Chapter 107

Grandline, New World, Dress Rosa

In the meantime Doflamingo and his family joined by the Blackbeard pirates had began amassing all the valuables they had gathered over the years as the ruling family of the kingdom of Dress Rosa in order for them to leave Dress Rosa to the small island of Punk Hazard that was nothing but a rocky piece of land, devoid of any vegetation worth mentioning.Though the exterior of the island was deceiving for in its depth, reached through a hidden entrance in the side of a mountain, dwelled a factory of huge proportions which was used to produce manufactured Devilfruits under the supervision of the head-scientist and former partner of the world renowned scientist Dr. Vegapunk, Ceasar Clown.

While the Donquixote family along with the Blackbeard pirates hightailed out of Dress Rosa the world government had already sent their two admiral and one vize-admiral out to parlé with Whitebeard, though it was simply a ruse to play for more time so that Doflamingo and his allies had enough time to disappear before Whitebeard could reach Dress Rosa. And it wouldn't be long anymore until the two contingencies would be meeting as they moved ever closer as the time went by…

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Grandline, New World, Moby D.i.c.k

"Through my years of travelling I've rarely seen a person actually awaken their devilfruit as its awakening seems to require a certain set of conditions that need to be met before it could even be achieved. Though even with all the required conditions met it never seems to be set in stone that a person is able to awaken their Devilfruit." Whitebeard said while his previously grinning face returned to its former calm countenance.

"So? What are those conditions?" Azul asked while burping in satisfaction after he had gobbled down the former piece of meat now bone in his hand.

"That as well varies but most of the time it boils down to a few factors, of course with exceptions. Though I've found that those exceptions are pretty much confirming the norm. First of all there is a certain type of ambition. To grow, to gather, you name it. Then there is hardship. Be it through battle or otherwise. Dire circ.u.mstances seem to help but even that isn't always enough. As I said, nothing is set in stone when it comes to Devilfruits and I am no scientist so all I'm telling you stems from observation and experience. The last and the most important factor that I have observed is none other than compatibility." Whitebeard said while reclining lazily in his humongous chair while exhaling in comfort.

"I hope that wasn't all you had of information since I barely understand what you mean by those things old man." Azul said while one eyebrow was raised at Whitebeard. Of course he could try and work some things out but in the end all of them would be nothing but speculation on his part, thus he decided to needle some more tipps out of the old man.

"Gurararara! Patience is a virtue you brat gurarara" Whitebeard said while seemingly finding immense p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in seeing Azul getting more riled up by the second after throwing him some tidbits of information as appetizer.

"Yeye ohhhh wise one. Now spill already!" Azul said with a slight tick to his eyebrow which earned him another bout of rumbling laughter from Whitebeard which in turn increased the frequency of his eyebrow's movements.

"Remember the story and what the lesser devils did with the fruits?" Whitebeard asked while taking another gulp from his flask already a little tipsy from all the drinking he had done today.

"They consumed it…Though if I remember correctly you said they became one…but it's only a story so what's your point?" Azul asked with a confused frown on his face to which Whitebeard hummed in wonder or contemplation maybe?

"You know Azul, in my nearly 65 years on the seas I have seen things that others would have never believed to be possible and I know that you are no stranger to unbelievable things yourself even though you keep a tight leash on what you let slip on information. In the case of Devilfruits I have come to believe that the fruits nowadays are nothing special, originally only normal fruits. If a person who has eaten a Devilfruit dies it regularly happens that not far from the place he died said Devilfruit appears once again. But I don't believe it just appears out of nowhere. I believe that the devil that was housed in the former Devilfruit escapes the corpse of the now deceased owner and searches out another container for itself which seemingly is nothing else then an ordinary fruit. In the story the devils became one with the fruits they ate. What if the devils souls were bound by the fruits themselves after consuming said fruits and became something like the incarnation of the power they once consumed themselves? Something like an avatar you could say."

"Hmm, that sounds rather ambiguous don't you think? I mean I've never seen a devil flee the body of someone who ate a Devilfruit after they died and I have a special eye for everything that is on the metaphysical plain…though it is always possible that the extenuating circ.u.mstances changed the normal events a little bit" Azul said with a pondering expression while thinking about his time of ripping Wapols soul out of said mans body. Maybe because he severed the soul the devil could not escape and was burned alongside Wapol? Hmm…

"Possible… Anyway, where was I?" Whitebeard asked with a slightly red nose while trying to find his way back to his explanation.

"Devils, souls bound to the Devilfruits and so on" Azul said, trying to help Whitebeard get back to it.

"Ahhh yes. Now, if we assume this to be the case that the devils possess or rather became the devilfruits themselves then it would be possible to imagine why these factors play such important roles in the awakening. First there is 'ambition' or the d.e.s.i.r.e to grow in some way. It could be explained that this kind of craving resonates with the devils own d.e.s.i.r.es. This then leads to the next factor: compatibility. If your d.e.s.i.r.es are the same as the devils inside the fruit you ate and your way of going about life are in tune with the devils it serves as further stimulation. And lastly there is hardship. The way you face challenges, how hard you push yourself and how far you are willing to go for your dreams and d.e.s.i.r.es." Whitebeard said while he threw aside his empty flask while pulling out another one from under his desk which caused Azul to sweatdrop slightly.

"You more then once said stimulus. What do you mean by that? What are you stimulating?" Azul asked the old man after grabbing himself another beer himself.

"I thought that was obvious. The devil of course. You want to rouse your inner devil from his dormant state. That is why it is called awakening. You awaken the devil inside yourself to unlock the potential sealed inside the fruit which can only be brought out once the gatekeeper, the devil himself wakes up!" Whitebeard said causing Azuls face to go blank.

"Now, doesn't that sound like fun?..." Azul asked into the room causing Whitebeard to erupt into another bout of laughter.