Three days later.
Punk Hazard.
After dropping the people off, Sakazuki obtained a virus from Vegapunk and was preparing to depart.
Below the warship, Karol held the latest intelligence and said:
"Sakazuki-sama, another great war has broken out in the New World."
Sakazuki walked over.
"What's the situation?"
Karol said:
"One of the Three Emperors, Kaido of the Beasts, had a fierce battle with Red-Haired Shanks on Bitter Island."
"But neither side could do anything to the other. In the end, they both left."
"Bitter Island sank... the residents..."
Sakazuki narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Neither side could do anything, huh..."
"They've grown so fast."
"Looks like in a few years, a fourth Emperor of the Sea will be born."
Karol froze.
"That soon?"
"He's the same age as Enel, isn't he?"
"Talent is really hard to measure."
"Rosinante is the same age as Enel too..."
Several black lines flashed across Karol's head.
"Uh..."
"True."
"But complete annihilation..."
Sakazuki shook his head.
"Every year, countless towns are slaughtered by pirates."
"It's just that some kill more, some kill less."
"This island is only a small microcosm. No time to sigh over it."
"Let's go. Set out."
"Time to do our real job."
Recover the Devil Fruit...
Following the steps, they boarded the warship.
Karol folded the newspaper and followed.
Before long, everyone boarded, and the warship slowly started moving.
And their direction was toward the first half of the Grand Line...
After the new Fleet Admiral's appointment, Sakazuki himself proposed patrolling the Grand Line to strike at pirates.
As always, constant battle on the frontlines... put Sengoku at ease.
...
Inside the warship cabin.
Sakazuki was mapping out the route.
Finally, he drew a big cross on a place called "Land of Fire."
"We'll head here first."
Karol looked at the place, recalling the data in his head.
"This is... the Shroom-Shroom Fruit, right?"
"Twelve years ago, the exiled crown prince of Drum Kingdom, the Shroom-Shroom Fruit user Musshuru."
Sakazuki nodded.
"Correct."
"The one known as the most malevolent Devil Fruit ability."
"In addition to cultivating mushroom as weapons, there's also a special ability that can only be used once every ten years."
"The Spore Bomb."
"If the environment is suitable, it can destroy an entire country in moments."
"Even in the Navy, the uproar that guy caused back then was well known."
Karol thought for a moment.
"Yeah, it was insane."
"Drum Kingdom's former king was a good king, but the two sons he raised..."
"Let's just say it's hard to put into words."
Twelve years ago, Musshuru, the crown prince of Drum Kingdom...
While the king was at the World Conference, he fired the Spore Bomb that had taken ten years to prepare at Drum Kingdom.
He claimed it was "testing the ability."
If not for Drum Kingdom's blizzards preventing the spores from spreading, the country might have been wiped out.
But that incident still caused the Spore Bomb's impact area to be completely annihilated... wiping out one-tenth of the country's population.
At the World Conference, the king collapsed from rage and nearly couldn't be saved.
Since this happened right at the World Conference, the Navy also heard about it.
After being rescued, the king never attended the World Conference again and returned straight home.
But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to kill his own son...
Since the Shroom-Shroom Fruit's powers weakened in hot environments, Musshuru was exiled to his father's friend, King of the Land of Fire.
Sakazuki chuckled softly.
"Then let's put an end to him."
"I've already sent Bullet to Drum Kingdom."
"You'll take this virus and the Devil Fruit Recovery Device to him later."
"Once this virus enters the body, death will come without warning. Even if Marine Science inspects it, the result will still be 'natural death.'"
"And this Devil Fruit Recovery Device—you stab these spikes into some hidden flesh."
"Once he dies, the fruit's power will transfer into the fruit inside this container."
"Becoming a new Devil Fruit."
Karol scratched his head after taking the two items from Sakazuki.
"Understood..."
"But how do I deliver them..."
Sakazuki handed him a pale-white Devil Fruit.
"Eat this, and you'll know."
Karol looked at the Devil Fruit.
"This is Paramecia-type... it can make me fly?"
After all, they had just left Punk Hazard. Reaching Drum Kingdom on the first half of the Grand Line so quickly wasn't something ordinary fruits could achieve.
Karol took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and bit down.
His brows furrowed as he chewed painfully before swallowing.
"Gonna die..."
Sakazuki chuckled softly and handed him a glass of water.
Karol grabbed it and drank heavily, exhaling long afterward.
"Huuh—"
"Alive again."
Sakazuki said:
"Try it."
Karol nodded, gathering his strength to sense something... then his eyes widened in shock as he looked at Sakazuki.
Karol vanished instantly from where he stood and appeared on the sofa to the left.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
His figure flickered constantly, disappearing and reappearing without warning.
Whoosh—
Finally, he returned to his original spot.
The shock on Karol's face hadn't faded.
"This is teleportation."
Sakazuki nodded.
"Correct. Paramecia-type, Warp-Warp Fruit."
"The previous user was a CP member of the government."
"His earliest known appearance was during the God Valley War."
"Later, during the Skerry Sea Battle, he was the one who brought Kvel back. Don't know if you've seen him."
Karol recalled.
"I see..."
"So Vice Admiral Kvel was brought back by him."
"But we had already set sail back then, so I didn't see it."
"Before the Skegli Sea Battle, you and Fleet Admiral Sengoku were teleported by him, right?"
Sakazuki nodded.
"Correct."
"This fruit was an unexpected gain."
"The technology for Devil Fruit recovery—the government researched it too."
"But there were no real results."
"Later, Dr. Vegapunk took over."
"After years of research, there were some breakthroughs."
"But the success rate was low, only one percent."
"The guy was already old, and with his injuries from missions when he was young, he didn't have long to live."
"So they sent him here to see if the fruit could be recovered."
"'A gamble.'"
"The result... 'naturally' failed."
"As for the government trying to find it, no chance."
"It's probably already 'reborn' somewhere in the dark corners of the sea, waiting for its next host."
Karol smiled and gave an OK sign.
"Understood."
-----------
The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total