One year later, Grand Line, G1 Branch.
A steel battleship slowly docked at the pier. Navy soldiers poured out in disciplined rows, their expressions solemn as they lined up on both sides, forming a straight passage from the dock.
Moments later, a tall man wearing a Marine cloak stepped forward, his presence heavy and restrained. Two slender figures followed closely behind him.
Momonga had been waiting at the port for quite some time. The moment he saw the man approaching, he strode forward and gave a sharp salute.
"Vice Admiral Lloyd!"
The man who had arrived was Lloyd, and the two behind him were naturally Ginny and Lucia.
Compared to before, Lloyd now looked even more imposing. His build was sturdier, his aura calm yet oppressive, as if a vast pressure was being deliberately held back. An invisible sense of dominance lingered around him, the unmistakable sign of refined Haki kept under tight control.
Black gloves covered his hands, and the epaulets and cuffs of his Marine cloak were dyed a deep, pure black.
Lloyd looked at Momonga and smiled faintly. He raised one hand, and a mass of black mist surged outward. With a wet, heavy sound, severed heads fell from the darkness and rolled across the ground.
Momonga swallowed.
He recognized them immediately.
They belonged to a pirate crew that had recently intruded into this sea area, the Calico Cat Pirates.
Their captain, Caitlyn, carried a bounty of 120 million Berries. She was a Zoan type Devil Fruit user who had eaten the Cat Cat Fruit, Model Persian Cat.
Although her fruit was not a particularly rare model, Caitlyn had awakened both Observation Haki and Armament Haki. Combined with the physical enhancement granted by her Zoan ability, she was considered a formidable pirate.
Unfortunately, arrogance had been her downfall.
After entering the Grand Line, she had brazenly crossed into the waters guarded by Lloyd. When Lloyd learned that she was a Devil Fruit user, he personally led the fleet and annihilated her crew.
The heads scattered on the ground all belonged to members of the Calico Cat Pirates. Their bodies had been crushed entirely by darkness. Lloyd had deliberately kept the heads intact so that the personnel below could easily confirm the kill count.
Among them, one head stood out.
It belonged to a woman with long golden hair and a beautiful face. Terror was still frozen in her expression. Her neck had been severed cleanly, and a perfectly round black hole pierced the center of her forehead.
Lloyd pointed at it calmly.
"Momonga, this is Caitlyn, captain of the Calico Cat Pirates. She was killed by Lucia and Ginny. Make sure that is clearly recorded when reporting to Marine Headquarters."
Momonga nodded solemnly.
When the Calico Cat Pirates encountered Lloyd's fleet, the battle had ended almost instantly. A terrifying gravitational force had dragged everyone aboard into the sky before swallowing them whole in darkness.
Only Caitlyn herself had been left alive, thrown onto the deck of Lloyd's battleship.
Lloyd had spared her deliberately. Not because of her appearance, but because she was a Devil Fruit user.
He wanted to test a newly developed ability.
When Lloyd extended his darkened hand toward her, Caitlyn had collapsed to her knees in terror, begging desperately for mercy. In her panic, she even tore open her already revealing clothes, trying to trade her body for her life.
That act had enraged Lucia and Ginny.
With a single slash and a single gunshot, Caitlyn's head became what now lay on the ground.
Lloyd had then proceeded to test his ability while the opportunity was fresh, and the result matched his expectations perfectly.
Back in the base commander's office, Lloyd summoned the dark bible. A purple, apple shaped Devil Fruit floated out and landed in his hand.
He casually tossed it once, then looked at Lucia and Ginny standing before him. Turning to Ginny, he asked with a faint smile,
"Ginny, are you interested in eating the Persian Cat Fruit?"
Ginny recoiled immediately, her face filled with disgust.
"Brother Lloyd, that woman's Devil Fruit is filthy. I don't want it."
Her reaction was understandable.
When they first discovered Caitlyn's pirate ship, Ginny had used binoculars to observe from a distance. What she saw was Caitlyn holding a grotesque private party while in her half beast form.
The memory was such a visual shock that Ginny still blushed whenever she thought about it. In her state of revulsion, she never once questioned how Caitlyn's Devil Fruit had ended up in Lloyd's hand.
In truth, to anyone with even basic knowledge of Devil Fruits, this alone was utterly unreasonable.
Lucia stared at the fruit in Lloyd's hand, shock clear in her eyes.
"Young Master… isn't this Captain Caitlyn's Devil Fruit? How could it…"
Lloyd had already informed Ginny of Lucia's identity, so when only the three of them were present, there was no need for Lucia to hide her manner of address.
Ginny finally caught on and frowned.
"That's right. Brother Lloyd, doesn't a Devil Fruit reincarnate somewhere in the world after its user dies? Did it really just appear in your hand? That's far too much of a coincidence."
Lloyd shook his head calmly.
"There is no such coincidence. Look."
With a thought, the dark bible opened wide. A large number of fruits spilled out, apples, bananas, pineapples, nearly every common type imaginable, quickly covering the table.
Lucia's eyes lit up with understanding.
"I see, Young Master. Devil Fruit abilities attach themselves to fruit. You prepared fruits in advance so that when the user died, the ability could find a new vessel immediately."
Even as she spoke, Lucia felt that the explanation was incomplete. If simply preparing fruit were enough, this method would have spread across the world long ago.
Lloyd's next words confirmed her doubts.
"You only guessed half of it. The true key is this."
He extended one hand, darkness surging over it once more.
Lucia had witnessed the Dark Dark Fruit's power before, but this time was different. The darkness radiating from Lloyd's hand made her feel a deep instinctive fear, as if something inside her body was about to be forcibly torn away.
Ginny, standing beside her, felt nothing of the sort.
Noticing Lucia's discomfort, Lloyd immediately dispersed the darkness.
"This is an ability I developed recently," he said evenly. "After a user dies, I use darkness to bind the Devil Fruit power before it leaves the body, then guide it into a prepared fruit."
He paused briefly.
"I call it Dark Imperial Shinto."
Lloyd's tone was calm, almost casual.
Lucia and Ginny, however, felt their pupils shrink violently. Shock and horror spread across their faces.
This ability completely overturned the world's understanding of Devil Fruits.
Lloyd had effectively achieved certainty in Devil Fruit inheritance.
And the one who possessed such power was Lloyd himself.
With his strength and this ability, if he so desired, he could create a powerful army of Devil Fruit users at any time.