After the small incident, the Merry set sail once more, heading in the direction of the log pose, and, of course, Dressrosa. Ken half-expected a preemptive attack from Baby 5 and the buck-toothed guy, but none came.
That was a relief. In fact, Ken felt a soft spot for Baby 5. She had a tragic childhood, perpetually kidnapped by the Joker. She desired freedom but couldn't break free, displaying symptoms of a modern form of Stockholm Syndrome. Now that Ken thought about it, even Violet had shown such symptoms.
Violet had aided the Joker until the Straw Hats intervened, with Sanji knocking some sense into her. Ken recalled someone asking Oda about Violet still calling Doflamingo "Doffy" despite what he did to her family. Oda's reply was cryptic, marked as 18+. Ken could guess the implications, and the mere thought made his skin crawl.
Another reason to write off Doflamingo. He had never killed a Celestial Dragon before; now was Ken's chance. The ship sailed, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Momo was getting used to the Straw Hats, especially clinging to Nami and Robin.
Sanji, Kinemon, and Brook were already upset with Momo, so they protested. In response, Momo clung even tighter to Robin's bathrobe. The next moment, Nami angrily booted them out of the shower room.
Momo emerged, still smiling, holding onto Robin, while Sanji and the others berated him. A ruckus ensued, but others paid it no mind. Strangely, even Vivi overlooked the child's immoral behavior. As the most level-headed crew member, her tolerance was surprising.
"Momo!" Ken's voice rang out, loud and strong enough to silence Sanji and the others bickering at Momo.
"Yes, Vice-Captain-san!" For some reason, Momo feared Ken. He seemed no-nonsense, and rumor had it he taught the ship's Captain. Momo had witnessed Luffy dealing with Caesar, whose gas-made body was cracked by Luffy's powerful fists. Knowing Ken had instructed Luffy in the past earned him more respect.
"You have a purpose. Don't let life's distractions lead you astray. You know your enemies; it's time to act like one," Ken advised. He didn't reveal his identity; it wasn't the right time.
Hearing Ken's words, Momo and Kinemon stiffened, glancing at Ken. "This... Do you know me?" Momo asked, trembling a bit. Ken shook his head, offering no further explanation. His gesture neither confirmed nor denied anything. Momo and Kinemon were taken aback but hesitated to inquire further.
But the words of Ken did wake up Momo, and at least for the time being, he gave up his pervert nature. He didn't wallow down in self-pity but rather asked his 'father' to teach him swordsmanship. Brook and Zoro, who had been watching from the sidelines.
They too gave some tips to the kid.
"My teacher used to tell me of this stance... Try it," Zoro said while he remembered Yamamoto teaching him. In a sense, Ken was his teacher, but Zoro would never accept this.
While Momo had calmed down a bit and was more serious, it was time for Ken to choose. He had thought about it a lot and had finally decided to eat the duplicate version of Kaid's fruit. The only thing that would change would be the color of his dragon scales, and he would maintain the same ability as Kaido.
"Ken, you got yourself a Devil fruit?"
"What? Where did you get one?"
"Let me see... Let me see."
Everyone gathered around once Luffy saw that Ken had taken out a Devil fruit. They were curious, including Momo and others.
"You are going to take it?" Sanji asked.
"Yes," Ken replied.
"Do you know what kind of Devil fruit it is?" Zoro asked.
"Yes. A mythical Zoan," Ken replied.
"Like Luffy's?" Nami asked. Ken nodded.
"Well then you should know better," Vivi said. Ken nodded and finally took the bite on the Devil fruit. And even though it was a copy, it didn't make the taste of it good. It was just bad.
After eating it, a subtle tingle of electricity coursed through her veins. The moment was ephemeral, like catching a glimpse of a shooting star in the night sky. It was a fleeting moment but it was still there. They were already on the open deck of the ship, and thus Ken chose to transform himself. He floated up as his body changed from a human to a long snake form and within seconds, the body of Ken continued to grow in size.
At the beginning, the snake was only the height of a person, but soon it grew beyond the size of the ship. At first, the people around thought that the Devil fruit was some kind of normal-sized one, but as Ken continued to grow and fly around, they were horrified.
Finally, by the end, Law and others got to see Ken in his full majesty. Law, who knew what kind of Devil fruit Kaido had eaten, couldn't help but gasp seeing the majesty of the dragon that was shown in its full glory. A pink-scaled dragon, with 4 small feet, orange clouds swirling around them. The dragon had two long and thick horns that looked majestic and gave a devilish charm to Ken. The dragon had a long beard that seemed to be flying along with the crazy wind. The dragon roamed the clouds and growled. The heavens itself seemed to shake by the roars of the dragon.
"This is way too cool."
"This is so big.. I had never expected Ken to be so big. Luffy, can you become this big after you transform?"
"I don't know. I haven't awakened as of yet."
"You need to or else your brother will leave you behind."
"Well he has always been powerful." Luffy said no minding at all and was happy that his brother got himself such a good devil fruit.
"This is so beautiful."
"Yes but the pink scales are a bit weird. Don't you think so?" Sanji said.
Ken was having the time of his life as he roamed the heavens and even tried out some of the moves of Kaido.
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