New Year's Eve

On the fifth day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained the ability to locate people out of thin air.

He roughly sensed Morgans's location.

Well, somewhere in the direction of the New World. That told him a whole lot of nothing.

On the seventh day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained telekinesis, which let him move objects without touching them.

For now, he could only move a single piece of popcorn at close range.

On the tenth day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained a passive ability that enhanced his recovery.

That included stamina recovery and the healing of injuries, but he didn't actually feel any difference.

On the twelfth day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained a passive ability that made him look terrifying.

He waved his hand and dispelled it.

All the passive abilities he acquired could be dispelled.

For instance, he had previously acquired the negative passive ability of "losing strength upon falling into the sea."

That ability did him no good whatsoever, so he had dispelled it on the spot.

However, falling into water still left him weak all over.

If described through specific status panels, it would look something like this.

Before eating the fruit:

Class: Human.

Trait: None.

Passive ability: Becomes weak all over upon falling into water.

After eating the fruit:

Class: Ability user.

Trait: Becomes weak all over upon falling into water.

Passive ability: Becomes weak all over upon falling into water.

He could dispel passive abilities granted by his cheat, but he couldn't dispel his body's innate traits.

So he still needed to acquire a positive passive skill granting "immunity to seawater's effects" to counteract the trait.

On the fourteenth day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained the ability to heal other people's injuries.

At full power, he could make a mosquito bite disappear quickly.

On the sixteenth day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained a passive aura that increased the effects of training.

Not only he himself, but anyone he acknowledged within a certain range of him could enjoy the boost.

Currently, that range only extended ten centimeters around his body. As for the boost... well, he hadn't felt any difference.

On the eighteenth day after Vlad's coronation.

Dill gained the ability to change other people's sex.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this ability?!"

He called Geno and demanded through gritted teeth:

"What the hell have you been spreading around the island?!"

"Nothing special."

Geno sounded puzzled on the other end.

"I just followed your instructions and told the residents about your existing abilities and the ones on the note."

"Fine, then tell me which of those two categories includes sex changes?!"

"Uh... your existing abilities," Geno said hesitantly.

"Can't you change someone's sex by pressing your hand against their forehead?

"That woman has the same ability too. She turned an old lady into an old man."

"That was Morisou's Favor..."

Dill's expression froze as something occurred to him.

Geno seemingly, probably, possibly didn't know what Morisou's Favor was.

The Apple Ship had left the same day it landed, and he had called Geno into his room for questioning, leaving him no chance to speak with Sally.

Later, at the Morisou Tribe, Geno had been standing fairly far away too, making it easy to overlook the already small green disc.

Seeing a woman turn into a man, Geno had simply assumed it was his ability.

During the five-day return voyage, Geno hadn't been very familiar with the Morisou Tribe's people yet. With a large group of children added to the ship as well, he, as their leader, had probably been busy enough to tear his hair out every day.

He had been even busier after returning to Cologne Island. He was the head of the Public Security Bureau, after all.

As for the subsequent rumor campaign, the others wouldn't ask many questions either. They only had to follow their superior's orders.

"Should I... go stop the rumors now?"

Hearing the meek words on the other end, Dill, who had figured everything out, could only say helplessly:

"Leave it as it is. Get back to work."

Click~

Stopping rumors was far harder than spreading them.

Active skills couldn't be dispelled.

Still, having one more ability wasn't a big deal. Better not hold up his home base's development over it.

Dill was rather attached to the past, and he still considered Cologne Island his true home base.

Even though the number of subordinates he had on Thriller Bark already far exceeded those on Cologne Island.

He still couldn't forget the place where he'd gotten his start, and even planned to send some talented people from Thriller Bark to Cologne Island.

Perona's Negative Hollow passed through the wall and spoke:

"Big Brother Dill, someone else is here."

"All right, I'll be right there."

Dill nodded and pulled a pocket watch from inside his clothes, toying with it as he walked toward the room reserved for hypnosis.

He had bought the pocket watch on Thriller Bark.

It was just an ordinary standard-issue pocket watch, nowhere near as good as his previous custom-made one.

But there wasn't a shop on the island that specialized in pocket watches, so Dill could only make do with this one.

He pushed open the door to find a man kneeling there, sobbing.

"In my next life, I want to be a crawling bug."

This was precisely the effect of Perona's Negative Hollow.

His hypnosis didn't depend on strength, only on individual willpower.

And anyone a Negative Hollow passed through would become extremely negative, leaving their willpower weak.

"Sir, would you like to find meaning in your life?"

"Do you believe in me?"

Late that night, everyone gathered in the castle's dining room.

It was December 31, 1502 of the Sea Circle Calendar.

Once midnight passed tonight, it would be Sea Circle Calendar year 1503.

A three-tiered cake, about half a meter in diameter, sat on the dining table.

Three unlit candles stood on top.

Dill reached out and shot three tiny streams of flame to light them.

Under the bright lights, his smile was especially radiant.

"Come on, Robin. Let's celebrate our third New Year's Eve together."

Looking at the red glow of the burning candles, Robin couldn't help remembering their previous two New Year's Eves.

On the last day of 1500, she and Dill had huddled together in a storeroom packed with clutter, holding each other.

The unpleasant smells around them had kept them awake for a long time, and their thin clothing had left them shivering in the cold wind.

On the last day of 1501, the two had hidden in a cave to escape the agents hunting them.

Dill had saved his last sandwich for her, then taken out a lighter, saying it was a candle and asking her to blow it out.

And now, on their third New Year's Eve.

She wore an expensive coat and sat in a splendid dining room, with a table full of sumptuous food before her, along with a cake.

"Dill, thank you."

"Why thank me? Come on, blow out the candles."

"Okay!"

Robin stood up, rose slightly onto her toes, closed her eyes, and blew.

The red flames went out, leaving wisps of white smoke rising from the candle tips.

"All right, let's eat."

Dill took the candles off the top and casually stuffed them into his mouth, then took out a large knife and divided the cake into several pieces.

One slice for Robin and one for him, one for Hina and one for him, one for Perona and one for him.

As for Gunpowder and the other two, they could cut their own.

"Big Brother Dill, I want that!"

Perona pointed at the bagel sandwiches on the other side.

To suit Robin's tastes, the cake hadn't had much sugar added, so it wasn't very sweet. Perona didn't like it.

She preferred the jam-filled bagel sandwiches and hot cocoa.

While Dill was getting Perona a sandwich, Hina pulled a bottle of champagne from inside her clothes.

She had wanted to try it for a long time, but unfortunately, it had always been strictly forbidden.

Pop!

The champagne cork flew out and happened to hit Dill on the head.

I'm done for!

The smile on Hina's face froze, and a second later, her treasure was gone from her arms.

"No drinking for minors."

Dill handed Perona her sandwich first, then tossed the champagne to Gunpowder across the table.

Gunpowder caught the bottle and poured himself a glass, but looking at the table full of food, he had little appetite.

They didn't have a tradition of eating a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve.

Dill had told the three little girls to save room beforehand, but had forgotten to tell the three grown men.

As a result, they had eaten dinner early, and now had little appetite for the table full of food.

"Since we're just sitting around..."

Boren deftly pulled a deck of cards from his pocket.

"How about some poker?"

On the thirtieth day after Vlad's coronation.

As many as two hundred people on Thriller Bark were under control, most of them important figures in the upper ranks.

The old minister, Lake, was in charge of overall administration.

They would work together to govern the Trancy Kingdom well, allowing Vlad to leave and train with the Marines.

Dill told him to pose as a Zoan Devil Fruit user for now.

That would keep Marine scientists from dragging him off to draw blood and creating some sort of demon soldier corps.

Vlad carried the bone sword with him everywhere. After deliberately training over this period, he could now control its size even without touching it directly.

This wasn't the best time for him to join the Marines yet.

Someday in the future, when pirates came again, he would lead the charge onto the battlefield, only considering joining the Marines after a bitter struggle.

Dill didn't need to personally oversee that sort of thing.

So early that morning, he took the three little girls aboard a passenger ship and left Thriller Bark.

Next stop, the North Blue.