Artificial Devil Fruit

The Eternal Truth, sailing at full speed, took about a day to reach Punk Hazard.

Yake anchored the ship only after parking it somewhere hidden.

"Looks like this island really is in terrible shape." Yake flew high into the air and surveyed the entire island. There were three research facilities on the island; two had already become ruins, and the only remaining facility was Yake's target.

A pale purple poisonous mist now blanketed the island. Even with Yake's extraordinary constitution, he could not remain here for long. Fortunately, Reiju could absorb toxins, so she would come in handy.

"Alright, I've confirmed the direction. Robin, I'll leave the ship to you. Reiju, let's go!"

"Be careful, Captain!" "Yake-sama, Sister Reiju, be careful, meow!"

Only after setting foot on the island did Yake realize how foul the purple mist smelled. It was a little nauseating, but still within his tolerance. Reiju, on the other hand, seemed as though she had returned home. The purple mist continuously flowed into the pink butterfly wings of her combat suit, and the violet glow grew increasingly dazzling.

"Not bad. This poisonous mist tastes quite nice. I like it." Reiju took a deep breath of the mist as though she greatly enjoyed it, then seductively licked her lower lip at Yake.

"Stop fooling around. We have serious business to handle!" Right now, Yake only wanted to find the fruit Vegapunk had left behind.

"Hmph, what a blockhead," Reiju muttered to herself. What an unromantic man.

Besides Yake and Reiju, prisoners abandoned here by the World Government also remained on the island. The closer they came to the intact research facility, the more prisoners they encountered.

"You two aren't from this island, are you? You must have a ship, right? Please, take us away from here!" A green-faced prisoner fell to his knees and begged Yake for help.

With him taking the lead, the prisoners watching nearby also gathered around them!

"Save us!" "Please!" "I just want to leave this damned place!"...

Yake shielded Reiju behind him and said nothing. After a long silence, he finally said, "I can't save you. The only ones who can save you are yourselves."

"But I can give you a little help."

Yake stretched out his hand. Metal from the ruins and the ground was drawn together, forming an iron sphere in midair. Then, using Thunder Metallurgy, he turned the iron sphere into molten metal and improvised more than a dozen small boats. They would definitely float, though they could only be propelled by rowing.

"Take these boats and use them yourselves. I still have things to do. Whether you survive or not depends on you." After saying that, Yake left with Reiju.

He had helped, but not entirely. In the end, people had to rely on themselves.

"Thank you, thank you!" "I will never forget your kindness!!!"

After expressing their gratitude, the prisoners scrambled to claim the boats. Each boat could only hold a limited number of people... As for how they would divide them, that was no longer Yake's concern.

"Captain, this should be the place, right?" Reiju pointed at the towering research facility before them.

"That's right, this is it. Let's split up and search. Don't miss a single corner. Oh, and if you find any research materials, take those too!" Yake instructed. It would be more efficient that way. They really could not stay in this place for long, so it would be best to leave immediately after getting what they needed.

Unfortunately, Observation Haki could only sense living beings. Otherwise, they would not have needed to search room by room.

Many of the research facility's doors were tightly sealed. Yake could not be bothered to open them one at a time, so he simply melted the metal doors with high-voltage electricity. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit's abilities were indeed convenient.

"Damn it, where is it?" Unable to find it after so long, Yake grew restless. He tried hard to recall the anime he had watched and vaguely remembered that it should be underground, so he decided to search the underground passageways.

Walking down the stairs, he found three doors before him. Yake melted all of them in one go and finally saw something familiar.

In the room on the left stood a transparent glass cover. Inside was a purple-black fruit shaped like an apple, speckled with yellow spots.

"I finally found you—the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Azure Dragon Form replica." Yake shattered the glass cover and grasped the Artificial Devil Fruit that Vegapunk had called a "failure" in his hand.

Without the system, he definitely would not have eaten this fruit. But with the system, he could take a gamble. After all, becoming a dual Devil Fruit user was too tempting.

Yake placed the Devil Fruit into his storage inventory. This was not the time to study it.

"Reiju, I've found what I needed. We can leave anytime. How about you?" Yake took out the Telephone Snail and spoke.

"Alright, Captain. You sound very happy! I've gathered some research materials too." Seeing the Telephone Snail's imitation of Yake's silly grin, Reiju guessed that he was in quite a good mood.

"Haha, you saw right through me. Let's go. We'll meet at the entrance!" Yake said with a laugh, leaving the underground passageway and heading for the research facility's entrance to meet Reiju.

Yake waited outside the research facility for a while before he saw Reiju coming down, dragging a large pile of bags and equipment. It seemed Reiju had made quite a haul as well.

After storing the materials, equipment, and other items Reiju had collected in his storage inventory, Yake and Reiju left the island.

The prisoners had already disappeared. Presumably, they had left the island as well.

"Robin, we're back! Cough, cough, cough..." Yake and Reiju returned to the ship, and Yake could not help coughing. They had stayed on the island for some time, and the poison had still affected him somewhat. After all, training could not strengthen his internal organs as well.

"Yake-sama, are you alright? Your complexion doesn't look very good, meow!" Anna looked at Yake with concern written all over her face.

"Let me handle this! The Captain has been poisoned, but it isn't too serious." Reiju stepped forward and embraced Yake.

"Captain, lower your head a little," Reiju whispered. Reiju was around 175 centimeters tall, but Yake was 215 centimeters. If he did not lower his head, she would not be able to do that.

Yake lowered his head at her words. Reiju held his head, aimed for his lips, and kissed him deeply, drawing the poison from his body.

Reiju's eyes were tightly closed, her face flushed red. After all, so many of her close friends were watching, so she was still somewhat embarrassed.

But Yake's eyes had already widened. He had not expected such benefits to come so quickly. He wrapped an arm around Reiju's waist in response. That was right, it was all for detoxification.

Anna shyly covered her face... everywhere except her eyes, which remained wide open with curiosity as she watched Yake and Reiju kiss passionately.

Robin clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, wondering whether she should punch Yake to death.

Damn it, she got there first. I was clearly here first.

The poison was obviously not that severe, yet Reiju kept absorbing it for a long time, whether intentionally or not.

Before he knew it, Yake's hand had already climbed onto Reiju's peaks. Only then did Reiju react. Blushing, she pushed Yake away and ran to the side. After wiping away the silver thread from the corner of her mouth, she realized Robin, Anna, and Perona were all staring directly at her, making her feel even more mortified. She hurried into her room, clutching her chest, only to discover that her heart was pounding nonstop.

"What an insatiable Captain~ Hehe."