The World Government Tried to Steal a Chicken and Lost the Rice

Egghead Sky Island.

The Davy Revenge descended from the sky, its massive hull slowly settling at the island's edge with unbelievable smoothness. The moment the ship came to a stop, Dawn jumped from the deck and hurried toward the laboratory.

When he pushed open the door, Vegapunk was standing before the holographic projection above the workbench as usual, processing something.

Dawn walked up to the workbench, took three Devil Fruits from his clothes, and placed them on it.

"Doctor, examine these for me. I need to know whether they've been tampered with."

He did not trust Imu's credibility. Better safe than sorry.

Vegapunk turned around, raised an eyebrow, and asked no questions. He swiftly connected the fruits to various instruments. Data cascaded down the holographic screen like a waterfall, while complex waveforms and molecular models flashed alternately.

Half an hour later, Vegapunk looked up with a grave expression. He pointed to a complex energy graph on the display.

"A special type of energy has been injected into all three fruits. If they're eaten directly, this energy will merge with the user's nervous system along with the Devil Fruit power, causing irreversible effects. At best, it'll make them emotionally unstable. At worst, they'll completely lose their minds and become puppets that obey a specific command."

Dawn's eyes turned cold.

"Can it be separated?"

"Not at the moment."

Vegapunk shook his head regretfully.

"This energy field is too tightly fused with the Devil Fruit power. Forcing a separation would only destroy the fruit's core structure and render its ability useless."

It would be far too wasteful to simply give up three Mythical Zoans. Dawn fell silent for several seconds. Then inspiration struck, and he suddenly asked,

"What if we only extract the part that grants the Devil Fruit ability? Can that be