One Piece : Rise of Thunder King

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

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"This is... Sky Island?" Capone Bege slowly opened his eyes after being unconscious and saw the view outside the window.

He realized he was very high up, surrounded by white clouds. There was no sound of the sea or the usual salty sea breeze.

As a sharp-minded person, Capone Bege immediately understood where he was.

He shifted slightly and frowned as he looked at his hands, noticing shackles unlike Marine handcuffs. "This is... Seastone?"

Capone Bege's expression darkened. It was clear that his situation was dire.

He wasn't sure what King Arthur—a young powerhouse who could rival the man Bege admired most—wanted with him. Still, he could feel the danger he was in.

This time... it looks like I'm done for, he thought, glancing around. There didn't seem to be any chance of escape. "Damn it! What does he want? My Devil Fruit ability? Even if I don't want to, I'd have no choice but to obey!"

Frustrated and angry, Capone Bege felt a wave of despair.

Creak...

The door to the room opened, and Arthur entered, walking beside Nojiko, who had a calm yet intimidating presence.

Seeing Arthur, Capone Bege refused to give up and spoke quickly, "King Arthur, what do you want? My Devil Fruit ability? I'm willing to follow you! I'll never betray you!"

Arthur shook his head and replied coldly, "I need your Devil Fruit ability, but I don't need you."

Hearing this, Capone Bege's heart sank. He couldn't understand Arthur's logic, but his desperation grew. "What do you mean by that?!" he shouted, his voice trembling.

Arthur pointed at Nojiko and explained, "Let me make it clear. She's one of my wives and a Dark-Dark Fruit user. Her ability allows her to strip Devil Fruit powers from their users and transfer them to another fruit."

Capone Bege's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Strip Devil Fruit powers?! Are you hunting for abilities?" he asked, his face pale.

"Exactly," Arthur replied as he walked closer.

Capone Bege lowered his head in defeat. "It seems... there's no way I'm getting out of this alive," he muttered, closing his eyes.

"Black Hole Pull!" Nojiko's voice rang out softly, as black smoke filled the air.

Moments later, a grayish fruit with intricate patterns, resembling a window and door, appeared in Arthur's hand.

"Finally, I've got it!" Arthur exhaled in relief, then turned to Nojiko. "Thanks for your help. I'm heading to the moon now. When I return, we'll go to Alabasta together."

"Alright! I'll wait for you to come back." Nojiko said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Whoosh!

As soon as Nojiko finished speaking, Arthur vanished from the room. At the same time, Capone Bege's body disappeared as well.

A few hours later, on the moon, inside Tom laboratory…

"Is this the Castle-Castle Fruit?" Tom asked as he inspected the fruit in his hand.

It had been quite some time since Arthur had instructed him and Morse Eddie to create a special ring.

The two of them—a brilliant scientist duo—had completed the ring long ago. Morse Eddie, a leading expert in AI and electronic machinery, had even consumed a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit with incredible potential.

This fruit allowed Morse Eddie to magnify the tiniest materials hundreds of times, making it possible to create highly advanced electronic components. Thanks to his ability, the pair had developed a high-tech ring that could be completely controlled by Arthur's thoughts.

However, at the time, Nojiko's mastery of her Dark-Dark Fruit powers wasn't sufficient to extract Devil Fruit abilities, so the project had been put on hold.

Recently, Arthur decided it was time to resolve this matter once and for all, to avoid any delays or complications.

"Shall we start now?" Tom asked, looking at Arthur.

"Yes, let's begin. I've been waiting for this moment," Arthur replied, nodding firmly.

The machine used to merge Devil Fruit powers with inanimate objects was a futuristic-looking device made of glass, metal frames, and seastone-infused materials.

Tom carefully placed the black, high-tech ring onto the Castle-Castle Fruit and then secured it inside the device.

He powered up the machine, and the interior began to glow. Before long, the fruit visibly started to wither and shrink.

The device's process explained:

The principle of the machine was relatively straightforward:

The target object (like the ring) and the Devil Fruit were placed inside a specially designed box. The box, lined with seastone-infused materials, prevented the Devil Fruit's power from escaping or attaching to another fruit. A special light, which targeted the bloodline elements within the fruit, destroyed the fruit's physical form. Once destroyed, the fruit's ability would attempt to attach to another fruit. However, thanks to the seastone lining, this couldn't happen. The light then forced the fruit's power to bind directly to the non-living object—in this case, the ring.

Click!

The glowing light faded, and Tom opened the box. He carefully removed the ring and handed it to Arthur.

"It's done," Tom said with a grin.

Arthur took the ring, staring at it for a moment in awe. "That's it? It's really ready?"

"Go ahead!" Tom affirmed confidently.

"Are you sure about this?" Arthur asked, expecting something much more advanced or elaborate than what he was seeing.

"Absolutely," Tom replied, nodding. "This ring has already been set up with a master recognition system. Your DNA and other identifiers are programmed into it. You're the sole authorized user, although you can grant access to others if you choose."

"Alright," Arthur said with a nod, feeling a bit nervous as he slipped the ring onto his finger.

He couldn't help but think about the risks. If this experiment failed, finding another Castle-Castle Fruit might be nearly impossible. While there was a chance it could reappear on the moon, it could just as easily be reborn millions of miles away on another planet, like the Red Ring Planet.

Once the ring was on, Arthur channeled a small current of electricity into it. The ring immediately activated, and Arthur received a message directly from its built-in AI.

"Hello, Master. I am Space One, at your service. To use any functions, simply control the ring with your brainwaves. Space One will assist you for seamless operation."

"Huh?" Arthur was genuinely surprised at how advanced the AI was.

The ring's AI was highly intelligent. Though it lacked emotions, it operated as smoothly as a human—perhaps even better. Wearing the ring, Arthur could instantly sense the messages it was transmitting in the form of radio waves, as if the device were directly connected to his mind.

Even better, Arthur realized he could control the ring remotely using just his brainwaves, no matter where he was.

Focusing his thoughts, Arthur activated the ring's Castle-Castle Fruit powers. Immediately, tiny holes appeared on its surface.

If anyone looked closely, they would notice the holes resembled miniature doors and windows. Among them, one door was significantly larger than the others.

Arthur concentrated and manipulated the ring's abilities. He moved a nearby object toward the ring, watching as the object shrank smaller and smaller, eventually becoming almost invisible before entering the ring through one of its doors.

"This is incredible!" Arthur exclaimed. Using the ring felt almost as natural as using his own powers. The slight lag was barely noticeable.

Arthur realized that with more practice, the ring would feel like an extension of himself. He could even use it to develop the Castle-Castle Fruit further.

Testing the ring's space-manipulating ability, Arthur discovered that the internal space wasn't very large yet—about the size of a small castle.

However, he knew the Castle-Castle Fruit had immense potential. With further development, the space could grow significantly larger, befitting the grand scale of European-style castles that inspired its design.

Using his knowledge of electromagnetic fields, Arthur sent waves through the ring's door to explore the internal space.

"Not bad! This space is about 30 meters long, wide, and high—roughly 3,000 cubic meters," Arthur noted, clearly impressed. While not massive, it was enough to store a substantial amount of items.

And this was just the beginning. The Castle-Castle Fruit's potential within the ring was vast.

Satisfied with his exploration, Arthur activated the ring's abilities again. In an instant, he disappeared, leaving only the ring floating in the air.