A Mutant's Body Structure

Kureha's home.

It was rather simple, but the various medical instruments were arranged neatly and orderly, some of them even looking extremely advanced. She casually put away the supplies and money pouch, took a swig of liquor, and then looked at Dawn beside her.

"Kid, I can tell with my naked eye that your body is strong enough to strangle a sea beast barehanded, healthy beyond measure. Why spend so much money coming to me for an examination?"

"Precisely because it's too good that I need it examined. After all, in this world, there's no power that can be easily gained without paying a price, is there?"

"I need to confirm whether some hidden danger I haven't noticed lies behind this strength."

Dawn directly voiced his greatest concern.

Kureha paused mid-drink at his words. She studied Dawn carefully, and only after a long while did she slowly speak.

"I didn't expect someone so young to see things so clearly. Fine. Go lie down over there."

She pointed at the obviously reinforced examination bed in one corner of the room.

Dawn did as instructed. Over the next two and a half hours, Kureha used every instrument and method at her disposal to conduct an extremely thorough examination of him.

During the process, she occasionally asked about basic details, such as when and how often his strength increased, how he normally felt, changes in his appetite, and so on. Dawn answered every question truthfully and again emphasized his concern that his abnormal strength might come with side effects.

The examination room contained only the faint sounds of machinery operating and Kureha's occasional instructions.

At last, Kureha stopped moving. As she looked over the stack of examination reports, her usual teasing expression and drunken haze vanished, replaced by an exceedingly complicated—one could even say highly unnatural—look, mixed with surprise, confusion, and deep scrutiny.

"Well?"

Dawn sat up, his expression tense.

Kureha took a deep breath and another large swig of liquor, steadying herself.

"Based on your account and my examination results... the life-damaging side effect you were worried about doesn't exist."

"If I had to name an effect, it would be that as your physique continues growing stronger, your body's energy requirements will increase as well. Your appetite will become astonishing, and you'll get hungry easily. But that's just normal consumption. As long as you take in enough nutrition, there won't be any problem. However, aside from that, I made another discovery."

Dawn relaxed slightly, but he knew the important part was still to come and immediately pressed on.

"Then what is the root cause of my continuously growing stronger beyond all reason?"

"According to my judgment,"

Kureha said, pointing at the metabolic data on the chart,

"you most likely possess a special innate talent. Your body can convert the food you consume into the purest life energy and directly use it to strengthen every cell, every muscle, and every bone in your body. It can even erase scars."

"However, the prerequisite is that you must consume enough food. And only activities that put your body under pressure, such as training or fighting, can raise the conversion efficiency to one hundred percent. Of course, that assumes the pressure doesn't kill you first."

"By my estimation, if this strengthening reaches its limit, you could even possess vitality and recovery ability comparable to a Mythical Zoan user after awakening."

Kureha was very conscientious and explained everything in great detail. This clarified the true reason behind Dawn's increasingly powerful physique and completely put him at ease—at least it wasn't some curse that drained his life away.

"Thank you for your diagnosis. It has resolved my greatest doubt."

Dawn nodded, relieved, but asked again.

"You said you made another discovery. What was it?"

Kureha's expression turned serious once more. Staring at Dawn, she confirmed again.

"This discovery may be difficult for you to accept. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Of course."

Dawn answered without hesitation. If he had guessed correctly, this might very well be the answer he wanted.

"The internal structure of your body is fundamentally different from that of normal humans. Put simply, in the biological sense, you are without a doubt... a Heteromorph."

Kureha explained her discovery word by word. Yet the shock, fear, dejection, or anger she had expected did not appear on Dawn's face.

On the contrary, a nearly joyous light suddenly flared in Dawn's eyes! He practically sprang off the examination bed and eagerly asked,

"A Heteromorph? You mean my body structure is fundamentally different from that of ordinary people? Then, theoretically, could I withstand..."

He took a deep breath and asked the most crucial question.

"The power of two Devil Fruits?"

Since his body was that of a Heteromorph like Teach's, then theoretically he should be able to eat a second Devil Fruit as well. But this concerned his life, so he had to be absolutely certain.

Dawn silently weighed the matter in his heart.

Kureha was startled by his reaction. She could not understand why someone would not mind being a freak, but she quickly composed herself, furrowed her brow, and began to think. She pondered for a full minute, taking two more sips of liquor during that time before finally giving her answer.

"For an ordinary person, absolutely not! The powers of two Devil Fruits would clash within the body and eventually blast the host to pieces. That is an iron law of the world. But..."

"For you... your body itself has already defied all reason... so theoretically, it is possible."

"I understand. That's enough. Thank you, Doctor Kureha! This is of vital importance to me!"

The most obvious expression Dawn had shown since coming ashore appeared on his face—a smile mixed with relief and ambition.

He asked no more questions, revealed neither his name nor why Kureha had asked about the Will of D.

In his view, none of that mattered. The Will of D.? The Void Century? The One Piece at Laugh Tale? The destination to which all those so-called ultimate mysteries pointed was nothing more than a final battle against Imu, the king of the world seated atop the Red Line.

And to win that war, all he needed was strength—strength that surpassed all common sense and broke every rule. Unraveling those unsolved mysteries was secondary.

Overthrowing the World Government was something he would have to do in the future. Since those people had destroyed his peaceful life, he would make them lose their privileged living conditions as well. That was only fair.

Having strengthened his resolve, Dawn did not linger for even a moment. He had already obtained an answer far beyond his expectations.

The wooden door was pushed open, and Dawn's figure swiftly vanished into the even fiercer wind and snow outside.

Kureha stood in the doorway, staring in the direction he had disappeared for a long time without moving. She merely drank in silence, her gaze shifting unpredictably. She had practiced medicine for over a century, yet she had never seen such a... peculiar existence.

Meanwhile, Drum Kingdom's castle had long since descended into chaos.

"You can't find him?! How can you not find him?! Where could a living person possibly have gone?! Search again! Send out every guard! Tear apart all of Drum Island if you have to, but find Prince Wapol and bring him back to me!!"

The king's roar echoed through the castle, filled with anxiety and fury. The guards ran about in panic as the search area continued to expand.

But they were destined to find nothing.

Wapol, prince of Drum Kingdom, had vanished completely, like a drop of water falling into the snow.

The wind and snow continued to shroud the island, burying every secret and foretelling an even more turbulent future.

TO BE CONTINUED

(PS: In the original work, Kureha was the first character to mention Roger's real name and the Will of D., which showed that she knew something.)