Bab 154: Chapter 153: Resonance (2)
*What exactly is a Devil Fruit awakening?*
Vegapunk, boarded on the Marine Warship under Doll's charge, busily wrote down something.
*From many observations that I made, it appeared that an awakening only occurs in those who could be considered strong without their reliance on their Devil Fruits. Physical strength and willpower—the awakening happens when they advance to an extent where they can 'house' the full potential of the Devil Fruits.*
Vegapunk's hand then paused. Recalling his meeting with Smoker, he then whispered,
"...However, is that it? Is awakening of the Devil Fruits truly the final stage?"
"Is it truly fate?"
Said Smoker in Onigashima before he threw away the Gum Gum fruit. Vegapunk could deduce from that, that Smoker too thought in a similar way as him—that Devil Fruits possessed the wills of their own.
"If Devil Fruits indeed have wills of their own, if it is them who choose their wielders... what exactly is the standard which Devil Fruits adhere in selecting?"
"That is the true identity of Smoke Smoke fruit. That's what 'it' says to me."
Vegapunk nodded to himself. There were plenty of evidences.
"The ideology, the personality, the belief as well as the dream—what makes humans unique from one another."
Vegapunk resumed his writing. The pace was quicker than before as he wrote with conviction.
Eventually, he stopped writing and looked at the written-out words in satisfaction.
What he compiled just now was a novel hypothesis.
"Following the awakening, when its user's desire and conviction over his or her ideologies grow to their utmost peak—that's when the Devil Fruits themselves 'wake up.'
I call this...
...the resonance."
__________
"Sengoku...!!"
Kong shouted as his fist met the huge palm of Sengoku in his golden Buddha form.
"Who'd have known, Kong-san?"
Calmly, Sengoku said,
"For us to turn our weapons against each other..."
"How could you, of everyone, betray the Marine?!!"
The ground below them cracked from the sheer impact generated by their clash.
"Betray? Betray what?"
Sengoku glared at Kong as he withstood Kong's punch,
"Marine exists on behalf of civilians!! When the Marine was reduced into nothing but a dog of the World Government... Marine was no more!! What's there to betray when the entire organization forgets its purpose of existence?!!"
The two past Fleet Admirals fought without any regard for their surroundings, but even they were aware of the storm, full of wind and smoke, that blew everywhere around the island.
They were the results of the ongoing battle between the five gigantic demons and three men.
The chaotic battle, which wreaked havoc on the Momoiro island, caused the nearby sea to ripple and churn wildly. A few unstable ships flipped and numerous soldiers fell into the water.
'What are you doing?'
In this situation, Smoker found himself getting a headache.
'You are already aware that your true ability isn't about manipulating smoke. Why are you being so stubborn?'
Warcury as Fengxi, as the three of them stood on the ground of Momoiro island, came in charging at them.
Dragon, daring to meet Warcury head-on, began to gather the rapidly traveling wind around his palm.
"Dragon's,"
Garp, at the same time, jumped into the air, appearing right above Warcury.
"Roar!"
The gathered-up wind was blasted straight at Warcury, bringing him to a full stop.
In this state, Garp's fist landed straight on Warcury's head. Along with the metallic, clanging noise, Warcury's gigantic form was crushed into the earth.
"Just how hard is he?!"
However, Garp growled, knowing that the blow didn't manage to do much on Warcury.
And right in front of Garp, Smoker appeared.
Puff!
A huge volume of white smoke exploded ahead of the two just as Saturn shot one of his legs, emitting a corrosive poison, at them.
The smoke managed to cushion the blow and knock Smoker and Garp back safely back on the ground.
'Again! You are doing it wrong!'
From the dust, Warcury, still in his full Zoan form, rose back up. As he did so, Nusjuro began to gallop toward Dragon at a rapid speed.
Right away, Nusjuro's horse-head morphed back into the top half of his human form. Unsheathing his two swords once more, he crossed the blades together, and arriving by Dragon's side instantly, slashed ferociously.
Dragon's torso morphed into the wind and generated a gap, letting the swords pass by him without any harm.
Nusjuro, having expected this, kicked the ground and turned around Dragon, before slashing for the second time.
Dragon, with his Haki-coated hand, met Nusjuro's blades.
Two Conqueror's Hakis clashed and the black lightning crackled intensely.
In this situation, the space by Dragon's side became distorted before it began to swirl rapidly. Becoming a miniature storm, it was then blasted right on Nusjuro's face, ripping it out of his neck.
"..."
Within a split second, Nusjuro's head re-grew. With his teeth gritted, it was evident that Nusjuro was irritated.
"Unlike your friend,"
Dragon remarked,
"You sure are brittle."
As he said so, Peter as the Sandworm opened its mouth once more. However, unlike the last time, the Sandworm began to spit out a huge load of sand into the air, resembling that of a volcanic eruption.
The sky immediately darkened from the sheer load of sand that was falling onto the Momoiro island. Many people became flabbergasted in disbelief, knowing that they would be crushed into death the moment such a mass of sand hit the ground.
Smoker immediately jumped toward the falling rain of sand. Reaching his hand out toward it, he briefly operated his 'Arcane Drive' once more.
As his crimson eyes glowed, the huge volume of sand instantly morphed into that of smoke.
'Then,'
For the first time, Smoker spoke back to the voice.
'Is the true ability of Smoke Smoke fruit... what I really think it is?'
Back in the battle against Kaidou, Smoker did see a glimpse of what lied past the limits of smoke.
'Haven't you said this to yourself before?
What limits a Devil Fruit ability is none other than its user's creativity.'
'...You aren't wrong there.'
Smoker chuckled.
"Fine then,"
He knew that if this situation were to continue, the Five Elders wouldn't go down no matter what sort of attacks he attempted.
If it was impossible to crack the mystery in the current situation, he may as well try something new—something that may be able to catch them off-guard.
"Let's give this a try."
Floating in the sky, Smoker ceased all thoughts and closed his eyes in the middle of the battle.
And everyone with proficiency in Haki—be it the Five Elders, Dragon, Garp, Sengoku, Kong, or whoever they may be—flinched before hurriedly turning their heads toward Smoker.
"...What are you about to do?"
Saturn, narrowing his eyes at Smoker, growled.
"What are you about to do, White Hunter?!!"
Instinctively feeling that something—something dangerous was about to happen, the Five Elders began to rush in toward Smoker.
"Dragon!!"
Garp shouted,
"I know!"
and Dragon shouted back knowingly.
Garp rapidly moved, blocking Saturn's legs and Warcury's advancement.
Dragon generated a huge gust of wind, blowing away a huge load of sand.
Garp, by coating his lone arm with a potent Armament Haki, parried Nusjuro's swords.
Dragon, appearing above Smoker at the last second, blocked Mars's attempt to strike.
"Damn it, brat...!!"
Garp, while huffing rapidly, muttered,
"Whatever it is that you're doing, it better be worth it...!!!"
'Focus.'
An image of smoke appeared within Smoker's mind.
Gaseous and light. Grey in colour. Generally harmless and common.
'Yes, it is common. Being common is the reason why the form of smoke was chosen—for it is by far the easiest to contain our power.'
To unmask its true identity, we require energy.
'Energy.'
Smoker focused.
'The best course of action in which I can attain an energy is... through the acceleration. Generate mechanical energy and transfer it into smoke as a form of heat. Generating mechanical energy in a limited space...
...rotation, it is.'
The smoke began to swirl. Revolving around a black center, it began to pick up the speed, swirling faster and faster.
'What exactly is this power of yours, you ask?'
The speed has become so fast that the smoke no longer seems like smoke. Rather, what appeared was a ring-shaped, rapidly traveling light that brightened up the dark mindscape.
'What you see now is a matter that doesn't exist in this world, the true identity of "smoke" which you've been using throughout years of your life.'
Because the matter wasn't supposed to exist, it was something that bypassed the laws of the world.
'The ability to control this mysterious matter is your true power. Your predecessors called it "aether".
Now, drape it around your eyes and look through it as the lens. And then, you shall see,'
Everything that belongs in this world.
Smoker opened his eyes. Instead of his usual hazel or the crimson upon the use of his awakened fruit ability, his eyes blazed in what appeared to be a white flame.
And the first thing that he saw was,
"...What is that?"
The black lines attached to the backs of the Five Elders, travelling far past the horizon to who-knows-where.
"Smoker!"
Dragon cried in confusion as he glanced at Smoker's eyes,
"What is going on?!"
In silence, Smoker watched as Warcury rushed in on him.
Garp, while catching his breath, gritted his teeth as he readied himself to meet Warcury's charge, but found himself surprised as Smoker flew past him from the back at the next moment.
Garp initially widened his eyes, before grinning,
"...Heh, now that wasn't long."
Smoker reached his hand out. The hand itself, glowing so brightly, then caught onto the black line attached to Warcury's back.
"What are you doing, White Hunter?!"
Saturn whispered in confusion. Then,
as Smoker yanked his hand back and broke said black line in his sight,
Warcury suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight.
"...?!!"
Put in a panic for the first time around, the remaining Five Elders expressed their bewilderment.
"...What in the world..."
Mars whispered in a shaky tone. Though others may not know, they felt it.
Warcury, just now, died.
"What exactly did you do, Smoker?!"
Dragon, completely mind-blown, stared at Smoker in disbelief.
And a few seconds passed.
Smoker, through his unique eyesight, saw a strand of black line flying in from the horizon. When it came to a stop, it began to draw a circle filled with pentagram on the ground, and from within it arose, Warcury.
Warcury, blinking his eyes, slowly looked down and stared at his trembling hand.
"What... what just happened? I—"
"I see now. Your definition of death isn't the same as us."
And Smoker finally unveiled the mystery.
"You, the Five Elders, aren't human beings in the first place."
"..."
Nusjuro gritted his teeth while shedding a cold sweat. Peter, still in his full Zoan form, glared at Smoker with his red eyes.
"You are the 'summons', the pawns who came alive by the power of that being in the Mariejois."
Smoker's figure blurred, before appearing right on Saturn's back.
Saturn, with bloodshot eyes, quickly turned, but his eyes couldn't capture the fact that Smoker was holding onto a black line that was attached to him.
"Then—"
Before Smoker finished his words, the black line suddenly twitched in his grip.
And then, at the next moment,
Smoker, along with the Five Elders, disappeared from everyone's view.
"...What?"
Dragon mumbled to himself,
"Where have they gone to?"
The black circle no longer appeared and summoned the Five Elders. Even after a few minutes passed, the Five Elders didn't come.
Dragon continued to question no one in particular, but Garp simply smirked.
"Go, Smoker."
__________
In a split second, Smoker's vision blurred as he traveled a phenomenal distance. With the black line still in his hold, by the time he came to perceive,
he suddenly found himself huffing heavily as he stood in the middle of ruination filled with the rotten corpses of Celestial Dragons, with the black line gone from his grip.
"What just..."
He, in such a brief moment, flew all the way from Momoiro island to Mariejois.
'I can feel it... my sibling is here...!'
"Mariejois? How in the world..."
With his guard raised, Smoker operated his Observation Haki.
There were only two presences that he could sense in this location. One seemed to belong to someone who was negligible by Smoker's standard.
However, the other—the presence and willpower was greater than any other that Smoker ever felt, including that of Kaidou's.
'Nerona Imu.'
Smoker instinctively knew, that what lied ahead of him was the ruler, the current king of this world.
"Hu..."
Smoker closed his eyes to collect his breath and calm down his dizziness.
After those sensations passed, Smoker opened and revealed his eyes which blazed in white flame.
"...Alright, here we go."
With a serious expression, Smoker then began his walk into the building ahead,
the Pangaea Castle.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone