The Curved Fist, Giant Form

"Crash..."

"Woohoo..." 

Water splashed and the sea boiled as an astonishing wave of air swept across. William's enlarged right leg followed his shadow's movements, instantly reverting to its original shape.

"I have to admit, the Shadow Revolution is indeed exaggerated..." William smiled.

For the past two months, he had been aboard the Thriller Bark ship of terror. Not only had he further honed his mastery of Armament Haki, but he had become even more proficient with it. Moreover, he had mastered the basic abilities of the Shadow Fruit and could use them at will. By relying on the fruit's power to perfectly combine with his own physical skills, his combat effectiveness had doubled as he developed a series of new fighting techniques.

The Shadow Revolution! This was one of the bug abilities granted by the Paramecia Shadow Fruit. Since a person's shadow is connected to their physical body, if the body changes, so does the shadow.

Conversely, if the shadow changes, theoretically the person's body will change as well. Taking advantage of this, William could freely alter his shadow's shape. By changing his shadow, he could modify the length of his body limbs, essentially mimicking the rubber abilities of the future Pirate King Luffy.

He could even make his shadow sneak into others' shadows, letting him control their shadows, change their shape, manipulate them, or even crush them entirely.

"Although it doesn't have rubber's exaggerated elasticity, it's like mastering the powers of the Rubber Fruit in disguise!" William chuckled. As a Shadow Fruit user, fighting with such imaginative abilities made sense.

After all, in ancient times humans relied on their imagination to gradually overcome larger, more powerful foes like birds of prey, giant beasts, and even Sea Kings, rising to become the world's dominant species. Through constant testing these past days, William had fully verified his Devil Fruit's capabilities.

What really surprised him, however, wasn't manipulating his shadow into wings for flight or stealing others' shadows to reanimate corpses into zombies. No, it was the most exaggerated ability: the Shadow Revolution itself.

When William, as an abilities user, affected himself through Shadow Revolution, he didn't need to worry if his body could withstand those changes. He could fight by molding the shadows however he wished.

Even lengthening his arms to ludicrously exaggerated proportions wouldn't harm him, though for others it would be different. For undead beings like the zombie Majin Oz, with bodies sturdy enough to avoid damage unless pushed past their limits, the Shadow Revolution could lengthen limbs and contort their forms without causing pain, easily manipulating them.

But there was no way to directly bend a living person's fist through Shadow Revolution. Forcing such an unnatural angle would cause bone fractures. For an average person using their shadow to merely lengthen their body by half a meter or a full meter... or just irregularly bending their shadow... the consequences didn't bear thinking about. It made William's head tingle imagining it.

"Swoosh..." A pair of demonic black wings emerged from his back. With a slight shake, his entire body swept towards the terrifying ship at astonishing speed. 

"Shadow Gatling Gun!"

On the shores of the Thriller Bark, William continuously punched out with both fists. Under the Shadow Revolution's influence, his arms extended at an alarming rate, bombarding the area.

"Boom...boom..."

Loud noises rang out as gravel spattered and smoke billowed, but William's attacks didn't stop.

"The Flexible Snake Fist!" 

In the next moment, William's narrowed eyes caught his ever-shifting shadow taking a sharp turn. The outstretched, Armament Haki-wrapped fist was like a sinuous snake, constantly changing directions at incredible angles as it folded and turned, violently pummeling the shoreline rocks.

It was jaw-dropping.

"Boom boom..."

The deafening noises continued as smoke and dust clouded the air.

"Shhhhing..."

After a long period of stretching, turning, and dizzying strikes, William's fists finally contracted back. He stopped his assault and took a deep breath.

"This freely manipulable power is really addictive!" Looking at the ravaged shoreline, he couldn't help but clench his fists excitedly.

For human bones, daring to bend and fold like that would most likely result in fractures - unless you had powers like the Rubber Fruit, the Mythical Zoan Nika model, or certain other special Devil Fruit abilities. As a Paramecia Shadow Fruit user, when William used the Shadow Revolution to transform himself, he had no such concerns. His body would directly follow the shadow's changes without any pain, strain on muscles, bones, flesh or other tissues. This was the most glaring "bug" aspect of the Shadow Fruit.

Additionally, having practiced skills like the Finger Pistol, Paper Arts, and Iron Body since childhood, along with mastering the Life Return secret art, the flexibility of William's body tissues had reached an astonishing level. The upper limits he could currently operate under the Shadow Revolution were greatly increased. He could simply let loose in combat.

Of course, the Shadow Revolution wasn't without its limits. It was impossible for someone to become as massive as an island just by enlarging their shadow. An ability's performance closely related to the user's own physical qualities. Once it exceeded the limit their body could currently withstand, their tissues would directly collapse with serious consequences.

"Shadow Revolution: Complete Enlargement!" 

After resting a while, William clenched his fists, eyes stern as he let out a low shout. Among the many laboring zombie soldiers, the sweat-drenched Perona and Hogback watched in disbelief nearby.

"Swish!" His shadow began enlarging at a naked-eye visible speed. William's entire figure underwent incredible changes, expanding as the shadow grew larger.

"Boom!"

In the blink of an eye, a figure no less than twenty meters tall stood there. William's veins bulged, his face reddened, and his aura was astonishing. At his current limit, without swallowing others' shadows to strengthen himself, relying solely on the Shadow Revolution to increase his size could at best transform him into an ordinary giant's form. Any larger and it would strain his own muscles, bones and tissues. 

But even this was already quite astonishing. "Have you reached your limit... NOW!" The giant-like William's voice was hoarse as he stomped forward, rushing out like a cannonball.

"Tempest Kick!!" His massive right foot moved with lightning speed, overwhelming the atmosphere as he kicked out hard. An extremely violent wind pressure instantly arose, sweeping away all the surrounding gravel, dust and vegetation.

"SWHOOSH!!"

In a blink, before Perona and Hogback's horrified eyes, a crescent-shaped, massive slashing wave appeared from thin air. As fast as lightning, it shot straight through the sky to smash into the distant sea, unstoppable.

"Boom boom..." 

"Dang...dang..."

(end of chapter)