Devil Fruit User (2)!

"Hoo... hoo..."

Unknowingly, Merlin's heart began to beat violently, and he couldn't help but exhale the stale air from his lungs heavily.

A look of disbelief flashed in Merlin's eyes, "Mera, he's that rich?"

"Not only is he a Devil Fruit user himself, but he actually has another Devil Fruit in his possession?"

Under the moonlight, Merlin looked at the fruit in his hand, its strange flame-like patterns covering its pitch-black surface.

He crouched down, his eyes a little dazed, "What kind of Devil Fruit is this?"

Merlin didn't know, as he didn't have any fruit encyclopedias.

So, with a thought, "The Dire Wolf isn't a particularly powerful ability, and expanding an Equipment Slot with it will be more convenient for my future development."

More importantly, Merlin felt that if the fruit's origin, which didn't rely on a physical body, were extracted, it would likely dissipate and "escape" immediately.

And he didn't have any way to contain such an origin power.

Merlin wasn't greedy; being able to strip the fruit's origin from a Devil Fruit user using his [Equipment Slot] was already the greatest fortune imaginable.

One shouldn't be too greedy.

However, there was no rush for now.

The regeneration ability brought by the Zoan type should allow his wounds to heal completely in no time.

He stuffed the Devil Fruit into his pocket.

Merlin strode into the main building and grabbed the katana from the sword rack. He looked around and quickly spotted a two-meter cage in the corner of the living room, containing a large, brown-grey cat.

It was a Lynx.

About half a meter long, it looked like a half-grown cub.

Its limbs were thicker and longer than those of an ordinary house cat, and its pair of pointed, erect ears had black tufts of fur.

Its cheeks were adorned with long, drooping fur. Its upper body was light brown, its underside pale white, and its tail was only a palm's length, with a black tip.

It looked quite majestic.

However, it was currently looking sickly, its bright yellow cat eyes staring at Merlin with intense vigilance.

"Hiss! Haa~"

The Lynx bared its fangs and hissed at Merlin as a threat.

Merlin smiled, then walked over, picked up the cage, and headed outside. As he passed Mera's corpse outside, Merlin saw a damaged revolver, and a flicker of regret crossed his eyes.

Without further delay, Merlin arrived beside the rock garden and placed the cage on the ground, staring at the Lynx inside.

This feline species was one of the more formidable among cats, and equipping it should be more beneficial than equipping a Rat.

At this moment, Merlin's heart stirred, and he activated his ability. His body visibly transformed.

Immediately, a Dire Wolf, clad in clothes and covered in grey-brown fur, appeared at the entrance of the rock garden cave.

Sensing the explosive power and abundant energy surging within his body, Merlin's eyes gleamed with a faint, bright yellow light.

In the cage, the little Lynx's fur bristled, and it let out a low growl, threatening Merlin.

It moved its limbs, pacing and leaping around. After transforming into a beast form, Merlin possessed an instinctual control over his body.

He moved without any awkwardness, sniffing the various scents in the air.

Then, his body stretched and changed again, into a half-beast form: a wolf's head on a human body, with sharp teeth and claws, covered entirely in grey-brown fur.

Feeling the accelerated healing of his wounds after activating his ability, Merlin pondered, sensing the immense power emanating from his body, as well as his own mental and physical energy, which began to slowly deplete.

He jumped, punched, and kicked in place.

He experienced his current physical state.

"My current physical strength is even greater than after equipping the [Rat]; this is an all-around improvement."

He analyzed internally, cold sweat breaking out on his back. Fortunately, he had been decisive enough to blast Mera to death with grenades.

Otherwise, if Mera had been more vigilant, he wouldn't have survived.

Merlin remained in his half-beast form and searched the villa, finding some ham and fruit wine inside.

After a hearty meal, he felt his stamina replenished, and his wounds healed even faster.

In less than twenty minutes, his wounds had healed and scabbed over, no longer hindering his movement.

Merlin approached the rock garden, opened the cage door, and quickly reached in with his left hand, grabbing the Lynx by the neck and pulling it out. As the Lynx hissed and scratched, Merlin clenched his right fist and smashed it against its head.

Then, after two more punches, the Lynx went limp in his hands, motionless.

It had been beaten unconscious.

Merlin placed the unconscious Lynx back into the cage, and with a thought, his [Equipment Slot] appeared before him. He then mentally controlled it to [Confirm] the consumption of this origin.

At this moment, The wolf-shaped energy image in the equipment slot was enveloped in a brilliant azure light.

From the outside in, it continuously spread.

Merlin instinctively understood that this primal power was being devoured and consumed.

Just ten minutes later, the primal power of the Devil Fruit was completely exhausted. At this moment, Merlin looked at the two [frames] that now existed side-by-side in his Equipment Slot.

Simultaneously, as the jungle wolf's fruit power disappeared, the sense of power that had been bestowed upon him also vanished.

A feeling of loss washed over him, and Merlin once again realized his own weakness.

Immediately after, Merlin pursed his lips, took out the unknown Devil Fruit from his pocket, and in the next instant, it disappeared.

In the first [frame], the pattern of a black fruit now appeared.

[Name: Devil Fruit]

[Effect: Upon equipping, grants you the ability to control calamities. Through the medium of dark flames, you can absorb, store, and release the effects of calamities. (The prerequisite for absorbing and storing calamities is understanding the principles of their composition.) Each of your ten fingers can store one type of calamity.

However, it also comes with a natural limitation (PS: This limitation is intrinsically linked to this primal power; it can be "weakened" but not erased).]

[Synchronization Value: 1%]

[Evaluation: A supernatural creation born from the ingenious combination of pure willpower and the world's origin.]

Merlin's gaze sharpened as he felt the instinctive power surge within his body once more.

Through the display of the Equipment Slot and his innate comprehension of the Devil Fruit's power, Merlin knew at this moment what kind of ability he had acquired.

Paramecia. Calamity Fruit.

Immediately after, the name of the [Equipment] changed.

[Name: Calamity Fruit]

Feeling the ability that had appeared within his body and could now be instinctively used.

Under the moonlight, a brilliant light flickered in Merlin's eyes, "My plumbism, it seems I can be cured."

Because the calamities and suffering within his body were, in essence, a form of calamity.

And the scope of the Calamity Fruit's ability was to control the calamities within living beings whose principles of composition he understood.

At this moment, Merlin sensed several [calamities] within his body, one of which was a toxin-type calamity known as plumbism.

And Merlin had been dealing with this plumbism toxin for over a decade, so he was intimately familiar with it.

Extending his right hand, a handful of deep, dark flames, tinged with a heart-stopping aura, surged forth.

Merlin felt no heat or destruction from these flames, but they gave him a profound sense of dread.

His right hand, enveloped in the black flames, was slowly pressed against his chest. At this moment, the black flames rose and enveloped his body.

Under a unique perspective, Merlin could perceive the various calamities residing within him.

The most noticeable were...

The pale white representing plumbism.

The light red representing external wounds.

And various other shades of color that were difficult to describe or comprehend.

At this moment, with a thought, the accumulated plumbism within his body was slowly absorbed.

Within the dark flames, a faint, pale white halo began to appear.

After a moment, Merlin let out a long sigh of relief. The subtle, bone-chilling pain that had long existed within him vanished completely.

The calamity within his body, representing plumbism, had been absorbed and extracted.

Merlin now raised his left index finger; the pale skin on it had already disappeared without him even noticing.

Because he understood, the [absorption] was complete. And because he understood, the next step was [storage]. Merlin touched his left middle finger with his right hand, and in the next moment, his middle finger from the base turned pale white, the calamity of plumbism successfully [stored].

At this point, Merlin instinctively understood that he now possessed a [bullet] of calamity, which could be [released] through contact with the black flames.

A flicker of black flame glinted in his eyes. At this moment, Merlin instinctively understood that the stored calamity was a single-use [bullet]; once released, it would disappear, not exist permanently.

"So that's how it is. Calamities are like bullets that I have to store myself, and I'm currently like a ten-shot revolver, not a Desert Eagle with infinite bullets."

"However, Devil Fruits have a stage called awakening, and the [Equipment Slot] also has the ability to deeply excavate the potential of [Equipment]."

"In the future, perhaps I can permanently store all sorts of calamities whose principles of composition I understand."