One Piece: TWN 3: The Primordial Chaos Dragon

Imu had also noticed the transformation. Was this perhaps the treatment enjoyed by those blessed by the world?

"Lady Imu, what kind of fruit is this?"

Imu did not answer immediately. She had never encountered this particular Devil Fruit before. Taking it from Lucifer's hand, she examined it carefully, searching her extensive knowledge for any clue that might reveal its identity.

She recalled the information contained in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, mentally reviewing its entries one after another. Yet, even after considerable deliberation, she could not identify it.

Eventually, she simply summoned the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia itself and began checking its contents. Unfortunately, the result was no different.

"Imu doesn't know exactly what this fruit is, but Imu can confirm that it is a Mythical Zoan."

Well, living for eight hundred years certainly had its advantages. Even without recognising the specific fruit, Imu could at least determine its classification.

Since it was a Mythical Zoan, and Lucifer had already developed an inexplicable attraction towards it the moment it appeared, he did not hesitate any further. He took the fruit and began eating.

Unfortunately, its taste was every bit as horrendous as that of any other Devil Fruit.

"Ugh!"

The taste was indescribable. It was so revolting that his entire body instinctively rejected it. His stomach twisted, and an overwhelming feeling of nausea washed over him, yet he couldn't throw it back up. The experience was thoroughly miserable.

Nevertheless, he forced himself to finish eating.

Almost immediately, his body began undergoing a transformation.

Dark scales gradually spread across his skin, while his hands and feet changed into powerful claws. His body grew and reshaped itself until he had completely transformed into a small, pitch-black, five-clawed dragon. Wisps of flaming clouds drifted around his body, giving his new form an extraordinary appearance.

It was a young dragon, but there was no mistaking the immense potential contained within it.

Lucifer quickly familiarised himself with his new body. He circled Imu once in the air, experimented with his human-beast hybrid form, and eventually returned to his original appearance.

The benefits of the Mythical Zoan were immediately apparent. His physical constitution had increased by nearly tenfold. Such an improvement was nothing short of astonishing.

At the same time, Lucifer finally understood the identity of the Devil Fruit he had consumed.

"Hahaha! The True Dragon Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Primordial Chaos Dragon Form! Although its abilities are somewhat troublesome."

"Judging by your reaction, it seems to suit you perfectly. Is there a problem?"

"My abilities are currently limited to the four basic elements: earth, fire, water, and wind. As for anything beyond those, I either have to develop the abilities myself or consume specific Devil Fruits. Of course, they cannot be Zoan types."

Thinking about that unbearable taste, Lucifer couldn't help shuddering.

Developing every additional ability from scratch would undoubtedly take considerable time and effort. If he wanted to accelerate his growth, consuming other Devil Fruits was still the most convenient option.

However, Imu's expression brightened considerably upon hearing his explanation.

In her eyes, this fruit could genuinely be considered one of the strongest Devil Fruits in existence.

She proceeded to ask Lucifer several more questions, wanting to understand its abilities and limitations in greater detail.

Eventually, Lucifer discovered something particularly interesting about his new power.

After he consumed another Devil Fruit and completely assimilated its abilities, the corresponding Devil Fruit would eventually reappear somewhere in the sea. In other words, Lucifer could permanently acquire the abilities of other Devil Fruits without preventing those fruits from returning to the world.

Furthermore, the abilities he obtained would be somewhat stronger than those of the original fruits.

This arrangement was hardly a disadvantage. As long as it allowed him to develop faster, Lucifer had little reason to complain. As for whether some insignificant person might eventually consume the reincarnated fruit, that was hardly worth worrying about.

So long as Lucifer could endure the revolting taste of Devil Fruits, everything else was inconsequential.

Afterwards, Imu began teaching Lucifer everything she knew about Devil Fruits.

There was no better instructor he could ask for. Imu was undoubtedly an expert in this field, and she was herself a Mythical Zoan user. Her Devil Fruit was the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Source Demon Form, an existence that stood on the same level as Nika.

Through her explanations, Lucifer also learned about the realm that existed beyond Devil Fruit Awakening: Limit Break.

At this level, a Devil Fruit user would completely overcome the weaknesses normally associated with consuming a Devil Fruit. Neither seawater nor Seastone would be capable of restraining them any longer.

According to Imu, only two individuals in the entire world had ever reached this level: herself and Joy Boy.

As for the other nineteen kings from that era, they had only managed to take half a step towards it. Despite their considerable abilities, they had never been able to cross that final threshold. Imu suspected that their limitations ultimately came down to a lack of talent.

After learning this, Lucifer naturally became curious about the extent of Imu's abilities. He asked several questions before eventually proposing an idea of his own.

In particular, he was interested in the contracts Imu could establish.

Couldn't she use them to grant others additional strength and lifespan before eventually harvesting their souls? If that were possible, wouldn't absorbing those souls allow her to become powerful enough to overcome Joy Boy?

After all, the demons he was familiar with generally operated in a similar manner.

However, Imu's response surprised him.

"Then Imu wouldn't be Imu anymore. Imu has tried that before. The souls would influence Imu's thoughts and feelings. Removing that influence takes a considerable amount of time. The stronger the person, the longer it takes."

Lucifer immediately understood.

Although absorbing souls could strengthen Imu, it wasn't something she could do without consequences. Every soul carried its own consciousness and lingering influence. Absorbing too many powerful souls would place an enormous burden on her, potentially affecting her own personality and judgment.

Consequently, there was a limit to how quickly she could strengthen herself through this method. Absorbing fewer souls meant slower progress, while absorbing too many created another problem entirely.

During their discussions, Imu also explained the abilities of the Nika Fruit.

After all, she had previously used Nika as a benchmark when discussing the highest level of Devil Fruit abilities.

Unlike ordinary Mythical Zoans, Nika possessed a particularly unusual ability: the power to absorb faith.

It truly lived up to its association with a god, although the efficiency with which it absorbed faith wasn't particularly impressive.

The truly troublesome aspect emerged after reaching Limit Break.

At that point, Nika could temporarily increase his combat power according to the amount of faith provided by the people around him.

In other words, Joy Boy's strength wasn't determined solely by his personal abilities. The faith of those who believed in him could also become a source of power.

Considering the circumstances of the Void Century, Lucifer could roughly understand what had happened.

Joy Boy might originally have been weaker than Imu. However, after establishing the Great Kingdom and gaining the support of hundreds of millions of people, the situation changed dramatically.

The enormous amount of faith directed towards him caused his combat power to surge to an extraordinary level. Eventually, he became powerful enough that Imu could no longer suppress him.

No wonder Imu was so wary of Joy Boy.

Come to think of it, it was almost merciful that she hadn't simply slaughtered the entire population of the world.

Then again, there was a practical consideration. Those people were essentially the labour force that kept the World Government functioning. If everyone were killed, who would be left to serve them?

There was also the problem of Joy Boy's will. Unless it was completely eradicated, there would always be the possibility of his return. And if internal problems emerged at the same time, the situation could become considerably more troublesome.

After all, even among the Celestial Dragons, there were all kinds of people.

Although Lucifer was one of them, he couldn't help viewing the group somewhat differently because of his knowledge of the original story. Who knew? Perhaps someone from within their ranks might eventually emerge with ideals of freedom and liberation.

That was something worth considering, but there was little point dwelling on it for now.

In the days that followed, Lucifer once again immersed himself in learning.

He could sense, comprehend, and study almost every aspect of Imu's abilities. Although he couldn't directly reproduce everything, he could understand the underlying principles and develop similar effects through his own powers.

The only exception was that strange magic circle. Its workings remained difficult to comprehend, although Lucifer could still reproduce some of its effects through different applications of his abilities.

Meanwhile, Imu gave the Five Elders a specific order.

They were to search for Devil Fruits related to spatial abilities.

She was already considering allowing Lucifer to leave and explore the outside world. However, before that happened, she wanted to make the necessary preparations. She wouldn't feel entirely comfortable sending him out without ensuring that he had sufficient means of protecting himself.

The Five Elders acted with remarkable efficiency.

In just one week, Imu received news that two suitable Devil Fruits had been obtained.

One was the Door-Door Fruit, which had already been stored in CP's inventory. The other was the Space Fruit, a treasured possession of the Figarland Family.

When Garling learned that Imu required the fruit, he immediately returned from wherever he had been and presented it as tribute.

His attitude was impeccable.

With that level of dedication, it wasn't difficult to understand why he had been selected as one of the Five Elders. His actual abilities might still be unclear, but at least his attitude was beyond reproach.

Once the two fruits arrived, Lucifer didn't waste any time.

He immediately picked up the Door-Door Fruit and ate it.

After enduring another round of agonising nausea, he waited for its abilities to be completely assimilated into his primary Devil Fruit, or rather, his bloodline.

On the same day he finished eating the first fruit, Lucifer had already used the Bloodline Fusion Card.

As a result, neither the sea nor Seastone could restrain him anymore.

If not for his relatively limited strength at present, he would already have had the potential to become the strongest creature on land, in the sea, and in the sky.

After all, he was a True Dragon, a Primordial Dragon. Being able to breathe underwater was perfectly natural for his species.

Now that the restrictions normally imposed on Devil Fruit users no longer applied to him, he could fight freely beneath the sea. In fact, the absence of those restrictions meant that his combat effectiveness in the ocean would increase considerably.

It took approximately two months for Lucifer to completely digest and assimilate the Door-Door Fruit.

Once that process was finished, he moved on to the second fruit.

This time, he consumed the Space Fruit.

Since his True Dragon bloodline already possessed a foundational understanding of spatial abilities, assimilating this fruit proved considerably easier than the previous one.

Four months later, he had completely digested and integrated its abilities as well.

With both fruits successfully assimilated, Imu decided to take another step in preparing Lucifer for his eventual departure.

She specifically brought out the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and allowed him to examine its contents personally, letting him select the abilities that interested him.

After that, she intended to leave the matter largely in his hands.

Whether he wanted to have CP conduct searches on his behalf, attend auctions, negotiate exchanges with other Celestial Dragons, or personally search for suitable Devil Fruits, those would be decisions he would eventually need to make himself.

After all, Lucifer couldn't remain confined to this place forever.

He needed to venture outside and gain experience in the wider world. Staying cooped up indefinitely would hardly benefit him.

By this point, however, most of the particularly powerful Devil Fruits Lucifer remembered from his knowledge of the original story had already been consumed by someone else.

There were still a few abilities that caught his interest.

After looking through the available information, he settled on three particular targets: the Paw-Paw Fruit, the Purification Fruit, and the Pet-Pet Fruit.

He didn't intend to pursue too many more.

The problem was that every additional Devil Fruit he consumed made the experience increasingly unbearable. The taste was already revolting, and his growing collection of abilities wasn't making the process any more pleasant.

Besides, Imu could personally provide him with several other useful abilities through her own powers, including the contracts she had previously explained.

After learning how they worked, Lucifer even made some modifications to the technique, adapting it to better suit his own needs.

However, he also managed to acquire another exceptionally powerful ability through this process.

The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit.

More specifically, he obtained its ability to steal the powers of other Devil Fruits.

Lucifer couldn't help feeling amazed when he understood what Imu's abilities could accomplish.

To think that her Devil Fruit possessed such an extraordinary capability!

Now, however, that power had become available to him as well.

After awakening and developing his darkness ability, Lucifer would also be able to steal the powers of other Devil Fruits.

That was undoubtedly another enormous advantage.