Development [Seeking Recommendations]

Although Aokiji usually wore a lazy expression all the time.

There was no denying that Aokiji's personality allowed him to better gauge the limits after receiving orders, generally executing Sengoku's commands with precision rather than causing extra trouble.

Plus, Aokiji was younger than the other two, having joined two classes after Kizaru and Akainu. If he wanted to take on the Admiral position later, his military achievements were still somewhat lacking.

So Sengoku sending Aokiji had multiple considerations.

It could serve as a moderate warning while also giving Aokiji more training and additional military merit.

And though Aokiji always grumbled about the trouble, once he received the order he didn't slack off. He stood up and prepared to leave.

After all, for him, since the meeting was over, riding a bicycle across the sea for a stroll while casually eliminating some pirates was still a pretty good voyage.

And compared to the Aokiji who would later take on the Admiral role, he was still a little fanboy of Garp right now. With Garp present, he was just running his mouth.

"Wait," Sengoku seemed to suddenly remember something and instructed, "Since you're going out, handle another matter along the way.

Previously, Yukimura captured a group of Slave Catchers, and they retaliated. Though they failed, it's a provocation against the Marines. Go with Yukimura and wipe them out!"

"Ara ara, Fleet Admiral Sengoku sure knows how to give me things to do." Aokiji waved his hand, not voicing any objection.

After all, there was no particularly important mission right now. Going out to sea meant randomly wandering and destroying whichever pirate crew he came across. Having a task saved him from aimless drifting.

"I didn't expect Fleet Admiral Sengoku to still remember..." When Yukimura arrived at the Fleet Admiral's office and heard Sengoku's arrangement, he couldn't help feeling secretly moved.

Yukimura knew that Fleet Admiral Sengoku had arranged for Aokiji to accompany him against that pirate crew out of consideration for his feelings.

After all, after being ambushed last time, he had long wanted to take revenge. And because of that ambush, the kid he had saved earlier fell into that godforsaken place, Stomach Baron, and was still missing, fate unknown.

Thinking back, the sudden battle had been too intense, the ship damaged, and the enemy had brought multiple vessels. Forced to retreat, he couldn't go back to find that kid.

At this thought, Yukimura's expression darkened. That child, though young, was clever and hardworking, and even the ship's doctor praised him as a medical genius. Now his life or death was unknown.

"Alright, I know a kid from your ship fell onto the Boin Archipelago. We'll pass by and take a look this time. If he can survive in a place like that, it proves he's good material.

Even if he's not suited for combat, a promising doctor is worth the effort." Aokiji yawned.

"Thank you!" Yukimura knew Aokiji said that for his sake, and gratitude showed on his face.

Sengoku wiped his glasses, looked at Aokiji, and instructed, "Aokiji, since you're going out on business, make sure to handle these matters cleanly."

"Ah~~Ha~~ I don't mind riding a warship." Aokiji put away his eye patch, yawned, and led the eager Yukimura out.

But Yukimura didn't think much of it. However, Sengoku's purpose in sending him with Aokiji wasn't just that—it was to help Aokiji develop his own faction.

After all, though Akainu and Kizaru currently belonged to the "Neutral Faction" and "Hardliner Faction," they were from the same class.

Relatively speaking, Aokiji's faction was still weaker. But since he followed Garp and belonged to the "Dove Faction," since he was one of their own, Sengoku naturally wanted to help Aokiji develop when the opportunity arose.

And the backbone of a faction ranged from Rear Admiral to Vice Admiral. Yukimura's current rank of Rear Admiral was enough to enter Sengoku's line of sight. Moreover, Yukimura was still young, with plenty of time to improve.

Leaving aside Sengoku's considerations, the two who had already set out slowly advanced toward their target aboard the warship.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Abraham Dawn was constantly trying to develop the ability of the fruit he had eaten.

Even if he had a vast imagination, he still needed powerful strength and abundant stamina to keep experimenting and eventually succeed.

"Power Aura."

Unlike the previous cyan aura, this red aura granted unparalleled strength.

Its amplification of Dawn's own power was at least enough for a child like him to pick up a blade and directly confront those annoying man-eating flowers.

But in exchange, the stamina consumption was also significant.

So far, this ability used stamina to exchange for explosive power far beyond what was normally achievable.

However, Dawn believed that with continued development of the fruit and training of his abilities, the stamina consumed by this Power Aura would gradually decrease, while the power boost would slowly increase.

But the key point wasn't here.

Compared to developing the Aura Fruit, Dawn, who had played countless games, didn't need to put in any special effort for its development.

As for the fruit's prospects, Dawn could see extremely far into the later stages.

Of course, whether he could actually develop it depended on the fruit's upper limit and practical circumstances.

Even if there was no such thing as the strongest fruit, it was undeniable that fruits had superior and inferior classifications.

For example, the Mera Mera no Mi and the Magma-Magma Fruit had different development potential in terms of temperature.

Clearly, the Magma-Magma Fruit had an advantage in temperature from the start after being consumed.

But that didn't matter. For Dawn, such problems were something to consider only after he had stopped growing stronger.

Right now, Dawn faced an important issue.

That was the development of the "Snatch-Snatch Fruit." Compared to the "Aura Fruit," which had a clear path of ability, Dawn could only grope forward blindly in developing the "Snatch-Snatch Fruit."

Even the name of this fruit was merely deduced by Dawn from the techniques used by that fat-ball-shaped pirate.

Naturally, he couldn't claim to have any deep understanding of this fruit's ability.

It could be said that compared to the "Aura Fruit," the level of understanding between the two was like one being at a university level while the other was still stuck in elementary school.

But Dawn had gritted his teeth and eaten this bizarre Devil Fruit to gamble on that faint possibility of a bold idea.

Even if it were just a plain "Aura Fruit" and "Snatch-Snatch Fruit," Dawn had confidence he could develop them to the level of an Admiral or a Four Emperor.

But if he could develop the two fruits' abilities not separately, but combine and fuse them into a single fruit—

Then Dawn had confidence he could become the top-tier combatant even among Admirals and Four Emperors.

Take Golden Lion, for example. As a man who contended with Roger and Whitebeard, facing the combined assault of Garp and Sengoku, the three of them destroyed nearly half the town of Marineford before he was finally captured.

But if Dawn could truly develop the ability he envisioned, combining those powers, then even against two Admiral-level fighters, Dawn had the confidence to remain undefeated!