Even Dogs Wouldn't Eat the Flame-Flame Fruit

Three months later.

At the edge of the Calm Belt.

Deathly stillness was the eternal theme here. The vast, boundless sea was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the pale sky above. With no air currents to stir it, this stretch of sea resembled a stagnant graveyard.

Yet today, at the edge of this graveyard, a discordant note was slowly moving.

It was a steamship, its hull covered in scratches and rust. Its funnel belched intermittent, feeble black smoke, as though it might stall completely at any moment. It struggled onward, as if trying to break free from the Calm Belt's viscous restraints.

Inside the engine room, the scene was even stranger. There were no busy crewmen, only a humanoid outline formed from pure darkness operating the various levers and instruments.

It had no facial features, no details—only a deep black shadow that seemed capable of absorbing all light, silently and precisely maintaining the most basic functions of the battered ship.

On the deck, in stark contrast to the eerie engine room and the ship's dilapidated state, was the figure lying on a lounge chair.

Dawn lounged lazily, holding a furry creature in his arms—a brown-furred fox.

But upon closer inspection, one would find that it did not have just one fluffy tail, but a full nine, spread out like an elegant fan.

The Nine-Tailed Fox, a Mythical Zoan that existed only in legends, was now curled docilely in Dawn's arms, enjoying the sensation of his long fingers combing through her fur.

"Stella, can you try turning your fur white?"

Influenced by memories from his previous life, Dawn had always felt that a Nine-Tailed Fox ought to have sacred white fur. The warm brown before his eyes was beautiful, but it somehow felt out of place, lacking that immortal aura from his memories.

Ordinarily, a Zoan Devil Fruit user could not freely alter such basic traits as fur color. But Dawn felt that the core ability of the Mythical Zoan Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit Stella had eaten was transformation. In theory, changing a superficial feature like color might not be impossible.

Stella, in her beast form, blinked her gem-like fox eyes as if pondering it. A moment later, she nodded.

"I'll try."

With a thought, a dreamlike cloud of pink smoke burst from her body with a poof, swiftly enveloping her fox form.

When the smoke dispersed as though brushed away by an invisible hand, the brown fox was gone. In her place stood an exquisitely beautiful White Fox, snow-white from head to tail without the slightest trace of another color, her nine long tails soft and cloudlike.

Her white fur gleamed with a silver sheen beneath the sunlight, making her fox eyes appear even livelier and deeper.

Dawn jolted upright, his eyes flying open as a dazzled light burst from his pupils. He grabbed the Nine-Tailed White Fox by her front paws, lifted her up, and examined her closely.

Then, he made a move that caught the White Fox completely off guard—he suddenly buried his face in her soft, warm belly and took a deep sniff!

"Ah! No... not there! Stop! Let me go!"

A shy, flustered girl's voice immediately came from the fox's mouth as her four little legs kicked wildly in the air.

Dawn turned a deaf ear. The scent of sunlight, fur, and some unique fragrance soothed his soul, and he only sniffed more eagerly, even rubbing his cheek against her.

In her embarrassment and anger, the Nine-Tailed Fox instinctively opened her mouth and exhaled a ball of scorching Flame with a whoosh!

Caught off guard, Dawn was hit head-on by the Flame, his hair and face instantly singed.

"Hiss—!"

The double pain brought by the Yami Yami no Mi erupted at once. Dawn grimaced in agony and instinctively let go. The White Fox landed nimbly on the deck.

At the same time, a layer of writhing darkness surfaced over Dawn's body, like a greedy giant mouth that devoured every last trace of the remaining Flame.

Looking somewhat disheveled, Dawn did not attend to his slightly scorched hair first. Instead, he stared intensely at the still-shaken Nine-Tailed White Fox.

"When did you learn that move?"

He had not expected the Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit to possess an elemental attack like fire-breathing in addition to its signature transformation ability.

Sure enough, even dogs wouldn't eat the Flame-Flame Fruit.

The White Fox Stella had transformed into snorted coldly, turned her head away, and scolded him in a girl's voice still tinged with anger.

"Hmph, I'm not telling you! You filthy pervert!"

After saying that, she trotted away and nimbly slipped into the cabin, though her steps looked somewhat panicked no matter how one looked at them.

Inside the cabin, Stella instantly returned to human form. She quickly shut the door tight, leaned against it, and unconsciously touched the full area where Dawn had just buried his face. It seemed to retain a scorching sensation, and two blushes instantly rose to her cheeks as her heart hammered like a drum.

On deck, Dawn shook his head with a wry smile and muttered to himself.

"Your temper's gotten worse... but there's plenty of time."

He recalled how, three months ago, she had not even been willing to let him touch her tail. Now she allowed him to stroke her freely and even hold her in his arms. Dawn was already quite satisfied with the pace of their progress.

He understood very well that for a girl like Stella, who had once been reduced to slavery, patience and respect could open her heart far more effectively than coercion.

Suppressing the faint stirrings of desire brought on by their earlier intimate contact, Dawn walked to a relatively spacious area at the bow and began his daily warm-up routine without fail.

He used no equipment, only the simplest exercises that also tested one's fundamentals the most: push-ups, squats, and punching at the air.

Every punch and kick contained terrifying power, driving the air and producing dull bursts as they tore through it.

Several hours later, Dawn slowly came to a stop, white steam rising from his body. Just then, a faint yet unmistakable breeze brushed across his face.

Dawn froze.

The Calm Belt... how could there be wind?

He immediately realized what this meant—they had finally reached the edge of the Calm Belt and were about to enter the West Blue, where normal weather cycles existed!

A sense of relief at nearing their destination welled up within him. He could not help looking toward the direction from which the wind blew, and sure enough, the sea on that horizon was no longer smooth as a mirror. Gentle waves rolled across its surface one after another.

He had just been about to tell Stella the good news and see if he could tease that easily embarrassed little fox again when—

Splash, splash.

The sea ahead of the steamship suddenly turned turbulent without warning.

Boom!

With a deafening crash, two enormous creatures burst through the surface. The giant waves they raised nearly capsized the already battered steamship!

They were two gigantic Sea Kings over a hundred meters long. One resembled a frog, with dark green, warty skin and enormous eyes like searchlights.

The other resembled a parrot, with brilliantly colored feathers and a huge curved beak.

Hearing the earthshaking commotion, Dawn whipped around. Looking at the suddenly appearing overlords of the sea radiating savage auras, drool uncontrollably ran from the corner of his mouth.

"Grrr..." His stomach growled right on cue.

In fact, with this ship's speed and the safe, efficient route marked on the sea chart, crossing this low-risk region of the Calm Belt should not have taken three months.

The reason he had deliberately prolonged the voyage was that he had spent much of his time fighting these Sea Kings.

Sea charts were certainly important, but in this world where the strong preyed on the weak, strength was the foundation of all ambition. Dawn had never forgotten that.

This was his true daily training. Actual combat was the best teacher.

Of course, the main reason was that most Sea Kings living in this low-risk region were no more than three hundred meters long, making them ideal sparring partners he could challenge and defeat.

If there were terrifying creatures a thousand meters long, or even five thousand meters long, Dawn would absolutely turn around and take a detour without hesitation.

This deliberately extended voyage had not only taken his mastery of his abilities and martial arts to the next level, but also allowed him to taste the astonishing energy contained within Sea King flesh.

The feeling of fullness and abundant energy it brought was far beyond ordinary food. Now, whenever he saw a suitable Sea King, his body instinctively sent him the signal: hungry.

TO BE CONTINUED