As Doc Q's petrification was undone…
"Cough…"
The sickly man clutched his gaunt chest and let out a wracking cough, looking as if he were on his last breath and about to collapse at any moment.
"Captain!"
After catching his breath, the first thing Doc Q saw was Blackbeard kneeling nearby, and he cried out in alarm. Then, he looked up and saw Ryuuto and the others staring at him coldly. His heart seized. He raised his right hand, intending to attack with the power of his Sick-Sick Fruit.
Blackbeard looked at Doc Q and shook his head frantically the very instant he saw his crewmate preparing to attack. He was trying to signal him to give up resistance, just as he had.
Snikt.
But before Doc Q could even lower his hand, a flash of black light streaked through the air.
Yukibashiri sliced cleanly across Doc Q's neck.
In an instant, blood erupted like a fountain, spraying everywhere.
Watching this, Blackbeard's pupils contracted, and his heart began to pound in his chest. The sight filled him with a mixture of shock and terror. It was only now that he truly understood how ruthless and decisive Ryuuto was. Any thought he had of escaping immediately withered.
"It almost got on me!" Nami leaped back, dodging the splattering crimson liquid.
Hancock, on the other hand, handled it with far more grace. A wave of air surged in front of her, blocking the shower of blood completely.
"Hurry up! Extract his fruit's power into this apple," Ryuuto commanded, his eyes fixed on Blackbeard, his tone icy. "You know what will happen if you fail."
The apple in question was one Ryuuto had picked up from the ground, likely the single normal apple from the basket of poisoned ones Doc Q had been tossing around earlier. In a way, the world had come full circle. Doc Q could never have imagined that his own apple would ultimately be used on him. A fitting way to recycle, perhaps.
"Captain…" Doc Q gargled, clutching his throat as he stared at Blackbeard. His voice was a hoarse whisper that grew fainter with each passing moment, a testament to his fading life force.
Blackbeard was shaken to his core, but his hands moved without hesitation. He gripped the apple, pulled a large black cloth from somewhere, and draped it over Doc Q's body. Then, he ducked underneath it himself.
This was a function of Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit. It allowed him to extract another user's Devil Fruit power, but it had to be done within a very short window—roughly five seconds after their death.
The process was precise: Blackbeard would place his hands on the target at the brink of death. Using his Dark-Dark Fruit as a medium, he would then use the power of darkness to pull the Devil Fruit's essence out, which would manifest as a black, misty substance. Next, he would guide this black mist into a nearby fruit, causing it to transform into a new Devil Fruit.
The entire procedure required immense concentration and could not be disturbed by outside forces. This was why Teach always used a black cloth to shield himself from any interference. Of course, the process also exploited a fundamental property of Devil Fruits: upon the user's death, their power reincarnates randomly into a nearby fruit. Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit simply allowed him to control that process. This was also why the operation had to be performed within five seconds of death.
This was not the first time Blackbeard had extracted a Devil Fruit power. They had already conducted many experiments before. The exact number of Devil Fruit users who had died at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates was unknown, but the last successful case had been Van Augur's Warp-Warp Fruit.
Under the black cloth, Blackbeard watched Doc Q die, then pressed his hands onto his body. He carefully controlled the black mist, guiding it toward the apple in his hand. As the mist vanished into it, the apple began to change…
"Blegh!"
Exhausted from the immense mental strain, Blackbeard spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed weakly to the ground. But he had succeeded.
As the cloth was thrown aside, Blackbeard appeared, holding a deep purple Devil Fruit. The fruit was about fifteen centimeters in diameter and round, its surface covered in spiraling arabesque patterns. Its deep purple skin was dotted with scattered green spots, making it look as if it were on the verge of decay. The stem on top was withered and twisted, and its leaves were a sickly brownish-yellow with scorched, curled edges.
"It really worked! Is that the Sick-Sick Fruit?" Nami exclaimed in surprise, staring at the deep purple Devil Fruit.
Hancock's beautiful eyes also widened in curiosity. It was clearly the first time she had ever witnessed a Devil Fruit being recreated in such a manner.
"Ryuuto, catch! Here's the fruit. I did it!" Blackbeard said weakly, clutching his chest as he tossed the fruit to Ryuuto with his other hand.
Ryuuto caught it effortlessly. "Looks like I won't have the chance to kill you after all," he said, looking at Blackbeard. "You've really surprised me."
Hearing those words, a wave of fear washed over Blackbeard. He was certain that if he had failed to extract the Sick-Sick Fruit, he would now be another corpse at Ryuuto's feet.
Looking at the fruit in his hand, Ryuuto felt a deep sense of satisfaction. If he could extract Devil Fruit powers… then all his future plans were now possible.
Who says the Dark-Dark Fruit is bad? This thing is absolutely amazing! he thought to himself. Gazing at his new tool, Blackbeard, Ryuuto almost felt the man looked handsome.
"Well done," Ryuuto said, noticing Blackbeard staring at him with desperate hope. "You've earned the right to live."
At this, the tension in Blackbeard's body finally eased. He let out a heavy breath, a look of profound relief on his face.
"Ryuuto, let me see the Sick-Sick Fruit!" Nami sidled up to him, examining the Devil Fruit closely. "This is incredible! A Devil Fruit just reappeared out of thin air!"
"Hahahaha! This world is far more wondrous than you can imagine!" Ryuuto laughed, tossing the Sick-Sick Fruit to Nami.
Meanwhile, Blackbeard's gaze was fixed on Ryuuto, the gears turning in his cunning mind. Just you wait until I get an opportunity. When I do, I'll kill you and take your Devil Fruit power for myself!
Having been defeated by Ryuuto, Blackbeard had witnessed the incredible power of his "Thunder Arts." This led him to mistakenly believe that Ryuuto possessed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. In his mind, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit now ranked second on his must-have list. As for first place, that was reserved for the one he had always coveted: the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Ryuuto, on the other hand, was already contemplating how to turn Blackbeard into his exclusive tool. He's badly injured now, so he can't escape. But that might not be the case later, Ryuuto mused. If only I had some Seastone.
To him, Seastone was the most effective weapon against any Devil Fruit user.