OP: AMP Ch. 201

Marcus' soul drifted quietly through the laboratory, changing direction to test something.

The Goatman's gaze followed him perfectly, tracking every movement.

In his possessed state, nobody had ever been able to see him before. He was supposed to be completely invisible until the moment he initiated possession, when his target would sense something was about to happen.

So how was this thing tracking him?

Some kind of special ability?

He floated closer to get a better look.

The Goatman didn't growl or make any threatening moves. It simply watched in silence as Marcus drifted to its side.

That's when Scarlet threw another punch, his massive fist crashing into the creature's skull.

The Goatman took the hit without any visible reaction, as if the blow had struck empty air instead of flesh and bone.

Marcus shook his head, seeing the confirmation he needed. Sorry. I still can't do it.

He drifted away, heading toward where Indigo was conducting his research. Behind him, Scarlet landed another punch purely to vent his frustration, but it left no visible damage on the Goatman's hide. The creature just stared back with that same indifferent expression, completely unfazed.

The anger was still there in Scarlet's eyes, but after his little tantrum, he seemed to regain some composure. He looked down at the restrained creature from his superior height, like a king asking a soldier whether they would submit.

The answer was obvious.

The Goatman simply closed its eyes, going still. So quiet it might as well have been dead.

Scarlet eventually left, his footsteps echoing through the laboratory. Only the assistant remained, dutifully continuing his observations and measurements.

There was no need for him to monitor Indigo's work anymore. When analyzing blood samples, the scientist kept his own records. Besides, after Shiki had arrived, several workers and research personnel had already begun cleaning up the carnage scattered across the floor.

As an assistant, his job was to faithfully record all vital signs and changes in the test subject. Looking at the previously ferocious Goatman now lying so peacefully it resembled an ordinary sheep buried in the earth, he couldn't shake a sense of wrongness about the whole situation.

It felt like the creature was planning something. But with Shiki's ability restraining it, even those super-giant beasts had proven unable to break free. This thing didn't stand a chance.

He shook his head, dismissing those thoughts as paranoia. Pulling out a thermometer and collection tools, he began gathering more samples and completing the standard procedures for documenting a beast.

The Goatman remained cooperative. Or rather, it didn't need to move at all to be cooperative.

Meanwhile, tall figures began filing into the laboratory. After witnessing the mess covering the floor, they all took wide detours around the worst areas. They'd all heard plenty about what had happened here.

On the other side of the room, Marcus floated beside Indigo, watching the scientist work. He was curious about how this guy had pulled it off. In all the Minecraft mods he had played, there were two versions of goatmen he'd encountered.

One was the Man in the Mist, a gaunt, supernatural entity.

The other was just a regular hostile goatman mob. But this thing was clearly some kind of hybrid of both variants.

Its roar could lower cognitive function, and it could affect something like sanity or willpower stats. He knew this because when the Goatman had roared earlier, a brain icon had appeared next to his HP display with a downward arrow indicator. If he had to guess, the creature must have sensed that slight drop in his sanity value, which was how it had detected his invisible presence.

"Hmm... the lineage factors are still identical to a sheep's. No, wait... they're closer to human..." Indigo muttered to himself, his pen never stopping as he scribbled notes. Next to him sat another set of documentation.

Marcus drifted closer to take a look.

IQ reagent formulas and modification protocols.

Unfortunately, most of it was dense technical jargon that went completely over his head. He could recognize maybe one word in ten.

That's when a scream erupted from behind him.

He spun around and his jaw dropped. The Goatman's body had transformed into something skeletal and emaciated, thin as a rail, and it had somehow squeezed through the gaps in Shiki's restraints. In one gnarled hand, it clutched the assistant who'd been taking measurements, the man's feet dangling uselessly.

Indigo naturally turned at the commotion, his expression shifting from confusion to alarm in an instant.

Without a word, he bolted, his peculiar squeaking footsteps echoing as he fled.

Marcus blinked in surprise, struggling to process what he was seeing.

How had it escaped?

The Goatman's upper body had completely changed. Where before it had resembled a muscular humanoid torso, now it looked like the gaunt, dried-up creature from the Man in the Mist variant he'd encountered in modded Minecraft. But most striking was the countless tendrils of black miasma swirling around its body like living smoke.

It looked like something that had crawled out of hell itself, surrounded by the wailing souls of the damned.

Had it evolved? Right here in front of him?

He was shocked by the transformation.

Scarlet charged forward, his fists swinging toward the Goatman. The wind from his punch stirred the black miasma surrounding the creature.

BOOM.

The fist connected with the Goatman. But instead of sending it flying like expected, the creature barely budged.

Splurch.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

The assistant in the Goatman's grip was crushed like a water balloon, crimson blood flowing directly into the creature's mouth. As it consumed the blood, the black miasma around its body surged violently. Strange spiral patterns began rising from the floor itself, climbing up the dark mist.

"What the fuck?!"

The workers who'd been cleaning up the laboratory finally registered what was happening. Several tried to back away, others turned to run. But the Goatman threw its head back and released a howl.

Everyone within range immediately froze, their eyes going empty and vacant as they collapsed to the floor. Even Scarlet was shaken by that roar. His eyes lost focus, and he swayed on his feet.

Thin wisps of black miasma began seeping out of the stunned people's bodies, rising into the air. These dark tendrils drifted slowly toward the Goatman and were absorbed into its body. The spiral patterns grew more pronounced, and even more black miasma condensed around the creature.

Marcus watched the scene unfold. The roar hadn't affected him, his soul form seemed immune. But a pear in his inventory was changing. Layer upon layer of spiral patterns were forming across its surface, exactly like the patterns appearing on the Goatman's body. But compared to normal cases of Devil Fruit transference he'd read about, this transformation was incredibly slow. Only a few spirals had formed so far. If he had to estimate, maybe 30% complete.

Wait... what?

A Devil Fruit was forming right in his inventory.

Was that even possible?

He felt his mind struggling to process this information.

The Goatman didn't stop its rampage. It charged toward the laboratory entrance where more people were gathered, drawn by the commotion.

Marcus looked back at the dozens of people lying unconscious inside the room. They weren't dead, but thick black miasma was billowing from their bodies, swaying in the air.

Part of it drifted toward the Goatman outside.

Another part was drifting toward Marcus' transparent soul form. Or more accurately, toward the incomplete Devil Fruit forming in his inventory.

The mechanics of what he was witnessing made no sense, yet here it was happening right in front of him.

Was he really witnessing the birth of a Devil Fruit? Was this how they came into existence?

He felt completely lost.

At that moment, the pear in his inventory began changing rapidly, the transformation accelerating.

In less than a minute, the pear had turned completely black.

Text appeared above it in his interface:

Zoan-Type: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Goatman (Incomplete)

Jesus fucking Christ...

That's when brilliant sword light erupted from outside the laboratory, cutting through the walls themselves.

Shiki had entered the fight. After one piercing shriek from the Goatman, the creature that had terrorized the laboratory was cleaved in two, both halves hitting the floor.

Marcus watched as a final wisp of black miasma quietly drifted toward him, then vanished, merging into the Mythical Zoan fruit in his inventory.

The word "(Incomplete)" disappeared.

He stared at the fruit in his inventory.

This was a brand-new Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit. One that had just been born, and one that had probably never existed in history before this exact moment.

He stared at what was happening, then let his soul drift outside the laboratory.

The scene that greeted him was chaos. Dozens of Shiki's tall, burly crew members were sprawled across the floor in every direction.

The black miasma that had been swirling around their bodies was slowly dissipating into nothing. The Goatman was clearly dead. No question about that. But its body was dissolving, bit by bit, as if being consumed and absorbed by some invisible force.

Even Shiki was frowning at the sight.

He floated down, using the tip of his sword to lift half of the Goatman's corpse from the ground. The moment he raised it, the body crumbled, breaking apart inch by inch. When the pieces hit the floor, they disintegrated into fine ash and vanished without a trace. And when Marcus drifted closer, the remains disappeared even faster, as if his presence was somehow catalyzing the process.

Within moments, nothing remained.

When Indigo approached, he too stared at the inexplicable scene. But compared to Shiki's incomprehension and disbelief, he seemed to accept the phenomenon more readily.

After all, cows or sheep created by Marcus' abilities would turn directly into green particles after death, leaving behind things like steak, mutton, or wool on the ground. The Goatman slowly vanishing after death wasn't completely beyond his understanding of how these creatures worked.

He just felt a bit disappointed that there was no body left to study.

"What did you do?" Shiki asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing as he studied his lead scientist.

Indigo quickly shook his head in denial. "I only drew one tube of blood from it right in front of you, then I went to analyze it. After that, it suddenly broke free from your restraints, and then... well, you saw what happened."

Shiki turned his attention to the dozens of people who'd collapsed during the Goatman's rampage.

"Looks like I'll be busy tonight."

Despite the injuries and unconsciousness of his subordinates, he didn't seem particularly concerned about their wellbeing. His curiosity had been piqued by the strange phenomenon, and that took precedence over everything else. Besides, it was obvious these people weren't dead, they were trapped in some kind of forced sleep state.

Though judging by the pained expressions on several of their faces, they were experiencing vivid nightmares.

Meanwhile, Marcus quietly vanished from where he'd been floating.

He returned to his body instantly. One of the benefits of Soul Possession, when he canceled it, he could wake up immediately in his main body without needing to fly back.

He opened his eyes and found himself back in his room. Goliath's head was bobbing up and down as he fought against drowsiness, clearly struggling to stay awake on guard duty.

Marcus didn't mind. He gently lifted Goliath onto the bed where the golem could sleep properly, then pulled out the item he'd just acquired.

Mythical Zoan: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Goatman.

What was the underlying mechanism? If Minecraft monsters could transform into Devil Fruits, did that mean other creatures he'd created could do the same?

His thoughts immediately went to the iron golems and snow golems he'd built over his adventures.

Would an Iron Golem Devil Fruit appear if one died? Or maybe a Snow Golem Fruit?

But then he shook his head. Iron golems had died before without producing any fruits. Back in Arabasta, he'd lost one or two iron golems in battle. Snow golems hadn't died yet, as far as he knew, but if they really could produce Devil Fruits...

He shook his head again. No, that wasn't right.

The reason the Goatman had suddenly transformed into a Devil Fruit was because its body had been wrapped in that dense black miasma, with those strange spiral patterns mixing with the dark energy. That specific combination had somehow triggered the transformation. But he still didn't understand the "how" or the "why."

Where exactly had the change occurred? What was the catalyst?

He hadn't even possessed the creature. In theory, such a metamorphosis should have been impossible without his direct involvement.

But then something occurred to him.

The brain icon that had appeared next to his health bar earlier, it was gone now.

When he'd approached the Goatman in his soul form and been caught in its roar, he had definitely seen a downward arrow appear on that brain icon. His sanity stat had dropped, albeit only slightly.

Could that be the connection?

After all, the iron golems and snow golems he possessed were said to have been granted souls by him through the possession process. His spiritual energy or consciousness or whatever it was had given them something they'd lacked before.

So when his sanity decreased from the Goatman's roar, had that tiny fragment of something... been absorbed by the creature?

And because of that minuscule addition of human consciousness or spiritual energy, the Goatman had undergone some kind of qualitative change.

Then, as it was feared by everyone around it, as that terror accumulated and manifested, a new phenomenon took shape.

Or maybe, and this was even stranger to think about, maybe it had been recorded and acknowledged by the One Piece world itself. Maybe the world's natural laws had recognized this new type of creature and captured its essence, transforming it into a Devil Fruit.

After all, Zoan-type Devil Fruits possessed consciousness within them. That was a known fact, and it was a prerequisite for Devil Fruit awakening.

He found the whole thing incredibly hard to wrap his head around. Maybe it was like a chemical reaction? You mixed the right ingredients under the right conditions, and boom, Devil Fruit.

But regardless of the mechanism...

He looked down at the Mythical Zoan fruit in his hand, feeling its weight and studying the spiral patterns covering its surface.

He had no idea who he should give this to.

He already had way too many Devil Fruits in his possession. His collection was starting to resemble a legendary treasure hoard from some pirate fantasy.

The only crew members who hadn't eaten Devil Fruits yet were Zoro and Sanji.

But neither of them would ever eat one. Zoro definitely wouldn't, the swordsman had made his stance on that clear. And as for Sanji... well, his Clear-Clear Fruit was still waiting for him whenever that plot point came around.

Marcus considered just throwing it onto the transmutation tablet to at least get it registered in his system. After all, it was a Mythical Zoan, letting it go unrecorded would be a complete waste.

But when he accessed the conversion interface and placed the fruit in the slot, he discovered that Devil Fruit was already in a sellable state. There was no need for conversion at all. It had been automatically recognized by the system.

Curious about something, he bought another pear from the transmutation tablet, just a regular one.

He sold the Goatman Fruit, then immediately bought it back. He waited, watching the ordinary pear sitting next to the Devil Fruit.

Nothing happened. The pear remained completely unchanged. His attempt to exploit a bug and duplicate Devil Fruits had clearly failed.

He scratched his head in disappointment. He'd just wasted a full 1.5 million berries on that experiment. Mythical Zoans were priced the same as Logia types, sell for 1.5 million, buy back for 3 million.

"Oh, right..."

Marcus reached over and summoned the Shichiseiken.

As a weapon with Loyalty VI enchantment, he could call it to fly back to him at any time, no matter where it was. The sword would cut through any obstacle to return to its master.

"Can you eat a Devil Fruit yourself?" Marcus asked, looking at the blade.

The sword trembled, and wisps of ghostly energy flowed into his hand, forming coherent thoughts and emotions he could understand.

He got his answer immediately.

The Shichiseiken could eat Devil Fruits. It had that capability. But it wasn't interested in any of the Devil Fruits he currently had in his possession. They didn't appeal to it.

Marcus pulled out the Goatman Fruit, holding it where the sword could "see" it.

"This one is a Mythical Zoan: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Goatman."

The sword trembled twice. This time it didn't refuse outright, but there was definite hesitation. Ghostly energy quietly spread over Marcus' hand, probing the fruit.

"What exactly is a Goatman?" the sword asked through their connection.

"You've never heard horror stories?"

The blade shook twice, then conveyed: I will not eat it!

Marcus' eyes narrowed thoughtfully, picking up on something in its reaction.

"You're not scared of horror stories, are you?"

He'd apparently hit the nail right on the head. The Shichiseiken went completely still for a moment, as if it'd been caught doing something embarrassing.

Then the blade began trembling violently, and ghostly energy poured out in torrents, flooding his hand with emotions.

I'm not afraid of any monsters or demons at all. If anything, those ghostly things should be afraid of me!

Its voice was full of bravado. Marcus moved the Goatman Devil Fruit a little closer to the Shichiseiken, testing its reaction.

I don't eat unclean things, it declared haughtily, as if that had been her objection all along.