Chapter 41: Copying the Devil Fruit

“Kya ha ha ha ha!!! Found her!!”

“So, you’re Boa Hancock! Indeed, such beauty at such a young age! The Celestial Dragons must covet you!!”

“Heh heh heh!! 10 billion Berries, huh!!!”

The three approaching this way were speaking such crude words, acting as if they had already captured me.

It was an incredibly arrogant thought, but I suppose it’s something that could happen when you’re the owner of a Devil Fruit.

If you haven’t yet encountered a user with enough spirit to truly show their power in the New World, that is.

But well, I suppose it would end here.

As I thought that, I stood up and began running straight towards the three giant ships heading my way.

“?! ATTACK!!!”

And as I moved closer, my instincts started ringing with a foreboding sense of danger.

The owner of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, Grady, immediately shouted, and his subordinates began attacking all at once.

“Hehehe! Fire the cannons!”

“Don’t kill her! Capture her alive!!!”

“50 billion! 50 billion Berries!!!”

Tatatatatang!! Musket shots were fired, and various weapons were thrown into the air, but they were terribly sloppy attacks.

Naturally, I, who had jumped into the air, ignored them and kicked the air twice.

Lamgak!!!

Shukaaaang!! Kwaaang! Kwaaaang!!!

Two giant slashes through the air instantly destroyed two of the ships, and at the overwhelming sight, Grady’s face turned pale, and the two captains of the ships that had barely survived looked equally pale.

“This crazy!!! Why is something like that coming from such a brat!?”

“Shit!!! The rumors about her being strong were all lies!!!”

“We don’t have time!!! If you don’t want to die, stop her somehow!! Drown her with beer bottles!!!”

At Dio Brando’s frantic shout, the two snapped out of their panic and began moving quickly.

They realized that if they stayed still, they would die.

However, trying to escape was pointless as the speed of their ships couldn’t possibly surpass that of the Worbos.

“The method…!! There’s only one! Somehow bind her feet!!! Then, I’ll use my Mirror-Mirror Fruit to copy this brat!!”

“That’s the best plan!”

“Damn it!!! Let’s do it somehow!!!”

The owner of the Needle-Needle Fruit, Tiberra, and the owner of the Thread-Thread Fruit, Dio Brando, began coordinating their abilities swiftly.

They had worked together before and had noticed their synergy when doing so.

Their Devil Fruits showed an enormous synergistic effect, almost as if they were meant to be together.

With that in mind, they began to launch their attacks.

“Needle Needle Cannon!!!” “Thread Thread Performance!!!”

***

I watched as the two attacks shot toward me, my eyes lighting up.

The Needle-Needle Fruit’s ability creates needles and can stitch things together.

The Thread-Thread Fruit’s ability lets you freely create, expel, and control threads.

Why is Doflamingo’s ability involved here? Well… thinking about it, the original story hadn’t even started yet, so perhaps Doflamingo didn’t have it yet.

Anyway, with the combination of the Thread-Thread Fruit and the Needle-Needle Fruit, my eyes widened.

The Needle-Needle Fruit, as far as I knew, could only create needles and stitch things together.

The strength of that stitching wasn’t particularly strong—it could easily be torn apart.

But with the addition of threads?!

I saw the giant needles falling into the sea, and as they caught on the threads, I watched as they connected the sky and the sea.

In other words, it was like stitching the sea to the sky, creating a massive wave…

‘…Incredible!!!’

I couldn’t help but think that.

To think they could create such an idea—connecting the sky and the sea to pull the sea upward and create a wave!

As a Devil Fruit user, it was an astonishing application of power.

Of course, if they only had the Needle-Needle Fruit, this feat would have been impossible.

It was the combination of the needles and the threads that made it possible.

The result was a massive wave that covered the very position where I was standing in the air.

“Hahaha!!! Drown in the wave!!!” “This is the Big Wave! WRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!”

Seeing them cheer, I gripped my sword tightly.

That was powerful enough to demonstrate my new strength.

A tsunami capable of covering an entire island.

Striking at that wave would be a fitting way to display my newly gained power.

I focused on the sensation of the Black Blade and wrapped my Conqueror’s Haki around the sword.

Crackle! Familiar, yet different, red lightning gathered on the sword, and its color began to turn pitch black.

The Black Blade.

It’s the pinnacle of Armament Haki.

Beyond that lies the permanent Black Blade, but I wasn’t skilled enough yet to reach that level.

No, to be precise, my body hadn’t fully matured.

So it was only a temporary Black Blade, but… that was enough for the current situation.

Only a handful of people in this world possess Conqueror’s Haki.

And among them, only an even smaller number can reach the level where they can coat their sword with Conqueror’s Haki.

When I reached that stage, I could cleave the world itself.

I simply raised my sword high and brought it down.

A simple downward slash, with no fancy techniques.

At that moment, a black line appeared in the air, and red destructive lightning crackled, splitting the wave apart in an instant…

Zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

The two men, who thought they had created an unstoppable attack, could only gape in disbelief at the sight.

In the meantime, I quickly stepped on the air and grabbed their faces, using the power of the Copy-Copy Fruit.

“Done. You’re no longer needed.”

“M-Madness!!” “J-Just wait!!!”

Crack crack!!! That was a fine strike, but it wasn’t enough to defeat me.

As I felt their Devil Fruits copying into me, I smashed their faces and tossed them into the sea.

As Devil Fruit users, they would sink and drown.

As for the last one…

“Fast, huh?”

Somehow, without even realizing it, they had transformed into something other than human and disappeared into the distance.

Watching that, I clicked my tongue.

For someone who had boasted about copying me, they quickly transformed and, after a brief hesitation, disappeared.

But—

“You can’t escape.”

I activated the Copy-Copy Fruit’s power once again, focusing on the power of the Needle-Needle Fruit.

‘…Needle Scatter…!’

Thousands of needles appeared from my palm. I aimed them at the fleeing figure. My goal was simple: to stitch them into the air, preventing them from escaping.

Kwagagagagaga!!!

“Th-This can’t be! How are you using Hody’s power with the Needle-Needle Fruit?! You’re not even a Mirror-Mirror Fruit user like me!!!”

“Well… because I’m the owner of the Copy-Copy Fruit?”

I said that as I crushed their head and copied their Devil Fruit, tossing them into the sea without hesitation.

“Phew.”

After easily dealing with the three, I shuddered, feeling the power of the newly acquired Devil Fruits.

Especially the possibilities I sensed in the Needle-Needle Fruit and the Thread-Thread Fruit.