Azure Dragon, Yet Not Azure Dragon / A Flood Dragon Commands Water

His stomach growled violently. In Taotie Form, Mobius felt an almost endless wave of hunger erupt within him, making his stomach churn.

Uncomfortable, Mobius hurriedly returned to human form. Only then did the hunger recede, and he let out a sigh of relief.

Although he had only transformed for a few seconds, Mobius decided to seal away Taotie Form for now.

This form had no other abilities. It simply possessed an appetite capable of devouring nearly anything. The more it ate, the stronger it became, and that was all.

A simple mechanism, but a powerful effect.

Sheep seemed to be the sort of animals that, when eating grass, even dug up and consumed the roots and seeds, leaving almost no life behind after clearing a patch of land.

Put that way, Taotie really was similar to a sheep.

For Mobius, Taotie Form was actually less useful than his plain dragon form because of its negative effect: the eternal hunger debuff.

It was not fatal, but the constant hunger was still a drawback of Taotie Form.

Unless the situation was suitable, Mobius figured he would not use Taotie Form lightly. Hunger was a terrible feeling.

Lastly came dragon + snake.

After experiencing the transformations of Suanni and Taotie, Mobius had calmed down. He already had some idea of what form dragon and snake would become.

Thunder God Island's night sky remained shrouded in dark clouds. Mobius soared through the air, his hundred-meter-long body twisting freely in the sky, still as agile as a swimming dragon.

But on closer inspection, one would find that Mobius's current appearance differed from his previous Red Dragon body.

His five-clawed talons had become three-clawed ones, the winding dragon horns on his forehead had vanished, and the tail that should have been covered in mane had become incomparably smooth.

Dragon + snake—Flood Dragon Form. Rather than a transformation, this was more like a regression.

After sensing it for a moment, Mobius could not help but laugh.

In Flood Dragon Form, all of dragon form's abilities to breathe wind, fire, lightning, and thunder had vanished, leaving only the power to gather clouds and create mist.

In other words, aside from the Red Dragon Fruit's ability to summon Flame Clouds, Flood Dragon Form could only produce mist.

So the Mythical Zoan Smoke-Smoke Fruit had truly appeared. It was not entirely useless, but compared to its peers, it was at the bottom.

After flying around in the sky for a while, Mobius could also feel that the Flame Clouds controlled by Flood Dragon Form were noticeably inferior to those of dragon form.

They required more effort and were less stable.

By the established rules, the Ice-Ice Fruit was the superior ability of the Snow-Snow Fruit. Then dragon form was undoubtedly the superior form of Flood Dragon Form, so there was naturally a gap in ability.

Even so, Flood Dragon Form was not completely useless.

Flying to a cliff at the edge of Thunder God Island, Mobius stared at the sea beside the broken precipice. In Flood Dragon Form, he vaguely sensed that he could control seawater.

With a thought, bubbles rose from the ocean's surface, and two enormous spheres of seawater floated up.

Mobius tried controlling them. The two water spheres moved as he wished, like remote-controlled planes, rising when he wanted them to rise and falling when he wanted them to fall.

With another thought, the two spheres of seawater circled around Mobius's flood dragon body without touching a single scale. The precision was decent.

Dragons followed clouds; flood dragons commanded water. Legends said that flood dragons hid in lakes, deep pools, reservoirs, river tributaries, and underground caves. Only after entering the sea could a flood dragon become a true dragon.

"Without the power to control wind, fire, lightning, and thunder, and without a dragon's physique, I unexpectedly gained the power to control water. I suppose each has its own strengths~"

Mobius sighed.

The original Azure Dragon Fruit that the Red Dragon Fruit had been based on belonged to the Fish-Fish Fruit category. Its full name was Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Form.

Considering that the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit turned pink, or perhaps red.

The Azure Dragon Fruit might simply mean exactly what its name said: an azure-colored dragon. Azure originally meant blue, so an azure dragon was a blue dragon.

It was not the same concept as the "Azure Dragon" among the Four Celestial Spirits, which symbolized the Seven Mansions of the East, lesser yang among the Four Symbols, spring among the four seasons, the east among the four directions, and wood among the Five Elements.

After all, none of the abilities displayed by the Azure Dragon Fruit had shown any of the points listed above.

As always, the names and even classifications of Devil Fruits were determined by people. But if people gave them names, there had to be something that matched.

Since Azure Dragon Form belonged to the Fish-Fish Fruit category, it should have been based on a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate.

Devil Fruit users only became weakened in water; their abilities did not disappear.

Even while soaking in seawater, Luffy's rubber body could still stretch. Sanjuan Wolf could directly soak in the sea, yet his body remained just as huge.

If Mobius encountered water in dragon form, he would only become weakened. His dragon form would remain unchanged, he could breathe underwater, and he would not drown.

But he still could not command wind and rain like the dragons of legend.

That was because the original Azure Dragon Fruit likely had nothing to do with the Azure Dragon among the Four Celestial Spirits, nor much connection to dragons that commanded wind and rain.

Flood Dragon Form was different, however. The concept behind this form should have been the flood dragons of mythology. A flood dragon traveling through the waters could cause great floods, so it could naturally control water.

It was said that the sea hated Devil Fruits, but Devil Fruit powers treated the sea no differently from anything else.

The Ice-Ice Fruit could freeze seawater, the Float-Float Fruit could control seawater, and the awakened Nika Fruit could turn the sea's surface into rubber. Such examples were more than enough to prove it.

Flood Dragon Form's ability to control seawater was also a pleasant surprise for Mobius.

It took nearly half an hour for Mobius to finally sort through the abilities he now possessed.

Mythical Zoan: Red Dragon Fruit.

Logia: Dark-Dark Fruit.

Paramecia: Island-Island Fruit.

Common Zoans: salamander, lion, goat, python, dachshund, alpaca, elephant.

Four fused forms: Pseudo-Chimera, Suanni, Taotie, Flood Dragon.

One Mythical Zoan, one Logia, one Paramecia, seven Common Zoans, and four major mythical beast forms!

Less than half a month after setting sail, Mobius already possessed Devil Fruits comparable to the lineup of an Emperor's crew. The future was absolutely bright!

"But right now..."

Mobius looked at the dark clouds over Thunder God Island, his expression turning apologetic.

"I should first figure out how to 'mend the sky.' I do not want to be someone who breaks his word."

The crimson giant dragon soared into the sky once more. Accompanied by a dragon's roar, the sound of rushing thunder rang out across the uninhabited wilderness.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, as though the Thunder Duke and Lightning Mother were beating gongs and drums.

The next moment, the dark clouds in the sky visibly thickened.

Days passed. When the residents of Thunder God Island awoke, they instinctively looked toward the horizon and found the familiar, dense dark clouds hanging above them once more.

Mobius walked through the streets in high spirits. He had been somewhat unskilled at first, but after growing accustomed to it, replenishing the lightning with the Red Dragon's power had been a piece of cake.

The dark clouds had been repaired. Having nothing weighing on his mind felt so good~

"Good morning, Mr. Mobius. We have freshly baked bread here. Would you like some?"

A bakery owner poked his head out and greeted him warmly.

"Good morning, boss~ If that is all right, how much is it?"

Mobius replied with a smile.

Over the past few days, Mobius had become familiar with Thunder God Island's residents. He had no airs about him, and the islanders were willing to spend time with their "savior."

Ordinary people were simple and honest, as long as life remained bearable.

In the time it took to exchange greetings, several steaming pieces of bread had been stuffed into Mobius's arms. He had not even managed to take out a single Beli before the owner refused payment.

Chewing the soft bread in his mouth, Mobius felt deeply moved. He liked this feeling.

"Mr. Mobius~"

"Hmm?"

When he turned around, Mobius found a row of restaurant owners before him, each carrying their signature dishes and greeting him with enthusiastic expressions.

This made Mobius turn grave, even more serious than when he had fought Pizarro.

Without using Taotie Form, could he even finish all this?

After making a round through the area, Mobius returned with his arms full. It took considerable effort before he finally managed to pay some Beli.

Only after leaving the commercial street did Mobius relax slightly. They were far too enthusiastic...

"Lord Mobius!"

Another shout rang out. Mobius jolted all over, then turned to see that it was the village chief.

The village chief hurried over, his weathered face filled with agitation.

"Whew..."

Mobius's expression eased. His mouth was still stuffed full as he chewed vigorously.

With a gulp, Mobius swallowed the villagers' enthusiasm and finally freed his mouth.

"What is it, Village Chief?"

"S-something huge has happened!"

The village chief waved the newspaper that had been delivered that morning. His eyes bulged, and his face was filled with shock, as though something had shaken his entire worldview.

"The World Government has been attacked!!!"

"Huh?"

Mobius nearly choked. He forcibly steadied his breathing before taking the newspaper from the village chief.

Whose subordinate was this? How could they be so fierce!?

A huge line of text occupied most of the headline, bolded and enlarged until it was impossible to miss.

"Holy Land Mary Geoise Attack Incident!"