After reading everything above, Werther gradually pieced together what had happened.
This country had actually discovered how to pass down Devil Fruit powers through heredity. Unfortunately, the experiment had failed and destroyed the entire country. Even the survivors who had escaped death had become those monsters.
Werther looked at the tall pillar before him. Something about it felt strange, so he gave it a few knocks.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
"Hollow? Is there something inside?"
Werther drew Intent Blood. Sword Flash flashed, cutting the metal pillar into several sections.
He peered inside. Sure enough, part of it was hollow: a cylindrical shaft too dark for him to see into.
Werther cut away another section, then another, until the pillar was level with the ground. The dark opening remained. It seemed to lead underground.
He probed it with Observation Haki. The shaft was not deep, so Werther coated his right hand with Armament Haki and reached inside.
After feeling around, he found a small object and a metal plate, then pulled them out.
The object was a Black Ring covered in characters. Werther studied them but could not make out what they meant.
The metal plate bore a short message.
"To my dearest friend. I'm sorry. My failure destroyed everything. This is the work of my lifetime. —Lant"
Lant? Was he the scholar who discovered Devil Fruit inheritance?
Werther released the Haki coating his right hand. The moment he did, his vision changed in a most peculiar way.
Numbers flooded his sight, then slowly vanished. White light poured from the Black Ring and enveloped him. Moments later, it entered his mind.
Rows of blue text appeared before Werther's eyes.
'This item is for Saint Zachary V. It contains the findings of my lifetime of experiments. It is the only non-animal Devil Fruit