One Piece : Rise of Thunder King

You can read the advance chapters here : patreon.com/Vigilante04

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The sound of bells rang softly across the island.

The year 1521 of the World Timeline calendar has come to an end, and the year 1522 will mark the beginning of an extraordinary era.

This year, the young man wearing a straw hat from Windmill Village will set sail and pursue his dream with all his might.

And then there's Arthur, whose fate has drastically changed the course of this world and can't be easily altered! Unless, of course, Arthur kills Luffy.

Someone like him, unless he dies young, will always move forward toward his dream. With his incredible personality and charm, he'll undoubtedly gather a group of strong allies and cause major waves in this world.

This is why Arthur took Nami in so easily and didn't worry about Luffy's future journey.

The story, or the plot, can go on for Arthur. Having the ability to foresee the future is undoubtedly an advantage and Arthur's unique ability, but with his own strength and that of 02, the plot doesn't matter much. What really matters is that Luffy can sail out smoothly.

Arthur's plan requires Luffy to be part of the world, to stir up the ocean of this era, and for Arthur to reap the rewards of it.

People who play chess see more than just the pieces, and Luffy is, without a doubt, a great piece on the board.

As the bells rang, the world entered the year 1522 of the World Timeline calendar.

After returning from his trip to the New World, Arthur began his training.

There were ten giant mountain ranges in total, but now Arthur had started training on the fifth rock mountain.

Due to many things happening this year, Arthur adjusted his schedule slightly.

The remaining stone mountains were still flattened in three months, but the time was divided into three periods: three weeks of training each month and one week of rest. This schedule kept the same amount of rest time as before.

With this adjustment, Arthur could make better use of his rest time each month to take care of other matters.

After a day of intense training, Arthur was drenched in sweat. He took a cold shower and ate before heading to the place where the Devil Fruit animals were kept, with Nasugasira in tow.

It had been over half a month since the last experiment failed. During this time, Nojiko had trained hard, and now it was time to try again.

Bang~

With a light tap, the animal caught by the gravity suddenly bled from its eyes, ears, and nose, and its breath stopped.

"Black Hole Traction!" Nojiko muttered. Her slender hands turned pitch black, releasing a thick, dark mist that surrounded the animal's lifeless body. Her hand was positioned directly over its heart.

For each creature that has consumed a Devil Fruit, it takes about three to four minutes—maybe five at most—after its death for the Devil Fruit to start detaching from the original host's body. This means the hunting window lasts only a few minutes.

Three minutes later, Nojiko opened her eyes with disappointment. However, beneath that surface disappointment, there was a deeper sense of confidence growing within her.

Seeing this newfound confidence, Arthur raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit excited. Nojiko remained calm and composed, much more than the other women. This made her a reliable ally.

Though she seemed disappointed at first, her increased confidence showed that success might not be too far away.

'OhOh'

Suddenly, a creature began to scream in panic, and Arthur quickly captured it.

It was the same process as before. Another animal, which had eaten a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, died immediately.

"Black Hole Traction!"

Three minutes later, Nojiko opened her eyes, a bright smile on her face as she looked at Arthur. "Arthur, I think I did it!"

"Oh?" Arthur's eyes lit up. He was eager to see the result. "Really? Show me!"

"Yes!" Nojiko nodded, then whispered, "Release!"

A small black cloud appeared, and from it, a fruit dropped out.

As the fruit fell, Arthur saw that the banana, which had been placed inside earlier, had changed dramatically. It now had mysterious patterns all over it.

Arthur's heart raced with excitement as he held the fruit in his hand, which had been artificially stripped of its power and then restored. "It worked! Haha, great job, Nojiko!" Arthur cheered, picking her up and giving her a passionate kiss.

"Let's try again! Let's try again!" Arthur exclaimed, already grabbing an unsuspecting ape from the forest. With a swift motion, he forced a Devil Fruit into the ape's mouth.

"Oh~"

The monkey froze for a moment, then chewed on the fruit instinctively. As soon as the taste hit, it was so bad that even the monkey retched.

After eating the fruit, the ape's expression shifted, and soon it began to transform, mutating into a strange creature with two distinct features.

Bang~

Before the ape could react, Arthur swiftly killed it.

"Black Hole Traction!" Seeing the transformation, Nojiko immediately activated her ability.

However, this time, for some unknown reason, Nojiko failed.

Despite the failure, neither of them was discouraged. They quickly captured another animal that had eaten a Devil Fruit and let Nojiko continue her experiment.

"Success!"

"Another success!"

"Failed. I just missed it."

"Great! It's a success again!"

After many trials, all the animals that had consumed Devil Fruits were eventually killed by Arthur.

Given all the previous failures, they had lost five Devil Fruits, leaving only 16 animals with their powers intact.

After more experiments, four more attempts failed, leaving only twelve animals remaining.

At this point, Nojiko had fully mastered the ability to deprive Devil Fruits of their powers. Of the twelve Devil Fruits, only nine remained.

"Shall we go together?" Nojiko asked after dinner, looking at Arthur.

"No, there's no need," Arthur replied. "I had someone secretly capture them earlier. Except for a few cases that require me to do it myself, the rest can be handled by others."

"It's only been a couple of days. If the Shadow Stream Legion handles it, there shouldn't be any surprises," Arthur continued, shaking his head. He didn't feel the need to personally go after the Devil Fruit powers being targeted.

However, next month, Arthur planned to go to the New World himself. There were several abilities he had been waiting for, and he would need to handle them personally if they proved to be significant.

Two days later, at night, Arthur stood by the door as it opened automatically.

Three sacks, clearly containing something, were placed at the door.

"Haha, it's already here..." Arthur smiled, seeing the arrival.