Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 380 Mythical Beast Species: Tengu Form

"Boss, are we not going to Sabaody Archipelago?"

The Sabaody Archipelago is also a popular island in the One Piece spin-off world.

With numerous triggerable side quests, many apostles like to visit the Sabaody Archipelago during the early stages or between main quests.

However, most side quest rewards are mediocre, and the few good side quests are too long.

Those apostles with greater strength rarely bother with side quests unless they have a lot of free time or are specifically there for them.

Even so, the Sabaody Archipelago remains a popular island in One Piece because of its auction house.

The Sabaody Archipelago has several auction houses, belonging to Doflamingo, Du Feld (King of Loans), Stussy (Queen of the Pleasure Quarter), Dragon Piecrow (King of Assassins), and Gibson (King of Secrecy).

The remaining smaller auctions are not included; those auctions don't even have a fixed venue and are somewhat similar to underground auctions.

Doflamingo's auction house mainly sells slaves; if an Angel buys a slave, he becomes a follower.

However, given its average quality, virtually no one would buy this kind of thing.

Stussy's auction house is a paradise for men. Besides all kinds of female slaves, what excites men the most are the 'one-night stand' invitations that Stussy obtains through various means of coercion.

These 'one-night stand' invitations are completely confidential; you won't know who the person is until you receive them.

Furthermore, these invitations were divided into different ranks based on their color. It is said that the highest-ranking gold invitations were for the queens and princesses of the kingdom, or the wives and daughters of high-ranking nobles.

Countless people are fighting tooth and nail for a single invitation.

Some apostles would also be attracted and spend money to take a picture to try it out.

Needless to say, the King of Assassins' auction house auctions off so-called 'assassination invitations'.

What the apostles valued most was the last one: the auction house for the 'Hidden King'.

The so-called "King of Concealment" is actually an underground trading entity that specializes in transportation and warehousing.

Murder and betrayal occur every moment in this world, and goods that have lost their owners will naturally be seized by the 'Hidden King'.

After some careful selection, they were put up for auction.

Therefore, his auctions are diverse and include all sorts of things.

From slaves, weapons, and Devil Fruits to various drugs and jewelry, etc.

One apostle bought a purple-grade Great Sword Grade 21, while another apostle auctioned off a powerful Devil Fruit.

Some apostles spent a lot of money to buy the mysterious 'Jade Hand Box', only to find that it contained nonsensical haiku written by the Celestial Dragons.

This is the most important reason why so many apostles gathered in the Sabaody Archipelago.

If I had to find a flaw in this auction, it would be that it's expensive.

The premium is enormous!
A normal Devil Fruit is worth 100 million Berries, excluding powerful and extremely weak ones.

But at auction, it could very well fetch 5 million, 10 billion or even more.

In addition, the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia only includes a small portion of the fruits, so sometimes it's purely a matter of luck.

"Go, of course!"

Li Xia has quite a few Berries. He obtained a lot of Berries by hunting down pirate apostles through a deal with CP.

After killing the Golden Lion, they looted a lot more, plus the bonus from the Navy.

He now holds a whopping 80 billion pegories! That's a huge sum of money.

If I don't spend it at the auction house, am I going to put it in the bank?

Li Xia even dared to say that in the current world, there are very few Apostles more numerous than himself, perhaps not even one.

"It won't take long to find Vegapunk, at most a day."

Li Xia's efficiency was beyond question; he immediately took out a Den Den Mushi and began contacting the Navy Headquarters.

However, they were told that they needed to schedule the process and wait for Vegapunk to have a free time.

However, after the Navy Headquarters contacted Vegapunk, the strange little old man learned that the person who made the appointment was Li Xia.

Vegapunk, who had long coveted Li Xia's body, immediately replied that he was free right now, the sooner the better!

The second half of the Grand Line – Egerhead

As soon as Li Xia stepped off the ship, he was captivated by the uniquely styled island.

The art style here is completely different from other places, with a slightly sci-fi feel, even giving Li Xia the feeling of watching 'Doraemon 22nd Century City'.

"Hey, Brother Xia, we meet again!"

The lazy Kizaru took his hand out of his pocket and waved it.

His wrinkled face always seemed tired; Li Xia looked at Kizaru's face, which was much more weathered than the other two admirals.

Suddenly, I remembered the speculation circulating in the hall.

The more you use the Glint-Glint Fruit, the faster you age, because the closer you get to the speed of light, the slower time passes.

Therefore, although they all appear to be the same age, Kizaru has lived at least several more years than the others.
"Admiral Kizaru, is it your turn to be on duty again?"

Li Xia greeted him with a smile; of the three admirals, he had a better impression of Kizaru.

"Wrong, actually—"

Kizaru sighed:

"I've always been on duty alone. This is what the World Government said: Borsalino, you're fast. If you encounter unavoidable danger, take Vegapunk with you and run fast!"

The scene fell silent for a moment, then Li Xia and the two little ones couldn't help but laugh, and even Kizaru himself was chuckling.

"Let's go, Vegapunk has been waiting for a while."

Following behind Kizaru, they boarded a high-tech shuttle and traveled through the tunnels.

Soon they stopped in what appeared to be a rather spacious hall.

Vegapunk stood with his hands behind his back, looking rather expectant. When he saw Li Xia, his eyes seemed to light up.

He originally studied bloodline factors and was most fascinated by the human body; those high-tech things were purely personal hobbies.

In all his years of research, Vegapunk had never seen a body as peculiar as Li Xia's.

Xia, you've finally arrived!

Vegapunk, his tongue lolling down to his chest and his high forehead gleaming, eagerly rushed forward.

It has something on top that looks like an apple, but it's actually an antenna.

"I don't want to, and I don't need to, change!"

Li Xia directly shut down what Vegapunk was trying to say; the old man was very passionate about human modification.

He always believes that the human body is not perfect enough; he is an extreme perfectionist.

"All right."

Vegapunk sighed, looking rather dejected, and said:

"What do you want from me?"

Li Xia waved his hand, and the 'wise' Akainu came over with his tongue lolling out, his steel-like tail thrashing wildly like a propeller.

He slapped the ground so hard it made a loud cracking sound; if the ground hadn't been so solid, Li Xia suspected he could have shattered the floorboards.

"I've heard there's a technology here that allows even inanimate objects and animals to eat Devil Fruits?"

"Hmm? This matter... seems to be classified. How did it get leaked?"

Vegapunk asked with some doubt, "This technology has only been developed for a few years, and it's mainly used in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise."

It hasn't been officially announced yet, but it's certainly not some strictly confidential technology.

Kizaru, who was standing nearby, raised his head and turned his gaze in their direction. According to the rules, Kizaru must be present whenever anyone meets with Vegapunk. This is both for protection and for monitoring.

"Golden Lion!"

Li Xia said without hesitation:
"I heard it from Shiki the Golden Lion. He's also researching something that can turn animals into monsters and give them some of the power of Devil Fruits."

There's no way around it, the Golden Lion's head is big enough to withstand a few more blames.

"Oh—maybe—"

Vegapunk didn't pay attention to this trivial matter, but instead bent down and looked at the little red dog with interest.

A wise gaze met a pair of 'wise' eyes, and both were astonished by the other's 'wisdom'.

Vegapunk, being such a person, saw through the dog's true nature at a glance: intellectual disability!
"I understand what you mean. You want to use the natural bestiality of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit to make up for this dog's flaws?"

Vegapunk instantly understood the connection.

Zoan-type Devil Fruits differ from other Devil Fruits in that they are naturally endowed with animalistic traits.

If the fruit awakens and the mind is not guarded, it may even transform into a beast, truly becoming a wild animal.

This 'mentally challenged' puppy is normally beyond saving, but if it eats canine fruit...

However, they may very well be reborn; that is the power of the Devil Fruit!

"Correct!"

Li Xia nodded. Talking to smart people is so much easier; that was his plan.

With a single Devil Fruit, Akainu's biggest obstacle, his lack of spirituality, can be eliminated.

This is such a great deal!

"Yes, that's easy."

Vegapunk waved his hand; he wasn't particularly interested in this kind of unchallenging work.
"By the way, what's its name?"

Li Xia suddenly stopped, and after a long while, she slowly said:

"red----"

As soon as the first word was uttered, Kizaru's ears perked up instantly.

Holding a cup of hot tea, he suddenly broke into an extremely lewd smile, as if he had just thought of something.

"dog!"

"puff----"

Kizaru spat out a mouthful of hot tea, his facial wrinkles smoothing out like chrysanthemums, and he suddenly burst into laughter:

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face, and it took me a while to calm down.

He glanced at the little red dog that had turned to look at him, its eyes full of 'wisdom':

"Akainu—Pfft—Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Black Charcoal and Awoo behind them lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking violently, clearly unable to hold back their laughter.

Even Vegapunk was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled.

You know what—it's actually quite fitting.

Even if Sakazuki came, looking at this little red dog, he would have to admit that calling it 'Akainu' was not wrong!

The entire reception room was filled with laughter, except for Li Xia, who stood there somewhat helplessly.

"Alright, since that's the case, then ordinary Devil Fruits aren't good enough for—Pfft—'Akainu'"

Vegapunk laughed again, forcing a serious expression as he said:
"I have a good plan, would you like to hear it?"

"Appreciate further details!"

Vegapunk paced around the conference room a few times, seemingly deep in thought, before finally speaking after a long pause:
"Devil Fruits are mainly divided into three types: Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia. However, there is a special type of fruit in addition to these three types."

Generally speaking, Zoan-type Devil Fruits are the weakest, far weaker than Logia-type Devil Fruits.

However, this special fruit is an extension of the Zoan type, and even possesses power comparable to or surpassing that of the Logia type.

Li Xia's expression gradually turned serious; he had realized what Vegapunk wanted to say.

"Zoan type - Mythical Zoan!"

"What do I have to give?"

Everything comes at a price. To obtain a mythical beast species that is even more precious than a nature-type beast, one must obviously pay an extra price.

This requires caution. The reason he chose the 'Divine Beast Summoning' skill is because it requires low subsequent investment and has a high cost-performance ratio.

The 'Devil Fruit' is also because it solves the problem once and for all.

If you invest too much, it's not worth it.

"It's easy!"

Vegapunk shook his finger:

"We'll price them according to the standard Zoan-type Devil Fruits. I happen to have a few Mythical Zoan-type fruits that I've been saving."

The condition is—you have to agree to let me replicate your bloodline factors!

Replicating lineage factors?
Li Xia frowned. What kind of conditions were these?
“I am currently working on a project that I call the ‘Seraph Project’!”

Vegapunk said with great interest, "Collect the bloodline factors of strong individuals and fuse them with the bloodline of the Lunaria race."

"Creating the perfect artificial human"

Li Xia suddenly realized that this was the same plan that Little Empress Hawkeye had in the anime.

If that's the case, then it's really nothing.

The world of One Piece isn't like Naruto or a cultivation world where you can do strange things just by getting blood.

Even if they disagreed, Vegapunk's machines had already been deployed to collect the blood left behind by those powerful warriors after their battles.

He fought without regard for his injuries, and Vegapunk even treated him.

He's probably already taken a blood sample; all he's missing now is authorization.

As a Vice Admiral of the Navy Headquarters, Vegapunk has no right to create Seraphim using Li Xia's bloodline factors if Li Xia does not agree.

However, this old man disregarded the World Government's orders and had been secretly researching the Void Century for a long time, and had made great progress.

Li Xia suspected that the old man had already begun researching his bloodline factors, but he couldn't reveal it openly.

Even so, after careful consideration, Li Xia cautiously asked:
What Devil Fruit are you planning to give Akainu?

Vegapunk chuckled and said mysteriously:

"I don't have many Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits, and the one that best suits this little dog is undoubtedly a Dog-type Devil Fruit."

Coincidentally, I have one in my collection—"

He waved his hand, and the floor suddenly opened to both sides, and soon a small box was pushed out from the pillar that automatically rose from under the floor.

Upon opening, one finds a fruit that is entirely black with strange patterns:
"Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Zoan Type, Tengu Mode!"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

I took the little koi fish out to play today, only one update.

(End of this chapter)