An Alien Bodily Structure

Kureha's home.

It was rather crude, yet various medical instruments were arranged in a neat and orderly fashion, and some even looked extremely advanced. She casually put away the supplies and money pouch, took another swig of liquor, and only then looked at the nearby Dawn.

"Kid, I can tell just with the naked eye that your body is sturdy enough to strangle a sea beast barehanded and healthy as healthy can be. Why are you spending so much money to come to me for an examination?"

"It's precisely because it's too good that I need an examination. After all, in this world, power that can be easily acquired without paying a price doesn't exist, does it?

I need to confirm whether hidden troubles I haven't perceived are lurking behind this strength."

Dawn directly laid out his biggest misgiving.

At these words, Kureha's motion of drinking paused for a moment. She carefully looked Dawn up and down, and only after quite a while did she leisurely speak:

"I wouldn't have thought that someone as young as you could see through things so thoroughly. Fine, go lie down over there."

She pointed to the noticeably reinforced examination bed in the corner of the room.

Dawn obeyed and lay down. For the next two and a half hours, Kureha employed all the instruments and methods at her disposal, conducting an extremely detailed physical examination on Dawn.

During the process, she occasionally inquired about some basic circumstances, such as the timing and frequency of his strength's growth, his usual sensations, changes in appetite, and so on. Dawn answered each one truthfully and reiterated his worry that abnormal strength might be accompanied by side effects.

Only the subtle sounds of operating instruments and Kureha's occasionally issued instructions remained in the examination room.

Finally, Kureha stopped all movement. She looked at a stack of inspection reports, and the banter and drunkenness habitual to her face vanished, replaced by an extremely complex, or even one might say extremely abnormal, expression mixed with astonishment, doubt, and a profound scrutiny.

"How is it?"

Dawn sat up, his expression tense.

Kureha took a deep breath, took another large gulp of liquor, and calmed her mood:

"Combining your self-description with the results of my examination... the kind of side effect you worry about that would damage life does not exist.

If I must say there's any impact, it's that as your physique continuously strengthens, your body's demand for energy will grow larger and larger, your appetite will become quite astonishing, and you will easily feel hungry. But this is just normal consumption; as long as you replenish sufficient nutrition, there's no problem at all. However, besides this, I have another discovery."

Dawn felt a slight relaxation in his heart, but knowing the main point was still to come, he immediately pursued:

"Then, what is the root of this continuous growth of mine that surpasses common sense?"

"Based on my judgment,"

Kureha pointed at the metabolic data on the chart,

"You very likely possess an innate special talent. Your body can convert ingested food into the purest life energy and use it directly to strengthen every single cell, every single muscle, and every single bone of your own, while simultaneously erasing scars.

However, the premise is... you must ingest a large amount of food, and furthermore, engage in exercise or combat—behaviors that make the body experience stress—in order to raise the conversion efficiency to one hundred percent. Of course, that is assuming you aren't killed by the stress."

"According to my estimation, strengthened to the extreme, you might even possess vitality and regenerative power comparable to an awakened Zoan Mythical Species ability user."

Kureha was very conscientious, and her narration was very detailed. This explained the true reason for the strengthening of Dawn's physique and also completely set his mind at ease—at least this wasn't some kind of curse that overdrafted life.

"Thank you for your diagnosis; this has resolved my biggest doubt."

Dawn nodded, feeling a weight lift from his heart, and pursued once more:

"You said just now that there is another discovery? What is it?"

Kureha's expression turned serious once again. She stared at Dawn and confirmed once more:

"This discovery might make you rather uncomfortable. Are you sure you want to listen?"

"Of course."

Dawn answered without the slightest hesitation. If he guessed correctly, this might just be the answer he wanted.

"Your internal bodily structure exists with a fundamental difference from normal humans. To put it simply, in the biological sense, you are a downright... alien."

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

On the contrary, a radiance bordering on joy abruptly lit up within Dawn's pupils! He practically sprang up from the examination bed and eagerly pressed:

"Alien? You mean my bodily structure is fundamentally different from ordinary people's? Then, theoretically, am I able to endure..."

He took a deep breath and asked that most crucial question:

"The power of two Devil Fruits?"

Since he possessed an alien body just like Teach, theoretically he should also be able to eat a second fruit. But this was a matter of life and death, so he had to ask clearly.

Dawn deliberated inwardly.

Kureha was taken aback by his reaction, not understanding why anyone wouldn't mind being a freak, but she quickly adjusted her emotions, furrowed her brows, and began to think. She pondered for a full minute, during which she took two more sips of liquor, and finally made her reply:

"In the case of ordinary people, it's utterly impossible! The powers of two Devil Fruits will conflict within the body and ultimately blow the host to smithereens—this is the iron law of the world. But..."

"In your case... your body itself has already defied common sense... theoretically, it is possible."

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

The most obvious expression since coming ashore appeared on Dawn's face—it was a smile mixed with relief and ambition.

He didn't ask any more questions, didn't disclose his name, and didn't ask Kureha about what the Will of D was.

In his view, these were unimportant. The Will of D? The Void Century? Laugh Tale's One Piece? The destinations pointed to by these so-called ultimate riddles were nothing more than an ultimate showdown with Imu, the King of the World sitting enthroned at the peak of the Red Line.

And to win that war, he only needed strength—strength that surpassed all common sense and shattered all rules. Unraveling those unsolved mysteries was secondary by comparison.

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

Having solidified his thoughts, Dawn did not linger in the slightest. He had already obtained an answer that far exceeded expectations.

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

Kureha stood at the doorway, gazing at the direction where he vanished and remaining motionless for a long time, merely drinking her liquor in silence with shifting, uncertain eyes. She had practiced medicine for over a century and had never seen such a... peculiar existence.

Meanwhile, inside the Drum Kingdom castle, chaos had long since erupted.

"Not found?! How can he not be found?! Where on earth could a living man go?! Go look again! Send out all the guards! Search every inch of Drum Island and bring Prince Wapol back to me!!"

The king's roaring echoed through the castle, filled with anxiety and anger. The guards ran about in a panic, and the search radius constantly expanded.

Yet they were destined to gain nothing.

Wapol, the prince of the Drum Kingdom, vanished as completely without a trace as a drop of water falling into snow.

The wind and snow remained, shrouding the island, burying all secrets, and foreshadowing an even more turbulent future.

TO BE CONTINUED

(PS: Kureha is the first character in the original work to mention Roger's real name and the Will of D, which shows she knows something.)