"However, there's a problem."
Just as Roy was feeling overjoyed at the success of the experiment, Dr. Gracia's voice interrupted Roy.
Gracia suddenly stopped smiling, her fingers rapidly tapping on the keyboard, pulling up a set of data and zooming in to show it to Roy.
"Look here—he's using two abilities simultaneously,"
The body's energy consumption rate is twice that of a normal state.
Roy didn't quite understand the data on the screen, but the red lines marked by Gracia were very intuitive.
Two curves, one fluctuating smoothly within the normal range,
The other one spiked dramatically when the test subject used both abilities simultaneously, almost reaching the upper limit of the safety threshold.
"In other words, while multiple Devil Fruit abilities can be used simultaneously, the stamina consumption increases exponentially."
"Right."
Gracia tapped the screen with the stylus.
"If an ordinary person needs to expend one bar of stamina to fight a battle, then a Devil Fruit User would need to expend two bars of stamina to use two abilities at the same time."
This might be a fatal flaw for an ordinary person, but for --"
He turned to look at Roy, his meaning clear even before he finished speaking.
Which of the core members of Hachinosu isn't a physical monster?
Bullet could exchange hundreds of punches with Garp without flinching, Hawk Eyes could fight Aokiji for half a day without his swordsmanship faltering.
Tesoro's Lightning Strike could cover the entire Marineford.
This amount of physical exertion was not a problem for them at all.
"Continue."
Roy took the third Devil Fruit out of the box.
"Let him eat the Smooth-Smooth Fruit."
Gracia paused for a moment. "Try the third one now?"
"Didn't you say his genes are stable now? Then strike while the iron is hot."
If the third one explodes after being eaten, it means Blackbeard's genetic sequence can only accommodate two.
If it hadn't collapsed--"
Roy tossed the fruit to the test subject.
"That proves we really succeeded."
The Smooth-Smooth Fruit is a fruit with a surface as smooth as if it had been coated with oil. It is pale pink all over and has a waxy sheen on its skin.
This fruit was discovered on a small island in the New World, and the local king presented it to Hachinosu as tribute.
In Roy's opinion, this fruit's potential wasn't top-tier, but its strength lay in its readily apparent ability.
It can make the user's entire body extremely smooth, causing physical attacks to automatically slide off.
The test subject bit into the third Devil Fruit under Telekinesis command.
This time, the atmosphere in the laboratory was even more tense than before.
Gracia's hands were hovering over the keyboard, ready to press the emergency stop button at any moment. His face was pressed close to the monitor screen, his nose almost touching it.
The assistants behind him also stopped what they were doing and stared intently at the monitor screen.
The test subject's body began to change.
The orange cat's fur had a faint waxy sheen, which spread downwards from the top of its head, as if someone had poured a layer of transparent oil on it.
The texture of the fur has changed—the originally fluffy orange cat fur has become smooth and tight, and when light shines on it, it reflects an arc-shaped band of light.
"Gene sequence -- stable!"
Gracia's voice trembled, but the data didn't lie.
The densely packed gene map on the screen showed no signs of breakage or distortion; each sequence was arranged neatly.
"Heart rate is normal! Blood pressure is normal! Cell activity is even slightly higher than before!"
Dr. Gracia turned his head and looked at the three fruit test subjects squatting on the ground.
He glanced at Roy again, his lips trembling several times before he managed to squeeze out a sentence:
" Captain Roy, this time it's truly a success!"
Roy walked up to the test subject, probed his brain with his Telekinesis again, and gave him three instructions: transform into an orange cat, change the color of his fur, and make his body smooth.
The experimental subject began to move.
First, the orange cat transforms, its muscles bulge, and its claws spring out. Then, its fur changes color, its body rapidly switching between seven colors.
Finally, there's the power of the Smooth-Smooth Fruit —his smooth fur reflects light, making him look like a large, oiled orange cat.
All three capabilities operate simultaneously.
"Energy consumption is three times the normal rate."
Gracia pulled up the new data curve, pointing to the red line that was almost breaching the safety threshold.
"However, it's still within a controllable range. As long as it's not a prolonged, high-intensity battle, it's perfectly usable."
Roy withdrew his command, and the three abilities on the test subject vanished simultaneously.
The orange cat returned to its squatting position, its tail wagging unconsciously on the ground, its face still expressionless.
"PhD."
Roy turned around and looked at Gracia.
When can we begin the transplant surgeries for the core members?
Dr. Gracia did not answer immediately.
He walked to the monitor screen and reviewed the data from the entire experiment again.
The fluctuation curve of gene sequence, the peak and trough of heart rate changes, the rate of decline of cell activity, and the linear increase of energy consumption.
He zoomed in, took screenshots of each data point, and saved them into different folders.
After reading it, he turned his head, and the eyes behind his glasses had regained their cold, cautious look.
"Not now."
"Why?"
Roy leaned against the edge of the lab bench, arms crossed.
Isn't the data perfect?
"The data is perfect."
Gracia took off his glasses and wiped them.
"But this is a person, a test subject, an experiment."
In science, conclusions drawn from a single experimental subject are called individual cases and cannot be taken as general laws.
Each of your core members is a pillar of Hachinosu. I can't gamble their lives on an assumption whose stability hasn't even been verified."
Roy was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.
He knew the doctor was right.
The fact that Blackbeard can contain multiple Devil Fruit does not mean that the genetic sequence he cultivated perfectly replicates all of Blackbeard's characteristics.
If there's any hidden flaw that only comes to light after it's actually implemented on core members, the losses could be enormous.
Who can blame them when they possess genes from multiple races?
This slightly dampened Roy's initial joy at the success of the experiment.
How long do you plan to observe?
"At least three months."
Gracia put her glasses back on.
"Over the next three months, I will conduct a full set of stress tests on Test Subject No. 7."
High-intensity combat, continuous use of multiple Devil Fruit abilities, and extreme physical exertion.
Record all his physiological data and compare them with those of people with normal abilities.
He paused, then added:
"In addition, I need to select a few more test subjects to test whether there will be any conflicts when eating Devil Fruit of the same type."
What happens when Zoan - Zoan eat together?
What would happen if Paramecia- Paramecia ate together?
Can the Logia coexist with other sciences?
These all need to be tried one by one.
"Alright! I'll leave it to you then!"