In the blink of an eye, the two Devil Fruits collapsed into dust, scattering silently through the void.
Yet miracles often occur in the briefest of moments.
Only seconds later, the remnants of the two fruits began to draw in energy from the surrounding dimensional space at an astonishing rate. Exhaustion vanished, vitality surged anew, and shimmering light gathered—until the Devil Fruits were reborn, whole once more.
Xiao immediately sealed the restored fruits within the dimensional vault, where time and space lay frozen.
Holding two radiant orbs that contained boundless Law power, he stepped into the dimensional farm and began the true division of authority.
Compared to the vast power of the dimensional farm, the Devil Fruits' Laws were insignificant. With practiced precision, Xiao dissected the two orbs, slicing them into countless microscopic conceptual seeds.
These particles intertwined, separated, recombined—merging in countless permutations—before being evenly scattered across the dark, fertile land.
Boom—!
Boom—!
Boom—!
Thunderous detonations echoed without end.
The ground quaked violently as Laws clashed head-on, their incompatibility laid bare in raw, destructive collisions. Yet after each explosion, the shattered forces did not disperse. Instead, they reorganized—reshaping themselves through destruction.
With every cycle of detonation and cultivation, the Law powers of the Munch-Munch Fruit and the Dark-Dark Fruit surged like tides.
Excess authority was shed, discarded through an arcane, almost living process, before a new round of fusion began.
Throughout this long ordeal, the ratio between the two powers shifted constantly—subtle, unstable, and treacherous.
Only through the accumulation of countless failures did Xiao begin to grasp the exact proportions required.
Year after year passed.
He repeated the same grueling steps endlessly, never once losing patience. For Xiao, even the smallest breakthrough justified any amount of time.
At last—after consuming nearly one-tenth of his total energy reserves—the correct balance was achieved.
A true fusion seed, perfectly harmonized between the two Devil Fruits, was born.
Xiao acted without hesitation. He dispersed the remaining Law energy, refining it into pure high-density power and reintegrating it into the dimension.
What remained was a single, flawless seed—quiet, complete, awaiting cultivation.
Under the nurturing influence of the dimensional farm, artificial Devil Fruits erupted from the soil one after another.
Witnessing the scene, Xiao finally laughed aloud, unable to suppress his exhilaration.
After countless failures and years of trial, the experiment had crossed the threshold of success.
What remained was cultivation.
These newborn artificial Devil Fruits carried only faint, thread-like strands of Law. They were incomplete—embryonic. Only through continuous use, nourishment, and refinement could they evolve into true Devil Fruits.
Perhaps the earliest Devil Fruits had once looked the same.
Over generations, ability users had poured flesh, blood, and will into them—excavating the dormant power hidden within—until the fruits themselves grew.
From this perspective, every Devil Fruit carried the accumulated legacy of countless predecessors.
Even the exceptional vitality of humans in the pirate world now seemed intentional.
After all, what better cultivation medium than living beings?
Whoever the original experimenter had been no longer mattered.
This world—overflowing with life—would now serve as Xiao's orchard.
That day, the sun failed to rise.
The Pirate World was swallowed by darkness.
As people gazed skyward in confusion, the light above vanished—devoured by an unknown existence. Just as panic began to spread, a colossal black sun rose slowly into the heavens.
Its brilliance was blinding.
It devoured color itself.
Under its illumination, all hues faded into stark black and white, as though reality had been stripped to its bare essence.
Then—before countless stunned eyes—beams of light rained down from the sky like a celestial curtain.
Each carried the power of Xiao's artificial Devil Fruits, scattering fragments of black-hole authority across every corner of the world.
Humans. Animals. Nothing was spared.
Those touched received a trace of that power—the ability to devour all things, growing stronger with every consumption. Their bodies became nascent black holes, endlessly hungry.
Eat—and grow.
Eat—and ascend.
Xiao had gone further still.
He embedded an instinctive attraction between these artificial ability users—a mutual covetousness. Should one successfully devour another's power, their own ability would multiply.
What lay beyond the black sun, no one knew.
But from that day onward, the world had changed.
The black sun vanished in less than ten minutes, leaving no trace behind.
Many never noticed it at all.
Yet countless others had witnessed the spectacle.
Fear spread like a plague.
Under the relentless reporting of Morgans, president of the World Economic News Agency, panic swept the seas.
The image of a black sun hanging in the sky became an omen—one that plunged the Pirate World into unprecedented unrest and dread.
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