Aboard the Xebec's Sword.
Newgate watched the group return and immediately noticed Ignis, now sporting demonic bat wings.
Those mysterious patterns, it really was a Mythical Zoan ability!
"Looks like you're in a good mood, Ignis!"
Seeing the smile on Ignis's face, Newgate's mood lifted as well. If his friend was happy, he was happy.
"Hahaha, not bad! I snagged this Vampire Fruit smoothly!"
Ignis suddenly transformed into a blood shadow and teleported next to Newgate, showing off his new ability.
"This ability has immense potential!"
To be honest, Rocks was a bit envious. This was a Mythical Zoan ability that granted eternal youth.
As for the limitations and side effects like blood absorption, in his eyes, that wasn't a problem at all.
Perhaps this sinister Devil Fruit was sealed by an ancient powerhouse because its previous user had recklessly absorbed blood, eventually leading to public outrage and divine fury.
"Vampire? Are you going to become a monster, Ignis?"
Newgate gave Ignis an odd look. There were quite a few legends and stories about vampires on the sea.
"Newgate, power itself isn't good or evil, people are."
"Of course, that doesn't mean we're necessarily good ourselves."
"Look at this guy, Rocks, he's the world's worst pirate who killed a Marine Admiral."
Ignis grinned, quickly familiarizing himself with his Vampire ability. He felt there were many more directions for development.
That guy Redfield only cared about the ability to restore youth, ignoring the other mysterious aspects of this Mythical Zoan.
"Power isn't good or evil; people are..."
"Gurararara, I can't win an argument against a brainy strategist like you."
Newgate savored Ignis's words. This prophet always came out with insightful and philosophical sayings.
Honestly, he acknowledged Ignis as Vice Captain.
But since even Rocks didn't need to be called Captain, Newgate couldn't be bothered to call Ignis Vice Captain either.
"Stop gloating. You've wasted days of our time! Let's go find the piate-yakuza Shiki!"
With Rocks's order, the Xebec's Sword swiftly departed, heading for the central part of the New World.
But with Ignis getting stronger, Rocks no longer needed to worry about the prophet's safety.
"Rocks, you're just jealous of me!"
"I've heard that some Devil Fruits have their own consciousness and seek out their owners."
"Given your personality, the Sun God Nika, representing light and liberation, probably won't like you. But the Dark-Dark Fruit does seem suited for you."
Ignis sat on the mast, speaking with a smile. Although he also wanted the Dark-Dark Fruit, since Rocks wanted it, Ignis would, for now stop coveting it.
After all, his soul flames could directly devour and integrate Devil Fruit abilities.
Aside from the sealing ability, the other powers of the Dark-Dark Fruit were indispensable to Ignis.
Of course, Ignis wasn't confident he'd encounter the Dark-Dark Fruit in this era.
Maybe it wouldn't even appear before Rocks met his end.
If they did find it, having Rocks eat it wouldn't be unacceptable.
"Hmph! Davy Jones, like Joy Boy, wasn't afraid of Imu!"
"Even without the Sun God Nika ability, the Dark-Dark Fruit is still incredibly strong!"
Rocks was a bit annoyed at first, but thinking about it, was Ignis reminding him that the Sun God Nika fruit wasn't suitable for him?
"Ignis, do Devil Fruits really have consciousness?"
Newgate was a bit shocked. Did his Tremor-Tremor Fruit contain demonic consciousness? Would it affect him?
"Generally, it's the high-level Mythical Zoan fruits that have their own consciousness."
"Of course, ordinary Zoan types also have instinctual consciousness."
"I've heard that when a Zoan ability awakens, if the user's consciousness can't suppress the Devil Fruit's consciousness, the awakening fails, and they become a simple-minded fool."
Ignis explained to these guys, who had basically never been to school.
Apart from Rocks with his Davy lineage, orphans like Newgate, Barbel, and Sunbell had never received any education and had been fending for themselves since childhood.
"Zoan abilities have this kind of danger?!"
Sunbell's eyes widened. Good thing he had never thought about eating a Devil Fruit.
Otherwise, not only would he become unable to swim, but if awakening ever happened, he might turn into a fool.
No wonder Devil Fruits were called the cursed fruits of the sea.
"And you still ate a Mythical Zoan?"
Newgate looked worriedly at the demonic bat wings on Ignis.
"Ha, which strong person who develops a Devil Fruit to the awakened state isn't strong-willed? How could they be so easily taken over by residual consciousness?"
"This kind of awakening usually doesn't cause problems."
"Unless someone takes a shortcut, then the probability of failure increases greatly."
"The World Government's science division is probably already researching shortcuts to rapid awakening. In the future, the World Government will produce a batch of failed awakenings, mindless ability users."
"They'll have the powerful recovery of awakened Zoans, but because their consciousness is overtaken by residual demonic consciousness, they'll be like fools and won't be that strong in combat."
Ignis thought of the jailer beasts in Impel Down. The World Government must have made a key breakthrough in researching Zoan awakening.
Later on, guys like Rob Lucci and Kaku could awaken their abilities within two years; there must have been some shortcut method.
This method was highly risky, but both succeeded.
"I see... Vice Captain, your knowledge is so vast..."
Sunbell was completely convinced by this prophet and Great Strategist, Ignis. He acknowledged this wise Vice Captain.
"Zoan fruits have demonic consciousness. Do Logia and Paramecia have it too?"
Newgate quickly caught on. Ignis had only mentioned Zoans so far.
"Not sure. At least in the future I've seen, there's no information on that."
Ignis spread his hands, genuinely unsure.
"That's good!"
Newgate felt a bit relieved. His Tremor-Tremor ability probably had no other hidden dangers.
"They can even research Zoan awakening? The World Government's foundation is truly terrifying. Seems I need to find a scientist!"
Ignis's explanation gave Rocks a new idea.
He had never paid attention to weak scientists before; he only needed powerful executives.
But now, with Ignis's reminder, he started to value the knowledge of science.
"You want to find a scientist?"
Mentioning scientists, Ignis immediately thought of the 'Science Robber' on the Rocks Pirates' ship, Buckingham Stussy.
He still hadn't gathered any information on Stussy. Who knew where that woman was doing research, and when she would go to sea as a pirate.
"Got anyone in mind, Ignis?"
Rocks suddenly looked at Ignis expectantly. He felt Ignis must have a target in mind.
"The Rocks Pirates do indeed have a female executive known as the 'Science Robber'."
"But there's no information on her at sea right now."
"Maybe she'll set sail within the next year or two."
Ignis thought for a moment before speaking. Stussy was two years older than Newgate. What kind of powerful scientist could a 20-year-old be?
That woman was basically a fraud. Even if she joined Vegapunk's MADS team, she was just a freeloading researcher.