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Rowen looked at the man and woman struggling futilely within his smoke constructs and issued a mental command.
"Check Traits."
——
Mr. 5 Traits:Bomb-Bomb Fruit (Deep Purple): Bomb Human. Can turn any part of the body into a bomb.
Miss Valentine Traits:Kilo-Kilo Fruit (Deep Purple): Kilo-Kilo Human. User can freely manipulate their own weight between 1 kilogram and 10,000 kilograms. Can float like a feather or crush enemies with astonishing weight.
——
Two relatively weak Paramecia Devil Fruits.
Especially the Kilo-Kilo Fruit.
Its power was vastly inferior to Shiki's Float-Float Fruit, It could only alter the user's own weight, with a fixed upper limit and no potential for further growth.
And because attacks required physical contact and needed an umbrella for directional control (like Miss Valentine used), they were easily dodged. On its own, this fruit's power was mediocre at best.
But in Rowen's hands now—it was a completely different story.
Rowen currently possessed the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
The biggest drawback of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit was its lack of offensive power. Against weak opponents without Haki, its ability to bind and suffocate was potent. But against Haki masters, it served primarily as a support tool.
However, combining the Kilo-Kilo Fruit's ability with the Smoke-Smoke Fruit changed everything.
Infusing the Kilo-Kilo power into his smoke could allow Rowen's smoke form to reach a weight of ten tons! Combined with Haki, this could completely compensate for the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's current offensive shortcomings.
The Bomb-Bomb Fruit could also synergize with the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
The Smoke-Smoke Fruit could fill the battlefield with smoke, disrupting enemy Observation Haki.
Devil Fruit powers and Haki didn't necessarily counter each other; powerful abilities could shatter Haki attacks, and naturally, they could also interfere with Haki perception.
Consider Sanji's dream Devil Fruit, the Clear-Clear Fruit. Its strength lay in rendering the user completely invisible—including their presence, emotions, and anything else detectable by Observation Haki.
Unless an opponent's Observation Haki far surpassed the combined strength of the Clear-Clear user's fruit and their own Haki, perceiving their movements and presence would be impossible. Otherwise, why would someone of Shiryu of the Rain's caliber choose that ability?
How else could Shiryu successfully land a sneak attack on someone with Garp's level of Observation Haki?
While filling the battlefield with smoke didn't interfere with Observation Haki as effectively as the Clear-Clear Fruit, it still had an effect, albeit mostly supportive.
But adding the Bomb-Bomb Fruit changed the equation entirely.
The Bomb-Bomb ability could be infused into the smoke, turning it into explosive smoke! Enemies caught within the smoke field would suffer unavoidable, omnidirectional explosive attacks!
Acquiring these two Paramecia fruits at this stage was a decent haul.
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"Wh-What is this?! A Devil Fruit power?! Damn it! Let us go!" Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine screamed in terror.
They had tried everything. Mr. 5, especially, had continuously activated his Bomb-Bomb powers, but the explosions had zero effect on the binding smoke. Since eating the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, Mr. 5 had dominated this region of the sea, never encountering such utter helplessness before.
"Stop struggling. Your Devil Fruit powers are useless against my Logia ability," Rowen stated, looking down at them with a villainous smirk.
"Logia!" Hearing this, and seeing Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine completely powerless against Rowen, Igaram broke out in even more cold sweat.
The power of Logia fruits was well-known among Alabasta's high command.
Crocodile, the man hailed as Alabasta's hero yet secretly manipulating the country as the boss of Baroque Works—the very Warlord Igaram was investigating—was a Logia user himself (Sand-Sand Fruit).
He hadn't expected Sky Sovereign Rowen to also be a Logia Devil Fruit user!
Combined with that unbelievable power that wiped out over a hundred bounty hunters with just a glance—Igaram looked at Rowen with profound fear. 'This... is the man with the 100 million Beri bounty!'
"Mr. 5! Miss Valentine! Why are you here?" Seeing these two high-ranking Baroque Works agents, Vivi seemed to realize something, cold sweat forming on her brow.
"Naturally, to eliminate you two. I was able to discover your identity; did you really think you could keep it hidden forever?" Rowen glanced at Vivi.
That glance made Vivi blush furiously. It felt distinctly like the look one gives an idiot.
During their voyage, Vivi had learned from Nami that Rowen's Observation Haki could sense emotions and presence but couldn't actually read memories; Nami had just been bluffing to scare her.
Although Vivi didn't know how Rowen knew her identity, based on that, it was entirely plausible Crocodile had discovered her infiltration as well.
(As for why Vivi recognized Rowen's 'looking at an idiot' expression? Because she'd seen Rowen look at Luffy and Zoro the same way.)
Nearby, Zoro, seeing Vivi's reaction, looked resignedly sympathetic. 'Being looked at like an idiot by Rowen... really doesn't feel good.'
"Alright, enough chit-chat. Goodbye," Rowen stated, his expression turning cold. He activated his Smoke-Smoke Fruit, intending to suffocate the two agents.
"Plunder." Rowen commanded inwardly, extending his hand.
WHOOSH!
Two streams of purple light were extracted from Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's bodies, flowing into Rowen.
"Gurgle! Gurgle!" Under the horrified gazes of Igaram and Vivi, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's bodies seemed to wither, as if all their physical strength vanished instantly.
——
—[Target physique energy automatically absorbed. Superhuman Demonic Physique (Apex Purple) enhanced!]—
—[Born of the Sea (Apex Gold) activated. Armament Haki strengthened!]—
——
Two notification screens appeared.
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were extremely weak, their Devil Fruit usage rudimentary.
Mr. 5 yielded energy equivalent to two base Deep Purple Upgrade Materials. Miss Valentine yielded one.
Rowen's physique and Haki strengthened slightly again. But most importantly, these two fruits significantly boosted the offensive potential of his Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
"Explosion——!"
FWOOSH! A cloud of smoke enveloped a nearby building.
The next moment—
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A terrifying explosion erupted, instantly reducing the building to rubble.
——
New Ultimate Technique Trait:Explosive Smoke (Apex Purple): A fusion of Smoke-Smoke and Bomb-Bomb Fruit abilities. Anyone caught within the Explosive Smoke suffers 360-degree, unavoidable explosive attacks.
——
The first 'Ultimate Technique' Trait manifested!
The drawback of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit was its Paramecia nature; aside from extremely special top-tier Paramecias like the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, most required direct physical contact.
For ranged attacks, Mr. 5 had to resort to using explosive—boogers—which was utterly disgusting and undignified.
But with the Smoke-Smoke Fruit as a medium, it was entirely different!
Rowen could fill a large area with smoke, and anyone within that range would be subject to explosions! Unavoidable, omnidirectional explosions!
Furthermore, Rowen could infuse Armament Haki into the explosive smoke, allowing it to damage Logia users.
To defend against it, one would need omnidirectional Armament Haki coverage, and that Haki would need to be significantly stronger than Rowen's, considering the attack combined Smoke, Bomb, and Armament Haki!
"Th-The Bomb-Bomb Fruit's power?!" Igaram and Vivi stared, their eyes nearly popping out.
"SUGEEE! Rowen!" Luffy yelled at the top of his lungs.
Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji watched with awe.
Rowen hadn't hidden the fact that he could use multiple Devil Fruit powers from them. But seeing it in action was still unbelievable. The Smoke-Smoke Fruit alone was practically invincible against non-Haki users. Now, adding explosive power...?
"It's not over yet," Rowen grinned, feeling fantastic.
"Kilo-Kilo——" Rowen activated the Kilo-Kilo Fruit ability, reducing his body weight to one kilogram.
WHOOSH! A small puff of smoke appeared beneath his feet, propelling him effortlessly into the air.
'Very low energy consumption.' Rowen noted, sensing the minimal stamina drain while flying.
The Smoke-Smoke Fruit could allow brief flight or gliding through massive smoke expulsion, but it was inefficient and draining. Combined with the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, however, the cost became negligible.
Since altering weight was the fruit's inherent power, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit only needed to provide minimal propulsion for free directional control—no need for an umbrella like Miss Valentine!
"And now..." Rowen looked down at the cluster of buildings that made up Whiskey Peak.
VMM!
Both of Rowen's fists turned jet black. Armament Haki - Infusion!
"Ten Thousand Kilogram - White Blow Bullets——!"
Rowen rained down punches, his arms extending as smoke, only his fists remaining solid, coated in Armament Haki. And thanks to the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, each punch weighed ten tons!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A storm of fists, each propelled by smoke, slammed down onto the Whiskey Peak buildings.
The terrifying force instantly reduced the structures to rubble. The continuous, devastating impacts made the entire island segment tremble, dark cracks spiderwebbing across the ground where Rowen attacked.
——
New Ultimate Technique Trait:10,000 Kilo White Blow Bullets (Apex Purple): A fusion technique combining Smoke-Smoke, Kilo-Kilo, and Armament Haki. Each punch carries the weight of ten tons!
——
Another Ultimate Technique Trait!
"One more!" Rowen laughed aloud.
"Exploding Ten Thousand Kilogram - White Blow Bullets——!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The power of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit was infused into each punch!
RUMBLE!!!
The entire area began to shake violently, making even Luffy and the others stumble!
Each punch possessed the reach of smoke, weighed ten tons, AND carried the explosive force of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit! Combined with Armament Haki! The power was exponentially greater than before!
——
New Ultimate Technique Trait: Exploding 10,000 Kilo White Blow Bullets (Pale Gold).
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The final Ultimate Technique Trait! And Rowen's strongest attack currently!
Combining the Smoke-Smoke, Kilo-Kilo, and Bomb-Bomb Fruits with Armament Haki pushed this ultimate technique beyond the Apex Purple tier, reaching Pale Gold!
This—was the power of Devil Fruit synergy!
Although the three individual fruits were relatively mediocre, combined, their power now rivaled a T2 (Tier 2) Devil Fruit ability—the same level as Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit!
In terms of Devil Fruit power, Rowen was now no longer inferior to Crocodile! And Rowen also possessed Haki!
Defeating Crocodile was now clearly within sight!
Rowen looked down at the devastation wrought by his new technique, smiled with satisfaction, and ceased the attack.
'But sustaining three Devil Fruit powers simultaneously, plus Armament Haki... the stamina drain really is significant.' Rowen adjusted his weight back to normal and slowly descended.
Whether Devil Fruits or Haki, using them consumed the user's stamina. And Rowen's strongest technique, drawing on three fruits at once, was extremely draining.
No wonder it manifested as an 'Ultimate Technique' Trait; such attacks were best used as finishers, not sustainable combat styles.
Of course, the power was undeniably spectacular. Using this technique elevated Rowen's combat strength into the Pale Gold tier.
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"SUGEEE! That was amazing! Rowen!" Luffy cheered excitedly, rushing over as Rowen landed, providing ample emotional support.
"A-Amazing... R-Rowen—too strong!" Staring at the completely ruined cluster of buildings, the cracked island surface revealing glimpses of the sea below, Usopp's eyes nearly popped out as he stammered in shock.
An attack like that hitting a person... the result would be horrifying!
"So strong," Sanji and Zoro murmured, equally stunned.
Rowen—had gotten even stronger! Against an attack like that, they probably wouldn't last a second.
"Rowen! Amazing! You're really amazing!" Nami bounced over excitedly, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at Rowen.
Seeing Nami's adoring gaze, Rowen's already good mood from his power increase became even better.
"U-Unbelievable... Th-This man!" Igaram, who had been knocked flat by the tremors from Rowen's attack, slowly pushed himself up, swallowing hard, his eyes filled with terror.
That attack contained not only Mr. 5's Bomb-Bomb power but also Miss Valentine's Kilo-Kilo ability!
As Captain of Alabasta's Royal Guard, Igaram knew something about Devil Fruits. Their kingdom's two guardian gods were Zoan users.
A person could only eat one Devil Fruit! Eating more would cause their body to explode!
Yet this man—had somehow stolen the Devil Fruit powers from Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine! And could use three Devil Fruit powers at once!
M-Monster! This man... has to be a monster!
Igaram suddenly remembered something and looked nervously towards Vivi beside him.
"P-Princess Vivi! Why... why are you traveling with Mr... Mr. Rowen?" Igaram asked nervously.
Addressing Rowen respectfully felt mandatory now; on these seas, showing respect to such overwhelming power was a fundamental rule of survival.
"Rowen and his crew are helping us! He... He's going to defeat Crocodile!" Vivi declared, her eyes shining brightly now.
Rowen is really strong!
Able to steal others' Devil Fruit powers, use three abilities simultaneously—Vivi looked at Rowen, her eyes sparkling with newfound hope.
"Helping us?!" Although Igaram had suspected something, hearing it confirmed by the Princess still felt unbelievable. Then, overwhelming joy washed over him, tears streaming down his face.
"Your Majesty! Alabasta... Alabasta is saved!" Igaram sobbed, overcome with emotion.
Vivi's eyes also reddened, tears welling up.
Rowen's strength—finally gave them real hope—hope of defeating the Warlord Crocodile!
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