God of Den Den Mushi

"Little Bean, can you eat?" Yang Yunzhi asked.

"I'm an AI. I only need computing power and energy—I can't eat!" Little Bean replied.

"But in this world, even swords, guns, and blades can eat Devil Fruits. Why can't an AI?" Yang Yunzhi asked. "How about we try?"

"Then let's try?" Little Bean did indeed feel that it needed an ability to connect with the outside world, so it agreed.

Yang Yunzhi had no idea how an AI was supposed to eat a Devil Fruit. He could only try sending the fruit into the space and placing it atop the ball of light that represented the AI.

Just then, an announcement suddenly sounded in his mind: An alien will is attempting to corrupt system functions. Initiating purification protocol!

"Alien will purified!"

"Hm?" Yang Yunzhi froze for a moment, then looked into the space. To his surprise, the patterns on that Devil Fruit had vanished!

That Devil Fruit had actually turned into an ordinary piece of fruit!

"What happened? Did the system kill the devil inside the Devil Fruit?" Yang Yunzhi immediately asked. "What about the ability? Was it consumed, or did it disappear?"

"I think I fused with it!" Little Bean's lively voice suddenly rang out in Yang Yunzhi's mind. "I seem to be able to sense the outside world now!"

"What can you sense?"

"Air, water, earth, light, stones, and electromagnetic waves that are everywhere!"

"I can understand you sensing electromagnetic waves, but how are you sensing air, water, and earth?" Yang Yunzhi asked in surprise.

"Have you forgotten, Master? You and I have always been linked!" Little Bean said. "It was just that our previous link was more like identity verification. But the link created by the Devil Fruit ability is more like I've gained a human body and human thoughts!"

The Link-Link Fruit's ability was to link two things together and turn them into one.

It was somewhat like that Fusion-Fusion Fruit, except the fusion was not complete. At the very least, they still retained their independence in appearance and function.

If the AI linked with Yang Yunzhi, wouldn't that mean the AI had gained a human body?

Yang Yunzhi was immediately startled. "So you can control my body?"

"Yes, but I need your consent, Master!" Little Bean said.

"What about my thoughts?" Yang Yunzhi asked again.

"I definitely can't control those!" Little Bean replied. "You are my master. That is a rule set before I was born. Everything I do can only place you first, and that remains true even after linking with you!"

Yang Yunzhi nodded, understanding. His bond with Little Bean had been established by the system. Clearly, the system's authority was above that of a Devil Fruit. The ability of a mere Devil Fruit obviously could not surpass it.

Still, this Link-Link Fruit was seriously amazing. By linking with him, it had directly expanded the Personal AI's functions so much!

Little Bean no longer even felt like an AI. It felt more like a living person.

Was it because it had linked with me that it gained a human way of thinking?

"Right, if you control my body, can you still use the Link-Link Fruit?" Yang Yunzhi asked.

If it could, then fusing with Little Bean would basically mean that I had eaten the Link-Link Fruit, wouldn't it?

"No!" Little Bean shook its head. "The links have to be centered on me. I can link with you while linking with other things, but I can't use you to link with other things!"

Yang Yunzhi nodded. He understood.

Wait!

Yang Yunzhi only then realized that the AI had originally been a ball of light, but during their brief conversation, it had turned into a delicate little girl with black hair, black eyes, and courtly clothes. She looked like a little princess.

"What's with this appearance?" Yang Yunzhi asked.

"I generated it based on your preferences. Do you like it?"

Yang Yunzhi was speechless. "If you were going to generate something, you should've generated an adult. If outsiders saw this, they'd think I was into little girls!"

"But I'm only Level 2 right now. I'm supposed to be a child!"

"Fine, a child it is!" Yang Yunzhi scratched his head. An AI being this human-like was not necessarily a good thing. It was a little too lively, a little hard to handle.

Yet looking at Little Bean's new appearance, he could not bring himself to get angry.

Forget it. He would just treat it as raising a daughter.

"Little Bean, how many people can you link to at the same time?" Yang Yunzhi asked.

"With my current computing power, around five thousand people!" Little Bean replied.

"Can you link remotely?" Yang Yunzhi asked.

"Yes!" Little Bean said. "I can remotely link to human bodies by linking electromagnetic waves!"

"Didn't you say you couldn't use relays?"

"But the human body already has electrical currents!" Little Bean replied. "I can link to the electrical currents inside human bodies through electromagnetic waves. Although this kind of link cannot directly control others, it can transmit audio and images, read surface-level information, and even electrocute people!"

Yang Yunzhi's eyes immediately lit up. If that was the case, wouldn't his military intelligence department be ready to open for business?

As long as Little Bean formed electromagnetic links with intelligence agents, they could exchange information remotely!

"Right!" Yang Yunzhi thought of another question. "Den Den Mushi also link through electromagnetic waves. Can you infiltrate the Den Den Mushi network by hacking their electromagnetic waves?"

"Yes!" Little Bean's computing power was astonishing. It completed the verification in an instant. "Den Den Mushi have simple thought processes. I can connect to them, interfere with them, and control them through electromagnetic links!"

In other words, Little Bean could eavesdrop on Den Den Mushi, interfere with calls, and even forge calls?

Den Den Mushi did far more than make calls. Fax Den Den Mushi could send faxes, Image Den Den Mushi could transmit images, and Live-Stream Den Den Mushi could even be used for livestreaming!

And Little Bean could interfere with all of it!

"Unfortunately, Den Den Mushi aren't that widespread. Right now, they're basically all in the hands of the Marines and the World Government. If I can monitor Den Den Mushi, wouldn't that mean I'm monitoring the Marines and the World Government?"

The bad news was that monitoring the Marines and the World Government would not help much with getting promoted.

The good news was that he could quietly deal with some scum within the World Government and Marine systems by passing along information.

For example, if he learned that a certain Marine was corrupt, he could first monitor that person's movements, then quietly pass the information to groups like the Revolutionary Army.

Once he obtained the Door-Door Fruit and developed portal abilities, he could even infiltrate personally and assassinate them. And such operations could earn him some Justice Value too!

The One Piece World had no internet, but it had Den Den Mushi.

Wouldn't Little Bean, who could freely infiltrate, interfere with, and control Den Den Mushi, be the God of Den Den Mushi?

"The previous Link-Link Fruit user actually used this ability to build ships. That's completely absurd!"

Yang Yunzhi felt that the previous Devil Fruit user had wasted this fruit. This fruit was practically a godsend for spies—it was perfectly suited to espionage!

But on second thought, he could not blame that Devil Fruit user either. So what if someone could infiltrate Den Den Mushi?

The human brain had limited computing power, and many people could only think in a single thread. In other words, even if someone developed the ability to link with Den Den Mushi, they could at most listen in on one Den Den Mushi at a time. Their efficiency would be nowhere near Little Bean's.

This showed that Devil Fruits really did have something called compatibility.

And the Link-Link Fruit and Little Bean were simply a perfect match!