[Human (Monarch) Gene: A special gene containing the potential of human intelligence and the ferocity of ancient beasts. However, it harbors a minor defect—it appears to be weak against seawater?]
"Defect?"
Staring at the gene's description on the panel, Mio's eyes lit up with a gleam of interest before surprise quickly followed.
He hadn't expected this. After killing a Devil Fruit user, he'd actually obtained this kind of gene. Though it carried the same weakness as typical Devil Fruit users, it seemed… exceptionally useful.
After all, Mio's golden finger—the Gene Fusion System—still had a powerful function: gene fusion. This feature allowed him to combine different genes and harness the strengths of each one, merging them into a single entity that embodied multiple powerful abilities.
"If I kill a few more Devil Fruit users and collect this same type of gene," Mio mused to himself, "then fuse them together… I could use it to cultivate a creature."
Even if the resulting creature shared the seawater weakness, it could still become a multi-fruit ability user, like Blackbeard.
"Tsk. What a pleasant surprise." Mio smirked, closed the panel, and turned away.
"Let's go," he said to Erica, ready to leave.
The only part of the tavern that remained intact after the earlier battle was the bar itself.
Mio stepped over to the counter, looked at the old barkeep, and scratched the back of his head. "Is the wine ready?"
"Yes, yes, it's ready," the old man replied quickly, momentarily stunned. He clearly hadn't expected that someone who had just slaughtered a notorious North Blue pirate would treat him so politely.
Glancing around at the damaged interior, Mio took out a wad of cash—one million Berries—and handed it to the old man.
"This is for the wine. The rest is compensation for the damages." He gave a small nod. "We're leaving."
Even though the old man ran a tavern on Pirate Island, that didn't mean he was a pirate himself. Mio wasn't the kind of guy to wreck a civilian's livelihood without making it right.
With two barrels of wine in hand, Mio and Erica exited the tavern and headed toward the port.
On the way, the lingering pirates instinctively stepped aside, making way for him.
Soon, they arrived at the port, where a few pirate ships were anchored and some pirates still loitered around. Mio grabbed one of them by the collar and casually asked which ship Anderson had used. After getting his answer, he returned to his own vessel and ordered Warwick.
"Go loot everything valuable from Anderson's ship," he instructed.
Once Warwick set off to do so, Mio stood at the railing, gazing at the sea. He began contemplating the next destination.
Impel Down.
If there was one place teeming with Devil Fruit users—especially the dangerous and powerful kind—it was undoubtedly Impel Down.
"To be honest, it's not hard to get into Impel Down," Mio muttered. "The real challenge is getting out."
At his current level of strength, he couldn't confidently say he'd be able to escape unscathed. But in the future, once he'd become stronger, he definitely planned to go.
After all, the open sea—even the Grand Line—didn't always yield worthy Devil Fruit users. Most fruits belonged to common Zoan-type users, while the truly powerful ones were held by top-tier figures.
And where were many of those top-tier individuals locked up?
Impel Down.
"But it's a shame the main plot hasn't started yet," Mio sighed to himself. "If it had, I'd definitely be heading there."
During the future storyline, Impel Down would house numerous monsters with terrifying Devil Fruit abilities—Catalina Devon with her Mythical Zoan Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit, Douglas Bullet with his Paramecia-type Fusion Fruit, and even the monstrous Golden Lion Waldo, user of the Momo Fruit.
Each of them had powerful and unique abilities that Mio would love to extract.
But at this point in time? He wasn't sure who was locked away. Maybe Bullet was already in there, but as for the others, he had no clue.
While Mio was lost in thought, Warwick returned.
The towering werewolf grinned as he dropped a treasure chest at Mio's feet.
"Master! So many gold coins!"
"Oh? Really?" Mio's eyebrows lifted in amusement. He bent down and flipped open the lid. A golden glow bathed his face as a satisfying jingle of coins followed.
He reached in and let a handful of gold coins slide between his fingers. Then, with a smirk, he turned to Erica and called out, "Erica, come here."
"Yes, Master?" Erica trotted over, curious.
Mio rummaged through the chest, then pulled out a stunning necklace—blue crystal inlaid with tiny diamonds. He removed Erica's cloak and gently draped the necklace around her neck, tilting her chin slightly to get a better look.
"Perfect," he said with a grin. "This looks beautiful on you. It's yours."
Erica blinked in surprise, then smiled sweetly as her cheeks flushed. She lowered her head and carefully held the necklace in her small, pale hands.
"Thank you, Master. I'll take good care of it," she promised.
Mio ruffled her hair in response but said nothing more.
Just then, something caught his eye in the treasure chest. With a short exclamation, he dug deeper into the coins and pulled out an old, dusty book.
Or rather, a fragment of one.
"Huh? A book?"
He examined it closely. The pages were tattered, and the cover was barely intact—but when he opened it, his eyes widened in recognition.
"Devil Fruit Encyclopedia?"
That's right—this was a copy of the famous Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
While not entirely rare, owning one still held significance. The book listed various Devil Fruits, their types, abilities, and even some past users.
Although it was only a fragment with about a dozen pages, Mio knew that these books were typically held by royalty, nobles, and elite pirates—not something you stumbled across in a treasure chest.
"Didn't expect to find this here," Mio muttered, genuinely impressed.
Still holding the book, he waved to Warwick. "Take the chest to my room."
After that, Mio ordered the crew to set sail and leave the island. As the ship drifted off from the dock, he took a seat on the bow and began flipping through the Encyclopedia fragment.
Most pages detailed average Devil Fruits—common Zoan and Paramecia types. No Logia-types appeared in the first few entries.
But when he got to the final page, something caught his breath.
A sketch of a fruit—pitch-black with a swirling pattern—sat at the top of the page.
Under it, the name:
Dark-Dark Fruit (Yami Yami no Mi)
Below the name, only one cryptic sentence was written:
"A Natural-type Devil Fruit. The Devil Fruit ability of the previous generation's pirate overlord, Rocks. Once called the most powerful Devil Fruit by Rocks himself—for unknown reasons."
Mio's eyes froze.
"Rocks… was the user of the Yami Yami no Mi before Blackbeard?"
Rocks D. Xebec—the man feared by the World Government more than any other. A pirate so dangerous his name was erased from history, his legend hidden just like the blank century itself.
He had once ruled the seas before Roger and Garp took him down together.
To think that this was the Devil Fruit he used…
It sent a chill down Mio's spine—but also ignited a burning curiosity in his heart.
The Yami Yami no Mi—a fruit with a dark past, a terrifying power, and now, a new goal to pursue.