"Finally left Alabasta," Shin stretched. "I almost vomited with all that rain."
"You seemed quite happy, Captain. Also, didn't you sign an agreement with the king?" Violet said with a smirk.
Shin curled his lips slightly. "No choice. Those people were practically worshipping me like a god—I couldn't just leave them hanging, right?"
After the banquet, in order to improve Alabasta's environment, Shin had borrowed the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit, coupled with chakra ninjutsu. He spent a full day and night traveling across Alabasta, summoning torrential rains.
After that, Cobra looked at him like he was a divine being, and Vivi almost didn't hesitate to throw herself at him, completely disregarding the fact that he was a billion-berry pirate.
In the end, after staying a few days, Shin—who was tired of playing the role of Alabasta's rain god—handed Vivi a Devil Fruit that fused the Spike-Spike Fruit and the Grow-Grow Fruit. He left her with the task of using its power to bring prosperity back to the land.
As for the criminals of Baroque Works, Shin tossed them aside. Without their Devil Fruit abilities, even the once-feared Crocodile was powerless, easily imprisoned by Alabasta's guards.
Shin left Alabasta in such a hurry because he had a nagging feeling that his final battle with the World Government wasn't far away.
Before that, he needed to grow stronger. Even though he was confident he could crush Imu in a direct fight, his ingrained fear of lacking firepower—something all strategists seemed to share—compelled him to prepare thoroughly.
"I've already collected all the Devil Fruits that are easy to obtain and compatible with me. The only remaining major target... is the Venom-Venom Fruit in Impel Down."
Impel Down was a treasure trove of Devil Fruit users. Though not many had demonstrated their abilities in the past, the facility was specifically designed to imprison Devil Fruit users. It was impossible that the number inside was low.
Unlike Luffy, who had charged in without a plan, Shin wasn't about to recklessly release all the prisoners.
The reality was that while some people might have been unjustly imprisoned, they were a small minority—probably no more than one in ten.
Even among those wrongfully jailed, most had likely been smuggled to Level 5.5 by the Revolutionary Army. The remaining inmates were criminals through and through.
This was evident from the prisoners freed in the original events—none claimed to be innocent; they were all typical, ruthless pirates.
Shin retrieved a newly fused Devil Fruit combining the Clear-Clear Fruit and the Clone-Clone Fruit. With this, infiltrating Impel Down would be effortless, allowing him to harvest numerous Devil Fruits without issue.
"Aside from that, the artificial Devil Fruit project in the Naruto world is nearly complete. If we can mature the Chakra Fruit ahead of schedule, my strength will grow exponentially."
Though Shin believed he could already overthrow the World Government, he wanted absolute certainty.
One Piece and Naruto were different worlds. Unlike in Naruto, where he knew the entire story, he had no idea what final tricks the World Government had up its sleeve. His last battle with Imu had revealed many things about devil fruits. Who knew what else was hidden?
For now, he would focus on maximizing his strength before making his move.
"Alright, time to check on the artificial Devil Fruit project. This could determine whether the Chakra Fruit matures sooner."
Using Flying Thunder God Jutsu, Shin returned to Drum Kingdom. The researchers who had worked under Golden Lion—now controlled by Shin—had already been relocated to Punk Hazard. Without wasting time, Shin teleported Chopper there as well, bringing him to Caesar Clown and Queen to begin research on the artificial Human-Human Fruit.
Since Shin had implanted microchips into Caesar and Queen's brains, their freedom was limited, but their research abilities had skyrocketed.
Their neural implants contained vast amounts of advanced knowledge from Academy City and the Resident Evil World. Thanks to this, they even managed to develop advanced supercomputing technology like Tree Diagram. In just a few months, they had made incredible strides, reducing the artificial Devil Fruit failure rate to almost zero.
"So, you want to mass-produce ordinary Human-Human Fruits?" Queen laughed after hearing Shin's request. "That's an odd idea. Wouldn't that just create normal humans who can't swim?"
"It should still strengthen the body," Caesar Clown countered. "Even Zoan Fruits that are physically weaker than humans—like the Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit—enhance the user's strength after consumption."
"Although the Human-Human Fruit won't allow a human to transform, its natural ability to enhance physical capabilities should remain," Caesar Clown continued. "Plus, we won't have to worry about deformities, and the success rate should be higher. After all, what fruit is more compatible with the human body than the Human-Human Fruit?"
Caesar Clown had spent years researching artificial Devil Fruits, and his insight surpassed even Queen's. He immediately recognized the advantages of this plan.
Shin nodded. "Exactly. Chopper's Human-Human Fruit is a standard model. I'll find you a Mythical Zoan variant soon. I expect you to accelerate production."
Both scientists nodded in understanding. Shin then retrieved multiple Flying Thunder God transponders from his storage.
"Deliver these to Dressrosa, Wano, the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates. Once they're in place, I'll be able to teleport freely across the Grand Line."
When Shin first mastered the simplified Flying Thunder God Technique, he had been on the Red Line. As a result, he had no teleportation marks in the New World. This time, he would establish proper coordinates.
Additionally, Doflamingo's Family in Dressrosa had acquired two standard models of the Snake-Snake Fruit—the Water Snake Model and the Rattlesnake Model. With these in hand, Shin's next steps were clear.
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