Chapter 375: West Blue Interlude
After repeated experiments, Ian finally confirmed that Dorry truly could not eat inorganic matter like Wapol had back then. After eating this Devil Fruit, although Dorry had become incredibly gluttonous, what he consumed was only conventional food.
Moreover, based on current observations, the ability Dorry had displayed was simply that the more he ate, the stronger he became! What other abilities might exist were still unknown, perhaps requiring further development.
Based on these manifestations, the Devil Fruit Ian had obtained was no longer the original Munch-Munch Fruit; its nature had already changed.
Perhaps it would be better to call this Devil Fruit the Glutton-Glutton Fruit or the Eat-Eat Fruit now...
Aokiji suggested that it might have become a subordinate fruit to the Munch-Munch Fruit, and Ian agreed with his assessment. However, Ian felt that Dorry's current situation might actually be better than gaining the Munch-Munch Fruit's ability.
Back then, Wapol had seemed foolish, and Ian always believed that guy had messed up his brain from eating the wrong things. Ian didn't want Dorry to become like Wapol; it was best to keep his current simple and honest demeanor. Although he ate more, Ian could still afford to feed him. The biggest advantage was that he didn't have to worry about Dorry one day gnawing on his ship!
As for superior fruits and subordinate fruits, Ian didn't think much of it. Judging a fruit's strength purely by such classifications would be too arbitrary. A clear example was right before them: Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit had evolved through ability development, and in Ian's view, it was no weaker than Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit.
As the saying went, the strength of an ability depended entirely on how the individual used and developed it.
When Ian said this to Dorry, he didn't expect the first person to agree would be Crocodile.
"That's right!" Crocodile took a puff of his cigar, exhaling smoke as he spoke. "Paramecia-type fruits are relatively easier to awaken. If awakened, a Devil Fruit User's strength rises to another level."
Ian turned to look at him and said, "It seems you're firmly on the path of developing Devil Fruit abilities!"
"Hmph!" Crocodile glared coldly at Ian and said, "Don't get cocky. If we had fought when my fruit ability had already awakened, no one would know who would have won!"
He then continued, "Among the three types of Devil Fruits, when one eats a fruit, Logia grants the strongest power, Paramecia comes second, and Zoan is the weakest! However, everything has its balance. In the process of training and developing fruit abilities, Zoan-type fruits are actually the easiest to awaken, Paramecia comes next, and Logia is the hardest!"
As he spoke, he glanced at Aokiji beside him, clearly implying something, but Aokiji remained silent.
Ian looked at Crocodile with some surprise. He hadn't expected Crocodile's research on Devil Fruit abilities to be so deep. What he said was something Ian was hearing for the first time.
Crocodile was also a Logia user. Could it be that his strength was limited because his fruit ability was difficult to awaken? After all, this guy didn't know Haki...
Regarding the discussion on Devil Fruit abilities, Dorry didn't really pay much attention. In fact, he was quite happy. With this Devil Fruit, he could openly eat food now, excited about being able to consume even more delicious things.
After these interludes, the fleet continued pursuing Germa's ships.
Although Ian was also wondering what had caused the Munch-Munch Fruit's nature to change, after thinking about it for a while without finding an answer, he temporarily set it aside...
"It's energy! The dissipation of energy!"
At that moment, in a tavern in some country in the West Blue, a burly, rough-looking man was letting out a "Zehahaha" laugh.
Such a signature laugh could only belong to one person: Marshall D. Teach, known as Blackbeard!
Since defecting from the Whitebeard Pirates, Teach had finally appeared in the West Blue. Now sitting in the tavern, he was facing a man wearing a top hat and carrying a civilized cane. This man had no eyebrows and wore earrings, giving him an effeminate appearance, but he was listening intently to Teach's words.
Around the two of them, the place was in complete disarray. Tables and chairs were shattered, and dozens of people lay in pools of blood. Apart from the two of them, there was no one else moving in the entire tavern.
Clearly, a battle had taken place here just moments ago, and the one who had struck was undoubtedly Blackbeard Teach... or perhaps both of them.
The effeminate man before Teach was named Lafitte, a sheriff from this country who had been arrested for excessive violence. Teach happened to pass by, took a liking to him, and conveniently rescued him.
Teach was now speaking excitedly to Lafitte, spittle flying everywhere: "If you consider Devil Fruit abilities as energy, then the Devil Fruit itself is the container that holds this energy. When a person eats a Devil Fruit, the container changes into the human body. At that point, the person can use the Devil Fruit's energy! However, the moment a person dies, the container ceases to exist. At that time, the Devil Fruit energy will transfer again. If there's something nearby that can hold this energy, it will transfer into it. If not, the energy will 'escape'! Only when it finds a new place to settle will it reappear! This is the real reason why people believe that after a Devil Fruit User dies, the same Devil Fruit will reappear somewhere in the world!"
"Oh!? I see!" Lafitte rested his chin on his hand, looking at Blackbeard with a seductive expression, and asked in surprise, "And what does that have to do with the energy dissipation you mentioned earlier?"
"When a Devil Fruit User dies, if there's a container nearby that can hold the energy—like fruit, which is the best medium—the Devil Fruit's energy will enter the fruit!" Teach explained. "But during this process, the energy will dissipate. That is, not all the energy will enter the container! This could cause the energy's nature to change, resulting in a Devil Fruit one grade lower than the original—what's called a subordinate fruit!"
"You mean, it's like only half the energy remains, while the other half dissipates?" Lafitte asked doubtfully. "Then where does the dissipated energy go?"
"I don't know. Perhaps this part of the energy continues to drift!" Teach shook his head. "It might wait until the original owner dies again, then the energy recombines to restore the original Devil Fruit! These are deeper studies of Devil Fruits, the work of scholars and scientists. I can't know the details. However, I've heard that the containers capable of holding Devil Fruit energy are no longer limited to fruit. Some specific weapons can also become carriers. It's said to be the latest achievement of the Marine Science Unit, allowing weapons to gain Devil Fruit abilities!"
"Amazing!" Lafitte exclaimed in awe. "I always thought only living beings could gain Devil Fruit abilities..."
"Zehahaha!" Teach laughed again. "Weapons also depend on what kind they are. It seems only weapons forged from specific minerals can become containers. I think it's called 'Seastone Iron' or something... Something like that, I'm not sure. Never mind!"
"So, Teach-sama!" Lafitte said. "What do you mean by telling me all this?"
"Do you want to join my pirate crew?" Teach grinned, showing his gap-toothed smile. "Because I have a way to completely transfer Devil Fruit energy into a container without letting it dissipate. This way, we can hunt down powerful Devil Fruit Users, steal their abilities entirely, build a super army, become the strongest pirate crew, and then claim the throne of the Pirate King!"
"If that's truly the case, then it's my honor, my captain!" Lafitte stood up, bowed, and placed his hand on his chest in salute to Teach.
From this moment on, Teach had finally found his first companion. The Blackbeard Pirates were officially established...