"Gurarararara! Ron, don’t tell me you’ve developed a Devil Fruit with a one hundred percent success rate?"
Whitebeard spoke half-jokingly.
Even he didn’t believe it himself.
If such a thing really existed, he’d turn around and head straight for Wano Country to settle things with Kaido.
After all, the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon wasn’t weak in the slightest.
His sons deserved powers of that level too.
The moment everyone heard Whitebeard’s words, their eyes turned green with anticipation.
They stared at Ron like a pack of starving wolves.
Their expressions practically screamed:
Ron! Tell us it’s true!
Please tell us it’s true!
"Hahaha!"
Ron couldn’t help laughing at their reactions.
He stopped teasing them and got straight to the point.
"Close enough."
"The new technology is called Devil Fruit Replication Technology."
"And yes."
"The success rate is indeed one hundred percent."
His voice wasn’t loud.
Yet every word struck the crowd like a thunderbolt.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The revelation exploded in their minds.
Everyone stared at Ron as though they had seen a ghost.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Awe.
For a moment, some of them even forgot to breathe.
The atmosphere froze.
Even Whitebeard was stunned.
His sharp eyes widened dramatically.
The alcohol he had just swallowed went down the wrong pipe, causing him to spray half of it out.
He immediately began coughing violently.
For a brief moment, he looked as though he’d reverted to the condition he was in before receiving his enchantments.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Ron... brat..."
"You mean that’s... actually true?!"
Ron nodded once again.
This time, Whitebeard finally believed him.
"Gurarararara!"
"You really are the lucky star of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"This era is destined to belong to us!"
"No..."
"More accurately, it’s destined to belong to Ron!"
The crew completely lost their composure.
The impact of this news was simply too overwhelming.
After standing frozen for several moments, they erupted into excited shouting.
"My God!"
"If the success rate is really one hundred percent, then creating a Devil Fruit only costs a one billion Berries ! !"
"Idiot, that’s not Enchantment Technology."
"It’s Devil Fruit Replication Technology. They’re obviously different."
"Who cares what it’s called? That’s absolutely insane!"
"Vice Captain Ron! I’ll volunteer as the first test subject!"
"Please experiment on me as much as you want!"
"Get lost!"
"I could hear your ulterior motives all the way from the Red Line!"
"Hahaha!"
"This means all of us can use Pops’ abilities!"
"That’s ridiculous!"
The entire room exploded with excitement.
Some people looked ready to jump straight through the ceiling.
Just as things were about to descend into complete chaos—
Ron raised a hand.
Instantly, the room quieted.
The simple gesture carried an authority that made everyone focus on him once more.
"Devil Fruit Replication Technology and Devil Fruit Enchantment Technology are fundamentally different."
"You already know the success rate."
"The difference between them is straightforward."
"Enchantment allows a Devil Fruit User to gain additional powers."
"Replication copies one person’s Devil Fruit ability and gives it to someone else."
"However..."
"The person who eats a replicated Devil Fruit loses their original Devil Fruit power."
"The replicated ability replaces it."
Ron scratched his head.
Even he felt the explanation was getting a little convoluted.
"To put it simply—"
"If you eat a replicated Devil Fruit, your original Devil Fruit ability will be overwritten."
Then he added:
"Of course, if you don’t already have a Devil Fruit power, you’ll simply gain the replicated ability."
Ace frowned slightly.
"Ron, what about abilities gained through enchantment?"
"Would those disappear too?"
"No."
Ron shook his head.
"Replication only replaces the user’s original Devil Fruit ability."
"Take you as an example."
"You currently possess the Flame-Flame Fruit plus the powers of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix gained through enchantment."
"If you were to eat a replicated Tremor-Tremor Fruit..."
"Your Flame-Flame Fruit would be replaced."
"But your Phoenix Powers would remain."
"In the end, you’d have the Tremor-Tremor Fruit plus Phoenix Powers."
Ace nodded.
His concerns immediately disappeared.
Marco casually walked over and patted Ace’s shoulder.
"Ace, stop hesitating."
"Just replace that Flame-Flame Fruit already."
"Maybe then you’ll finally beat me next time."
"Hmph!"
Ace instantly looked annoyed.
"I only lost yesterday because I underestimated you."
"I won’t lose next time."
His stubborn expression made it obvious that he was still upset about the previous day’s defeat.
"Sure, sure."
Marco grinned.
"We’ll fight again sometime."
He understood Ace’s personality.
Once Ace made up his mind, nobody could easily change it.
Still, Marco secretly sighed.
The Flame-Flame Fruit had accompanied Ace for years.
Asking him to abandon it wasn’t an easy decision.
Emotional attachment couldn’t be discarded overnight.
Even so...
Thinking back to their battle yesterday, Marco Felt excited.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit’s power had been absurd.
Ace’s Fire Fist had been shattered by a vibration wave before it could even reach its target.
The flames had simply dispersed into nothingness.
The gap in power had been astonishing.
Ron watched the two of them and immediately understood what had happened.
He didn’t even need to see the fight.
Ace had definitely lost.
However, what interested Ron more was whether Ace would eventually choose to replace the Flame-Flame Fruit with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit or some other ability.
Still, that wasn’t the priority right now.
Money was.
As long as Ace had Phoenix Powers, he wouldn’t die easily.
The rest could wait.
"Alright."
"That’s all I have to say."
"I hope everyone continues growing stronger."
"Hahaha! Thank you, Vice Captain Ron!"
"Long live Ron!"
"Long live the Vice Captain!"
"Vice Captain Ron is the best!"
Two and a half days later—
A piece of news exploded across Jaya like a bolt of lightning.
There was finally information regarding the Heavenly Tribute!
The entire island was instantly thrown into excitement.
"Pops!"
"This time I absolutely have to be the vanguard!"
Jozu declared loudly.
His voice was filled with determination and anticipation.