One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 276: The Essence of the Five Elders, The Mark of the Stars Appears!

As mentioned before, as a scientist, Saturn — though arrogant — possessed the consistent caution of his discipline.

So after leaving Egghead Island and ensuring that Emeth's existence would not be detected by his colleagues, he decisively chose to contact the other four Five Elders. From the very beginning, they had planned to gang up on Hebi.

After all, since Dressrosa, Lord Imu no longer placed complete trust in them. Now that such an excellent opportunity had presented itself — a chance to seize The Zodiac's plan and prove their value — they naturally wouldn't hold back.

"There is also a bug with a fading aura on the island. Besides that... there are no traces of other people or abilities!"

After appearing, Itsumade soared into the sky.

It was surrounded by flame clouds and fire, and as its eyes scanned the area, it reached this conclusion immediately.

Itsumade is a phantom beast born from legends — formed by the malice of the unburied dead, capable of sensing and attacking all living people nearby. Therefore, Saint Mars's transformed abilities included the power to detect nearby life.

Hearing this, the Five Elders nodded.

"That bug should be 'Hawkeye' Mihawk."

The Sandworm said coldly. "Deal with him later. He is not important."

"In other words, no one else from The Zodiac is nearby?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"What a pity."

Saint Nusjuro, transformed into the Bakotsu, narrowed his eyes. "But it is also a good thing — let us make sure to capture one first."

Almost the instant the words left his mouth—

Boom!

The Bakotsu galloped on its four hooves.

Zzt!

Conqueror's Haki lightning erupted across his body, and his speed surged to an unbelievable extreme.

Wherever his massive figure passed, the ground froze with frost.

From his hand, a sharp blade was already unsheathed.

Slash!

Without even a proper swing — the unsheathing alone was sharp enough to split open the ground beside him.

The sword was cursed. And it was one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords: the Shodai Kitetsu.

In a mere instant, the figure veiled in Conqueror's lightning and freezing air had already appeared behind Hebi.

The long sword slashed horizontally.

But—

Clang!

Shusui danced up and blocked the Shodai Kitetsu's edge.

Black and red Conqueror's lightning collided. The two blades met, and a massive cloud of dust and the ring of clashing steel echoed through the ruins of Instein Island.

"You have some strength."

Saint Nusjuro sneered. "What a pity... you are just an arrow at the end of its flight."

As he spoke, his gaze had already taken in the injuries across Hebi's body.

His already visibly weakened frame, after this clash, spilled blood like water — instantly dyeing the surrounding ground crimson.

And although he barely managed to block the strike with Shusui, his entire body was trembling.

It seemed just as Saint Nusjuro said. He was at the end of his rope.

VMMM!

From the body of Saint Nusjuro's Bakotsu, streams of freezing frost surged continuously along the surface, spreading toward Hebi through the Shodai Kitetsu.

Hebi felt as if even his soul was being frozen.

"Underworld... freezing air?"

He clearly perceived the nature of this power.

It was extremely similar to the Underworld freezing air of the Revive-Revive Fruit — no, the two were the exact same power. The difference was that the Bakotsu possessed not only the Underworld freezing air, but also the physique and speed of a Zoan form.

"Sure enough, these guys..."

Beneath Hebi's mask, Roy — who already had his suspicions — could now further confirm his guess based on the Fruit Encyclopedia's prompts and his own sensations.

"The Five Elders are not Fruit ability users."

He confirmed this fact.

"They were merely bestowed with the Abyssal Sea Contract by Imu, allowing their souls to carry a portion of His essence — and thereby wield a portion of Imu's Source Energy of Lineage Factor."

"Just like the Fruit Encyclopedia indicated... their essence is the carrier of the 'Evil' represented by Imu."

"They are not ability users. They are carriers of that wish itself."

As his understanding of the Source Energy of Lineage Factor deepened, Roy could vaguely comprehend the essence of Imu's power.

Imu is the abyss. The shadow of the world. The aggregate of all evil wishes.

Through the mistake made by Davy Jones — who made the grand wish to "let everything be free" — He became an independently existing individual.

But His actual essence, just like the Pillar of the World, was still an aggregate of wishes and Source Energy of Lineage Factor.

Simply put, apart from those few special Devil Fruits that could break free of their restraints, Imu's body should simultaneously possess the abilities of all the Devil Fruits in this world.

And the Five Elders, as holders of the Abyssal Sea Contract, each carried a portion of Imu's essence.

Manifested externally, it was the abilities they displayed at this moment.

"The Bakotsu that Saint Nusjuro transforms into should be a phantom beast created by the 'Wish: Immortality' symbolized by the Revive-Revive Fruit, combined with the 'Wish: Horse' and other wishes, supplemented by the Source Energy of Lineage Factor."

"It might not have birthed a corresponding Devil Fruit — it is simply a wish shaped by Saint Nusjuro himself. Just like how I can fuse wishes using the Fruit Encyclopedia."

Thinking of this, another realization sprouted instantly.

"The so-called awakening of a Devil Fruit is essentially the user mastering the wish essence corresponding to that fruit. When the ability user's physique, combat techniques, and disposition are sufficient to carry and realize the wish within it — the fruit awakens."

"That is why there is the saying 'Devil Fruits have a will of their own' in the original story."

Having gained a few more insights into the origin of Devil Fruits, Roy quickly noticed another detail.

"They all have Conqueror's Haki."

The God's Knights needed to submit to Imu, so almost none of them possessed Conqueror's Haki. Yet every one of the Five Elders radiated intense Conqueror's Haki in Roy's perception.

Moreover—

"The intensity of their Haki is almost exactly the same."

Combining these two observations, he was quite certain: although the Five Elders still held the name of Celestial Dragons, their essence was no longer human, nor were they ability users.

They had factually become a part of Imu. They had become Evil Phantom Beasts.

"So the Five Elders possess a stronger immortality than the God's Knights — even achieving eternal youth and undying bodies."

"The reason is that their essence is a part of Imu. So like Imu — as long as it is a concept that has existed in this world and is recognized by the world, it cannot kill them."

"And the Conqueror's Haki they possess is probably derived from this as well... the source of this Haki is not the Five Elders, but Imu Himself."

While Roy processed all of this, the spreading Underworld freezing air had already completely frozen Hebi's surroundings.

Various parts of his body began to be encased in ice. Even the blood spilling from his wounds seemed to grow sluggish and stagnant.

And then—

"Itsumade: Evil Wildfire!"

Itsumade flapped its wings and descended from the sky, a massive flame spewing from its mouth toward Hebi.

"Sandworm: Impalement Punishment!"

The Sandworm's massive body coiled around Hebi, its sharp fangs piercing through him in an instant.

"Gyūki's Poison!"

The Gyūki's appendages, glowing purple, punctured Hebi's body as venom began to flood into him.

"Blade Fang: Demon Fang Sword!"

The massive Fengxi swung its giant tusks like blades, slashing toward Hebi.

They clearly had no concept of "the dignity of the strong." Without hesitation, they attacked all at once.

Boom!

Under the combined assault of the Five Elders, Hebi's body was nearly torn to pieces in an instant.

"Be careful — do not kill him completely. Leave him with a breath, or at least bring his soul back."

"Rest assured. This one is a Lunarian — he won't die that easily... though I didn't expect that race to actually have someone else besides King."

"Leave the interrogation to me. My abilities are best suited for it..."

Looking at the dismembered Hebi, the Five Elders naturally felt victory was in their grasp — even beginning to ponder how to interrogate this precious prey.

But in the very next moment, they froze.

Because—

"!!!"

They clearly noticed it.

Hebi — whose body had just been shredded by their combined attacks — was smiling.

"Truly wonderful. Finally seeing the health bar."

The Five Elders could not understand Hebi's low murmur.

But Hebi himself knew very well.

Right here and now, he had confirmed that the essence of the Five Elders was a "part" of Imu.

In other words — as long as he could find a way to kill the Five Elders, it was equivalent to finding the possibility of truly harming, or even killing, Imu.

It was like reaching the final stages of a game and finally seeing the Boss's health bar appear. Even if that health bar was still located in a distant place beyond the high heavens—

He had already seen the possibility.

Next, he just needed to verify the method he had found.

VMMM!

Exactly then, the Five Elders noticed something.

On Hebi's chest, right over his heart, a mark was slowly emerging.

"The Abyssal Sea Contract?"

All five reached the same conclusion instinctively.

But in the next moment, they realized something was wrong.

Because although the emerging mark was extremely similar to the Abyssal Sea Contract on their own bodies, its appearance was completely different.

That was a... star-shaped mark.

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