Paramecia, Copy-Copy Fruit

The miners and overseers beneath the mine were startled by the sudden explosion. They stopped working and looked uneasily toward the source of the sound.

"What happened?!"

"Something exploded up there!"

"Quick! Go take a look!"

When a large group of people hurried to the scene with mining lamps and tools in hand, they found only a mess of blast marks, two corpses that still retained some warmth, charred remains, and several clearly arranged traps.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island.

Kaku darted through the forest and the shadows of buildings, quickly rooting out two snipers attempting to hide using the terrain. They did not even get a clear look at Kaku before their throats were struck by fierce Shigan, killing them on the spot.

Kalifa and Robin worked in perfect coordination. One skillfully used Geppo and Rankyaku, while the other used the Flower-Flower Fruit's power to attack from unimaginable angles. Before long, they had subdued an entire team of assassins attempting to infiltrate from the coastline.

Stussy demonstrated the caliber of an outstanding agent school student, effortlessly taking care of three assassins who had tried to poison the water supply. The process was swift and clean, leaving no survivors.

Within mere dozens of minutes, after everyone conducted a thorough search and purge, every assassin hiding on Hardbane Island had been cleanly dealt with. The sole exception was one survivor deliberately left alive from a fresh group of assassins Stella encountered after leaving the mine.

These assassins might have had some reputation in the Underworld, but before powerful fighters who had mastered the Six Powers and Devil Fruit abilities, they were utterly insignificant.

In a cold, gloomy stone chamber beneath the manor.

This had originally been a torture chamber used by the Boom Family to punish disobedient miners. Dawn had temporarily converted it into an interrogation room. Punishment and interrogation both required torture, so there was no real difference between them. The air seemed to still carry a faint scent of blood and despair.

The sole survivor—a muscular brute with a scar across his face—was firmly bound spread-eagled against the cold wall by several thick iron chains. His body bore many wounds, and his breathing was weak, but his eyes remained fierce.

Dawn arrived late, his golden hair still striking beneath the dim gas lamps. He glanced at the bound assassin, then looked at the gathered group.

"Did you get anything useful out of him?"

Everyone shook their heads in unison.

"His mouth is tight. A textbook desperado."

"Oh?"

Dawn raised an eyebrow and walked over to the burly assassin, studying him with interest.

The burly assassin spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and glared viciously at Dawn.

"Pah! Brat, kill me if you want! Don't even think you can get anything out of my—"

Before he could finish, Dawn's fists rained down on his stomach, chest, and face.

"Puh! Urgh! Ah!"

There was no interrogation technique whatsoever, just a wild flurry of reckless punches venting frustration. The burly assassin was beaten black and blue, his already severe injuries worsening. Even his screams grew faint.

Everyone: "..."

Stella could not help rubbing her forehead. Kalifa pushed up her glasses, expressionless. Robin's gaze turned subtle. Stussy's lips twitched slightly, as though she were holding back laughter. Even Kaku could not help turning his head away.

This method of interrogation... was simply unheard of. He did not even ask any questions before launching into a beating. Was this an interrogation, or was he just planning to beat the man to death?

"Dawn,"

Stella finally could not stand it any longer and spoke up.

"If you keep hitting him, he really is going to die. Why not... let me try?"

Dawn stopped in surprise and looked at Stella. In his impression, Stella was quite strong, but she did not look like someone skilled in interrogation and torture.

Under Dawn and the others' puzzled gazes, Stella slowly walked up to the barely breathing assassin. She made no threatening move and simply stood there quietly.

Suddenly, nine snow-white phantom fox tails silently unfurled behind her and swayed gently. At the same time, a dreamlike pink light glowed in her captivating eyes.

The instant the assassin's gaze met that pink radiance, his originally fierce and wary eyes instantly became vacant and dull, as though he had lost all awareness of himself.

Stella's voice became ethereal and seductive as it softly rang out.

"Tell me everything you know. Exactly who accepted this bounty targeting Dawn?"

The assassin's lips moved a few times. Like someone talking in his sleep, he revealed every piece of information he knew.

Including... the strongest among the assassins who had accepted the bounty—

A former Whitebeard Pirates crew member, Gamenio the Copy Man, who had eaten the Copy-Copy Fruit!

Only after the assassin spilled everything he knew as if pouring out beans, exhausted his mind, and completely passed out did Dawn look curiously at Stella, who had withdrawn her fox tails and the pink glow in her eyes.

"Stella, when did you master that move?"

He truly was surprised. In the memories of his previous life, the Nine-Tailed Fox had indeed been famous for its charm, but Stella had previously displayed only transformation and fire abilities. He had once thought the Nine-Tailed Fox form in this world might not include mental influence.

A crafty glint flashed through Stella's eyes. Like a little fox that had succeeded in a prank, she smiled sweetly.

"You tell me?"

Dawn's eye twitched slightly. Although Stella had not said it outright, he could roughly guess the reason.

Perhaps she simply had not realized it before, or perhaps her abilities had not yet developed to that point.

He suppressed his wandering thoughts, walked to the unconscious assassin, and cleanly twisted his neck, ending the unfortunate man's suffering. He never showed mercy to anyone who wanted his life.

Dawn swept his gaze over everyone, his expression turning solemn.

"Everyone, we may have a hard battle ahead of us."

"The other assassin fodder is no big deal. But this Gamenio... is troublesome. In the worst-case scenario, we may have to face someone with Whitebeard's abilities!"

Dawn believed that unless Gamenio was an idiot, he had most likely copied Whitebeard's abilities. If Dawn himself possessed such a power while staying aboard the Moby Dick, he definitely would have done the same.

"Whitebeard?!"

Upon hearing that name, everyone showed varying degrees of shock and apprehension. They all knew what that name represented. Anyone who was not completely ignorant of the newspapers would understand its meaning.

Seeing the sudden change in everyone's expressions, Dawn knew their morale had been affected. Just as he was about to say something encouraging, inspiration suddenly struck him!

The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia!

The book in his hands, compiled by scholars of Ohara's Tree of Knowledge over five thousand years, through the relentless efforts of countless wise minds—the most comprehensive and authoritative Devil Fruit Encyclopedia imaginable!

Perhaps it contained detailed information about the Copy-Copy Fruit. It might even list the fruit's weakness, which could be used to boost morale.

Dawn took the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia out of his storage space. Under everyone's puzzled gazes, he rapidly and precisely flipped through its pages. The rustling of paper sounded especially clear in the silent interrogation room.

Before long, his movements stopped, and his gaze settled on a page containing an illustration of a fruit with strange spiral patterns, accompanied by extensive written notes.

[Devil Fruit: Paramecia · Copy-Copy Fruit]

[Ability Overview: The user can copy the abilities and appearance of other Devil Fruit users.]

[Ability Details:]

1. Copy Limit and Switching: Up to three different Devil Fruit abilities may be copied and stored at the same time. Stored abilities may be replaced at any time.

However, only one ability may be used at a time. Two or more abilities cannot be used simultaneously.

2. Development Reset: Copied abilities have their development progress reset to zero. The user must develop the ability independently from the beginning. The copy cannot inherit any of the original owner's development experience or techniques.

3. Copy Conditions: The user must maintain non-resistant physical contact with the target ability user for at least three minutes in order to successfully copy their ability and appearance. This condition is extremely demanding and cannot be bypassed.

4. Limitations: Only Devil Fruit abilities and appearance can be copied. Haki proficiency, physical strength, combat techniques, memories, personality, and all other attributes cannot be copied.

5. Awakening Effect: After awakening, all copied abilities may possibly be used simultaneously, but copied abilities cannot be developed to an awakened state.

Dawn read it word by word, and the heavy stone hanging over his heart finally fell away by more than half. He let out a long breath, closed the encyclopedia, and returned it to his storage space.

He looked at everyone again, and this time, his signature smile returned.

"There's no need to worry too much."

"That Gamenio fellow is probably not as frightening as we imagined."

He then clearly told everyone what the encyclopedia said about the Copy-Copy Fruit and showed them the book.

Dawn believed Gamenio absolutely could not have developed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to a very high level. Otherwise, he would have become famous across the seas long ago. Why would he still be hanging around the assassin world?

As for how he had successfully copied it, the answer was simple. Given Whitebeard's habit of treating his crew members like sons, maintaining contact for three minutes would not have been difficult. Everyone knew Whitebeard's trust in his sons was absolute.

After reading the encyclopedia, the solemnness on everyone's faces visibly eased, and their confidence immediately rose.

TO BE CONTINUED