"Lucky. It hasn't been eaten yet."
Ozz strolled through the research facility.
As for the battle between the Straw Hats and Caesar's group, there was nothing worth watching. It was just a bunch of rookies pecking at each other, occasionally playing with poison gas, drugs, and the like.
Things that were completely useless in front of true monsters.
He brought Kuina to Vegapunk's old laboratory.
Here lay one of Vegapunk's failed experimental products.
A copy of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
The Pink Dragon Fruit.
Perhaps due to some butterfly effect, Momonosuke had not eaten the Pink Dragon Fruit in this timeline. It was still lying quietly in the laboratory.
"If you want to make up for the flaws in your physical strength, this should be a very good choice."
Ozz snapped his fingers.
The artificial fruit, whose patterns were clearly different from an ordinary Devil Fruit, instantly appeared in his hand.
Then he handed it to Kuina.
Facing this rare treasure of the sea, and hearing from Ozz that it was a Devil Fruit of very precious quality, Kuina swallowed nervously.
She widened her eyes and looked at Ozz.
"Master Ozz, as long as I eat this, I can become stronger?"
"That's right."
Kuina nodded. Then she opened her mouth and took a bite.
"It tastes awful! It has such a strange, disgusting flavor!"
The taste made Kuina feel as if her throat was trying to retch. Her muscles spasmed, desperate to throw it back up.
"Don't spit it out. Swallow."
Hearing this, Kuina forced down the urge to vomit and swallowed the fruit in her mouth with great effort.
Ozz had tasted a Devil Fruit once in his life.
It truly tasted awful enough to challenge the limits of humanity.
Someone like Buggy, who could swallow one whole, actually had the right idea. Biting and chewing it was simply torture for the soul.
Even Kuina, a swordswoman with an extremely firm will, could not help making a bitter face.
After taking one bite, Kuina was just about to throw the rest away when Ozz spoke faintly.
"There is a legend that if you don't eat the whole Devil Fruit, the ability will be weakened."
Of course, that was a lie.
But back then, Ozz had believed it was better to be safe than sorry, so he had eaten the entire Teleportation Fruit. Naturally, he would advise others the same way.
When Kuina heard that, her expression became strained.
"But this taste..."
"Don't talk. Keep eating."
With great difficulty, Kuina followed Ozz's order and swallowed the entire fruit.
Soon, she felt warmth spreading through her body.
As a swordswoman with a certain physical foundation, Kuina guided that power. Her body gradually began to change.
Her pupils narrowed into needle-like slits. Large patches of pink scales appeared across her body. Slender dragon horns emerged from her head, and her teeth became sharp.
Most obvious of all, her body began to grow taller as she transformed into her hybrid form.
In the end, her pink dragon-human form raised her height from her original one meter seventy to nearly three meters.
Ozz watched the entire process and rubbed his chin as he gave his evaluation.
"She doesn't look bizarre. She actually looks rather cool."
"Vegapunk's awkward color choice is actually acceptable when placed on a female ability user."
Kuina was also adapting to this new body.
She clenched her fist and felt an endless sense of strength surge through her.
Although it was nowhere near as powerful as the "world's strongest experience card" from before, compared to her original body, this was an improvement of dozens of times over.
"From today onward, at least in terms of strength and physical ability, you won't lose to Zoro anymore."
Ozz smiled as he spoke.
There was no helping it.
This was the power of a Mythical Zoan.
One of the strongest powers among Devil Fruits.
A dominant answer of the current version.
The gap that years of physical training had opened between Zoro and Kuina had been instantly closed by a single Mythical Zoan.
In pure hand-to-hand combat, Zoro might even suffer a little against her dragon-human form.
"Right now, the only gaps between you and a true master are Haki and swordsmanship."
"Both can be made up through battle."
Even Conqueror's Haki might awaken naturally in a life-and-death battle against an enemy.
Kuina's heart toward the sword was so firm that there was no reason she could not awaken the same Conqueror's Haki as Zoro.
After all, she was the childhood friend of his destined rival.
That was the power of being bound together.
"Next, let's test your current strength. Zoro is on this island too."
Ozz encouraged her.
After all, this was what he wanted to see.
Childhood friends fighting each other.
How interesting.
...
On the other side, the Straw Hats and Law officially formed an alliance.
They began working together on Dressrosa's side to defeat Caesar and two officers of the Donquixote Family, preparing to rescue everyone.
Law, meanwhile, had made up his mind to destroy SAD, the raw material used to create artificial Devil Fruits, and take revenge on Doflamingo.
He successfully entered the interior of the laboratory, but there he ran into Vergo.
This undercover Marine Vice Admiral stood calmly before them, holding Law's heart in his hand.
On Vergo's body was a Den Den Mushi connected to Doflamingo.
"Fuffuffuffuffu... Law, I already spared you once more than ten years ago. Why come here to die?"
"Not every time will Mr. Ozz just happen to save you."
With his heart being squeezed, Law's face looked extremely grim.
"What I inherited is Mr. Corazon's will. I will definitely stop your evil!"
Doflamingo stopped laughing.
The corners of his mouth, which had been raised a moment earlier, slowly lowered.
Clearly, the name Corazon had ruined his mood.
After the Minion Island incident, Ozz had let Corazon leave, and Doflamingo truly had never targeted him again.
Afterward, Corazon became an ordinary officer in Paradise and lived under another identity. Doflamingo only paid attention to him on very rare occasions.
The two brothers had become strangers.
"Is that so? Then take Corazon's naivety with you and go to your death."
Doflamingo no longer smiled.
"Vergo."
Law stared warily at the silent flat-topped man in sunglasses.
Clang.
Vergo held a bamboo stick in his hand. In an instant, the bamboo turned pitch black.
With his heart being squeezed, Law was beaten until he had no power to fight back.
Smoker's appearance gave him a chance to breathe.
"Let me personally eliminate you, you disgrace of the Marines!"
Unfortunately...
With only one punch, Smoker was struck until he spat blood.
Vergo's hand was pitch black, and his expression was terrifyingly cold.
"Don't you understand, Smoker..."
"Although we are both Vice Admirals, my Vice Admiral title is not the same as yours."
"After all, my Haki..."
Clang.
Vergo's powerful body was instantly covered in a thick layer of Armament Haki.
"Was taught by Mr. Ozz himself."
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