Cloud-Cloud Fruit

When he woke from his coma, Lu Zhuo saw countless tiny needles stuck into his body. He blinked, confused.

By his legs, Nami was sleeping soundly with her head resting on his thigh.

The moment Lu Zhuo stirred, she woke. After a brief moment of confusion, she looked at him with delight.

"You're finally awake!"

Lu Zhuo reached out and patted her head. "How long was I out?"

"Three whole days, you idiot! Do you know how badly you were hurt?" Nami scolded him, but her face was full of happiness.

Lu Zhuo smiled. "Take all this stuff out. Now that I'm awake, I'm pretty much recovered."

Half an hour later, with Nami supporting him, Lu Zhuo walked out of the room.

"You're awake?" Robin looked at him and smiled. Then her expression turned serious. "What exactly happened between you and Kuma?"

So Robin had managed to get some details out of Conis. Lu Zhuo's expression darkened slightly as he thought this over. "We fought. I was badly hurt; he was only slightly injured."

As he spoke, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and turned to Nami. "You still haven't eaten that Devil Fruit?"

Nami nodded. "No."

Frowning, Lu Zhuo looked at Robin. "That Devil Fruit should be a Logia. Judging by its shape, it's either wind or clouds."

"Yes, it should be the Logia Cloud-Cloud Fruit. It's a pretty weak ability," Robin said with a pout.

Lu Zhuo snorted. "What do you know? The way I see it, the Cloud-Cloud Fruit isn't weak at all. In fact, it's one of the strongest Devil Fruits!"

"Uh, how could that be? Aren't clouds soft and pretty much useless for attacking?" Nami took out the Devil Fruit and looked at him in confusion.

Lu Zhuo slapped his forehead. "You're both usually so clever. Why are you being so dense now? Tell me, what are we standing on?"

"The ship!"

"Under the ship."

"The sea... No, the clouds!" Nami's eyes suddenly lit up as she spoke.

Lu Zhuo smiled and said to Robin, "Sea Cloud has the same effect as the Blue Sea below us, right? Both can rob Devil Fruit Users of their powers. And Sea Cloud is a kind of cloud, so the Cloud-Cloud Fruit should be able to imitate it."

Robin's eyes lit up too.

"You really do have a broad range of knowledge. You know so much about my Flower-Flower Fruit, and now you know all about the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, too."

Just then, Nami held out the Devil Fruit to Lu Zhuo and said softly, "This Fruit is so powerful. You should eat it instead. I don't want you to get hurt again..."

"Silly girl, if I ate this Devil Fruit, I'm sure I could reach the level of the Four Emperors in a short time. But that isn't what I'm truly aiming for. Go ahead and eat it."

"Okay." Nami didn't insist again. She knew Lu Zhuo's decisions always had a purpose.

When the lower half of Nami's body suddenly turned into a mass of cloud and she couldn't change it back, Lu Zhuo nearly burst out laughing.

"It's fine, it's fine. You just need to get used to it. Then you can develop your powers in one of two directions. One is Sea Cloud: expand its range as much as possible and increase its volume. The other is thunderclouds: condense them as much as possible and make them undergo a qualitative change."

As he spoke, Lu Zhuo noticed Conis standing nearby, looking a little downcast.

He walked over with a smile and tried to pat her head, but the two long curls atop it made it impossible.

He gave an awkward smile, then said gently, "This Fruit isn't right for you. I know what you like—something music-related. I'll find you a Fruit like that, I promise."

"Ah." Lu Zhuo's words immediately cheered Conis up. "Really?"

"Of course!"

"Th-thank you!" Conis suddenly leaned forward and kissed Lu Zhuo on the cheek, then ran off, blushing.

Lu Zhuo smiled and stroked his chin. Then he caught sight of a strange cloud drifting toward him.

Robin watched him with an amused expression, and a bad feeling rose in his heart.

Sure enough, the next moment, the cloud turned into a black thundercloud, and a bolt of lightning struck Lu Zhuo...

Nami was amazing... She could make thunder... clouds already! Lu Zhuo, now charred, opened his mouth and coughed out a puff of black smoke.

The sun shone brightly on the beach made of clouds, creating the feeling of being in paradise.

Lu Zhuo sat there with a black sword lying across his thighs... Kitetsu.

It was only a tiny step away from becoming a Supreme Grade Sword. What a shame.

Lu Zhuo sighed. The gap was so small it was almost meaningless; Kitetsu could already clash head-on with a Supreme Grade Sword. But that little difference still kept it from unleashing certain abilities.

Lu Zhuo could already sense that once Kitetsu became a Supreme Grade Sword, it would be able to dance through the air on its own.

In other words, his Kitetsu would become a flying sword, like those immortal swords!

After all, Kitetsu had a genuine sword spirit within it. No other Supreme Grade Sword could compare—not even the legendary Light of the Millennium!

Grasping Kitetsu, Lu Zhuo swung it lightly a few times. A powerful sword aura swept out in every direction.

A glint flashed in his eyes.

Beyond sword aura should be the Sword Domain!

The Sword Domain was like Hawk-Eye's: with a casual swing, every cannonball in every direction would be sliced clean in half.

Within his own Sword Domain, his sword could slash wherever he pleased!

And beyond the Sword Domain should be sword intent!

Only when one understood one's own sword intent and condensed it into tangible form could one truly become a Top-Level Swordsman.

Flower Sword Vista, captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Fifth Division in the original story, could send countless petals swirling through the air with his sword. That was his sword intent.

But Lu Zhuo truly knew nothing about the next step, advancing from Great Swordsman to Great Swordsman. After all, Hawk-Eye in the original story had only used a little sword energy in his few fights, with nothing else.

And none of the other Great Swordsmen in the original story had appeared either.

The Sword Domain's existence could be inferred, but he had no idea how to reach it.

Lu Zhuo closed his eyes and furrowed his brows, sensing the sword aura around him.

At the same time, the Observation Haki he had nearly mastered surfaced and merged with his sword aura.

But even then, Lu Zhuo still couldn't make a single slash hit every position around him head-on.

It seemed that unless he fought a high-level swordsman, it would be difficult for him to figure it out.

Lu Zhuo sighed and withdrew his sword aura.

Well, it was about time to go find Enel. With that thought, Lu Zhuo took a step and vanished from the beach. A few more steps took him deep into the forest.

A few minutes later, a deafening crash shook Upper Yard. The people of Skypiea glanced over, then went right back to their work as if nothing had happened.

Lu Zhuo had been living in Upper Yard for nearly three months. Almost every three days, he went to fight Enel. The Skypieans had grown used to the frequent battles of the gods in their sacred land.

Only the Shandia, who lived in despair, still struggled. Fortunately, they had War Demon Wyper to keep their spirits up.