OP: AMP Ch. 211

Usopp finally couldn't hold on anymore. His knees buckled, and he collapsed as sweat poured from every inch of his body like he'd been dunked in a river. Veins bulged across his skin, looking like they were about to burst through the surface. Every blood vessel in his body seemed to have turned varicose, twisted and swollen under the strain. Then came the sounds he could no longer suppress, low groans escaped his throat, building into hoarse screams.

Just like that pirate before him, he writhed on the ground in agony.

The two captured pirates watched this spectacle unfold, but instead of satisfaction, their expressions showed a weird sense of shared suffering, like watching someone else go through the same hell you'd barely survived. That kind of soul-ripping pain wasn't something normal people could endure. An ordinary person would probably just die from the sheer torture of it.

But Usopp's transformation wasn't finished yet. His entire body began glowing red, like a cooked shrimp fresh out of boiling water.

"Is this really okay?" Goliath's expression was troubled. Even knowing Usopp could revive if he died, seeing this state made him feel sympathetic pain.

"Have faith in him. Usopp's got serious willpower," Marcus said confidently.

Among the Straw Hat Pirates, if you asked who had it the worst, who would it be?

Luffy, who casually burned through his own lifespan like it was nothing?

Zoro, who walked the path of suffering and self-destruction?

Sanji, who spent two years in literal crossdresser hell?

Or maybe Chopper, who popped drugs to fight Emperors head-on?

The answer was obviously Usopp.

It was like the classic problem in games, the ranged damage dealer who built defensively but still took the hardest hits because of positioning. As one of the Straw Hats whose physical combat ability was roughly on par with Nami's, he still had to take the same level of punishment as the three main fighters. If injuries really took months to heal, Usopp's nose and skull would be shattered beyond recognition by now. Under normal circumstances, he should be lying down on the ship recovering constantly. If his willpower wasn't incredibly strong, he'd have been finished ages ago.

If Usopp could hear what Marcus was saying about him right now, he'd probably jump up and start cursing him out.

The state of his body lasted a full ten minutes.

During that time, he struggled, growled, and even smashed his head against the obsidian floor repeatedly until his forehead started bleeding. The sight sent chills down everyone's spine, even the hardened pirates who'd seen plenty of violence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Usopp's body went still. The redness faded from his skin.

"Is he dead?" Goliath asked, squatting down curiously to examine Usopp.

Sprawled on the ground, Usopp managed to muster enough energy to complain irritably. "If I were dead, I'd have turned into a beam of light already. At least then I wouldn't be hurting this much."

"You know, you could've chosen to give up at any point," Marcus reminded him gently.

Usopp lay there panting, staring blankly at the obsidian ceiling above. Had he thought about giving up during that torture?

Hell yes. Countless times.

He didn't need to push himself this hard. There were so many people on the ship, especially someone as powerful as Luffy. But even he had no way to oppose Shiki directly. The whole reason they were here, preparing like this, was to save their home.

They were pirates, not Marines. The job of saving the East Blue could be left to the Marines or even the World Government, after all, they were Shiki's real targets. Compared to that, the Straw Hats were just small fry.

Even if they rushed in to help, they might not change anything. But... could he really abandon everything with a clear conscience like that? When everyone else was giving their all, how could he just give up?

"Giving up isn't an option for 'God' Usopp," he said with a tired grin.

Both Goliath and Marcus shook their heads with amused smiles at his bravado.

Two hands appeared in front of Usopp, one iron, one flesh. Without hesitation, he reached up and grasped both. The hands pulled him to his feet. Then Marcus dropped an enchanted golden apple into his pocket.

"Eat it. Should help restore your mental strength."

He had considered using a mental amplification potion, but that stuff felt too harsh. Especially since it prevented the user from falling unconscious, which had led to complications in the first Devil Fruit experiment. Besides, he wasn't exactly hurting for EMC. Good medicine should be used on companions.

Usopp devoured the golden apple in just two bites. All his previous exhaustion vanished completely, and he even felt the heat around them fade noticeably. Of course, this wasn't his imagination, with fire resistance, the scorching temperature could no longer affect him.

"So, tell us," Marcus said, studying him carefully. "What did the third one give you?"

It wasn't just him who was curious. Goliath was equally interested. Eating three Devil Fruits of the same type was completely unprecedented in One Piece history. If there were an achievement system, Usopp would definitely have unlocked something legendary.

"Uh... it seems like... I've become a Logia?" Usopp said uncertainly, examining his hands.

"What?"

"No, wait... not a Logia exactly. It's really strange. How about this, why don't you possess me and feel it for yourself? Since I barely managed to endure it, my sense of the power is kind of blurry."

Hearing this, Marcus glanced at the pirate who'd barely survived his own Devil Fruit torment earlier. Back then, that guy had only just managed to endure it, and the result was that he confidently believed he could turn human bodies into bombs. Just like Usopp now, his perception of his own power seemed vague and ambiguous.

It appeared that when eating Devil Fruits at the limit of endurance, even if you survived, your sense of your abilities became distorted and somewhat exaggerated. It was like an ordinary person suddenly gaining a professional athlete's body, the sudden surge of power caused them to misjudge their own strength, making them think they could accomplish impossible feats.

He activated Soul Possession. Usopp didn't resist, accepting the connection.

When Usopp's eyes opened again under Marcus' control, he stared at his hands in disbelief from within his own consciousness.

"It's not a Logia exactly... but it's pretty damn close."

"What do you mean?" Goliath asked, clearly confused.

That question wasn't just from Goliath, inside the shared consciousness space, Usopp's own awareness was equally curious about what Marcus was discovering.

"Goliath, attack me once and you'll understand."

Marcus didn't bother explaining. A demonstration would be clearer.

Goliath didn't hesitate. His hand swung down directly, the sheer force creating a fierce whistling sound through the air. He held nothing back, this was a full-power strike. Though it looked like flesh and blood, Goliath's true body was an iron golem. A full-force blow from an unfeeling iron hand like that would normally smash a person into a bloody pulp.

However, at the exact instant Goliath's hand was about to make contact with Usopp's body, the skin directly beneath the descending iron palm suddenly exploded.

He was puzzled for a split second. Was Usopp trying to block his attack with an explosion? That was certainly possible, after all, Usopp had gained the ability to generate explosions from any part of his body when he'd eaten just a single Bomb-Bomb Fruit. The reason he usually used his hands or feet was simply because they were easier to control.

Had he achieved such complete mastery that he could defend reflexively now?

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He even considered pulling back his strength, but in the end, he trusted Marcus' judgment and commitment to the test.

Yet something strange happened. The explosive force didn't push his hand away or form any kind of barrier. The impact seemed to pass right through without resistance. At the same time, when his hand passed through the smoke and debris of the explosion, it touched nothing.

It was as if he'd just slapped at explosive smoke itself, no solid body underneath.

When the smoke cleared, Usopp hadn't dodged or moved at all.

"This... what the hell?"

Goliath stared blankly at him. His brain struggled to process what he'd just witnessed. After all, how could explosions become intangible? If that was possible, did it mean every Paramecia user who ate three of their Devil Fruit could achieve some form of elementalization too?

What would happen if he ate three Munch-Munch Fruits?

He tried picturing an elementalized Munch-Munch Fruit in his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't imagine how that ability could turn into an element. What would it even look like?

Marcus, still controlling Usopp's body, extended a single finger.

"It's a bit different from true Logia elementalization. Natural-type users can trigger their intangibility passively, but what Usopp has should be called active elementalization."

Crackle.

As he spoke, a tiny explosion bloomed at Usopp's fingertip. Gunpowder smoke drifted through the air, and Usopp's index finger seemed to vanish entirely within the haze, as if it had ceased to exist. But with a wave of Usopp's hand, the explosive smoke dispersed, and his extended finger had already returned to normal.

"What the..."

Goliath just stared, trying to wrap his head around the mechanics.

Marcus released his possession and returned to his own body, leaving Usopp looking dazed and exhausted.

"If he ate one more... would he become a full Logia?" Goliath asked.

He understood Usopp's pseudo-elementalization now. Before, Usopp's body had been immune to explosions. Now he WAS the explosion itself. If nothing went wrong, he could probably even absorb explosions from external sources, just like how the Flame-Flame Fruit could ignite anything but also absorb fire.

Usopp wanted to continue experimenting, but unfortunately his body had reached its limit. He shook his head with a bitter smile.

"If I had Luffy's or Marcus' constitution, maybe I could handle a fourth one. But the third nearly killed me as it is."

As he spoke, he involuntarily shuddered. The memory was still fresh, his whole body feeling like it was tearing apart.

Just recalling it made him feel like death was preferable. If he had to experience that again, even knowing he could revive... he'd already developed psychological trauma from this ordeal.

Goliath's eyes gleamed. The eager expression on his face showed his burning interest in testing his own second Devil Fruit.

Marcus looked at him thoughtfully. It wasn't that he was unwilling to spend the EMC. He was more curious about something else entirely. Even though Goliath maintained his Schwarzenegger-like appearance constantly, his true nature was that of an iron golem. Could he even use the respawn anchor? Did it work for golems?

He constructed another respawn anchor and filled it with glowstone, deciding there was only one way to find out.

"Give it a try."

Goliath eagerly placed his hand on the anchor. Just like with a normal person, a yellow point of light appeared in his palm, binding his respawn location.

"Ready?" Marcus asked curiously.

He didn't explain further, but Goliath understood what he was really asking: Are you sure you want to risk this?

There was brief hesitation in the golem's eyes, but then he accepted the Munch-Munch Fruit from Marcus' hand. He was incredibly curious whether his Munch-Munch Fruit could undergo a second evolution, and what kind of properties it would gain afterward.

He swallowed it in one gulp without even chewing.

Marcus' mouth twitched at the sight. He made a mental note that next time, he'd just swallow the damn fruit whole too. With Life Return mastery, making his mouth bigger was certainly possible.

The instant Goliath consumed the Devil Fruit, his body began turning red. Wisps of a burnt smell spread through the air, like overheated machinery or scorched metal. Watching this unfold, Marcus thought it resembled the sensation of mechanical components operating at high speed, friction generating intense heat. Yet Goliath himself looked completely calm and unbothered, as if he were just standing there enjoying the weather.

"No effect?" Usopp had eaten a second fruit before. Even though it hadn't been as agonizing as the pirates had described, the sensation of being hammered all over his body had been intense.

But Goliath looked like he was just taking a relaxing hot bath?

One minute later, Goliath's body returned to normal. The redness faded completely.

"That's it?!" Usopp stared at Goliath in disbelief. So fast? The difference compared to his own experience was enormous.

Marcus was equally curious about the results.

As for Goliath's expression... how to describe it? Exceptionally strange. Like someone who'd just received unexpected news and wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

"What's going on?" Marcus asked.

"It seems the ability I unlocked isn't very practical."

"What do you mean?"

Marcus thought for a moment about what the Munch-Munch Fruit's awakening would logically entail. As a Devil Fruit based fundamentally on consumption and digestion, how would it affect the external environment? In a sense, it already affected the outside world by consuming things into the stomach dimension. Following conventional reasoning about Paramecia awakenings... should Goliath be turning his stomach inside out now? Creating external digestion fields?

He tossed aside the bizarre thought and stopped overthinking, focusing instead on Goliath's explanation.

"What ability did you get?"

"Permanent self-alteration," Goliath said slowly.

"Huh?" Usopp looked completely baffled. What kind of ability was that supposed to be?

Seeing that neither of them quite understood, Goliath began explaining in more detail.

"My current appearance isn't my original form, you know that right?"

That reminder clicked things into place. His true form was a three-meter-tall, blocky iron golem. It was only after eating the Munch-Munch Fruit that he'd successfully reshaped himself into a more human appearance. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even been able to board the ship, he was simply too heavy.

"In the past, maintaining this appearance required constant energy expenditure. Fortunately, Marcus could supply enough iron blocks to sustain me. Otherwise, I couldn't keep this form at all. In other words... every physical change I made had a time limit. But now..." Goliath gestured to himself. "I can make those changes permanent."

Usopp nodded slowly. "So basically... nothing really changed? You just don't have to maintain it anymore?"

Marcus understood the information more deeply and was about to comment when another thought struck him.

"That means your body should no longer have any... oh."

His thought process stalled mid-sentence. It wasn't that he'd forgotten what he was going to say. Rather, he'd realized that iron golems didn't really have the concept of vital points to begin with.

Did an iron golem have a heart? A brain? Internal organs at all?

Goliath's expression turned complicated, almost pained. "Originally, no. Now... yes."

Marcus and Usopp exchanged glances.

In the past, despite using the Munch-Munch Fruit to alter his body structure dramatically, Goliath's essence had remained that of an iron golem. He had no digestive organs, or vulnerable internals. That was why he only needed to eat iron to sustain himself. He could eat normal food too, but for him it was unnecessary intake that his body couldn't really process. Of course, even if he did eat regular food, it would just slowly rot inside his iron shell. With the Munch-Munch Fruit, he could absorb and utilize it, but the efficiency was terrible, far worse than simply consuming iron ingots.

Besides, Marcus always provided iron blocks anyway. A single block could keep Goliath's current humanoid form running for three full days without issue.

"The good news is..." Goliath began, looking somewhat embarrassed. "I can now eat normal food to maintain my body. And... how should I put this..."

Seeing a heavily muscled tough guy showing a shy, awkward expression was honestly hard to watch. It was like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger try to act bashful.

Marcus immediately raised his hand to cut him off. "That's a good thing. You don't need to explain further."

Goliath was his first creation that he'd possessed and imbued with intelligence. But for some reason, although he'd been given a soul and gained sentience, his appearance had only partially transformed. He'd developed a face that somewhat resembled Marcus', but the rest of his body remained distinctly golem-like, at best with more flexible limbs than a standard iron construct.

It was like an incomplete evolution that had stopped halfway.

But whether it was Shira or Mighty, they all had complete humanoid forms. They could even eat normal food to sustain themselves, though they could also consume their native elements to replenish their vitality.