Devil Fruit Specialty: [Overheat]
[Overheat]: Continuous heating that completely evaporates moisture within steam, creating superheated vapor.
William's ability to harness steam as a power source stemmed from a fundamental principle: water expands over a thousand times in volume when it boils and vaporizes. By compressing this steam within his body, William could generate tremendous energy.
However, this capability hinged entirely on his body possessing sufficient "structural integrity" to contain the expanding vapor. Before mastering Life Return, William could only elevate steam temperatures to approximately 100 degrees Celsius—the limitation existed because he couldn't effectively contain the steam within his system.
To illustrate this limitation, William's body functioned like a cooking pot. When water boiled and gas expanded, pressure would easily force the lid open, allowing steam to escape. Under such conditions, regardless of how much heat he applied, the steam temperature couldn't increase further. His only option was to continuously add water, only to watch the steam dissipate in an endless cycle.
This constraint meant that William's temperature increases and vaporization processes progressed slowly and incrementally.
In the early stages of wielding his Steam-Steam Fruit, William could spread impressive volumes of steam across wide areas, creating spectacular visual effects. However, the actual combat effectiveness remained limited. While concentrated bursts could catch enemies off-guard when targeting vulnerable points, widespread application merely diluted the temperature, rendering it hardly more effective than a sauna bath.
After mastering Life Return, William discovered a method to prevent gas from escaping. He could now control steam convergence within his body, effectively creating a sealed chamber. This was equivalent to hermetically sealing a pressure cooker, simultaneously allowing temperatures to rise continuously while harnessing the kinetic energy generated by expanding gas.
This breakthrough marked the genesis of William's Steam Power specialty.
Yet this advancement eventually led to a new bottleneck: the structural integrity limitations of the "container" housing the steam.
As gas expanded and steam pressure intensified, the sealed system created inherent risks. If pressure exceeded the container's structural threshold, catastrophic explosion would result.
To address this challenge, William turned his attention to one of the Six Powers techniques—Tekkai (Iron Body).
The essence of Tekkai involves channeling power through a rigorously conditioned body, granting it steel-like hardness capable of withstanding bullets and bladed weapons.
As a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, William had little interest in Tekkai's defensive properties against conventional weapons. What truly captivated him was the technique's methodology for enhancing physical structural integrity.
[Overheat] represented William's innovative synthesis of three distinct elements: his Devil Fruit ability, Life Return, and Tekkai.
He employed Tekkai to reinforce his body's structural integrity, Life Return to contain the steam, and his Devil Fruit powers for continuous heating. Moreover, the combination of Tekkai and Life Return minimized heat dissipation, allowing his body temperature to rise exponentially faster. Water vaporization and expansion accelerated far beyond previous capabilities.
In the [Overheat] state, William's body temperature could exceed one thousand degrees Celsius, granting him explosive power and destructive capacity vastly superior to his normal condition.
Intelligence and analytical thinking might appear disconnected from combat effectiveness, but in reality, they function as catalysts and multipliers for battle prowess. Optimizing Devil Fruit applications, adapting tactics against diverse enemy abilities, and integrating various techniques to innovate new approaches—all require sophisticated cognitive processes.
William possessed exceptional mental agility, excelling at drawing connections between seemingly disparate concepts, which earned him the Integrated Mastery specialty.
The notion that intelligence somehow diminishes combat effectiveness represents nothing more than wishful thinking from anti-intellectual perspectives that devalue critical thought.
Golden Lion Shiki, though momentarily surprised by William's dramatic transformation, quickly dismissed it with contemptuous mockery.
"Is that all?" Shiki sneered.
Rising higher into the air, he declared with absolute confidence: "You now stand in the sky—my domain!"
With a casual gesture of his hand, Shiki activated his Float-Float Fruit powers. The entire island, suspended by his ability, responded to his command. Beyond the village perimeter, seawater began churning violently, forming massive waves that surged toward the shoreline where William stood.
JET-Moonwalk!
A thunderous explosion erupted beneath William's feet. Heat waves rippled outward as rocks shattered and steam billowed in all directions. In that instant, William vanished from his position.
A heartbeat later, he materialized directly before Shiki in mid-air, his blade slashing toward the pirate's midsection.
Though startled, Shiki's reflexes remained sharp. He swiftly raised his right leg, blocking the attack with the sword attached to his foot.
As their blades collided, Shiki's teeth clenched involuntarily. William's Robust specialty combined with his [Overheat] state generated force beyond ordinary comprehension. Unprepared for such overwhelming power, Shiki's knee buckled slightly under the impact. He immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability, propelling himself backward to dissipate the tremendous force.
Initially, Shiki had assumed William's aerial appearance resulted from a powerful leap. He had intended to exploit his Float-Float Fruit's flight capabilities to target what he perceived as William's vulnerability in aerial combat.
To Shiki's astonishment, William pursued him relentlessly. After his initial attack was deflected, William didn't plummet back to earth as expected. Instead, he repeatedly stepped through the air itself. Each footfall produced explosive concussions accompanied by swirling steam clouds as he closed distance with the retreating Shiki at incredible velocity.
In truth, William's Steam-Steam Fruit had long provided him aerial capabilities. Shortly after consuming the fruit, he had learned to manipulate rising hot air currents and exploit water vapor's lower density to enhance his buoyancy. However, hovering and true flight remained distinct concepts.
William's early steam-based hovering resembled a balloon—capable of remaining airborne but lacking maneuverability. To overcome this limitation, he incorporated steam propulsion principles, generating directional thrust for controlled aerial movement.
Later, after mastering Geppo (Moonwalk) from the Six Powers techniques, William integrated both methods to achieve true flight—unrestricted three-dimensional movement through air.
The spectacle unfolding on the battlefield left both William's allies and Shiki's crew awestruck. They witnessed an unprecedented aerial duel as metallic clangs repeatedly echoed across the sky. Each collision between William and Shiki's weapons produced ear-splitting screeches and brilliant sparks.
A golden figure and a crimson silhouette darted through the heavens, their movements leaving distinctive trails—William's passage marked by streams of white vapor that etched ephemeral lines across the azure canvas.
The leaders of both factions had elevated their confrontation to the domain of the gods!
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