Tri-Color Heart

"So smug, are you?!"

Seeing Kaido so fired up, Oak felt a surge of irritation. The next moment, he activated his ability. His abdomen, which Rocks had slashed open, began healing at a visible speed. In mere moments, the wound closed, his skin became smooth again, and not even a scar remained.

"Isn't it amazing?"

He patted his stomach and gave Kaido a smug grin.

"Heh heh, I traded your lifespan for it!"

Besides draining other people's blood to steal their lifespan for its user, allowing the user to retain eternal youth, the Vampire Fruit had another effect: healing injuries.

No matter how severe the wound, as long as the user did not die on the spot, he could recover by absorbing blood. Even severed limbs could regenerate.

He had appeared to return all the lifespan he had drained from Kaido, but he had secretly kept some behind to test this ability.

The amount he kept was small and would not affect Kaido at all. Kaido only needed to nourish himself after returning, and he would recover, which was why he had not noticed.

Oak had not planned to tell him because he was afraid Kaido would be upset. But that guy had been so smug, so...

The next moment, Kaido, who had been grinning from ear to ear, stopped laughing altogether. After a long silence, he tremblingly raised a finger at Oak and cordially, warmly greeted his entire family and eighteen generations of ancestors.

"I ×u0026%￥#@..."

"I'll beat the hell out of you, you damned bastard!"

Rocks and Newgate had long grown used to the sight of the two clashing again with a series of bangs and crashes.

"Wororororo!"

Rocks burst into laughter and even watched the show from the side. Newgate, meanwhile, felt that if the two kept fighting like this every day, they would eventually develop some rather special feelings...

As for the outcome of their fight, it went without saying. Kaido had not been Oak's match even before Oak ate the fruit. Now that Oak possessed the Mythical Zoan Vampire Fruit, Kaido was subjected to a one-sided beating.

An hour later, Rocks walked in the middle, with Oak and Newgate on either side of him. Kaido, battered black and blue after his one-sided beating, trailed behind them. The four explored the ancient ruins together to see whether they could find anything else.

Rocks and Newgate were full of interest. Kaido kept staring into various corners, occasionally overturning the ruins of dilapidated buildings to see if there might be an underground treasure room or something similar. He hoped to find another Devil Fruit, eat it, and use it to suppress that bastard Oak.

Only Oak looked distracted. He covered the area over his heart with one hand and sank into thought.

He had known about the abnormality of his heart since he was very young. His body, as tough as steel and bone, and his immense strength were also connected to that heart.

So, from a very early age, he had wondered whether his heart, divided into three parts, would allow him to break the limits of this world. Could one person possess three abilities?

He had not been certain before, but today, he was sure. He could!

Because the moment he ate the Vampire Fruit, he sensed that all of its power had settled within only one portion of his heart. It had not spread throughout the entire heart.

According to legend, every Devil Fruit was the incarnation of a certain "Demon," and thus a Devil Fruit user housed a Demon within his body.

Every Demon was said to be irreconcilably opposed to the others. Once they met, they would inevitably fight. Thus, anyone who ate two Devil Fruits would explode from the conflict between those Demons. That was why every user could possess only one ability.

But Oak felt that he did not need to worry about that at all. Since he possessed a Tri-Color Heart, and each ability would reside in only one section of it without spreading, then the Tri-Color Heart could contain the power of three Devil Fruits. He would not have to worry about the Demons fighting each other and bursting him apart.

This discovery thrilled him. He could eat three Devil Fruits. As long as he chose wisely and made the three abilities complement one another, he could definitely push his strength to an unprecedented peak.

Once he cultivated Three-Color Haki to its pinnacle as well, combined with his monstrous physique and power, who in this world could still be his opponent?

He glanced at Rocks. Even surpassing that guy would not be a problem!

Meanwhile, at Punk Hazard,

"We're too late!"

Looking at Punk Hazard, now reduced to ruins and scorched earth, Sengoku, standing at the bow of the ship, slammed a hand heavily against the railing. His eyes were filled with unwillingness.

They were far too arrogant!

In a single day, the Rocks Pirates had first brazenly attacked one of the World Government-affiliated Countries, then attacked a Navy research base. They clearly had no respect for the Navy at all.

But Sengoku was not blinded by anger. Instead, he considered a question.

He could understand the Rocks Pirates attacking one of the World Government-affiliated Countries. They were pirates, after all, and they had surely done it for treasure. But why had they attacked Punk Hazard?

Although Punk Hazard was a Navy research base, it was not an especially important place. It was merely a medium-sized armory responsible for supplying weapons and equipment to Navy branches in the New World. It was not a valuable target, nor was there anything worth plundering for a major pirate crew like Rocks'. Thus, he ordered an investigation into Punk Hazard, hoping to determine Rocks' purpose for attacking it.

He did not have to wait long before his subordinates brought him the results.

Sengoku looked over the report in his hands. According to the recollections of several survivors,

four people had attacked Punk Hazard: Rocks, captain of the Rocks Pirates; Newgate; and the two apprentices, Oak and Kaido.

This matched the description in the distress signal he had received earlier.

As he read on, Sengoku discovered that Rocks and the others seemed to have attacked Punk Hazard because they were looking for something. They had also asked personnel at the base whether they had seen a Frozen Giant on the island.

A Frozen Giant?

After seeing that detail, Sengoku understood that this was likely the reason Rocks and the others had attacked the island.

But why they were searching for a Frozen Giant, and why they believed Punk Hazard had one, Sengoku had no way of knowing. The survivors on the island could not provide any more useful information. After some thought, he reported the matter to Navy Headquarters, hoping it could analyze something from the information.

Once the information Sengoku provided reached Navy Headquarters, the report quickly appeared in the Power Hall at Mary Geoise, the seat of the World Government.