Impel Down.
LV4, Blazing Hell.
"Woo... woo... woo..."
Amid wild laughter, two enormous red lions, one formed from blazing flames and the other from the boiling blood pool, rampaged through all of LV4, Blazing Hell. Wherever they passed, countless guards and jailers were swallowed and destroyed by the two massive beasts, letting out miserable screams.
"Ah...!"
"Help...!"
"Run...!"
And the man behind it all, Shiki the Golden Lion, was floating in midair with a huge chunk of roast meat in one hand and a large jar of wine in the other, enjoying himself without restraint.
During the past half a year in Impel Down, he had rarely been able to eat meat and drink wine so freely.
Although his body was still in its prime, those six months of imprisonment had drained much of his strength. So after leaving LV5, the Freezing Hell, the first thing he did was find the food storage room on LV4 and feast to his heart's content.
"Glug, glug, glug..."
Once he had finished the wine and eaten all the roast meat, Shiki finally felt a good deal of strength return to his body.
As for leaving Impel Down right away, that thought had never even crossed his mind.
He was the Golden Lion.
In fact, more than causing havoc in Impel Down, what he was truly looking forward to was the decisive battle fifteen days from now.
"Shihahahahaha, this is getting interesting..."
As for the possibility of losing, he had not considered it at all.
But before he could make a proper mess of things, there was still one important matter.
He had to find his two most trusted companions: Oto and Kogarashi.
As a great swordsman, how could he allow his beloved blades to stay away from him for too long?
When the prisoners in the surrounding cells saw this, they looked as though they had found their savior and shouted frantically.
"Shiki the Golden Lion! Save us too!"
"That's right! We can join you and become your subordinates!"
"We can help you escape from Impel Down!"
...
In an instant, Shiki's gaze swept downward. His eyes were filled with endless contempt as he looked at those small fries.
The prisoners broke out in cold sweat under Shiki's gaze. Before they could even react, scorching flames and the boiling blood pool surged into their cells, swallowing those small fries and drawing the same shrill screams from them.
Only then did Shiki drift away at ease.
By the time Magellan arrived, all he saw were the two rampaging red lions and corpses scattered across the ground.
...
In the laboratory.
Under Dr. Furumi's guidance, Yemu followed him into the massive structure that looked like a giant boiler.
The space inside was vast, gleaming silver-white all around. An iron bed sat in the very center, surrounded by all kinds of gemstones.
Dr. Furumi pointed at the iron bed in the middle.
"Just lie down on it."
"Got it."
Yemu lay down naturally.
Dr. Furumi walked back out and began operating the control panel.
Before long, Yemu saw the gemstones emit all sorts of light.
Before Yemu could feel anything at all, Dr. Furumi's voice came from outside.
"All right, that's enough."
Yemu walked out and looked at Dr. Furumi strangely.
"That fast? I thought it would take a while."
"No need. It's only a scan."
Then both of their gazes turned to the huge screen on the control panel.
At first, the screen showed static like a television with no signal. Then it began to shift, the image gradually taking on a pattern, as if ripples were appearing across it.
A short while later, four chaotic waves like electrocardiogram lines appeared on the screen.
The results were out, but Dr. Furumi stared at the screen with a strange expression and muttered in confusion.
"What's going on? That shouldn't be right. Is the machine broken? Why are there two extra waves? And this wavelength..."
He leaned forward and began checking the machine.
"Strange. There's nothing wrong with it..."
Seeing that, Yemu remembered something and said, "Oh, right, Dr. Furumi. I forgot to tell you. I'm a dual Devil Fruit user."
"What? Dual Devil Fruits? What does that mean?"
Dr. Furumi seemed unable to process it.
Seeing that, Yemu raised both hands.
One arm turned into burning flames, while the other radiated a vivid, scorching red glow.
"That's what I mean. I ate two Devil Fruits. One is the Logia-type Mera Mera no Mi, and the other is the Paramecia-type Atsu Atsu no Mi."
"Hm??? Eh?!"
Dr. Furumi was so shocked that he nearly jumped.
"Impossible... How is that possible? A dual Devil Fruit user? That should be completely impossible. How did you do it?"
After saying that, he seemed to remember something and began operating the control panel again.
Before long, the waves on the screen became clearer, but the overall result still did not change.
Dr. Furumi looked utterly unable to understand it.
"No, that's not right... Even if you're a dual Devil Fruit user, adding your own Lineage Factor should only make three wavelengths. So why are there four? And what you have are a Logia-type and a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. I shouldn't be able to detect their wavelengths at all. What is going on here...? And two of these wavelengths clearly don't make sense... This..."
Dr. Furumi felt as though his brain could no longer process or analyze the scene before him. He stared blankly at the screen.
At that moment, Yemu suddenly thought of something.
"According to your theory, Dr. Furumi, there's one part that's easier to explain."
Dr. Furumi's gaze instantly snapped to Yemu, his eyes full of thirst for knowledge.
At that moment, he had been completely captivated by this boy who hid countless mysteries.
"How should I put it? You can understand it like this. The two Devil Fruits I possess, just like Zoan-type fruits, already have their own consciousness. That's also why I was able to become a dual Devil Fruit user."
Dr. Furumi's eyes widened.
"So that's it!"
At that moment, he could no longer suppress his curiosity.
"Um, Captain Yemu, if possible, could I test you one more time?"
"Tell me how you plan to test me first."
"It's simple. Next, I'll need you to go back in, Captain Yemu, and undergo a scan while using each of your Devil Fruit abilities separately. Also, Captain Yemu, you have Haki, don't you? For the third scan, I'll need you to use Haki during the test. As for the final scan, if you don't mind, Captain Yemu, I'd like to test a drop of your blood."
Yemu thought for a moment.
"Does it have to be tested here?"
"Of course not."
Dr. Furumi shook his head.
"It's just that, first, this old man is very curious about the remarkable physical traits you've shown, Captain Yemu. And second, building such a huge laboratory would probably require a great deal of money and time."
Yemu understood what Dr. Furumi meant.
"I see. Then let's try it here. But forget the blood sample. Also, for Haki, is Armament Haki enough, or do you need Conqueror's Haki too?"
Dr. Furumi grew even more delighted.
"Captain Yemu, you've actually mastered Conqueror's Haki? Wonderful. In that case, I'm even more confident that I can uncover the secrets of your body."