"Eat a Devil Fruit?"
Mio's pupils shrank slightly as surprise flashed across his face.
From the way the pterosaur moved, it looked like it had some kind of spatial ability… or was it related to speed?
Gripping the hilt of his blade with his right hand, Mio smirked and whispered, "Erica, this guy's ability is a little tricky. Be careful not to let it escape."
"Got it, Master." Erica nodded seriously, both hands resting on her swords' hilts.
The arrival of the two had clearly drawn the pterosaur's attention. It raised its head to observe them, tilting it slightly to the side, looking almost confused—as if it had never seen anything like them before.
But that confusion quickly turned into hunger. Its eyes gleamed with a greedy glint, and with a powerful flap of its wings, it vanished from its spot—reappearing instantly in front of Mio and Erica.
"Woah!"
Both Mio and Erica instinctively stepped back, narrowly dodging the beast's gaping, bloody jaws.
But Mio noticed something strange.
The spot where the pterosaur had appeared—there had been a large stone there before. Now, that stone was gone. At the same time, where the pterosaur had stood earlier, that same stone dropped out of mid-air and hit the ground.
Mio's eyes narrowed.
"…So that's it," he muttered, realization dawning on him.
Without hesitation, Mio drew his blade and slashed.
Whoosh!
A wave of sword energy shot forth.
At such close range, the attack should have landed easily. But the next moment, the pterosaur disappeared again—reappearing at a distance.
"This ability really is something," Mio murmured in awe. He had already pieced together what kind of Devil Fruit this beast had consumed and couldn't help but feel impressed.
Then, without a second thought, he took a step forward—his body shooting out like a cannonball as he charged toward the pterosaur.
Sensing danger, the pterosaur flapped its wings and soared upward, trying to flee. Given the distance, if nothing interrupted it, it might just manage to escape.
But Erica was ready.
With a fierce swing of both her swords, she released a sharp wave of sword energy upward, aiming straight for the pterosaur's head.
If it wanted to avoid having its head split open, it had no choice but to stop ascending.
That was all Mio needed.
He arrived right in front of the pterosaur and slashed with Raikiri. With a wet slash, one of the creature's wings was severed completely, blood spraying into the air.
"Roooaaar!"
The pterosaur screamed in pain and lunged at Mio with its mouth wide open. The stench of blood and decay hit Mio in the face, making him frown.
With a calm expression, he slashed again.
But once more, the pterosaur's body disappeared—reappearing behind him.
"Cut!" Erica shouted, already anticipating its movement.
She twisted around and struck the instant the pterosaur reappeared, giving it no time to react. Her twin blades sliced through the air—and then through flesh—severing the pterosaur's other wing.
Both wings gone, the massive beast collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from its wounds. It roared and thrashed, but the fight was already over.
Mio approached, Raikiri in hand. He looked down at the dying beast, which roared weakly at him, and muttered, "Strong ability, but in the end… still just an animal."
Without intelligence, even powerful abilities had limits.
Especially this one. The Devil Fruit power it possessed clearly required strategy and forethought to use effectively.
Slash!
Raikiri fell, severing the pterosaur's head.
A moment later, a familiar prompt appeared before Mio's eyes.
[Congratulations on collecting: Pterosaur (Replacement) Gene!]
"As expected."
Mio wasn't surprised. He had already guessed it when he saw the stone being swapped. The ability allowed the user to replace the positions of objects—either themselves with another object, or possibly even two objects with each other.
That's why he wasn't worried about the pterosaur escaping. There wasn't anything high up in the sky it could replace itself with. It's not like it could switch places with clouds—and it clearly lacked the brains for that kind of trick.
After all, it had eaten a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, not a Mythical Zoan with enhanced intelligence.
"But with this, I've got what I need for Little Butterfly," Mio said with a satisfied grin.
Thinking about it, he let out a small sigh. "I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to draw this ability myself?"
There was no denying how powerful this Replacement ability was. If developed properly, it could be terrifying. Perfect for surprise attacks or assassinations.
Killing strong enemies? Not a problem.
Killing Celestial Dragons? Piece of cake.
Just take a bomb and swap it with something beside the target—completely silent, undetectable.
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it for now. The day was still young. There was plenty of time to gather more dinosaur genes before leaving Little Garden.
Just then, Warwick and Robin arrived.
Robin looked down at the pterosaur corpse with curiosity. "Is this a special kind of creature? It doesn't seem any different."
"That's because it's a Devil Fruit user," Mio explained while patting Robin's head. "You can't tell just by looking."
Then, turning to Erica, he said, "Keep listening to the updates from your little ones. If they find anything interesting, let me know."
"Yes, Master," Erica replied with a nod.
Warwick, meanwhile, had a smug look on his face.
"Warwick is great at this," he said proudly, pointing at his nose.
He wasn't just sensitive to the smell of blood—he could pick up all kinds of scents.
After sniffing the air, he pointed in a certain direction. "Master, there's a faint trace of that dinosaur you killed earlier, but the scent is different. It's a different one from before."
"Oh?" Mio raised an eyebrow, glancing at Warwick's nose. "You can tell the species apart just by the smell?"
"Of course! Warwick is very good!" he replied enthusiastically.
"Alright then. Let's head that way," Mio chuckled. "If we killed a Tyrannosaurus earlier, that means there's another one nearby. Perfect."
With Warwick leading the way, Mio turned to Robin and stretched out his hand. "Come on, I'll carry you. You're a bit too slow to keep up with us otherwise."
"…Got it," Robin mumbled, cheeks a little red from embarrassment. She knew Mio was right—staying behind on her own would be dangerous.
After hesitating for a moment, she reached out and took his hand.
Only to be pulled into Mio's arms a second later.
"Wha—!?"
Without waiting, Mio took off—shooting forward like a bullet into the wilderness of Little Garden.