Mera Mera no Mi Not Even Dogs Would Eat

Three months later.

At the edge of the Calm Belt.

Deathly silence was the eternal theme here. The boundless sea lay as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the pale sky. With no air currents to stir it, this stretch of ocean resembled a stagnant grave.

Yet today, at the edge of this grave, a discordant note was slowly moving.

It was a steamship, its hull covered in scratches and rust. Its funnel belched intermittent, feeble black smoke, as if it might stall completely at any moment. It struggled onward, as though trying to break free from the Calm Belt's viscous grip.

The scene in the engine room was even stranger. There were no busy crew members, only a humanoid silhouette condensed from pure darkness operating the various levers and gauges.

It had no facial features, no details—only a deep black shadow that seemed capable of absorbing all light, silently and precisely maintaining the most basic operation of the battered ship.

On the deck, in stark contrast to the gloom of the engine room and the ship's dilapidated state, was the figure reclining in a deck chair.

Dawn lounged lazily, cradling a furry creature in his arms—a brown fox.

But upon closer inspection, its fluffy tail was not just one tail, but nine of them, spread out like a luxurious fan.

The Nine-Tailed Fox, a mythical beast that existed only in legends, was now curled docilely in Dawn's arms, enjoying the sensation of his slender fingers combing through its fur.

"Stella, can you try turning your fur white?"

Influenced by memories of his previous life, Dawn had always felt that a Nine-Tailed Fox ought to have sacred white fur. The warm brown before him was beautiful, but it still seemed somewhat out of place, lacking that ethereal aura from his impression.

Normally, Zoan Devil Fruit users could not freely alter fundamental traits such as fur color. But Dawn believed that the core ability of the Mythical Zoan Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit Stella had eaten was transformation. In theory, changing something as superficial as color might not be impossible.

Stella, in her beast form, blinked her gemlike fox eyes as if pondering it. A moment later, she nodded.

"I'll try."

With a thought from her, a dreamy cloud of pink smoke burst from her body with a poof, swiftly enveloping her fox form.

When the smoke dispersed as though brushed away by an invisible hand, the brown fox was gone. In its place stood a flawless White Fox, snow-white from head to toe without a single speck of other color, its nine long tails flowing like clouds and silk.

Its white fur gleamed silver under the sunlight, making its fox eyes appear even livelier and deeper.

Dawn jerked upright, his eyes flying open as a stunned gleam burst from his pupils. He grabbed the Nine-Tailed White Fox by her front paws, lifted her up, and examined her closely.

Then he made a move that caught the White Fox completely off guard—he suddenly buried his face in her soft, warm belly and took a deep sniff!

"Ah! No... not there! Stop! Let me go!"

The girl's shy, flustered voice immediately came from the fox's mouth, while her four little legs kicked wildly in the air.

Even though they had already done everything there was to do, she still could not handle such a sudden move.

Dawn turned a deaf ear. The scent mingling sunlight, fur, and a unique delicate fragrance left him utterly refreshed. Instead, he sniffed even more eagerly and even rubbed his cheek against her.

In embarrassment and anger, the Nine-Tailed Fox instinctively opened her mouth and exhaled a blazing ball of fire with a whoosh!

Caught off guard, Dawn took the flames head-on, and his hair and face were instantly singed.

"Hiss—!"

The double pain brought by the Dark-Dark Fruit exploded at once. Dawn grimaced in agony and instinctively let go. The White Fox nimbly landed on the deck.

At the same time, a layer of writhing darkness surfaced over Dawn's body. Like a greedy giant maw, it swallowed every last trace of the remaining flames.

Looking somewhat disheveled, Dawn ignored his lightly scorched hair and instead stared intensely at the still-shaken Nine-Tailed White Fox.

"When did you learn that move?"

He had not expected the Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit to possess elemental attacks like fire breath in addition to its signature transformation ability.

Sure enough, not even dogs would eat the Mera Mera no Mi.

The White Fox Stella had become gave a cold snort, turned her head away, and snapped in a girl's voice still tinged with anger.

"Hmph, I'm not telling you! You filthy pervert!"

After tossing out those words, she scampered away and nimbly slipped into the cabin, though there was an unmistakable hint of panic in her steps.

Inside the cabin, Stella instantly reverted to human form. She quickly shut the door tight, leaned her back against it, and instinctively touched the full spot where Dawn had just buried his face. It seemed to retain that scorching sensation, and two blushes instantly rose on her cheeks as her heart pounded like a drum.

On deck, Dawn shook his head with a wry smile and muttered to himself.

"Getting quite the temper, huh..."

They had clearly already done everything, yet she still resisted this kind of sudden intimacy. He truly could not understand why.

Suppressing the faint stirrings of desire caused by their earlier close contact, Dawn walked to the relatively spacious area at the bow and began his daily warm-up routine without fail.

He used no equipment, only the simplest exercises that also tested one's fundamentals the most: push-ups, squats, and punching at the air.

Every punch and kick contained terrifying power, driving the air and producing dull booms as they tore through it.

Several hours later, Dawn slowly finished, white steam rising from his body. Just then, a faint but unmistakable breeze brushed across his face.

Dawn froze.

The Calm Belt... how could there be wind?

He immediately realized what that meant—they had finally reached the edge of the Calm Belt and were about to enter the West Blue, where normal climate cycles existed!

A sense of relief at nearing his destination welled up in him. He could not help looking toward where the wind came from, and sure enough, the sea on that horizon was no longer smooth as a mirror. Gentle waves rolled across it one after another.

He had just been about to tell Stella the good news, and perhaps see whether he could tease that easily embarrassed little fox again—

Splash, splash.

The sea ahead of the steamship suddenly turned turbulent without warning.

Boom!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, two enormous creatures burst through the surface, and the towering waves they raised nearly capsized the already battered steamship!

They were two gigantic Sea Kings, each over a hundred meters long. One resembled a frog, its dark-green skin covered in warts and its enormous eyes like searchlights.

The other resembled a parrot, with brilliantly colored feathers and a huge hooked beak.

Hearing the earth-shaking commotion, Dawn abruptly turned around. Seeing the suddenly appeared ocean overlords radiating savage auras, drool began to trickle from the corner of his mouth against his will.

"Growl..." His stomach rumbled right on cue.

In truth, with the ship's speed and the safe, efficient route marked on the sea chart, crossing this low-risk area of the Calm Belt should not have taken three whole months.

The reason he had deliberately prolonged the journey was that he had spent much of that time fighting these Sea Kings.

Sea charts were certainly important, but in this world where the strong preyed on the weak, strength was the foundation of all ambition. Dawn had never forgotten that.

This was his true daily training. Actual combat was the best teacher.

Of course, the main reason was that most Sea Kings living in this low-risk area were no more than three hundred meters long, making them ideal sparring partners that he could challenge and defeat.

If there were terrifying creatures a thousand or even five thousand meters long, Dawn would absolutely turn around and take a detour without a second thought.

This deliberately prolonged voyage had not only further refined his abilities and martial arts, but also allowed him to taste the astonishing energy contained within Sea King flesh and blood.

The fullness and abundance of energy it gave him were far beyond ordinary food. Now, whenever he saw a suitable Sea King, he instinctively received the signal: I'm hungry.

TO BE CONTINUED