"As expected, it still not working..."
A few days later, Sherwin looked at the two Felyne-made Devil Fruits before him. Their colors differed slightly, but their shapes and patterns were both coiled apples.
He clicked his tongue in regret, noting that while the Hunter Manual had recorded them in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, it hadn't granted a single shard.
Although the Felyne-made Devil Fruit replicated from the Giraffe Fruit hadn't yielded shards before, that was only a common Zoan. The Mythical Type Sakura Dragon Fruit eaten by Kaido Meow had properly provided a shard.
Of these two fruits, one was a replica of the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Type, Model: Yamata no Orochi, while the other was a subspecies of the Okami Fruit replicated using yamato Lineage Factor.
Ultimately, these two replicas of Mythical fruits, which Sherwin had high hopes for, failed to provide even a single Summoning Voucher shard...
This broken manual is as stingy as ever!
"Is this the Artificial Devil Fruit you mentioned before? It looks completely different from the one I ate."
yamato looked at the two coiled apples with curiosity, speaking thoughtfully: "Say, what would happen if I ate another artificial Okami Fruit?"
"Eh?"
Sherwin was startled by yamato sudden idea.
That right! One cannot eat two Devil Fruits. From a mystical perspective, the "demonic will" residing within the fruits would fight each other from a scientific perspective, it is a conflict between genes—or rather, Lineage Factors.
However, as for "demonic will," there is a high probability that these replicas don't have any. Haibara Meow believed the primary reason Felyne-made Zoan fruits cannot grant life to inanimate objects is likely due to the absence of that so-called "demonic will."
As for the conflict of Lineage Factors, there was even less to worry about... the replicated Devil Fruit was made using yamato own Lineage Factor to begin with, so how could it cause a conflict?
Still, these were just Sherwin speculations. A more professional assessment was required.
Thus, Sherwin turned his gaze toward Haibara Meow.
"Well, that is a very interesting subject, meow."
(=ˇˇ=)
Haibara Meow rested her chin in her paw, nodding her small head thoughtfully, clearly interested in Yamato proposal.
"However, there are still risks involved. I should wait until I've experimented on Lulu first, meow."
Since she was attempting to create man-made (Felyne-made) Devil Fruits, Jinx had fed the Giraffe-Giraffe Fruit to a male shark kept in the aquarium aboard the Dodo Advance, later extracting the lineage factor from it for replication.
As for this shark that could transform into a giraffe, Sherwin had mischievously named it after a VTB he had seen in his previous life...
In truth, Sherwin had wanted to find a muntjac, but firstly, the kitten in her research state couldn't wait, and secondly, the unique geography of the One Piece world made finding marine life much easier than finding land animals.
Moreover, the land animals in this world were all sorts of abnormal finding an ordinary muntjac was perhaps no easier than finding a famous blade.
Because eating a Devil Fruit causes one to lose all strength upon contact with seawater, even a marine creature like a shark was no exception.
However, like a Fish-man who had eaten a Devil Fruit, it wouldn't drown. Consequently, this shark basically spent its days paralyzed in the aquarium, eating and sleeping.
Even when Haibara Meow sensed something was wrong and dragged it out for exercise, the creature would just transform into a giraffe and lie like a corpse on the deck. By now, it had grown as round as a ball...
Had he known, he would have named it O'Neal.
Even though Lulu had been raised into a useless fish, it was still an experimental animal they had kept for a long time.
Therefore, Haibara Meow did not immediately feed the Giraffe Fruit sub-species to it. Instead, she took it into the laboratory to begin various tests, doing her best to prevent it from exploding upon consuming a second Devil Fruit.
Ignoring Haibara Meow as she dove back into the lab, Sherwin turned his attention back to the two Felyne-made Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits.
Until the kitten experiments yielded concrete results, the Great Holy Wolf Fruit sub-species had to be set aside.
However, the Yamata no Orochi Fruit could be given to the other Felynes, and Sherwin already had a choice in mind—
"Touma, are you interested in the Yamata no Orochi Fruit?"
Sherwin beckoned, calling the unlucky little cow-patterned Felyne over. "While it doesn't grant immunity to most physical damage like a Logia type, it offers incredible defensive power. Most importantly—it gives you eight lives."
This had been verified by Klee Meow flames Orochi main body wasn't reduced to ash until all his other heads had been burned away. This trait was actually quite suitable for a little unlucky soul like Touma Meow.
One thing Sherwin didn't mention was that the original Touma Kamijou had an ability called "Dragon Strike" within his body, which could also summon eight dragons. In that sense, the compatibility between the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit and Touma Meow was quite high.
After listening to Sherwin general description of the fruit, Touma Meow began to think it over seriously...
Since he was constantly falling into the water due to his misfortune, he didn't dislike bathing like Huamei and the others instead, he had developed quite a strong swimming ability.
Therefore, a Logia type wasn't exactly a "must-have" for him. His actual needs were survival and damage reduction.
From that perspective, the effects of the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit were no worse than a Logia, and Zoan types provided an additional bonus to recovery speed.
Given how difficult Logia fruits were to obtain, choosing this fruit that granted seven extra lives seemed like the more stable option.
"Sherwin, if Touma eats this fruit, will he turn into an ugly snake with eight heads just like that big-headed guy Meow?"
(=ω=)
Just as Touma Meow was about to agree, Klee Meow suddenly tugged on Sherwin ear and asked curiously.
"...U-Ugly snake?"
∑(=ΦДΦ=)
Touma Meow quickly swallowed the words he was about to say and looked at Sherwin with suspicion and uncertainty.
"Uh... actually, it might not necessarily become ugly." Sherwin scratched his head and offered an explanation,
"The beast form of a Zoan-type ability user is actually influenced by the user themselves. Orochi Kurozumi was ugly to begin with, so the Yamata no Orochi he transformed into was naturally ugly too."
"But... this fruit uses the Lineage Factor of that guy named Orochi Kurozumi, right? Can you be sure that the form I transform into won't be affected by him, meow?"
(ω)σ
The little cow cat remained unmoved, pointing a dead-fish eye at the Yamata no Orochi Fruit sub-species in accusation.
"I can't be sure."
Sherwin chose not to deceive him, shaking his head and answering honestly, "Although the cherry blossom dragon Kaido transforms into doesn't seem to be affected, he and the other Kaido were already very similar. Even if there was some influence, it wouldn't be very noticeable."
"Then..." Touma Meow sighed helplessly and pointed at himself, asking with great self-awareness, "Given my luck, do you think the possibility of being affected is high? Or is the possibility of not being affected high, meow?"
"That depends on your own choice." Sherwin shrugged and said indifferently, "Do you want looks, or do you want your life?"
"It hasn't reached such a serious level as losing my life, has it?" Touma Meow clearly still had a hurdle to clear in his mind, and he retorted with a dark expression, "Am I not still living just fine, meow?"
"That true, but it not pleasant to be constantly getting injured, is it? Your Armament Haki training has been stuck without much progress..." Sherwin kindly reminded him, "Moreover, with your luck, who knows how long we'll have to wait before we get the next Logia-type fruit."
This was also one of the main reasons Sherwin recommended that Touma Meow eat the Yamata no Orochi Fruit...
Heaven knows when they would obtain a new Logia fruit under the influence of this unlucky little guy.
In fact, Sherwin suspected that as soon as Touma Meow gained a fruit ability, it was very likely that a Logia or pseudo-Logia fruit would immediately appear before them.
Touma Meow: "..."
Lies don't hurt, but the truth is a sharp blade.
Sherwin final reason was simply too realistic and sufficient, instantly shattering Touma Meow defenses.
"D-damn it! I'll eat it, okay meow?!"
Touma Meow picked up the Yamata no Orochi Fruit subspecies, shaped like a ringed apple, with an air of self-abandonment and took a fierce bite.
"Blegh—! This tastes terrible! Such misfortune meow!"