Three days later.
Punk Hazard.
Sakazuki was inspecting the various creatures in the laboratory incubation tanks.
*Kaka—*
With the sound of a doorknob turning, Vegapunk pushed the door open.
He looked as if he was about to collapse.
It was clear he hadn't slept for days:
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki."
Sakazuki looked at Vegapunk and said:
"Mr. Vegapunk."
"You've been working too hard."
Vegapunk smiled:
"It's the first time I've seen such miraculous material."
"I got a little carried away."
Sakazuki shook his head:
"Have you found anything?"
Vegapunk immediately perked up, his eyes widening slightly:
"I have to say, it's truly astonishing."
"You might not know this."
"He actually possessed the abilities of three Devil Fruits."
"And they were perfectly fused."
"Without any interference."
"From a biological standpoint, this is utterly impossible."
Sakazuki feigned curiosity:
"Oh?"
"Three Devil Fruits?"
Vegapunk nodded:
"That's right."
"Three Devil Fruits."
"Let me explain."
"To understand Devil Fruits, you need to know their relationship with Lineage Factors."
"What are Lineage Factors?"
"Simply put."
"They are a double-helix polymer."
"Present within all living organisms."
"They fill the entire body."
"Consider them the blueprint of life."
"Because if one masters Lineage Factors,"
"one can replicate, simulate, and modify life at the genetic level."
"And easily create all sorts of creatures."
"So, what is the relationship between Devil Fruits and Lineage Factors?"
"It's modification by Lineage Factors."
"Devil Fruits contain a mysterious power."
"After eating a Devil Fruit, this power modifies the organism at the genetic level."
"It directly shatters all Lineage Factors within the body and rearranges them."
"Thus granting various abilities."
"Our current technology cannot achieve this level of modification."
Sakazuki nodded, Lineage Factors are essentially DNA from his previous life...
The modifications and clones of the Vinsmoke family.
Vegapunk continued:
"And here comes the most crucial problem."
"Why does the body explode when one eats multiple Devil Fruits?"
"It's because each person's body contains only one type of Lineage Factor."
Sakazuki said:
"Only one type..."
Vegapunk confirmed with a hum:
"Precisely one."
"We've conducted extensive experiments."
"Even identical twins and triplets, or animals that appear exactly alike,"
"their Lineage Factors will still have subtle differences."
"Naturally born creatures absolutely do not have identical Lineage Factors."
"Even through artificial cultivation,"
"if we implant a second type, even one as similar as that of twins,"
"the entire gene chain will instantly collapse."
"Because of this,"
"after eating one Devil Fruit, the entire body's Lineage Factors are modified."
"If you then eat a second one,"
"the power of this second Devil Fruit will conflict with the first."
"Causing the organism to collapse at the genetic level."
"This is why eating two Devil Fruits causes the organism to 'poof' and explode."
"Under the conflict of the two Devil Fruit powers,"
"it ignites the Lineage Factors present throughout the body, turning it into a mist of blood."
"This is also why each person can only eat one Devil Fruit."
"But here's the problem."
"The material you brought,"
"actually possesses three types of Lineage Factors."
Sakazuki let out an "astonished" hiss:
"Three types?"
Vegapunk excitedly exclaimed:
"Yes, three types."
"And they are all fundamentally from the same origin."
"With only minor differences."
"And yet, it hasn't collapsed."
"It's simply unimaginable."
"All Lineage Factors within an organism are inherited from the previous generation, i.e., the mother."
"And this situation is akin to what?"
"Triplets sisters simultaneously conceiving a child,"
"without any conflict between them."
"This is an impossibility."
"Even if the three mothers shared a space that connected and was common to their wombs, it would still be impossible."
"The conflict of Lineage Factors would instantly cause the organism to collapse."
"Science is rigorous; this situation is absolutely impossible."
"Yet, it has demonstrably appeared here."
"It's truly..."
Sakazuki twitched his lips. Science is impossible... but Devil Fruits work.
Recalling his guesses from his previous life, and the monstrous combination abilities of the "Munch-Munch Fruit."
After all, in the original story, the Munch-Munch Fruit user, Wapol, had swallowed two subordinates and directly combined them to create a two-headed person...
He thought about it and didn't say anything. After all, it was best to keep such secrets to himself.
"It's fortunate we didn't let him grow stronger."
"To have eaten three Devil Fruits."
Upon hearing Sakazuki's words, Vegapunk shook his head:
"It wouldn't have mattered if he had grown stronger."
"This fellow."
"What a shame."
"Three Devil Fruits, all of them Zoan types."
"Whether you call it luck or misfortune."
"He was able to eat three Devil Fruits."
"And they all happened to be Zoan types."
"But it doesn't matter anymore, he's already dead."
Sakazuki nodded. It was indeed tragic... but...
"Can you tell what abilities they were?"
Vegapunk replied:
"Yes."
"Because the modification is at the genetic level,"
"the Lineage Factors from the three types of Devil Fruits have slight differences."
"They are easily distinguishable."
"After a Paramecia user dies, their Lineage Factors revert to a state similar to normal."
"Because most Paramecia fruits cause minimal modification, without overall body transformation."
"After a Logia user dies, their Lineage Factors become akin to elemental particles, scattering at the slightest touch."
"Because they modify the entire body, enabling elementalization, Logia Lineage Factors are the most fragile."
"And then there are Zoan Devil Fruit users."
"The cells of Zoan users are highly active in terms of both degree and intensity."
"So they are the easiest to identify."
"Even after a long time since death, if it was a powerful Zoan user, their residual cells will remain exceptionally active."
"Although this material's cell activity isn't high."
"It's still clearly identifiable as Zoan."
Sakazuki said:
"I see."
"Then, what if we try to clone him?"
Vegapunk shook his head:
"No, we tried."
"The moment we cultivated an embryo,"
"the entire embryo's biological system instantly collapsed."
"We've tried nearly a hundred times in the past two days, with no success."
"This is normal, yet abnormal."
"Normal because multiple Lineage Factors merging will undoubtedly cause collapse."
"Abnormal because if it collapses, how did he form in the first place?"