One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 316 Wu Ma, what exactly are you?
"David was one of the first cursed races."

That was something Teach had known since he was a child.

David's ancestors committed an unforgivable sin—and to atone for that sin, the David family took on an overwhelming responsibility.

They are hated and hunted by the world, and must live in anonymity on the high seas.

One after another, Davids were discovered and killed.

Teach was naturally very curious—why was the David family still able to survive under such circumstances?

The answer is simple.

Because of the 'curse'.

Just as the Celestial Dragons made a pact with the Abyss, thereby gaining supreme and eternal power, some of them even gained 'power' and 'immortality'.

The pact that Davy Jones made with the Abyss also contained a special power.

It was in God Valley that Teach first learned the meaning of this curse.

"Catch them!"

“That mother and child—they are the ‘David family’!”

"They are 'swift rabbits' worth a lot of points."

On that day, the David family, who lived in hiding in the Valley of the Gods, were being hunted down.

Young Teach nestled in her mother's arms, able to hear the greedy voices behind her.

Those were all Celestial Dragons who participated in the God Valley hunt.

Their malice is obvious.

Fortunately, his father came to their rescue.

"Alice, take Teach back to the Kingdom of Lulucia first. I'll come find you!"

With these words, Lox charged deeper into the Valley of the Gods.

Alice didn't notice anything unusual at the time; she simply followed her lover's instructions to run away and eventually escaped with the help of Bartholomew Bear's abilities.

But Alice didn't know that.

The voice came to Teach's mind just as she was fleeing with her son.

“A descendant of David.”

"Lox will kill us to free us—but this knowledge must be passed on!"

“Originally, it would have been best to leave these things to your father. Lox is an unruly fellow who does not respect the ancestral plans. Do not follow his example.”

"Remember, the duty of the David family must never be forgotten."

Teach knew who was behind the countless, continuous sounds.

His grandfather, his grandmother—those voices came from all the 'Davids' in the Valley of God at that time.

They were all controlled by the power of the 'Abyss' and underwent 'Dark Domination,' and were about to be killed by Rocks.

It was around that time that Teach learned about the characteristics of the David family.

'David's soul will never be bound'—that was the pact and curse that Davy Jones, who longed to seize the world, made with God.

Because of this agreement, the David family possesses innate characteristics.

Their souls are far stronger than those of any normal race; the soul of every David is twice as strong as that of a normal person.

Their powerful souls enabled all Davids to communicate telepathically without words within a fixed distance.

In addition, members of the David family can merge with the souls of their closest relatives, gaining their memories and the power of their souls.

This is also why, despite the passage of time and countless hunts and chaos experienced by the David family, everything about the Void Century has been preserved.

Just like in God Valley's case—even after being dominated by the Dark Ones and no longer under his control, David could still convey all his knowledge to Teach through his soul.

It was for this reason that Teach, carrying the expectations of the David family, returned to the Kingdom of Lulusia with his mother.

At the same time, he also met his two younger sisters there—Marshall D. Verdanty and Marshall D. Skold.

They were both children of Rocks and Alice, but they did not go to God Valley with Alice, thus escaping the disaster.

After that, Alice hid in the Kingdom of Lulusia with her three children.

They heard the news of Rocks' death, but then they met Rocks himself, who had successfully escaped from the Valley of the Gods, and learned of the existence of the Star Lord from him.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction—the David family’s heritage was preserved as always, and Lox even found a brand new 'hope'.

However, the only problem is
Marshall D. Teach did not think so.

Just as mentioned before—after learning of the existence of the Star Lord, after learning about Joy Boy and Davy Jones's plans, and after inheriting the knowledge of the Davy family.

In Teach's heart, the seed called 'ambition' had already sprouted.

He perfectly inherited his father's rebellious streak—he scoffed at his ancestor's so-called 'plan'.

At the same time, he perfectly inherited the ambition of his ancestor—he longed to conquer the world.

Thus, two plans quietly took shape in his mind.

Plan one: Use the parasitic fruit to obtain the power of the star lord.

This is the highest priority plan.

Plan Two: According to Davy Jones and Joy Boy's plan, the Dark-Dark Fruit, the Nika Fruit, and the Nidhogg Fruit could also grant powers similar to those of gods.

This is a secondary plan.

Of course, Teach harbored an even greater ambition.

That is—he wants them all.

He wanted to acquire the divine power of both and use it to truly ascend to the 'god's throne' in this world.

For this, he had one essential condition.

That is the 'extra soul'.

Yes.

David's soul is not bound, so as long as he obtains the souls of other close relatives, they can serve as 'substitutes' for his soul.

And each soul allows him to consume an extra Devil Fruit.

In other words...
"A portion of the soul was used to occupy the Star Lord's body."

"Three souls were used to devour those three fruits."

And that's where the coincidence lies.

Besides his 'father' who had gone to his death after making his choice, he had exactly three blood relatives.

then
"You killed your mother and sister?"

Wu Ma said softly.

"Kill them? No. They've become symbiotic with me."

Teach smiled like that.

He seemed to feel no remorse whatsoever for it.

Even now, he can still recall what happened in the past.

His mother, the woman named Alice—she truly deserved to be the wife chosen by Rocks; she possessed remarkable insight and observation.

She noticed something unusual about Teach, so Teach had to start the plan ahead of schedule.

"Unfortunately, she discovered some problems, but it's always hard for a mother to doubt her own child."

"After she drank that cup of poison, I tried to persuade her, but she was clearly unwilling to talk to me any further and chose to die—which was a pity, because I actually wanted to obtain my father's soul more. Originally, I had a chance to find the whereabouts of my father's body and soul through her."

"As for my sisters, they are too naive and too foolish."

Teach sighed.

The final outcome was obvious—the three souls he had previously split off from clearly came from his mother and sisters.

"After they died, I was in a dilemma—after all, I wasn't very old at the time, and I hadn't found the fruit I needed. But luckily, I heard about 'Whitebeard' at that time." Wu Ma naturally knew what happened after that.

"."

So at this moment, even Wu Ma had to sigh, "You really are a piece of trash."

This guy and Loki are the complete opposite.

Loki was hated by the people of Elbaf from a young age and was considered a cursed being, but he grew up to be a good brother and son because of Ida.

But Teach was different—loved by his mother since childhood and rescued by his father at the cost of his life, he was a heartless scoundrel by nature.

"Hahaha! Say whatever you want!"

But Teach seemed completely unconcerned about what Wu Ma said.

He simply felt his soul gradually taking over the body, experiencing the feeling of gradually 'coming alive'.

"Unfortunately, because of you, I have to abandon my plans."

But his heart was filled with hatred.

What he is currently performing is the 'eternal parasitism' of the Parasite Fruit—after this parasitism, he will completely lose the ability to change bodies.

At the same time, he was forced to relinquish the souls of his mother and sister, which also prevented him from consuming multiple Devil Fruits.

From any perspective, this is a huge blow to Teach's ambitions.

it's fine.

"A man's ambition never stops."

Since neither of his original plans could proceed, he went to look for new solutions.

Unable to obtain the power of the Heavenly King, he then went to find the 'Sea King'.

Having grasped the world's greatest secret, he always finds a way to realize his ambitions.

"However, you don't even have the courage to confront me on a soul level—you're really a coward."

Upon thinking of this, Teach chuckled.

Yes.

Although he was confident that even after losing the souls of his mother and sister as 'materials', his own soul was absolutely superior to Wu Ma's soul.

But the truth is, after his soul entered Wu Ma's body, he didn't even feel Wu Ma's resistance.

The other party was only communicating with him through consciousness, but he never sensed the location of the other party's soul from beginning to end.

"Trying to stall for time by hiding? What's the point of that?!?"

As Teach uttered that low shout, he suddenly let out a sound of surprise and uncertainty.

because
"clatter!"

He slowly reached out his hand and found that he could now control Wu Ma's body.

The touch, the breath, everything felt so real.

But the problem is...
Where is this guy's soul?

Teach thought to herself.

But soon, he realized a possible fact.

That is.
"He has no soul?"

He murmured incredulously.

But the next moment...
"No, of course I have a soul."

In Teach's mind, Wu Ma's voice echoed once again: "It's just not in this body."

As the words fell.

Teach seemed to sense something as well, and his eyes widened as he uttered an incredulous sound.

"Wait, this body belongs to..."

As his soul completely merged into this body, Teach also clearly sensed the special nature of this body.

He is not a real body, but a creation of power.

Even the power within him was operating in a way that Teach couldn't understand at all.

"This is a slice. No. Impossible."

Having seen the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, Teach immediately thought of the 'Slice Fruit' among the fruits, but he also felt it was impossible—how could the Twelve Constellations be sliced ​​clones? If they were clones, where did their abilities come from?

But clearly, Teach's doubts remained unanswered.

Did we lose?

At this moment, Loki, who was sitting to the side, both fending off the falling branches of the World Tree and observing Wu Ma, murmured to himself.

He watched as Wu Ma's expression changed, clearly revealing Teach's aura, and concluded that Wu Ma had ultimately lost the 'soul battle' with Teach.

Therefore, he immediately brought up Ironhide and was ready for battle—just as he had said before, he never intended to let Teach leave.

But it is precisely at this moment
"Wait a minute."

But a calm voice came to his ears.

The next moment.
"Buzz!"

The diffused starlight flowed around.

Then Loki saw that the figure with starlight swirling around the mask had appeared beside Wu Ma at some point.

That was indeed it.
"Star Lord!?"

Teach gasped, and Loki's expression froze for a moment.

Star Lord?

He also looked at that being—was that the man Lox had made him wait for?

But before he could speak...

He saw that the Star Lord had already reached out his hand towards the horse whose body was occupied by Teach.

"Wait, what you want is..."

At this moment, Teach, who had already vaguely realized the nature of 'Wu Ma' or the twelve constellations, seemed to have guessed what the star lord wanted to do!
He immediately raised his hand frantically, trying to activate his ability.

But
"Buzz!"

When he touched the Book of Stars, he found that his hand passed right through the book that was shimmering with starlight.

"madness."

Meanwhile, Wu Ma's voice was still echoing in his mind.

"You think that by taking over a body, you can gain the power of the 'Writer's Fruit'?"

"How could such a thing be possible?"

His words carried a clear hint of sneer.

Yes.

The so-called twelve constellations, the unique abilities they use, essentially have one necessary condition—the fruit slots provided by the 'Fruit Encyclopedia'.

The Fruit Encyclopedia is a unique ability belonging to 'Loy Amos'.

Even though Blackbeard occupied Wu Ma's fragmented body, he still couldn't possess the ability of 'Devil Encyclopedia'.

Therefore, it is only natural that he was completely unable to harness the power of the horse.

In contrast.

"clatter."

The next moment, the Star Lord's hand slowly patted onto 'Wu Ma's' body.

(End of this chapter)