Two grueling hours passed, and Kizaru arrived earlier than expected. The surrounding seas were treacherous, and Egghead, technically a winter island, was no exception.
It used to be covered in ice and snow until Vegapunk arrived and transformed the lab into what it is today.
He fulfilled the dream he couldn't realize back in his homeland: changing the island's climate.
Vegapunk never returned to help his home. Instead, he stayed elsewhere.
To put it bluntly, people only care about themselves. Who worries about others?
Vegapunk knew his capabilities were limited. Altering an entire island's climate required the World Government's power and resources. The more funding he used, the more he owed them.
That was why he had developed Mother Flame, to reduce resource dependency and help more people.
An Admiral had arrived. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖•𝗇𝗲𝘁
A laser beam lanced through the air, striking the grudge entity dead-center.
The explosion engulfed the creature, scattering its form into countless droplets across the sky.
"Admiral Borsalino!" Vice Admiral Doll yelled out.
"You worked hard, Vice Admiral Doll. But why did this thing take so long to deal with?" Kizaru asked, landing in front of her.
But Vice Admiral Doll stomped her foot in frustration. "Admiral Borsalino, are you out of your mind?! Why did you shatter it?!"
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Kizaru asked, confused.
"That thing's in a liquid form, like a slime! Blasting it apart doesn't kill it, and now it's spread across the whole island!" she yelled.
A scream cut through the air.
Black sludge began falling from the sky, and the resentment entity's fragments came down like raindrops.
A droplet landed on a marine soldier. Black flames ignited on his body, and he screamed in agony.
"So that's how it works..."
Kizaru immediately realized he'd made things worse by acting too fast.
Kizaru clenched his right hand into a fist, rested his left palm on the back, and drew out a glowing blade of light.
He swung the light sword with a sweep, just like a child playing with a flashlight pretending it's a lightsaber.
But Kizaru's sword wasn't a toy. It was real light. As he swept it, the falling droplets of the entity were instantly incinerated, reduced in size.
"It's useless. We tried burning it with fire, no effect," Vice Admiral Doll said.
"Really tricky, huh," Kizaru muttered, watching the shrinking raindrops in the air, still present, but rapidly clustering again like a Logia user.
"You haven't figured out how to deal with it yet?" he asked, turning to Lilith. He was familiar with her.
"Not yet. I don't even know what it is. You'll have to ask the original body," Lilith replied.
"Where's Vegapunk? I'll go ask. He must have a plan. If it hasn't been handled yet, maybe it's on purpose," Kizaru said.
"I asked already. He said it was an experiment, but it went out of control," Atlas chimed in.
"Is it a Devil Fruit user?" Kizaru asked.
"Yes, but the main body doesn't even know the ability. Supposedly, it came from an unknown fruit, one that doesn't appear in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia," Atlas replied.
"An unknown fruit? That's a headache. At least the heat reduced its size. We can try tossing it into the sea," Kizaru said.
"Already did. Doesn't work, it seems immune to seawater," Atlas said.
"It can ignore seawater?! What about Seastone?" Kizaru asked, shocked.
"Tried that too. Look," Atlas picked up a black metal rod and threw it like a javelin into the entity.
The Seastone pierced it, but had no effect. The creature's body shifted like a slug, avoiding the Seastone's effect.
"So it can be hurt... We just need to trap it in a sealed cage and shrink it with heat," Kizaru quickly formulated a plan.
In the lab, Roy put down his cola. "That Yellow Monkey really knows his stuff, came up with a solution in a few words."
"He is a highly educated scientist. Don't underestimate him," Shaka replied.
"I can tell, he's definitely smarter than me," Roy nodded.
Shaka didn't comment further. He dispatched a tracked robot, like a mini-tank, carrying a large box.
"I'll go build the Seastone box," Atlas said as she strode out.
"No need, it's already on the way," Kizaru said, turning his head.
The tank-like robot came whirring in, trumpet blaring, carrying the box.
"Tch. Looks like the main body already had a plan and just let the monster keep wrecking things. Does that guy know how much this stuff costs to rebuild?!" Evil Lilith fumed. She loved money and did everything she could to get it. This destruction cost over a billion Berries, and it made her heart ache.
"Looks like the doctor had things arranged all along. Alright, let's begin. Have the Seraphim assist with the heat suppression," Kizaru instructed.
"No problem. You all heard him, help him," Lilith said.
"I'm joining too!" Atlas grabbed a flamethrower and joined in.
The resentment entity, lacking any real intelligence, might've been powerful, but it didn't know how to use that power. Under the combined heat and fire attacks, it quickly shrank.
Finally, Kizaru flashed in and kicked it into the black box.
The robot received the "package," held up the box, and trundled back.
Kizaru looked down at his leg, and his pants were scorched.
"I used my powers... and still almost got burned?" he muttered in disbelief.
That thing had been resisting with black flames the whole time. They were terrifying, seemingly able to burn anything, maybe even light itself.
If he hadn't sensed danger just in time and pulled back, it wouldn't have just been his pants; it would've been his body, too.
"I need to ask the doctor what the hell that thing really is," Kizaru said, hands in pockets as he headed upstairs to the lab.
The tank robot returned first, placing the Seastone box in front of the three.
"Now comes the final experiment. If successful, we'll have a real Devil Fruit, one born from the resentment of another Devil Fruit," Shaka said.
"Are the fruits ready?" Roy asked.
"All here. These apples are the best vessels. I've cleared out all the other fruit nearby," Vegapunk replied.
Shaka controlled the robot and opened the box.
The resentment entity leapt out.
"Now now, little thing, trying to run?"
And in that very instant, a burst of Conqueror's Haki seized it.
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu