Chapter 162: The Right Hand of the Thief 

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The intense battle lasted for a full twenty minutes!

The white elephant was covered in scars and soaked in its own blood.

In beast form, although Elephante's power had been raised to an extremely terrifying level, even Abel, in his Oni-Ghost state, could not confront it head-on.

But that also made her an easy target.

Although the white elephant's defensive strength was very high, making most of Abel's attacks cause little harm.

However, whether it was the 'Dark Breath: Second Form: Dark Cut' that could burst from within or the pierce-oriented 'Asura Aurora Slash,' both could break through the opponent's defenses!

And the white elephant had no way to attack Abel, who was constantly using Observation Haki.

Even then, Abel did not activate terrible techniques like 'Plague Halo.'

So actually, the outcome was decided at the beginning when Elephant was hurt.

"This will be the last slash."

Maintaining a distance of about twenty meters, Abel, holding the Onimaru sword, began to gather strength.

Elephante could feel an intense sense of crisis, her reason told her, run away quickly!

In her current state, she couldn't possibly withstand the incoming slash.

But she forcefully stopped her retreating steps.

Facing this accumulating slash, she didn't retreat, dodge or run away.

Instead, she used all her strength to start sprinting!

While running towards Abel, she recalled a lot.

The spirited departure for the Grand Line.

Challenging Crocodile and the heartbreaking defeat.

The wretched pain of becoming a slave to the Celestial Dragons.

When all these dead memories started to attack her at once, only one thought was left in her head.

"I really can't accept this!"

"Elephant Wresting!"

The white elephant roared inwardly, leaping high with an unstoppable momentum.

At that moment, Abel's sword also shone with a beautiful, multicolored light.

Asura Aurora Slash!

The 'X'-shaped flying slash collided with the leaping white elephant.

Without any sound, a streak of light cut through the sky and then disappeared.

Then with a bang!

The white elephant crashed heavily onto the ground from midair.

Elephante's desperate attempt still couldn't traverse the short distance of three to five meters in front of her.

"Three years ago, I should have died in that desert. Why did I have to go through the pain that followed?"

With uncomprehending doubts, the white elephant closed its eyes and quickly reverted to human form.

Thus, the Elephant Pirate Crew became history.

Abel, having reverted from Oni-Ghost form, sheathed his sword, walked over to Elephant's body, feeling little nostalgia.

After all, the world of pirates is 'kill or be killed'; there is no such thing as order.

So at most, he just lamented the other's poor luck and not-so-smart head.

And the key thing was that the other party had not learned to use Haki, otherwise the difficulty level would have at least doubled.

This matter would have ended here, with just reporting back to Donquixote Doflamingo and perhaps paying attention to who might be coming back from the Grand Line to the North Blue in the near future.

But as it happened, these past few days Abel had been pondering over how to use the "Right Hand of the Thief." So he casually remarked, "It would be interesting if this thing could steal the power of a Devil Fruit."But it was just talk because the description above is clear; one can only steal items that exist independently. 

For instance, it is impossible to steal a living person's heart.

That's because it's not an item that exists independently, but a part of a person, unless it's extracted.

The same goes for Devil Fruits. Once consumed, they become a part of the person's abilities. Even the somewhat buggy Yami Yami no Mi can only take the fruit's abilities after the ability user dies.

Hmm?

Wait a second?!

Taking a Devil Fruit's power after death?

When a user dies, the power of the Devil Fruit within their body dissipates quickly within a certain period before it reappears somewhere in the world after some time as a Devil Fruit again.

Does this mean that, during the immediate period after the user's death, the Devil Fruit's power exists in a 'no-ownership' state as it begins to dissipate while still within the user's body?

Then, what the Yami Yami no Mi can do, this "Right Hand of the Thief" might as well be able to do!

With this in mind, Abel suddenly became eager to try.

If his guess was right, he would obtain the Zoan type, the Elephant Elephant no Mi.

If he failed, he would have wasted an item worth 1,000 trade points.

Should he gamble?

Abel decisively chose to take the risk!

Because it wasn't for the value of the Elephant Elephant Fruit, but to verify the effect of this item.

This was important!

So without wasting any more time, he took out the "Right Hand of the Thief" and placed it on the corpse.

One complication with this item is that it had to touch the target to activate.

Within the time of a single breath, Abel felt as though something extra had appeared in the parched palm.

He immediately picked up the "Right Hand of the Thief" to check, fearing it might be some gold or jewels.

Luckily, he had already checked; she was penniless.

Thinking about it, it made sense. After being a slave for three years and finally escaping back, just as she was gathering a crew to make a comeback, she was eradicated by him, naturally not having anything valuable on her.

So, what would be the most valuable thing on her?

Gripped tightly in the "Right Hand of the Thief" was actually an ethereal image of a Devil Fruit?!

No, it should be considered the energy essence of the Devil Fruit!

Once the "Right Hand of the Thief" stopped working, it would return back into the world, waiting for the next condensation.

If Abel wanted this power, he would need to absorb it into his body immediately. Then he would be the next Elephant Elephant no Mi ability user, just like how Blackbeard acquired the Gura Gura no Mi.

But the problem was that he really didn't care for this power.

An ordinary Zoan-type Devil Fruit was not within his consideration.

So, what should he do?

Just as the "Right Hand of the Thief" was about to vanish, an idea struck him. He took out an apple he had left over from earlier on the road and without a second thought, shoved the ball of energy into it.

The next second, the item disappeared, and the apple dropped to the ground.

Under Abel's anxious watch, the bright red apple suddenly began to change.

It started to grow bigger and turn white, and mysterious patterns appeared on its surface!

It worked!

Now, anyone who saw the strange white fruit on the ground would recognize it instantly as a legendary Devil Fruit.