Chapter 9: Harnessing the Devil Fruit Powers

Early chapters here and unreleased novels here: pa.treon.com/FFAddict

Looking at the gory whip marks on Hancock, Hiro frowned.

Although they were just external injuries and relatively easier to heal, their current location was a prison. In this environment, wounds could easily get infected, which would almost certainly lead to a death sentence.

Don't expect the Celestial Dragons to provide medical treatment or wound care. It's impossible. Even though Hancock is a Devil Fruit user, she is still considered an inferior being in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons and is treated no differently than the other slaves.

Hiro realized he must find a way to treat Hancock's wounds.

However, there was nothing in the cage to clean the wounds, and even finding a clean piece of cloth to bandage them was challenging.

What could he possibly do?

"Hiro, I'm fine. I just need a couple of days of rest," Hancock assured him.

But Hiro didn't listen to Hancock and fell deep into thought.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he remembered an individual from the world of pirates whose abilities were incredibly awe-inspiring, leaving him astonished by the wonders of Devil Fruit powers.

That person was Bartholomew Kuma.

Bartholomew Kuma could be said to have maximized the potential of his Devil Fruit, the Paw-Paw Fruit. He developed the ability to teleport, emit shockwaves, and deflect damage and fatigue from people. It was extraordinarily versatile.

Although Kuma's fate was tragic, becoming a slave ridden by the Celestial Dragons and losing his self-consciousness, it's a shame that Hiro didn't see the end product of why Eiichiro Oda decided to characterize Kuma in such a manner before his transition to this world. What was he foreshadowing?

Back to the point, Kuma's development of his Devil Fruit ability gave Hiro great insight.

Since Kuma could develop the ability to deflect damage and fatigue, there was no reason why he couldn't develop his own Devil Fruit, the Reflect-Reflect Fruit.

Moreover, one of his powers included absorption, which he could try using to absorb the wounds on Hancock's body!

If this development of his Devil Fruit power succeeds, it will become his healing ability, greatly enhancing his ability to sustain in battles.

Just imagine - in battle, Hiro is beaten until he's barely standing, then he activates a damage absorption technique, absorbing all of his injuries and reviving himself on the spot. Then he throws the absorbed damage onto his enemy. His opponent would certainly go mad. They'd spend ages trying to kill Hiro, only for him to gain a terrifying new attack skill. Who could bear that? Therefore, developing such a Devil Fruit ability is crucial. It not only allows him to heal Hancock but also gives him a potent skill for the future. Plan approved - let's do this!

Upon reaching this point, Hiro took Hancock's hand and gently placed his palm on the wound on her arm. Hancock blushed instantly, "Ge... Hiro, what are you doing? I... I haven't thought about it yet." Hiro: "???" Hiro quickly figured out the meaning of her words. So, Hancock has feelings for him too!

Hiro, chuckling, responded, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just trying to see if I can use my Devil Fruit ability to heal your wounds." "Ah!!!" Realizing her misunderstanding, Hancock quickly lowered her head, her entire face flushed. Steam began rising from her head. Her embarrassed appearance made Hiro burst into laughter.

After appreciating Hancock's cute blushing face, Hiro began focusing his attention on her wound. He had previously noted that his Devil Fruit power could be divided into two parts - absorption and rebound. When using the absorption power, it forms a barrier around Hiro's body, meaning, his entire body is shielded when this power is in use. As long as the absorption limit isn't reached, and the barrier remains unbroken, no enemy can harm him, regardless of the direction they attack from. However, this usage of his power is inefficient since most of his body isn't usually under attack, wasting a lot of the barrier's potential and spreading its defensive capabilities thin. He could try to concentrate the absorption ability in the future.

But now wasn't the time for developing the absorption aspect of his power. So, Hiro had to shelve this idea and focus on how to absorb damage instead. Releasing his absorption ability and applying it to Hancock's wound, a gleam flashed in Hiro's eyes. He could feel the absorption ability encompassing the wound and knew that with a single thought, he could absorb it.

"Absorb!"

Just after Hiro used his absorption ability, he grunted and broke into a cold sweat. An identical wound to Hancock's appeared on Hiro's arm. Hancock, initially surprised to find her wound gone, looked at Hiro only to find her wound transferred to him.

"What... what happened? Hiro, Hiro, are you okay?"

After calling Hiro twice, he finally snapped back to reality. The sudden, intense pain he'd experienced made him feel like he had just been whipped, almost making him faint from the agony. It turned out that Hancock's ordeal was far from as easy as she had portrayed. Essentially, she had been beaten to within an inch of her life. Fortunately, Hancock, who hailed from the Amazon, had a strong physique since childhood, otherwise this brutal whipping would have been enough to end her life.

"I'm okay," Hiro replied, "My devil fruit power can indeed heal your wounds, but I haven't figured out how to use it correctly yet, which is why the injuries are being transferred to me."

After saying this, Hiro fell into deep thought once again. As it stood, his hypothesis was correct. His Reflect-Reflect Fruit could indeed absorb injuries, but the issue was that once absorbed, the injuries transferred onto him, a point he found perplexing. Ideally, once the damage was absorbed, it should be stored within his body like any other attack he'd taken, ready to be used as a powerful counter-attack when necessary. But why did the injury manifest directly on his body after being absorbed?

Staring at the wound on his hand, Hiro contemplated for a while before a sudden thought crossed his mind. Could it be due to the difference between tangible and intangible damage?