Chapter 127: Chiba’s Famous Devil Fruit

Chapter 127: Chiba's Famous Devil Fruit

Rebecca's aura surged to an immense level within seconds, and flames burst from her body, filling the arena with waves of roiling heat. The terrifying blaze spread in all directions, forcing everyone nearby—Sabo, Burgess, and Shiryu—to step back from the sheer intensity.

The flames continued to expand toward the stands, and the searing heat caused the audience to shield themselves, their skin stinging from the temperature. Unable to control the massive energy coursing through her remodeled body, Rebecca's power raged out of control, transforming her entire figure into a being of fire.

From a distance, Blackbeard watched in disbelief. "Did she… burn to death?" he muttered, astonished. The female swordsman was completely consumed by the flames—surely, no one could survive that.

"Did it fail?" Katakuri, observing from the stands, was equally shocked. "After all that buildup, was Chiba's Devil Fruit a failure?"

Even he found it hard to believe, though his Haki still sensed a presence in the flames—one that seemed to be growing stronger with each passing second.

The audience also stared, wide-eyed, at the fiery center of the arena. This was Chiba's creation, a Devil Fruit of his own making. Chiba was known as one of the most innovative minds in the pirate world, a man whose inventions could change the course of history. Had his highly anticipated creation truly ended in failure?

Just as everyone was processing this, a shrill cry pierced the air.

From within the flames, a massive bird of fire ascended into the sky. The crowd looked up in awe, watching as the flaming bird spread its wings, each one stretching over ten meters wide.

Swaying unsteadily, the bird seemed almost drunken, its erratic movements causing the audience to scream in alarm, worried that it might crash down onto them at any moment.

After a few tense moments, the bird stabilized, and the flames began to recede, revealing Rebecca's figure at the center. Her entire body was engulfed in fire, but she seemed unharmed, as if she had become one with the flames. She hovered in mid-air, radiating power, like a queen of fire.

Rebecca's presence was overwhelming, her body blazing like a miniature sun. The intense heat forced everyone below to back away as they struggled to endure the temperature.

"Catch her!" Blackbeard's shout rang out, breaking the silence. "If we kill her now, I can absorb that fruit's power with the Dark-Dark Fruit!"

Burgess roared, crouching to build up power in his legs before launching himself toward Rebecca like a cannonball.

With his newly installed arm device, Burgess channeled all the energy from the Strength-Strength Fruit into his right fist, aiming a crushing blow at Rebecca, showing no mercy.

"Ha!" Burgess bellowed as he closed in. He wasn't concerned with her newfound power—this was just a girl who had eaten the Mera-Mera Fruit, and he was confident she couldn't stand up to him, especially with an artificial Devil Fruit.

Rebecca noticed Burgess's approach and instinctively raised her fist to meet his attack.

In that moment, fire gathered around her arm, forming into a massive flaming fist, which collided with Burgess's punch.

Boom!

With a thunderous impact, Rebecca's fiery punch overpowered Burgess, sending him crashing back into the arena floor.

Boom!

The ground shook as Burgess's body hit the platform, creating a large crater. Flames surged outward, igniting the nearby railings and sending the audience into a panic.

"Run! Get out of here!"

"Move! I don't want to burn to death!" People shoved and scrambled to escape the suffocating heat that now permeated the arena. The air itself seemed to warp from the intense temperature.

Ace watched in shock. "Fire Fist?" he murmured, unable to believe what he'd just witnessed. Rebecca had unleashed a Fire Fist attack—an iconic move of the Mera-Mera Fruit, one he thought only he could wield.

He looked at Rebecca in astonishment. The strength behind that attack was tremendous, even enough to shock him.

Rebecca, equally stunned, stared at her fist in disbelief. Did she really just unleash that much power? She glanced down at the blazing arena, where Burgess lay in the flames, his condition unknown.

Suddenly, Shiryu appeared beside Burgess, pulling him out of the fire. Burgess's body was covered in severe burns, and had it not been for his Haki protecting him, that punch would have been fatal.

A gunshot echoed across the arena as Van Augur took aim and fired, the bullet piercing straight toward Rebecca's head. But as it struck, her head burst into flames, leaving her completely unharmed.

Van Augur's face twisted in disbelief. Elementalization? Was this really an artificial Devil Fruit? Could Chiba's creation actually mimic the true powers of the Mera-Mera Fruit?

Ace turned to Chiba, his expression a mix of awe and confusion. "This is the Devil Fruit you made? Chiba, how can she even use elementalization?"

Chiba chuckled. "Technically, it's not true elementalization. Her body simply turns into flames—it's… close enough."

"Close enough?" Ace muttered, unable to hide his amazement. Chiba, you really know how to downplay things, he thought. Watching Rebecca wield powers that seemed even greater than his own, he couldn't help but marvel at Chiba's achievement. This artificial Mera-Mera Fruit, with its Golden Crow form, didn't seem to have the same seawater weakness either, making it potentially even more powerful than the original.

In the arena, Rebecca turned her gaze to Van Augur, clenching her fist once more. Flames gathered around her hand, and with a swift motion, she punched forward.

In an instant, a massive flaming bird shot toward Van Augur.

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.