Fierce Beast

There were hierarchies among Fruits. Even if there was no single strongest Fruit, that in itself proved one thing.

That Fruits also had potential.

Powerful Fruits naturally possessed greater potential than those relatively useless ones.

The Fruit Dawn had eaten was formed from the fusion of two Paramecia Fruits.

Taken separately, the abilities of those two Fruits were not particularly weak, especially in the hands of a transmigrator with an imaginative mind like Dawn.

Dawn had an incredibly bold idea.

So before deciding to eat the Fruit, he had hesitated.

But Dawn still took the gamble!

For that, he accepted the risk that his "bold idea" might never come to fruition.

He had also prepared himself for the possibility that he might not gain both Fruits' abilities, but only one—or worse, that the ability might suffer some negative weakening and become useless!

Fortunately, he had won the gamble!

And now, the most important thing was to focus on developing the Fruit and bring to life the ability he had envisioned, one that could only be called insane!

One month later, Dawn darted continuously through the forest, with a savage carnivorous Sea King close on his heels.

"Roar!!"

The imposing roar shattered the tranquility of this island of delicacies, startling countless birds into flight.

Though their meal had been disturbed, these birds, visibly a full size fatter, might choose to leave the island because their lives were threatened. Escaping danger might even turn this misfortune into a blessing.

Within the forest, all manner of creatures hid away, except for those fierce beasts that were also Sea Kings and were confident in their own strength. Those beasts continued eating without a care.

The owner of that roar had frightened the others into trembling. As they hid, they could not help wondering: who was so bored that, in a place filled with food, they chose not to eat and drink, but instead provoked such a fierce beast into anger?

Meanwhile, Dawn, surrounded by a blue aura, easily weaved through the beast's frenzied attacks, dodging its swinging claws and avoiding the bloody maw spraying saliva.

After all, compared to such a massive carnivore, Dawn, though he had grown quite a bit taller, was still only six or seven years old. His body was so tiny that it would not even bother eating him if he passed by; there was simply too much delicious food on this island.

Yet judging from the somewhat unnatural condition of a certain indescribable part beneath that unknown giant beast's lower body—

One could guess what outrage Dawn had committed with the Red Ring to make this fierce beast abandon its food and pursue him so relentlessly.

Well, "Red Ring" was the name Dawn had given Power Aura. Since it was red when activated, he called it the Red Ring. Speed Aura was blue, so he called it the Blue Ring.

He used those names partly for convenience, and partly to conceal the effects of his abilities so that enemies would not discover them too quickly during battle.

After all, the bizarre abilities of Devil Fruits were all things one had to guard against in combat.

And the first thing to do was make sure the enemy could not figure out your ability.

Enough chatter. At this moment, the pain-crazed fierce beast was relentlessly chasing Dawn.

But the bulging limbs that had once been packed with violent, defined muscles were long gone. In their place were chubby, bloated legs.

Only the expression on its vicious head showed what an irritable brute it had once been. Unfortunately, it was now merely a round, pudgy meatball that was even a little adorable.

"Roar!!" The giant beast attacked repeatedly, but not a single strike landed. Dawn kept leading it around by the nose.

As time passed, it grew even more furious. Its fat forelimb smashed viciously toward where Dawn stood.

"Power Snatch!"

Taking advantage of the beast's attack, Dawn effortlessly activated the Blue Ring and dashed beneath it, throwing a punch at its hind leg.

Though Dawn's punch looked soft and harmless, it actually contained a special attack.

Power Snatch was an ability Dawn had developed from the Snatch-Snatch Fruit.

Although the punch caused no physical damage, some of the giant beast's stamina was drained away upon contact.

Part of the stamina he stole flowed back into his own body, replenishing the energy Dawn had spent running at high speed.

But seeing that the giant beast had barely changed, Dawn felt somewhat helpless.

In truth, teasing this giant beast and leading it around was a desperate measure.

If the animals on the island had not been so fat that they no longer had the strength even to walk, all completely useless, Dawn would never have risked his life like this.

This giant beast had probably arrived later than those round blobs. Though fat, it could at least still move.

And the sluggish speed brought by its size ensured Dawn's safety.

To test the ability he had just developed, Dawn had no choice but to provoke this fierce beast.

Otherwise, he would have preferred to find some smaller sea beast to test his ability on!

At that moment, Dawn was beneath the fat beast, constantly dodging its stomping limbs while occasionally throwing a punch at its body.

Enveloped in Speed Aura, Dawn led the fat beast on another lap through the forest. As he continuously evaded attacks, he grew more familiar with controlling his speed, while the occasional Power Snatch drained most of the fat beast's stamina.

As the fat beast's strength dwindled, its attacks gradually became less frequent, while Dawn's attacks became increasingly frequent. As one side waned and the other waxed, Dawn gradually gained the upper hand.

"Roar..."

Accompanied by the beast's weak roar, the enormous fierce beast finally lost a great deal of strength under Dawn's continuously unleashed Devil Fruit ability. It collapsed unwillingly, lying on the ground and panting heavily.

Dawn jumped onto the fat beast's head and threw several more punches, completely draining its stamina.

Then Dawn activated the Red Ring to enhance his strength. He drew the sword he had picked up from pirates and, with explosive force, viciously drove it through the beast's eye and into its brain.

"Aoo!!"

Blood splashed across Dawn's body, and the intense pain made the beast struggle violently.

At that moment, along the outermost edge of the aura surrounding Dawn, a blurry serpent appeared. Looking closely, one could see that the snake was biting its own tail.

And now, that nearly invisible phantom serpent actually came alive and spread toward the giant beast.

As if it had sensed something, the weakened giant beast began struggling frantically once more, kicking up clouds of dust.