation washed over him.

"Is the air thin?"

"So this space really is the 'quasi-dimensional stomach' swallowing space that comes with the Munch-Munch Fruit."

For some reason, he still couldn't find the edge of the place. He could smell a faint, stomach-acid-like corrosive gas in the air.

Outside,

Bear Cub's eyes gleamed with curiosity. He had a strange feeling about Mercer walking around in circles inside that "digestion factory" within his body.

He soon stopped thinking about it and, following Mercer's instructions, activated his "quasi-fusion" transformation ability, merging Mercer into his body and making him visible.

His body began to change.

In the dark space,

Mercer looked at the darkness around him and wondered, sinking into thought. "Can this place be broken?"

He released his Observation Haki, but it seemed to be blocked by something, and he couldn't sense very far.

Just then, a pulling force acted on Mercer. The next moment, he felt the world spin around him.

Then, his vision brightened.

Mercer saw the Snow Forest outside. He released his Observation Haki, sensing the way he existed now.

It was an incredibly strange feeling.

His heart was beating, but it wasn't his own heart, and the only part of him he could move was his face.

Mercer understood.

Only his head had appeared, and it was on Bear Cub's chest.

"Ying?"

Bear Cub looked at Mercer's head on his chest, the corners of his bear mouth lifting.

Then he pressed the paw pad of his right paw against Mercer's forehead and rubbed it.

A dark line appeared on Mercer's forehead, and at the same time, a new idea came to him.

"Bear Cub, can you make my whole body appear on yours? Put my head on your head, and make my hands, feet, and body appear on you, too?"

Bear Cub looked at his body in confusion. Then he used his ability, and the next moment his left and right bear arms turned into Mercer's human arms.

At the same time, Mercer could feel his own arms, and he had sensation in them.

He tried to reach out and grasp something, but it was extremely difficult, as if something were blocking him.

Then, one after another, Mercer became aware of all his limbs.

His field of vision also changed height.

It was as if he had suddenly grown taller.

It wasn't a trick of the mind.

Mercer could sense that his current height was exactly Bear Cub's height when standing upright.

Although he could feel his body, he couldn't control it.

Bear Cub looked excitedly at his body and stood up on two legs. Walking upright, with his arms and legs completely different from before, was much easier.

An unprecedented, novel experience filled Bear Cub.

"Aw. Ying. Ha-ha, Mer. cer. Ha, hey, I. wo. be. a. per. Ying-ying-ying."

Bear Cub opened his mouth. Mercer's facial features were faintly visible on his bear face.

A head of short, black, slightly curly hair had even appeared on top of it.

He could actually make sounds, speaking human words haltingly.

Bear Cub was even more excited now. He ran around gleefully in the snow, the clothes that had appeared along with him stretched tight against his body.

Compared to Bear Cub's playful antics,

Mercer felt something different. His body had changed, both familiar and unfamiliar.

It was as if a foreign object had been embedded inside his body.

No, that wasn't right. It was more like he himself had been embedded inside another foreign object.

In. Out.

Bear Cub's breathing efficiency was worlds apart from his own.

His body rose and fell with each breath.

As this fused state continued, Mercer's mind settled. A light-screen panel appeared in his field of vision.

Mercer looked at the panel in front of him. No new ability had appeared in the Gifted Abilities column.

That was to be expected.

After all, he would have to live through his life and experiences before they could accumulate.

Just then, the constantly changing scenery in his field of vision showed that Bear Cub was still running around excitedly. Mercer also noticed that Bear Cub wasn't aware of the light-screen panel projected onto his retina at all.

Mercer wasn't surprised.

It was only natural that he couldn't see it.

If he really could,

"Then that would mean the Devil Fruit's level was 'higher' than my Light Orb."

But clearly, that wasn't the case.

He stopped thinking about it.

With a thought, Mercer entered the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, relying on his sense of connection with nature and all things.

He sensed a special frequency, though it was different from the frequency he gave off.

It was as if there were two different "consciousnesses" in one body. His own consciousness was the "secondary" one, while Bear Cub's was the "primary."

"But the situation is unusual right now."

"We could say our bodies have become one."

Mercer began observing that frequency. In the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, he made his own frequency move closer to Bear Cub's.

The two frequencies aligned and merged. Gradually, the frequency representing Mercer became identical to Bear Cub's.

Now that they were the same, interaction would begin.

They started to intertwine.

The next moment, Bear Cub's left foot stopped mid-stride as he ran gleefully through the Snow Forest. It suddenly slipped out of his control, and his whole "body" toppled sideways.

He landed face-first in the snow.

But he didn't notice that it wasn't just his left foot he'd lost control of. Even his breathing had changed.

Mercer's eyes lit up. He had taken control of the fused body's breathing. As his body rose and fell with each breath, he guided qi through his entire body. The next moment, he regained control of his right leg, left hand, right hand, and the rest of his body.

Mercer stood up and rubbed his face.

The next moment, Bear Cub spoke through his mouth. "Ying-ying, what happened to me?"

He hadn't completely taken away Bear Cub's control? That made sense. After all, Mercer wasn't the primary one.

At the same time, Mercer smiled through the same mouth. "Nothing happened. I just took control of the body. I've realized this is another drawback of the Munch-Munch Fruit when it fuses with living creatures."

"Objects don't have consciousness, so after fusing with you, they can't fight you for control of the body. But living creatures can."

"And my situation is special. Normally, if another creature fought you for control of your body, you could spit it out or trap it in that 'dark stomach space' until it was digested, then transform it back out."

"But right now, because of the state of Unity of Heaven and Man I entered through breathing, our fused body has gone through an even deeper fusion under my influence."

"And I'm stronger than you, so I took control of the body."

"Ying, so... that's how it is, my butt!"

Bear Cub spoke through his mouth in human words, sounding amazed. But Mercer was also staring at his own hands in surprise.

Because he had suppressed Bear Cub's consciousness, Mercer was now in control of their fused body.

A new instinctive feeling arose.

Mercer began to walk. He reached out and steadied himself against a nearby pine tree, then suddenly opened his mouth incredibly wide and bit into the trunk.

Crack!

He turned his head and tore with his mouth, biting off a large chunk of the trunk. He puffed out his cheeks and started chewing. A few seconds later, he swallowed it.

An unfamiliar taste filled his mouth.

"Hmm, how do I put it? It tastes so crisp and refreshing, kind of like eating pine nuts."

As he spoke, his left hand began to change, turning into a short sword.

The fast blade he had forged some time ago had been eaten by Bear Cub, but now it had appeared in front of him again.

Mercer smiled.

The short sword turned back into a left hand.

"Mer. cer, so this is what it feels like when you breathe. It's so amaz. ing, so com. fortable."

Bear Cub spoke haltingly, experiencing from another "perspective" how the inside of his body subtly changed with each breath while they were fused.

"Then you'd better focus and remember it. This is a rare opportunity. While we're fused, take the time to experience our breathing."

"Ying, okay."

Bear Cub spoke through his mouth.

Mercer found it very interesting to have two voices speaking out of one mouth. He continued looking for crows as he walked through the Snow Forest.

Feeling the energy draining quickly from his body, Mercer raised an eyebrow. "Does fusing with a living creature use up this much energy?"

"Mm, compared to turning my body into weapons, it's tiring much faster."

Hearing Bear Cub's answer, Mercer understood. Then his expression suddenly froze. "Bear Cub, why do I feel like you're getting better and better at talking?"

Bear Cub looked bewildered. "Ying, I don't know. I just know that after fusing with you, I could naturally speak human words. I don't know why, but now I'm getting better at it."

Mercer understood as soon as he heard that.

There was no need to think too hard about it.

As their bodies fused more deeply, and since their fused body was human, Bear Cub had spent his whole life with Mercer and Kureha. Their influence had rubbed off on him, so it was only natural that he'd become more fluent the more he spoke.

"Alright, spit me out before you wear yourself out. Then I'll have to carry you back."

"Okay."

Mercer cleared his mind and stopped controlling the body. The next moment, Bear Cub took control. Then Mercer's vision went black, and as the world spun around him, he found himself back in a pitch-black place.

But a few seconds later,

he felt something grab his body. Then a weightless feeling came over him. His vision brightened, and his head emerged from Bear Cub's mouth. Bear Cub held him by the body with his right paw and pulled him out.

As soon as he landed, Mercer checked his body. He didn't feel sticky or wet inside or out.

The experience had gone well.

He saw that Bear Cub had returned to his original bear form.

Mercer stepped forward and pinched his cheek. "How do you feel?"

Bear Cub blinked and opened his mouth. "Ah~ Ying~ Woo~ Okay~ Aw~"

Then he scratched his head, looking unhappy. He grumbled "Ying-ying-ying," puffed out his cheeks, and plopped down on the ground.

Mercer chuckled and rubbed Bear Cub's head. "The Munch-Munch Fruit should be able to change your bone structure through self-consumption. Why don't you try it?

"You should still remember how it felt when we were fused, right?

"Try it yourself and see if changing the structure of your throat bone lets you speak human words. Your vocal cords are very versatile, after all."

Bear Cub abruptly raised his head, looking delighted. He immediately opened his lower jaw wide and bit upward, then ate his nose, then his head, then his butt. After a few more bites, all that remained on the spot was a ball of white fur.

Mercer watched with interest as the sound of chewing came from inside the ball of fur. He didn't know if it would work, either.

It would be great if it did.

If it didn't, it wasn't a big deal.

There would always be a way in the future.

For some reason, Bear Cub's self-consumption took an especially long time this time. The sound of chewing came in one burst after another.

What Mercer didn't know was that

inside the ball of fur,

Bear Cub was eating himself, thinking about how his body had changed while they were fused, the human-shaped body he'd had after fusing with Mercer, and the body Mercer had fine-tuned with breathing after taking control. He also thought about how it had felt to talk to Mercer.

Driven by his desire, he used his ability to adjust his bones and the structures inside his body.

Crack, crack!

Hearing the sound of bones grinding from inside the ball of fur in front of him, Mercer furrowed his brow. "I wonder how it's going."

But Mercer wasn't particularly worried.

Minute after minute passed. When Bear Cub still hadn't finished, Mercer could only sigh helplessly.

He walked around the ball of fur.

He looked over the trees around him.

There were quite a few different kinds of trees here.

He could also sense the auras of many living creatures within range.

Mercer scanned the surroundings, continually using his senses as he walked through the woods and looked around.

He made a full circuit but still couldn't find any sign of the crows.

He returned to Bear Cub.

The sound of chewing inside the ball of fur had nearly stopped.

Just then, the white ball of fur began to unfold after Bear Cub's self-consumption.

The next moment, Mercer's eyes widened. He hadn't expected this. He stared at Bear Cub's current upright posture.

He looked just like a panda man, a little short, with a height of 1.7 meters and a chubby build.

He had a black nose, black eye patches, black ears, black arms and legs, and everything else was white.

The Mink Tribe.

That was a name for a species that suddenly popped into Mercer's mind.

But there were differences, too. For instance, his hands had the "pseudo" sixth knuckle that pandas naturally had.

Bear Cub hopped in place, scratched his ear with his right hand, then felt his face.

Grinning, he stared at his body, whose frame was completely different from before, then opened his mouth and said:

"Yingyingying, person."

Mercer raised an eyebrow and looked into Bear Cub's eyes. Enunciating clearly, he said:

"Me. Me. Me. Me."

Bear Cub blinked at Mercer, watching his mouth. Then he opened his own and called out:

"Wuu. Oh. Wo. Me."

Mercer: "Say it."

Bear Cub: "Woof."

Mercer gave him a speechless look. "I'll teach you to talk as we walk. First, come with me to find the crow."

Bear Cub nodded. "Wuu~"

He stayed by Mercer's side, learning the words Mercer said.

Every so often, he bit his tongue.

Or strange sounds with no clear meaning would pop out of his mouth.

Or, growing frustrated, he'd open his mouth and let out a string of "yingyingying."

Mercer didn't find it annoying. He thought it was fun to teach Bear Cub.

It was good practice for later.

The two "people" ran all over the mountains and fields, searching for birds.

"Caw~~"

An hour later, the two reached a tree. Just then, a hoarse birdcall rang out.

Mercer looked up.

There was a nest among the branches near the top.

A flash of black and white caught his eye.

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P.S. Some effects of the Munch-Munch Fruit involve a few creative additions to the basic principles, but they're still reasonably well-founded.

The original work never gave a detailed explanation of the space inside the stomach. It only mentioned "Munch-Munch Factory," so it stands to reason that some spatial effects are involved.