Dark-Dark and Press-Press, Dual Devil Fruit Powers!

A moment later, Dawn's face showed uncertainty and shock. He could even hear his own heart pounding faster.

He compared them again and again, finally confirming that the fruit in the wooden box matched the form of a fruit recorded in the encyclopedia exactly!

The encyclopedia clearly labeled the fruit's name—the Press-Press Fruit!

"So it was... Issho's ability... No wonder Gambler's Fireline was on this ship."

Dawn sighed, waves stirring in his heart. He finally understood why, when he had met Issho in the Blue Kingdom a few days ago, the man had relied solely on his superb swordsmanship in battle.

"Then... should I eat this fruit myself?"

Having confirmed the fruit's value, Dawn immediately began weighing the pros and cons.

Give it to a subordinate? The thought only flashed through his mind. He already had preliminary plans for his core team's future and had no intention of disrupting them lightly.

As for giving it to Issho and letting everything follow its original course, he never even considered it.

After Kureha's detailed examination, Dawn had long confirmed that he could withstand a second Devil Fruit without worrying about the side effect of his body exploding.

Originally, the second fruit he had planned for himself was the Float-Float Fruit possessed by Golden Lion Shiki!

Whether it was used to counter the World Government's possible super tsunami capable of destroying continents, or to move his own headquarters and avoid being tracked down and encircled by enemies, the Float-Float Fruit possessed irreplaceable strategic value.

He had not considered the Press-Press Fruit before. Aside from being unsure whether he could obtain it, the main reason was that he had believed Issho to be a potential ally worth winning over. Killing or stripping a future ally of his ability was not what he wanted.

But after witnessing Issho's nearly stubbornly lofty moral principles in the Blue Kingdom, Dawn fully understood that the two of them could never walk the same path.

Issho's benevolence and righteousness would bind his hands and feet, while the road Dawn intended to take was destined to be filled with darkness and resolve that the world would not understand. Fundamentally, they were two different kinds of people.

"Forget it. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit may be good, but it would be extremely difficult for me to seize right now."

After a brief moment of thought, Dawn no longer hesitated. He took out the Press-Press Fruit, which represented immense power, and took a huge bite without hesitation!

"Have you lost your mind?!"

Lucci had just emerged from the cabin with a large pack full of supplies on his back when he happened to see this scene, and he could not help crying out in alarm! Eating two Devil Fruits would cause one's body to explode and die. That was an ironclad law of the sea, common knowledge!

Yet the scene Lucci had imagined, Dawn's body exploding apart, never happened. Without changing expression, Dawn struggled to swallow the entire fruit, whose taste could only be described as hellish. He even smacked his lips, as though savoring that indescribable flavor.

Lucci's eyes widened. The understanding he had built up over so many years seemed to collapse at that very moment. This... how was this possible?!

Dawn felt the second strange power surging within him as he looked at Lucci's stunned, bewildered expression.

"I never expected you to care whether I lived or died. Don't worry. I, Dawn, never do something as foolish as seeking my own death."

As he spoke, he used his ability to absorb the large pack of supplies on Lucci's back into his storage space as well.

After finishing that, he willed it and tried activating his newly acquired Press-Press Fruit ability. An invisible force field with a faint golden tint spread out from him, enveloping both himself and Lucci. Their bodies defied gravity and floated lightly into the air.

"W-why are you fine after eating two fruits?"

Lucci finally recovered from his immense shock and asked the question that overturned his worldview.

Dawn controlled the force field, slowly carrying them away from the slave ship steeped in the stench of death and toward the sailboat floating high in the sky. Without even turning his head, he replied:

"That is not something you need to know yet. When the time is right, I will naturally tell you."

Though he understood perfectly well that, with Lucci's intelligence, he would surely connect it to Dawn's unusual physique.

Anyone normal who saw someone safely eat a second fruit would make a similar connection.

But Dawn simply did not want to satisfy his curiosity right away. He deliberately intended to temper Lucci's unruly nature a little.

Lucci curled his lips. Though he was full of doubts, he knew that continuing to ask would yield no answer, so he could only remain silent and let Dawn carry him into the sky.

Several minutes after the two left.

A crude little fishing boat slowly sailed into this stretch of sea thick with the smell of blood.

On board was Issho, who had begun traveling the seas after leaving the Blue Kingdom. He keenly sensed the overwhelming deathly aura and bloodshed from the ship ahead, and his brows furrowed tightly.

He guided the small boat closer to the motionless two-masted sailing ship, then leaped onto the deck. Looking at the corpses sprawled across the deck in various postures and smelling the nauseatingly strong stench, Issho's expression became exceptionally grave.

He crouched down and carefully examined the wounds on several corpses. The clean, decisive methods and fatal strikes showed that the killer's strength far surpassed these dead men's, and that he had acted with ruthless determination.

"Such intense killing intent... just who was responsible?"

Issho murmured softly, a shadow falling over his heart.

To be continued