Anything synthesized inside Baku Baku Space became a permanent new substance once it left the body of the original Devil Fruit user.
Even if Carina ate it again, it could never revert to its original state.
Because of that—and to avoid any unpredictable risk—El didn't dare let Carina experiment further.
Spitting something out and eating it again were two entirely different matters.
Who could say whether, if Carina ate the failed Devil Fruit–synthesized Sandai Kitetsu, the "will of the world" might judge it as her consuming a second Devil Fruit and cause her to explode on the spot?
In short, El's second conjecture had not only failed—it had caused real losses.
The Sandai Kitetsu was effectively ruined.
And a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, worth at least 100 million Belly, had been wasted.
"Nii-san…"Carina pointed at Bonier lying unconscious on the ground, his limbs severed, her face full of resistance."Are we… also taking his Devil Fruit?"
She hesitated, then added softly,"Can I not eat him? I don't want to eat men other than you."
"…Speaking of that," El said after a pause,"I have an idea."
After sheathing his sword, El looked down at Bonier and explained calmly:
"What if we put his corpse into a coffin—and then, Carina, you eat the coffin instead? Would his Devil Fruit still be extractable through the coffin?"
"…That's brilliant!"
Carina's expression instantly lit up.
Her eyes sparkled as she said excitedly,"Anything that enters Baku Baku Space is under my control. That includes the contents of a coffin!"
"Nii-san, your idea works perfectly!""That way, I won't have to eat corpses directly. I can just eat the coffin, and my heart won't feel uncomfortable at all!"
"As expected of you, Nii-san—this idea is genius!"
Before El could react, Carina threw herself into his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her toes, and kissed his cheek hard.
Although Carina had the strongest mental resilience among the three girls, that didn't mean she felt no resistance at all toward eating corpses.
The reason she never complained was simple—
She understood her role.
El stood at the front.Nami stood beside him.Kuina trained relentlessly every day, striving to comprehend the Breath of All Things so she could share El's burden.
Compared to them, Carina had once felt… unnecessary.
El's memory-reading ability completely overshadowed her talents.
The ambitious Carina—who dreamed of becoming the crew's second-in-command—had once thought herself a burden.
That was why, when El needed her, she never hesitated to eat the Baku Baku no Mi.
She used its digestion ability to push her physique to the limit—second only to El, or perhaps even surpassing him.
At critical moments, she would combine with Nami and Kuina, becoming their battery, their core, their strategist.
That was how Carina positioned herself.
And now, she had taken on another responsibility—
Seizing Devil Fruits from defeated enemies.
Even a Zoan-type Devil Fruit fetched at least 100 million Belly on the black market.
With that money, they could buy massive quantities of medicinal herbs to refine Nutritional Supplements.
So even if eating a corpse disgusted her, Carina would still have done it in the end.
But now—
El had given her a solution.
If eating a corpse felt unbearable…
Why not eat the coffin instead?
The difference was enormous.
One was visually horrifying.The other was completely acceptable.
How could she not be excited?
It was no exaggeration to say—
Once this problem was solved, Carina had no remaining resistance toward the Baku Baku no Mi.
On the contrary, she was deeply satisfied.
She had gone from the "last" member of the team… to its heart.
Whether it was El, whom she admired most, or Nami and Kuina, who relied on her Devil Fruit—
They all needed her.
The hypothesis of Devil Fruit capture had been confirmed.
He had obtained the Six Styles (Rokushiki) training method.
And he had resolved Carina's psychological burden.
Although losing Sandai Kitetsu was painful, El's trip to the Kingdom of Alabasta had been immensely profitable.
When the wall of flames finally dispersed, the magnitude of the harvest made El abandon the idea of traveling to Alubarna.
Instead, he immediately led the group back toward Nanohana, bringing the unconscious Bonier with them.
High above, a News Coo hovered in the sky.
It didn't dare approach due to the lingering heat—but it saw everything.
After returning to Nanohana, the four did not openly carry Bonier through the streets.
His condition was… far too conspicuous.
If someone saw a man missing limbs being dragged through the city, it would certainly attract the attention of the army.
So near Nanohana, they split up.
The three girls guarded Bonier.
El entered the city alone—to buy a large coffin.
After returning, El crushed Bonier's throat on the spot, placed both his corpse and a prepared fruit into the coffin, and had Carina swallow it into Baku Baku Space.
Not long after—
Carina spat the coffin back out.
Inside, Bonier's corpse remained unchanged.
But beside it lay a Devil Fruit covered in spiral patterns.
The capture was successful.
El discarded Bonier's body into the desert, returned to the hotel with the three girls, and prepared to head toward Erumalu, across the Sandora River, the following day.
During the night, El carefully wrote down the Six Styles (Rokushiki) training method.
From now on—
In addition to daily physical training, the three girls would undergo true superhuman training.
Because once someone mastered the Six Styles—
They ceased to be ordinary humans.
They became Superhumans.
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