Revealing His Ability

"A Devil Fruit!!"

"My, my, what a lucky little brat."

At those words, even the lazy Aokiji could not help but turn his attention toward Dawn.

Hearing Dawn's words, Yukimura forgot all about feeling guilty and asked in surprise, "Dawn, you actually ate a Devil Fruit?"

"Yeah, it was a fruit with strange colors and weird patterns, and it tasted awful. I remembered hearing the soldier uncles mention something like it after training on the ship. When I ate it, I thought it was some local specialty fruit from the island."

Dawn grinned and casually revealed how he had eaten the fruit.

This was actually quite a common way for people to obtain Devil Fruit powers. Many people across the sea had accidentally eaten Devil Fruits this way.

There were no flaws in Dawn's explanation, either. After all, this island had plenty of strange foods.

Revealing that he was a Devil Fruit user was partly meant to show his openness. Since he would definitely join the Marines later, he could not keep his fruit ability hidden.

The other reason was to demonstrate his value. Only then could he earn the Marines' attention and receive better resources and training to grow stronger.

"I never expected you to accidentally eat a Devil Fruit on the island, Dawn. What ability does it have?" Yukimura asked curiously.

Even the lazy Aokiji became interested. Although Devil Fruits varied in strength and depended on how their users developed them, a Devil Fruit with a high ceiling and powerful ability was always more worthy of cultivation.

"I call it the Aura Fruit. It can increase my strength, speed, and other attributes. More importantly, it seems like I can apply it to other people as well."

At that, Dawn smiled and scratched his head. "But before this, I only tested it on sea beasts fat as balls. I don't know whether it can really work on people."

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and use it on me." Yukimura looked delighted after hearing Dawn explain the fruit's ability.

A Devil Fruit with this kind of support ability was extremely valuable! If it could affect other people, the value of its power would multiply several times over!

Once Dawn grew stronger, it might even be possible for his fruit ability to reach the level of a strategic weapon!

After all, what the Marines lacked least was soldiers!

Just imagining a group of soldiers with lieutenant-level strength becoming comparable to commanders under Dawn's enhancement made Yukimura excited.

At Yukimura's urging, Dawn cast Speed Aura on the two men.

When the azure aura enveloped them, even with their superhuman physiques, they could feel their bodies becoming somewhat lighter.

Even though it was extremely slight—so slight that it was almost useless—the two of them could still clearly sense the power affecting them.

"Try it on them again! Your current strength is too low. With our superhuman physiques, we can barely feel the effect of the fruit ability."

Because the sensation was so faint, Yukimura even wondered whether some sort of ability had affected him at all, unable to determine whether it had truly increased his speed.

But after thinking it over, he understood that the gap in strength between them was simply too great, so he immediately called out a soldier.

"Yeah, this time I'll use the Red Ring that enhances strength. That should make it easier for you and Uncle Yukimura to judge," Dawn said after thinking for a moment.

"Hm? Good idea." Yukimura immediately ordered the soldier to attack him.

"No need to make it so troublesome. I'll do it." As Aokiji spoke, he created two ice pillars the size of heads.

"These are two ice pillars with the same hardness. Use your weapon to slash each one once, before and after receiving the enhancement," Aokiji instructed.

"Yes, sir!" Upon hearing Aokiji's instructions, the soldier immediately slashed one of the ice pillars.

His slash only cut about a third of the way into the ice pillar before it could go no further.

"Try the enhancement," Aokiji said, looking at Dawn.

The crimson aura flashed and enveloped the soldier. The immense strength brought by the Red Ring made him swell with confidence for a moment.

In simple terms—he had been buffed, now go!

This slash, however, cut halfway through the ice pillar!

"My, my, Yukimura, this really is quite a surprise." Aokiji looked at the ice pillar before him, and his gaze toward Dawn gradually became serious.

Being able to resist the temptation of food on such a dangerous island showed that Dawn possessed considerable willpower and the potential to become strong.

Then, his constant training had likely increased his strength significantly, giving him an extremely solid foundation. He was far stronger than others his age and even had experience fighting wild beasts.

On top of that, he had eaten a Devil Fruit with tremendous potential.

The two different supportive auras also showed that he had developed his fruit ability quite well. At the very least, he had the makings of a Vice Admiral.

And not an ordinary Vice Admiral, either, but one capable of greatly increasing the combat power of teammates at the same level!

Based on that enhancement just now, if such a boost could be applied during battle, the instant rise in combat power would catch enemies completely off guard.

This was no impossible fantasy. Although the enhancement's effect on him was currently so weak that it was almost nonexistent,

even this weakly developed ability could let him feel a faint increase.

Then what if Dawn possessed greater strength? Wouldn't it be able to enhance him as well?

Just imagine a group of enhanced Vice Admirals, or even Admirals, locked in a stalemate against their enemies. The moment Dawn activated his aura, he could instantly break the deadlock and turn the tide of battle.

At their level, even the slightest enhancement could have a massive impact on a battle.

Even Aokiji could not help feeling a little excited.

Thinking further, what if Dawn could develop his ability to the point of awakening? Then it would no longer change only localized combat power, but combat power across a vast area!

What did the Marines have the most of? People! From recruits to Admirals, their numbers far exceeded those of the Four Emperors!

How significant would that be in a large-scale war?

"What a treasure we found."

After thinking through all this in an instant, Aokiji suppressed the excitement in his heart. His face returned to its usual carefree look as he yawned and became lazy again.

After all, those were matters for the future, weren't they? Right now, Dawn was merely a lucky boy who had just eaten a fruit.

Even if he had eaten a Devil Fruit with great potential, even if he was already far stronger than others his age, Aokiji had seen too many geniuses fall before reaching the summit.

There were all kinds of reasons: accidents, money, power, beauty, and all manner of intoxicating temptations that corrupted them until they sank into decadence and wasted their potential.

Some of them were no worse than Dawn. Some even possessed greater talent and stronger Devil Fruit abilities than he did.

Therefore, a Devil Fruit had never been what determined whether someone became strong.

People were.