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

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

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

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

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

Dawn murmured in amazement, waves churning in his heart. He immediately understood the true reason 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 flashed through his mind only briefly. He already had preliminary plans for his core team's future and did not intend to disrupt them lightly.

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

After Kureha's thorough examination, Dawn had long since confirmed that he could withstand a second Devil Fruit without worrying about the side effect of exploding to death.

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 super tsunami the World Government might unleash—one powerful enough to destroy an entire continent—or to relocate their headquarters and keep it from being targeted and surrounded by enemies, the Float-Float Fruit possessed irreplaceable strategic value.

He had not considered the Press-Press Fruit before, partly because he was unsure whether he could obtain it, but more importantly because he had thought Issho might be a potential ally worth winning over. Killing a future ally or taking away his power was not what he wanted.

But after personally witnessing Issho's lofty moral principles, bordering on stubbornness, in the Blue Kingdom, Dawn completely 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 never understand. At their core, 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 taking it would be far too difficult for me right now."

After thinking for a moment, Dawn no longer hesitated. He took out the Press-Press Fruit, a symbol of immense power, and bit into it without hesitation!

"Are you crazy?!"

Lucci had just emerged from the cabin carrying a large bundle full of supplies on his back when he happened to see this scene. He could not help crying out in alarm! Eating two Devil Fruits meant exploding to death. That was an ironclad rule of the seas, common knowledge!

Yet the scene Lucci had expected—Dawn's body exploding—never happened. Without changing expression, Dawn laboriously swallowed the entire fruit, whose taste could only be described as hellish. He even smacked his lips, as if savoring that indescribable flavor.

Lucci's eyes widened. Everything he had believed for so long seemed to collapse at that moment. Th-This was impossible?!

Dawn felt the second strange power surging within his body as he looked at Lucci's stunned and bewildered face.

"I never expected you to care whether I lived or died. Relax. I, Dawn, would never do something as stupid as courting death."

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

Once that was done, he willed it and tried to activate his newly acquired Press-Press Fruit power. An invisible force field with a faint golden tint spread outward from him, enveloping both himself and Lucci. Their bodies defied gravity and floated lightly into the air.

"Wh... why are you fine after eating two fruits?"

Lucci finally recovered from his overwhelming shock and asked the question that shattered his worldview.

Dawn controlled the force field, carrying them slowly away from the Slave Ship steeped in the stench of death and toward the sailing ship floating high in the sky. Without looking back, he replied:

"You're not meant to know the answer to that yet. When the time is right, I'll naturally tell you."

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

Any normal person who saw someone safely consume a second fruit would make a similar connection.

But Dawn simply did not want to satisfy his curiosity so quickly. He deliberately wanted to temper Lucci's arrogant nature.

Lucci curled his lip. Though 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.

Aboard the boat was Issho, who had begun traveling the seas after leaving the Blue Kingdom. He keenly sensed the towering 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 its deck. Looking at the corpses sprawled across the deck in various poses 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, fatal strikes showed that the killer's strength far surpassed these dead men's, and that the killer's methods were ruthless and resolute.

"Such intense killing intent... Who could have done this?"

Issho murmured to himself, a shadow falling over his heart.

TO BE CONTINUED