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The ability to manipulate all kinds of diseases was the core ability of this fruit.
But the prerequisite for using this ability was that the user themselves must understand the principles of the disease.
For a doctor, this was a powerful fruit ability comparable to the Op-Op Fruit.
Looking at the fruit in his hand, Merlin pondered for a moment, then with a thought, placed it into the equipment slot.
As Merlin equipped it, looking at the equipment description in the slot, the Sick-Sick Fruit granted the user an instinct, or characteristic, to analyze the composition of diseases.
"This characteristic can be considered a completion for my Calamity ability."
After all, for Merlin to absorb calamities, he needed to confront them with black flames and understand them himself. The Sick-Sick Fruit, however, granted a talent instinct similar to innate knowledge.
Seeing that his three currently unbound equipment slots were filled again—Sick-Sick Fruit, Megalodon Fruit, Corpse of Oars—a smile curled up on Merlin's lips.
Then, glancing at the treasure in the vault, his shadow spread out like a curtain, wrapping up all these items.
Shortly after, Merlin returned to the shore.
He placed these treasures in the storage room on Fulvio's ship.
On the deck.
Merlin looked at Fulvio with a smile, and the latter, seeing him, also smiled. "Only the Flevance royal family is left, and you can put a period on that past."
Merlin nodded and smiled. "Let's talk. Tell me about your interesting experiences during this time."
Fulvio winked and laughed. "Big boss coming to inspect the work?"
As his voice fell, Fulvio's expression turned serious, and he began to recount how he had conducted intelligence work during this period.
He knew Merlin had many ideas, so there were many things he needed to communicate with Merlin.
Ever since obtaining the treasures Merlin got from the nobles of those three countries...
While exchanging those treasures at the gold exchange, Fulvio scattered money in various prosperous port towns to bribe people of different identities across all social strata.
From nobles at the top.
To chambers of commerce and gang management in the middle.
Down to street thugs and beggars at the bottom.
He even found a group of trustworthy personnel from his own dojo to serve as grassroots cadres, spreading them out across various towns.
Over these six months or so, this work had begun to show initial results.
"Did Mond come over too?"
Merlin felt a bit nostalgic. That guy who brought him into the dojo back then was now his underling.
Fulvio laughed. "When that kid Mond heard it was your faction, he agreed to join without a second thought.
"Under my arrangement just now, that kid has already gone to the port city closest to Reverse Mountain to stand by."
Hearing this, Merlin raised an eyebrow slightly. Is your efficiency this high? The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Merlin looked at Fulvio, a gleam flashing in his eyes. "Observation Haki has awakened."
Fulvio raised an eyebrow. "You noticed?"
"Mmh, feels like you're not very proficient with it."
Merlin smiled.
Fulvio nodded gloomily. "I just mastered it a month ago. Been quite busy lately, didn't really train it much."
Hearing this, Merlin laughed. "Recently I learned an interesting technique. I'll teach you."
"What?"
A moment later, on the beach.
Fulvio lay on the ground, bruised and swollen, his chest heaving heavily, looking like he wanted to cry but had no tears. "Holy crap, the interesting technique you mentioned was Rokushiki?"
Saying this, he rolled over and sat up, looking at Merlin with burning eyes. "My sister showed off to me several times. How did you learn it?"
Merlin smiled. "That's not important. You just need to learn it first."
Fulvio nodded helplessly.
Early the next morning.
Merlin and Fulvio parted ways.
Two large ships went their separate ways.
Half a day later, in the waters around Volgala.
Tsuru's warship sailed towards this direction. Gion leaned against the railing, arms crossed supporting her ample bosom, looking very dissatisfied. "Headquarters is sick in the head. What do they take us for? Chasing Doflamingo one moment, then chasing that bastard Merlin the next.
"If it doesn't work, then call a few more Shichibukai over."
Regarding Merlin's sudden return, Tsuru also had a headache at this moment. She clearly saw Merlin heading towards another sea area direction before. How did he suddenly come here? And in a blink, something big happened to the nobles in the Volgala Kingdom.
"Crocodile is already preparing to leave. The only ones who can come over now are the Lizard King Hafnaz and the rookie Shichibukai, Hawkeye Mihawk.
"The reason they haven't come is also fear of potential losses again. If another one or two Shichibukai die, then this system will become a joke."
As Tsuru finished speaking, Gion was also speechless. "A bunch of sea trash, if they die, they die. There's plenty of nothing else on the sea, but aren't pirates a dime a dozen?
"Didn't I hear that there are quite a few pirates recently who want to become Shichibukai?
"If you ask me, just find someone to contact those bastards roaming in Paradise. Let them come to the North Blue. Whoever kills that bastard Merlin or Doflamingo gets a Shichibukai position directly, wouldn't that work?
"Like Catarina Devon, Sanjuan Wolf, Vasco Shot, Avalo Pizarro... wouldn't they do?
"Even those pirates who aren't doing well in the New World, we can give them a chance too."
Tsuru's gaze deepened. It couldn't be called a good idea, but it couldn't be called a rotten one either.
The ones Gion mentioned were all cruel, lawless bastards. They had one thing in common: they all wanted to become Shichibukai, but their strength was just a bit lacking.
"It's not impossible. We can call Hawkeye and the others over too. With three official Shichibukai supervising with us, presumably no big chaos will occur.
"Moreover, this group of strong dragons entering the North Blue will inevitably trigger a backlash from some deep-rooted gray forces in the North Blue.
"At that time, it wouldn't be bad for us to take the opportunity to purge the pirates in the North Blue.
"When they fight to the death for the bait we threw out, we can save a lot of energy.
"Perhaps we can even build the North Blue into a second East Blue symbolizing peace.
"Killing several birds with one stone."
Gion proposed the idea, and Tsuru's clever brain spun rapidly. Soon, several good plans were thought up.
Immediately after, via Den Den Mushi, reporting to Fleet Admiral Kong at Headquarters.
And after the Fleet Admiral communicated with the Five Elders.
A plan was released.
"The Snipe and the Clam" (referring to the idiom "when the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits")
A few days later, a World Economy News Paper spread across the entire sea.
"Gecko Moria — The Shame of the Shichibukai!!!"
The front page content that caught the eye was a large black-and-white portrait of Moria smiling.
The photo, frankly, looked quite stupidly cute.
And the content column below was published in the form of a dialogue.
A reporter interviewed at Marine Headquarters. The Fleet Admiral made a statement, expressing—
Regret over the death of Moria, one of the Shichibukai under the World Government jurisdiction.
So a very "smart" reporter asked: "Since you all serve the government, your colleague died, aren't you going to make some expression?"
And the meaning in the Fleet Admiral's words was: "Although we are under the same banner, our duties are completely different..."
And the subsequent dialogue was even more interesting.
Following the reporter's inquiry, the Fleet Admiral hinted with rhetorical skills without batting an eyelid.
Since a Shichibukai died, it meant a vacancy opened up.
Now, whoever can kill that White Demon who killed Moria has a greater possibility of becoming a Shichibukai candidate.
The subsequent newspaper section featured Merlin's full name and photo, stating he was currently in the North Blue.
Moreover, Merlin's bounty jumped instantly to 180 million Berries.
Thus, on this sea currently in an uproar over Fisher Tiger, a strange undercurrent appeared.
Many powerful pirates who were previously fighting to enter Fish-Man Island and head straight for the New World suddenly and eerily turned around.
Of course, to prevent some illiterate pirates from missing the hint, at the World Government's signal, CP agents were sent to specifically find those "promising" pirates and explain a thing or two.
Naturally, some suspected it was a trap, but there were always some reckless fools who thought they were number one in the world and went for it fearlessly.
On this day, Merlin looked at the newspaper with a subtle gaze, his mouth twitching. "My first time in the paper, and it's in this form?
"Which big genius came up with this sinister plot to screw me?"
Beside him, Monet leaned her head over to read the newspaper, hesitation flashing in her eyes. "Could it be Tsuru? Isn't she the Great Staff Officer of the Marines?
"We just finished dealing with Volgala, and a few days later this happened?"
"Seems like nine out of ten it's her!"
A thoughtful look flashed in Merlin's eyes.
Meanwhile, in another sea area, on Tsuru's warship, nose tickled by the cold wind, Achoo~
Gion suddenly sneezed, rubbed her nose, and looked at Tsuru beside her. "Sister Tsuru, the plan seems to be successful, but we can't let those pirates from the Grand Line run wild."
"With three Shichibukai maintaining order here with us, we'll send those who don't follow the rules out of the game early."
"It's also a good opportunity to clean up the North Blue properly."
Gion nodded.
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
Pirates from the Grand Line poured into the North Blue, inevitably causing a certain impact on various aspects of the North Blue.
Some came for wealth and fought fiercely with various forces in the North Blue.
However, after the three Shichibukai entered the fray, some unruly pirates were sunk into the sea one after another. Tsuru and her Marines retreated behind the scenes, focusing on cleaning up those local North Blue pirate forces.
Sitting firmly on the fishing platform (watching safely from the sidelines).
For a time.
The three Shichibukai showed their might on the North Blue sea, their fame soaring.
Newspapers didn't repeat stories every day.
Today, the Sand Crocodile's desertification wiped out a certain Grand Line pirate crew.
Tomorrow, Hawkeye's sword split a vicious pirate fleet.
The day after tomorrow, the Lizard King transformed into an ancient beast and punched through three pirate ships.
For a time, the local pirates in the North Blue could only tuck their tails between their legs.
Meanwhile, those cunning great pirates still watching from Paradise, seeing that Marine Headquarters didn't besiege those pirates as they expected, felt restless in their hearts and could no longer hold back.
Consequently, in the following two months, these great pirates, worthy of being Shichibukai candidates, also entered the North Blue successively.
With their arrival, the North Blue paradoxically became quiet for a time.
A feeling of calm seas.
Early morning.
Getting up from bed.
Merlin glanced at the time.
6:30 AM.
Then glanced at the Sea Circle Calendar.
December 4th, year 1527.
He came to the window.
Crystal clear snowflakes were falling from the sky.
Merlin was sure this wasn't a prank by Monet, simply because it was winter now.
Currently, Merlin's ship was docked in a natural harbor on an uninhabited island east of Minion Island.
They hadn't encountered any other pirates coming over for several days.
Merlin's intelligence system had shown initial advantages over these four months. As long as those marked powerful pirates entered or left prosperous port towns, Merlin could always get firsthand accurate intelligence.
Plus, Merlin sometimes covered the entire ship with "Transparency" at sea, creating a mass invisibility effect. The whole ship was like a ghost, coming and going without a trace.
During this period, they also invisibly appeared around Swallow Island from time to time to clean up those powerful pirates who accidentally went there.
After that, it was time for Fulvio to appear. Merlin solved the problem, and he took the heads to exchange for bounties.
The two cooperated.
One handled the killing.
One handled the bounty.
At this moment, the equipment slot appeared before his eyes.
Merlin looked at the three currently unbound equipment in the slots.
Oars' Corpse with 68% synchronization rate.
Megalodon Fruit with 40% synchronization rate.
And finally, the Water Bear (Tardigrade) captured via the equipment slot after removing the Sick-Sick Fruit and finding a new equipment, with its synchronization rate already reaching 22%.
When the Sick-Sick Fruit reached 25% synchronization rate, an unexpected yet reasonable change occurred, so Merlin took it off afterward.
Later, in a wetland on an uninhabited island, Merlin grabbed mud and equipped continuously. Finally, without spending much time, he captured an adult male Water Bear through the equipment slot.
With a turn of thought, Merlin looked at the information bar, looking at the special specialties he had obtained over these four months.
[Calamity Control]: Disaster and suffering accompany you; pitch-black flames smooth away all calamities of body and mind for you. Calamity governs disease; your Calamity has obtained the characteristic of analyzing disease composition.
When the Sick-Sick Fruit reached 25% synchronization rate, at the moment that innate specialty was about to manifest, under another innate prompt, Merlin followed it. Thus, Calamity naturally governed disease.
[Ancient Giant]: Your body undergoes a marvelous change. As your size increases, your strength will grow accordingly. At the same time, your muscle and bone strength will also increase.
When Oars' synchronization rate reached 25%, the specialty that appeared was this [Ancient Giant]. However, the specialty effect was only size increase and strength growth. But when the synchronization rate reached 50%, the specialty transformed, adding muscle and bone strength increase.
Looking at this specialty, Merlin had nothing but speechlessness in his eyes. This was a trash specialty because Merlin was just an ordinary human, not a giant. Even if the hidden benefit of this specialty allowed his size to break through human limits and grow, it was still not very useful.
After all, Merlin didn't want to grow to a height of seven, eight, nine meters or more in the future.
However, Merlin's Shadow Control specialty became a dedicated key to unlocking this giant power.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but find it funny, and couldn't help but thank Moria again in his heart.
What a great person, traveling thousands of miles to deliver a kill!