Three Devil Fruits

A month later.

Grand Line, Guan Hao Island.

Dawn pierced the thin mist over the horizon, casting golden radiance across the land. A stone tower stood at the center of the island like a silent giant. Under the morning light, every leaf of the gnarled banyan tree atop the tower seemed edged in gold, vivid and lifelike.

Below the tower, the dense woods swayed in the sea breeze, producing an endless rustling sound like whispers.

Yet the clearing before the forest stood in stark contrast to the tranquil morning. Nearly a hundred children, ranging from toddling three-year-olds to sixteen-year-old youths whose builds had begun to take shape, boys and girls alike, stood in neat ranks as they underwent grueling, mechanical training.

Sweat soaked through their clothes and glimmered faintly beneath the rising sun. Their heavy breathing mingled with the sound of wind brushing through the trees.

A muscular man in a black, tight-fitting training outfit stood before the ranks, a bamboo sword resting on his shoulder.

The vicious scar running from his temple to his jaw looked even more menacing in the morning light. His lightning-sharp gaze swept across every young face gritting their teeth in perseverance, and his booming voice exploded through the clearing.

"Why do you train?"

"For justice!"

The children answered in unison without the slightest hesitation, their eyes shining with an ingrained conviction.

"Where does justice come from?"

The man asked again, raising his voice.

"The supreme World Nobles!"

The reply remained perfectly uniform, as though it had already seeped into their bones.

The man nodded in satisfaction, his scar twisting with the motion. He was the chief instructor of this Cipher Pol training base, responsible for forging these helpless orphans into qualified blades of the World Government.

An hour later, the basic warm-up had ended. Under the guidance of their respective instructors, the children began attempting the Six Powers, killing techniques that surpassed the limits of the human body.

At this point, the gap in talent was laid bare. No matter how hard most of the children tried, they could not grasp even the basic force-generating technique of Soru, or make their muscles tense with the final bit of precision needed for Tekkai.

Only a select few could already perform crude versions of the techniques.

The chief instructor remained indifferent. The Six Powers had always been exceptionally difficult to master. The World Government's Cipher Pol organizations had vast numbers of agents, but aside from the hidden CP9, only CP0, which directly served the World Nobles, could fully master all six techniques.

Agents from the other branches were considered skilled if they could master one or two techniques. More often than not, they could not use even one.

But in this era ravaged by pirates, there was no shortage of orphans who had lost everything. A low success rate? It did not matter. As long as the base numbers were large enough, a few sharp blades could always be selected.

The busy yet fulfilling hours of training flew by, and daylight gave way to night.

Cool moonlight replaced the blazing sun, once again draping the banyan tree atop the tower in a veil of silver.

In the clearing below the tower, the other children had already returned to their dormitories to rest. Only a youth wearing a tall hat, with a white dove perched on his shoulder, continued tirelessly honing his skills beneath the moonlight.

At the same time, darkness became the perfect cover for another figure.

Dawn stepped silently onto Guan Hao Island like a ghost merging into the night. Wrapped in a layer of darkness, he infiltrated the trainee dormitory area without obstruction.

His purpose here was clear—to recruit the most professional intelligence personnel for the force he was building. And when it came to intelligence, no one was more professional than the World Government's Cipher Pol organizations.

When Dawn decided to strengthen his intelligence network, this CP training base was the first place that came to mind. It was the only one he knew of, and Ohara happened to possess its sea chart.

Many of the World Government's secret strongholds did have sea charts. It was simply that outsiders did not know of their connection to the World Government.

Dawn pushed open the door to the first dormitory and swept his gaze over several unfamiliar young faces sleeping within. None were named characters from his memories. Perhaps hidden geniuses were among them? But the odds were too low.

With the "answers" in hand, he had no need to waste effort on trial and error. If they could not become his people, they would eventually become his enemies. Dawn never showed mercy to enemies.

He silently activated his ability.

Viscous darkness instantly spread across the floor like a swamp that devoured men. The sleeping trainees did not even have time to utter a sleepy murmur before the darkness silently swallowed them. In the end, they vanished completely, as though they had never existed.

Throughout the entire process, there was not a single sound—only the peace of deathly silence.

Expressionless, Dawn left and entered the next room. Once again, unfamiliar faces. Once again, silent darkness devouring them.

Like the most efficient cleaner, he went room by room. Anyone not on the "list" was reduced to nothing by the darkness.

In the fifth room, he saw Bruno and Jabra sleeping. A trace of consideration flashed through his eyes as he quietly activated Dark Water, only to find that neither man reacted at all.

"They aren't ability users yet..."

Dawn murmured inwardly. That meant their potential had been greatly diminished. Bruno in particular would lose much of his value without the strategically invaluable Door-Door Fruit. As for Jabra, Dawn already considered his potential relatively limited.

Having lost all interest in recruiting them, their fate was decided. He activated his ability again, snuffing out two future CP9 members at the very beginning of their growth.

After dealing with Bruno and Jabra, Dawn was about to continue to the next room when he paused slightly. A thought flashed through his mind.

"Could those two guys' Devil Fruits... already be somewhere on this island?"

With that thought, Dawn changed his plans. He temporarily gave up searching the remaining dormitories, merged into the darkness, and began quietly searching the entire island.

His gaze swept every inch of the wilderness like a radar, every corner where something might be hidden, but he found nothing.

"Looks like they're inside one of the buildings."

Dawn turned his attention to the several prominent buildings on the island. He silently arrived before a five-story building, glanced at the internal directory hanging beside the entrance, then headed straight for the chief instructor's office on the top floor.

The office lock was no obstacle to him. The darkness surrounding him easily absorbed any sound that might have been made while opening the door. The room's furnishings were simple and rough. Dawn quickly yet meticulously searched every drawer and cabinet, even knocking on the walls to check for hidden compartments.

However, aside from a few training plans, reports, and a small amount of Beli, he found no boxes or special objects resembling Devil Fruits.

Dawn frowned slightly, but he was not discouraged. He left the office and continued searching the other rooms. Storage rooms, equipment rooms, archives... like the most patient hunter, he overlooked no possibility.

Finally, in an inconspicuous room on the ground floor with a storage sign hanging outside, Dawn found his target. Several wooden racks stood inside. Above one of them was a label that read, "Prizes for Outstanding Graduates."

Three exquisitely crafted wooden boxes sat prominently on the rack!

Dawn stepped forward and opened them one by one. Inside the first wooden box lay a strange fruit with pale yellow skin, black spots, and protrusions at its top resembling leopard ears.

The second box contained a similarly shaped fruit, though darker in color, with gray stripes and wolf-ear-shaped protrusions at its top.

The third box held a green fruit with a twisted shape that looked exactly like a miniature door.

Dawn took the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia out of his storage space and consulted it. He confirmed that the three fruits were the Leopard-Leopard Fruit, the Wolf-Wolf Fruit, and the Door-Door Fruit.

After confirming the names of the three fruits, he returned the encyclopedia to his storage space, closed the wooden boxes, and activated his ability. A vortex of darkness appeared in his palm, sucking in the wooden boxes and every supply in the room.

After doing all this, he turned and left the storeroom without a trace of reluctance.

Several minutes later, the chief instructor appeared at the storeroom entrance. He routinely made nightly inspections, but when he entered the storeroom and looked over the completely empty room, his expression abruptly changed, becoming as dark as the bottom of a pot.

He rushed out of the storeroom, pulled out a Den Den Mushi, and began dialing urgently, notifying every instructor on the island to gather immediately.

TO BE CONTINUED