Within Karl's Observation Haki, the smoke-filled area was everywhere—and so was Smoker.
There was no way to pinpoint his exact location.
Unless Smoker willingly canceled his elemental form, tracking him down inside that smoke was nearly impossible.
"Alright, that's enough. Stop showing off."
Smoker reverted from elemental form, and the surrounding smoke dispersed in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
"Well?" Smoker asked, barely hiding his excitement, as if he'd just discovered a brand-new continent.
"How was it?"
"Very strong," Karl replied honestly.
"To be blunt, the way you used the Smoke-Smoke Fruit before was a complete waste of its real strengths."
Smoker nodded heavily. Truth be told, he had been trying to develop his abilities by imitating the Three Admirals—
But smoke wasn't magma or ice.
There was no comparison.
"You're right," Smoker admitted.
"My entire development path was wrong from the start."
Karl nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Since you've figured that out, I might as well tell you everything I've thought of regarding the Smoke-Smoke Fruit."
Smoker immediately stepped closer, practically radiating please teach me energy.
Smoke-Smoke Fruit: Proper Use
"First," Karl said,
"is exactly what I mentioned earlier—large-scale smoke deployment."
"Use smoke to control space. Flood an area, displace oxygen, make breathing difficult."
"On top of that, there's another effect—interfering with Observation Haki."
Smoker froze.
"It can do that?"
Then realization hit him. "Wait—just now, you were using Observation Haki, weren't you?"
Karl smiled.
"Exactly."
"When you weren't fully elemental, I could still sense you. But once you completely merged with the smoke…"
Smoker's eyes lit up.
"I became one with the smoke. Even Observation Haki couldn't pinpoint me. Is that it?"
Congratulations—you've learned to answer your own questions.
"That's right."
Smoker rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
This was huge.
Inside the smoke, his perception wasn't affected at all.
Compared to this, his Seastone-tipped jitte suddenly felt… obsolete.
"Alright, second method!" Smoker urged impatiently.
"Come on, tell me!"
Karl gave him a sidelong glance, casually plucking a cigar from Smoker's chest and popping it into his mouth.
Click.
Smoker instinctively lit it for him.
Only then did Karl continue.
"Second—compression."
"Compress the smoke's density and volume, then forcibly inject it into the enemy's body. Instant suffocation."
"Or," Karl added calmly,
"silently guide the smoke into their body and choke them from the inside."
"That's essentially an advanced version of large-area smoke usage."
"Either way, your opponent loses combat capability almost immediately—unless they're willing to hold their breath for the entire fight."
Smoker clenched his fist, eyes flashing.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes—this was it!
This was exactly how the Smoke-Smoke Fruit was meant to be used!
"And the third option is harder," Karl continued.
"Smoke clones."
"Clones?" Smoker raised a hand, forming a tiny smoke humanoid that waved cheerfully in his palm.
"Like this?"
Karl shook his head.
"Close—but not enough."
"A true clone acts independently. Scouting, harassing, misleading, even engaging in combat."
"But," he added,
"you shouldn't seriously develop that until you awaken Armament Haki. Otherwise, smoke's physical limitations will hold you back."
"For now, that's all I've got."
Karl scratched his head lightly.
"If you can achieve even what I just described," he said,
"taking down pirates with bounties around 1 billion wouldn't be a problem."
Smoker broke into a massive grin.
"That's plenty—more than enough! I can't wait to try this!"
Without another word, he rushed off to a corner of the deck and began experimenting, releasing massive plumes of smoke.
Before long, he noticed something—
During full elemental form, the Seastone tip of his jitte slowed his transformation.
Furious, Smoker promptly hurled the jitte straight into the sea.
"Never using this garbage again!"
Karl burst into laughter.
Finally. He threw that useless thing away.
Karl's Own Ability — Holy Light
In truth, Karl's development of the Holy Light Fruit wasn't bad at all.
He just didn't get many chances to use it.
At present:
Single-target or group release
Healing and physical enhancement
Single-target buffs were significantly stronger than group buffs
In terms of amplification:
Karl himself could gain up to two full tiers of physical enhancement
Others received only half of that
Group-wide effects dropped to about one-quarter
The weaker the target, the stronger the effect.
The stronger the target, the lower the bonus.
Duration had increased from one hour to three hours—
though that was standby time. Once combat started, duration depended on intensity.
Unless, someday, he managed to turn it into a passive aura.
As for combat applications?
Still lacking.
Currently, he only had Instant Radiance—a blinding flash to disrupt vision.
Very situational.
And very underwhelming.
After all, the Holy Light Fruit was a pure support-type Devil Fruit.
It had virtually no offensive power.
And since it could only be used on allies, using it on enemies would just be… dirty play.
At that moment, Ain walked over, arms crossed.
"Hmph. That's not fair. Why do you never guide me in developing my ability?"
She wore the unmistakable expression of I'm upset.
Karl couldn't help but smile wryly.
"It's not that I won't," he said.
"It's just that your ability is very similar to mine."
"Strictly speaking, both are support-type Devil Fruits. The development path is already clear."
Ain puffed out her cheeks.
"Clear? What do you mean clear? Why don't I know about that?"
Karl exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Think about it," he said.
"If your Return-Return Fruit keeps increasing its effectiveness, that alone is terrifying."
"Instantly reducing an enemy's age—or restoring the elderly to peak condition—both are absurdly strong."
"The only real weakness is that it requires close contact."
"But," Karl continued, smiling,
"if one day you develop it to group application, like I did…"
"You'd be unstoppable."
He wasn't joking.
Group Holy Light meant group empowerment.
Group Return meant mass regression.
Just imagining it was terrifying.
Ain's expression softened into a smile.
Karl had a point.
She hadn't even figured out ranged activation yet—group usage was still far off.
But she was satisfied.
Especially with his attitude.
Once that annoying Hancock was gone…
Hehe.
"Mm. I'll work harder," Ain said cheerfully.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/SwipeSage