One Piece Devouring Fruit - Chapter 12

No living being wants to die. Any creature would struggle desperately in the face of pain and the threat to its life. Even an ant fights for its life, let alone a Sea King with a semblance of intelligence, a ruler of the seas. Despite the beast’s frantic struggles, Michion’s hand remained steady. He stood firm on the trembling beast, gripping his sword tightly, continuously using Snatch Force. Although the amount of energy drained and fed back to him was minimal, it was the last straw for this dying beast.

“Boom!”

With a final thud, the giant Sea King collapsed, dead. The small, ethereal serpent within the aura instantly returned to Michion’s body. As it re-entered, thin red threads started to merge into his body. Michion felt a warm energy coursing through him, enhancing his muscle fibers. The sensation was slightly painful and itchy, causing him to groan softly. It wasn’t the pain that bothered him, but the itchiness, like a healing wound.

After a moment, the energy dissipated. Michion clenched his fists, sensing a slight increase in his strength.

“It worked,” Michion exclaimed, punching the air with joy. After a month of relentless experimentation and development, his bold idea finally came to fruition. He had taken a massive gamble on this unknown fruit; today, he had won the jackpot.

With this newly developed ability, the outermost part of his aura displayed a serpent biting its tail. Although this symbol seemed peculiar and didn’t entirely match the Ouroboros’ traditional meaning, it saved Michion the trouble of naming the ability.

“I’ll call it Ouroboros,” Michion smiled. “Ouroboros, the self-devourer.”

This marked the transformation of the fused fruit into something beyond just a combination of the Halo-Halo Fruit and the Snatch-Snatch Fruit. With the ability developed, the two fruits’ powers melded into one, creating the Devouring Fruit.

This ability was rooted in the Halo-Halo Fruit’s power to materialize attributes, represented by Michion’s enhancing auras. The Snatch-Snatch Fruit’s ability to steal these attributes allowed Michion to absorb the energy.

“Devouring Fruit it is,” Michion decided, smiling at the ethereal snake. He successfully merged the Snatch-Snatch and Halo-Halo fruits into a powerful ability. However, this secret would remain hidden until Michion was strong enough to reveal it. He focused on growing more robust, keeping the Devouring Fruit’s true potential under wraps.

Excitement coursed through him as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He had much work ahead.

“Time for the hunt,” Michion said, ready to hone his abilities further. Hunting Sea Kings on this island was perfect for training. He also had to continue developing the Halo-Halo Fruit, an excellent cover for his true power.

Michion embarked on his mission, determined to become stronger. He knew this ability was terrifying. In gaming terms, it was akin to leveling up by defeating enemies. But in reality, killing to absorb attributes was akin to the dark arts of martial arts fiction.

If anyone discovered this, it would attract endless trouble.

Michion focused on developing his strength and mastering his new abilities. As he roamed the island, he constantly sought prey. His days were filled with developing the Halo-Halo Fruit and challenging new arrivals, Sea Kings that had yet to become bloated from overeating. The constant pursuit and escape helped him refine his speed, bringing him closer to mastering Soru.

Daily life was a desperate struggle, not unlike Sanji’s experience on Momoiro Island, where he learned Sky Walk while being chased by Okamas. Michion found himself in a similar predicament.

He didn’t want to target the bloated, sluggish Sea Kings—they were too easy. But his newly developed Ouroboros ability came with surprises.

First, the outermost part of the aura took the form of a serpent, something Michion hadn’t anticipated. He had imagined using the Snatch-Snatch Fruit’s power during the aura’s retraction, but the serpent’s appearance did that for him, simplifying the process.

However, the serpent’s selective nature was the most significant difference from his expectations. It was incredibly picky about its targets!

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