"You bastard!!!"
Even from 8,000 meters above, Dragon could hear the voice laced with hatred.
Though it seemed like he'd toyed with Bullet, there wasn't a trace of satisfaction on Dragon's face.
His eyes flashed, and wrapped in a violent gale, his descent picked up even more speed.
His heart was heavy.
"Bullet alone was enough to hold me off. If the Gravity Fruit user Rosinante mentioned and Smoothie with the Float-Float Fruit arrive... If my fruit gets countered, I might not even make it off Skypiea. I need another plan to scout Skypiea, and to rescue Kuma and Vegapunk."
...
At the wreckage of the Gate of Heaven—
Crack-crack-crack!
In Bullet's hand, the Wapometal alloy was transforming at an alarming rate.
He was forcefully molding it into a new shape with sheer brute strength.
Smoothie descended gracefully, her gaze settling on Bullet's heaving chest and ragged breathing. She spoke softly.
"The enemy escaped."
Though phrased as a question, her tone made it a statement.
Whoosh!
Bullet's head snapped up, bloodshot eyes locking onto Smoothie.
"A coward, that's all!!!"
If it hadn't been for the self-control he'd learned over the past few years—
And the fact that Smoothie was Doflamingo's woman—
If it had been Tesoro or Enel, Bullet would've already struck.
"Did we get a visual on his face? I'm sure Doffy can find out who he is."
Smoothie ignored Bullet's mood and got straight to the point.
From start to finish, the enemy had kept his hood up.
With the speed of their battle and the rampant energy emissions, surveillance could only capture the clash itself.
No facial data was recorded.
"I see."
Hearing that Doflamingo might be able to identify the man made Bullet's eyes light up. His mind quickly regained clarity, and a surge of awakening energy burst from his body in a violet flash.
Under the force of awakening, the metal in his hands twisted rapidly, forming into the likeness of Dragon.
Click!
A Den Den Mushi activated, recording the enemy's features. Smoothie turned and walked away.
Watching her back, Bullet's eyes flickered.
Even if they could track that coward down, he still had a mountain of rage left to vent.
After a long pause—
He remembered a recent discussion he'd had with Doflamingo about Zoan-types. A gleam flashed through Bullet's eyes.
His body shrank rapidly, reverting to its regular form.
Grabbing the plant-based tool-man Kurozumi Orochi, he slapped him hard across the face.
Thwack!
A huge welt swelled visibly on Orochi's square face, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Yamata-no-Orochi's consciousness: "?"
Even if the Yamata-no-Orochi Fruit was a snake, it had a few choice words in its mind.
You've got to be kidding me, Bullet! You couldn't catch the enemy so you're taking it out on me?
What, like the damage I tanked for you was fake? We even fused! What more do you want?!
After venting with a punch?
Suddenly, the sky seemed a lot bluer to Bullet. He smiled.
He lifted Orochi's bent head to a proper angle for another swing. Raising his right arm—
"Yamata-no-Orochi, it's all your fault for being weak and slowing me down. That's why I failed to catch the enemy."
"Let me help you awaken!!!"
"?!" The sheer shamelessness of that line made the Yamata-no-Orochi instantly snap out of its 'playing dead' act.
Staring at the fist bigger than its own head, its tongue flicked and its body instinctively started to squirm. "Ssss—"
Ever since Kurozumi Orochi became a vegetable, the devil consciousness of the Yamata-no-Orochi Fruit had been gradually reawakening.
After their fusion, Bullet had sensed it clearly.
"Sss—You mean the per—"
Bam!
Another thunderous slap landed on the other side of its squarish head, evening out the swelling nicely.
"Awaken, damn you!!!"
But that was only the beginning.
Bullet's iron fists rained down like a storm, smashing Orochi's head like a sandbag.
The face, now covered in scales, trembled and warped under the blows.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
His punches came so fast they left afterimages—dozens of fists seemed to land at once.
At first, the Yamata-no-Orochi felt only anger. But later, there was only despair.
No one knew how long the beating went on, but by the end, Orochi had turned into a bloody snake-shaped mess—unrecognizable.
And yet, after Bullet stopped—
The torn muscles began healing. The scales thickened. Its body swelled rapidly, ballooning in size.
Bullet suddenly looked up, eyes lighting up.
"Doflamingo! Enel! You're back!"
Two massive ships were descending swiftly through the skies.
"Long time no see, Bullet."
Doflamingo returned the greeting, rubbing his chin as his eyes focused on the transformation happening below.
This kind of scene was rare.
"Fufufufu~ How amusing."
"Bullet, don't tell me you're trying to be like Judge and Caesar?" Enel asked, frowning.
He'd only ever seen something like this in Judge and Caesar's labs. Had Bullet gone off the deep end?
Down below, the rapidly mutating serpent had seven large fleshy bulbs along its neck, swelling at high speed.
"Don't be stupid. Of course I'm helping it awaken," Bullet snapped, eyes burning with intensity.
The stronger this snake became, the stronger he'd be too.
Who knows—maybe this time, he could truly glimpse the might of a Zoan awakening.
"Doflamingo-sama, what exactly is that?"
Tritoma peeked out from behind Doflamingo, visibly curious.
Her father wasn't a Devil Fruit user, so she didn't know much about powers.
She'd seen Zoan-types before, but none had ever transformed like this in battle.
Doflamingo was also pondering what exactly this counted as.
First off, it couldn't be a proper Devil Fruit awakening—
Because Kurozumi Orochi's consciousness was already gone.
There was no human will in control of the power.
Second, it wasn't like the jailer beasts of Impel Down—
Those things were failed awakenings, where human and fruit consciousness had fused into mindless beasts.
If anything...
"This is a living Devil Fruit."
"A living Devil Fruit?!"
Tritoma's mouth dropped open in shock.
There had always been rumors across the seas—
That actual demons lived inside Devil Fruits, and that's why the sea rejected those who ate them.
But now that rumor was becoming reality before her very eyes. The shock was indescribable.
"That's right. And soon, you'll see it for yourself."
Doflamingo nodded slightly.
No sooner had he finished speaking—
Seven enormous, greenish snake heads with horns burst from the swollen neck of the massive serpent.
Even Orochi's own head had morphed into a huge black serpent's head.
HISSSSS!
The hundred-meter-long snake reared up, eight giant heads glaring down at Bullet.
Its scarlet eyes and pitch-black slit pupils were filled with pure, murderous rage.
...
"Has it lost its mind?"
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg