Animating the Ocean, Finding a Devil Fruit

The master's plan was not complicated, but the simpler the plan, the easier it is to succeed.

"Prepare to descend, operation begins!"

Chapter 187 Animation the Ocean, Finding a Devil Fruit

Sabaody Archipelago, Zone No. 13.

[Master, Big Eyes and the others have arrived in Baltigo.]

"Keep an eye on it, how are Ace and the others doing?"

Dimon sat leisurely on the sofa at home, flipping through today's newspaper.

Morgans naturally reported that the Celestial Dragons had been captured, and now the Sabaody Archipelago was under martial law again, with the Navy patrolling everywhere and searching almost every house.

I heard that Kizaru was also sent here.

[Ace and his crew's ship has been seized by the Navy, and they're currently hiding in Shakky's bar. They won't be able to leave the island anytime soon. By the way, his bounty has increased to 326 million.]

"That idiot had to get involved, and now look what happened!"

Dimon smiled and ignored Ace for the time being, saying he would figure out a way to handle it himself.

Putting down the newspaper, Dimon his next move.

There are still a few things I need to keep an eye on.

First, the appointed day with the Empress is approaching, and I need to draw her blood then.

Secondly, Harald is expected to take action soon, and we should also keep an eye on developments in this area.

Third, once Lycaon finds Zou, he needs to go to the Mokomo Dukedom to find the other redstone.

Fourth...

Kuranos has been reborn for some time now, and there's been no news since. The most likely reason for this situation is that the unfortunate fellow was reborn in the sea.

While Devil Fruit won't lose their powers if they're submerged in the sea, they will lose their mobility.

Regarding the rebirth of Devil Fruits, Dimon inquired about it with the Angel Belial.

Unless there is fruit nearby to parasitize, rebirth will become random, and this randomness of Devil Fruits cannot be controlled.

They can't fly in the sky like ghosts and then fly to the vicinity of a fruit to choose which fruit to parasitize.

At the moment of death, they have a brief period of self-control. Only during this time can they choose to reside in a particular fruit, and the distance must be close, such as on the same island.

Once the time limit has passed, the rules of rebirth will cause their consciousness to sink, thus randomly reborn somewhere in the world.

During the battle at Marine Headquarters, Kuranos certainly couldn't choose to respawn on the island, otherwise he would be targeted again very quickly.

He most likely chose random respawn, but he was just unlucky.

Based on this reasoning, finding a specific Devil Fruit in the vast ocean would be extremely difficult.

However, that was for ordinary people; Dimon quickly came up with a solution.

"It seems we need to try to Animation the ocean."

With a thought, a golden magic circle appeared beneath Dimon's feet, and the next moment, he disappeared from the room.

East Blue, Conomi Islands.

About five kilometers east of Cocoyasi Village lies the site of the former Arlong Park.

The Arlong Pirates, who once ruled over more than twenty villages in the vicinity, were destroyed, and their base was abandoned over time.

Inside the base, in the central hall on the first floor.

The dim pentagram magic circle suddenly shone with golden light, and strands of golden light intertwined and condensed into a human shape.

With his hands in his pockets, Dimon strode confidently out of the array, glancing back at the magic circle behind him.

"The teleportation array left behind last time still works. It seems the Navy hasn't been here before."

The Arlong Pirates were destroyed, and Captain Nezumi, who had a secret deal with Arlong, may have even helped cover up some things.

After all, this place simply cannot withstand investigation.

This made things convenient for Dimon; one moment he was in the Sabaody Archipelago, and the next he could cross half a planet to reach the East Blue.

Dimon left the base and went to the outdoor swimming pool.

The swimming pool is connected to the sea outside, and seawater flows in through the hole below.

Dimon had never tried to Animation the ocean before, and he didn't know what the result would be if he tried now.

He crouched down, dipped his hand into the pool, and gently stirred the seawater. Then, he activated his ability.

Animation!

As he activated his ability, he Vice Admiral his sights on the entire East Blue Sea.

Regardless of success or failure, one should set ambitious goals.

Just like when he first traveled through time, he tried to Animation the entire world.

In an instant, golden light shone forth, covering the surface of the seawater in the pool with a layer of golden light.

The golden light continued to spread outwards, and the ocean outside also began to show a golden hue, until it spread to a distance of more than ten kilometers, at which point the extension of the golden light reached a certain limit.

"So it really failed? My current ability only covers a little over 10,000 meters." Dimon slowly stood up, muttering to himself.

The golden light on the surface of the sea gradually dimmed, eventually returning to its original state.

Then, the seawater in the pool churned, and a monster emerged from the water.

Its body is made of clear, flowing, icy blue seawater, smaller at the bottom and larger at the top, like a waterspout that keeps expanding upwards.

After it appeared, the seawater on its upper part kept churning and gradually condensed into the shape of a head, while thick arms quickly grew on both sides.

Water element?

Dimon examined the creature before him; it resembled the Glacial Surge from World of Warcraft —a purely aquatic being.

"Owner."

The water element's voice was very deep and resonant.

Dimon looked surprised. "You can still talk?"

"Yes, thank you, Master, for giving me life!"

"I'll give you a name first, from now on you'll be called..."

Dimon listened to the sounds emanating from the water elemental's body, like the rushing sound of seawater crashing against the shore rocks at high tide.

Your name is Tide.

After giving it a random name, Dimon asked, "I need you to find a specific Devil Fruit in all the oceans of the world. Can you do that?"

"..."

The Tide fell silent for a moment.

"No way?" Dimon raised an eyebrow.

"It's possible, but it will take a very long time. The oceans of the entire world are too vast; I don't know when I'll be able to complete the task you assigned me."

As he spoke, Tide swung his right arm, and in an instant, the seawater in the pool surged forth, forming whirlpools from which smaller water elementals were born.

"I can create these small clones and use them to search the deep sea. I cannot say for sure when I will find what you are looking for..."

Not just Logia and Paramecia, now even Animation beings can create clones... Dimon couldn't help but complain in his mind.

But then I thought about it again, and realized that the [A Breath of Fresh Wind] that Ain merged with had always been able to create clones.

The Tide before me is similar to [A Breath of Fresh Wind], except that its Animation ability was relatively weak back then, and the Animation breeze did not possess the high intelligence of the Tide.

"Your abilities are quite good. And since you're made of seawater, you have a counter-effect against other ability users. So, how many clones can you create?"

"Master, within your previous range of power, all the seawater was me; all of it could be my clones."

Tide's answer did not surprise Dimon.

He just Animation an ocean more than 10,000 meters away; essentially, all the seawater he Animation was Tides.

If all of this seawater were to split into multiple parts, the number would reach a terrifying level.

"Your clone doesn't have self-awareness, does it?"

"Yes, these clones in front of you are the bare minimum; any smaller clones would become worthless."

That's quite a number... Dimon pondered for a moment. Even if he could create so many clones, it would still be difficult to find Kuranos at the bottom of the sea.

The seawater in this mere 10,000-meter-deep area is like a grain of sand on a beach compared to the oceans of the entire world.

It seems we'll have to find another way to locate Kuranos.

When talking about the ocean, one cannot help but mention the Sea Kings, and the one who can control the Sea Kings is the legendary Poseidon of the Three Ancient Weapons.

Poseidon is a biological weapon; the previous Poseidon was a mermaid princess from over 800 years ago.

Now, this generation of Poseidon has also appeared.

"Fish-Man Island, Ryugu Kingdom, Princess Shirahoshi..."

After thinking for a moment, Dimon decided to find time to visit the Deep-Sea Fish-Man Island.

However, there's no rush. Assuming Kuranos is indeed reborn in the sea, he won't die anyway; at most, he won't be able to move around freely.

It would be better if he died once; maybe he'd be reborn on land.

"Hmm? Could it be that this guy has been reborn all this time? And has ended up being reincarnated at the bottom of the sea?"

Dimon suddenly realized that Kuranos had the full right to choose whether or not to be reborn.

He keeps being reborn, and he'll eventually have the chance to be reborn on land.

In this way, he wouldn't need to go looking for it deliberately; it might just come back on its own someday.

However, this is just speculation. Perhaps Kuranos is currently unable to regenerate on its own... We still need to search for it, and we'll have to go to Fish-Man Island again.

Thinking of this, Dimon looked at the Tide again, thought for a moment, and simply gave the order:

"You don't need to find that specific fruit anymore; I have another task for you."

"Please give your orders, Master."

"Go to the sea and search for Devil Fruits, any kind will do. Start by searching the East Blue; they usually appear in shipwrecks. Pay close attention to areas prone to accidents."

"Understood, Master."

The Tide and his clone instantly scattered into seawater, and the open-air swimming pool returned to calm in the blink of an eye.

Dimon gazed at the rippling sea, pondering whether the Seven Deadly Sins could reside in the water.

That probably won't work; seawater contains substances that counteract Devil Fruits, so forcibly implanting them would be pointless.

This substance was named "Substance P" by Vegapunk, but he didn't know exactly what it was.

"Ain, leave a clone behind to keep an eye on the situation here. Tell me immediately once Tide finds the fruit."

[Yes, Master.]

After arranging the liaison officer, Dimon activated his teleportation ability and returned to the Sabaody Archipelago.

Dimon didn't have high expectations for finding fruit on the seabed, but the power of the Tides surprised him.

The next day.

[Master, Tide has found a Devil Fruit!]

"So fast?"

Dimon was sitting in the living room eating breakfast when he was suddenly shocked to hear the news.

They found Devil Fruit in just one day? Could it be that there are really many Devil Fruits sleeping in the ocean?

If that's the case, why is he still arguing with the World Government? Wouldn't it be more convenient for him to create more Tide water elementals, mobilize a massive water elemental army, and search the ocean depths for fruit?