In the original story, the appearance of the Ope-Ope no Mi did not cause much of a stir.
On one hand, it was because the various forces on the seas were unaware that the Ope-Ope no Mi could perform the Immortality Operation, leading them to underestimate its importance.
On the other hand, Diez Barrels' secrecy work was actually quite good.
He intended to sell the Ope-Ope no Mi, which had a bounty of five billion Berries, to the World Government through the underworld. Throughout the entire process, only Doflamingo, the middleman in the underworld, received the news.
Therefore, the struggle for the Ope-Ope no Mi in the original story was supposed to be an internal matter for Doflamingo's faction.
It was just that the two undercover agents, Rosinante and Vergo, involved the Marine, complicating the situation.
Now, Blake has preemptively spread news about the Immortality Operation, and things will only get more chaotic than in the original story.
Barrels might even directly consume the Ope-Ope no Mi the moment he obtains it.
And while Blake wanted to set a trap using the Ope-Ope no Mi, it was just as he himself said—greed.
Blake wanted to achieve his goal, but he also didn't want the Ope-Ope no Mi to fall into someone else's hands.
So the simplest solution was to create a fake one.
It would be even more perfect if this fake Ope-Ope no Mi could be completely destroyed during the struggle.
Although it was not explicitly stated in the original story whether Devil Fruit could be destroyed, whether it was Ace and Deuce sharing the Mera Mera no Mi, or Kalifa slicing the Bubble Fruit, these all indicate that Devil Fruit are not indestructible.
Of course, even if a Devil Fruit is destroyed, the person who takes the first bite can still gain its ability.
Then the problem arises again.
What if a Devil Fruit is directly pulverized into dust and scattered by the wind?
Blake didn't know if a Devil Fruit in such a state could grant abilities, but he thought others probably didn't know either.
Even if similar extreme situations had occurred over eight hundred years, the samples would surely be very few and not convincing.
Anyway, according to Blake's plan, this "Ope-Ope no Mi" would eventually dissipate with the wind.
As for why no one gained the ability?
How would I know?
And so, the sanctuary sailed towards Reverse Mountain, following the coordinates provided by Aramaki.
During the voyage, Blake once again entered the System Space.
Because this month, he had drawn a powerful ability card—
Shanks (adult stage)
In order to improve his strength as much as possible before the plan was implemented, he didn't intend to save up ability cards this time but was ready to challenge directly.
Seeing the Shanks ability card floating in the space, Blake grinned:
"Could it be that because I recently tricked him, he's turned into an ability card to get revenge on me?"
Of course, with his current strength, he naturally wouldn't fear any revenge:
"System! Enter challenge!"
The ability card space unfolded, revealing a sunny sea area, and Blake was standing on a ship.
The battle erupted silently, and two Conqueror's Haki clashed fiercely.
Boom!
Dark red lightning flickered, the sea surface was pressed into a hollow, and wood chips flew across the deck.
"I thought the System Space would heal your arm first."
Blake teased, but the Shanks in front of him, of course, wouldn't answer; his figure had already disappeared.
At the same time, Blake's Observation Haki was also unable to perceive the opponent's location.
"Sight Kill? I can do that too!"
Blake drew the long scroll from his waist, which he hadn't used in a long time, preparing to compete in swordsmanship with the opponent.
The moment he drew his sword, Shanks appeared before him as if teleporting, and Gryphon, carrying a sword pressure that could tear everything apart, slashed down.
Clang!
The sound of clashing blades ended the silence, energy exploded in a ring, the ship shattered with a roar, and the seawater below was instantly emptied, revealing the reefs at the bottom of the sea.
Blake used the force of the attack to retreat, his fleshy wings suddenly spreading out behind him.
He flapped his wings, his speed soaring. As he charged forward, a blood shadow appeared out of thin air, instantly solidifying into Blake's likeness, launching attacks from different directions.
Shanks' swordsmanship was extremely skillful and incredibly fast. Although he only had one arm, he parried left and right, retreating repeatedly, and for a time, he did not show any decline.
But soon, a thick blood mist began to emanate from Blake, quickly enveloping the battlefield.
At the same time, red light flickered continuously in Blake's eyes, and Shanks' movements began to slow down in his vision.
"Secret Art: Ghost Flash!"
Three slashes flew out simultaneously. Shanks retreated while continuing to swing his sword to block.
But this move was just a feint; Blake's true killing move lay in—
He suddenly clenched his left hand!
Bang, bang, bang!
The blood vessels on Shanks' arm suddenly burst open. This was the Vampire Fruit's control over blood itself.
For a powerful individual like Red Hair, it was almost impossible to directly control the blood within the opponent's body when they were prepared.
However, the intense battle affected his perception. The triple weakening from Sight Kill, blood mist, and sound waves made his Observation Haki almost ineffective.
Taking advantage of the opponent's attention being entirely on defending against sword moves, Blake launched this unexpected attack, and it indeed succeeded in one blow.
The bursting of blood vessels caused a momentary delay in Shanks' movements.
Blake suddenly lunged forward. Armament Haki, Observation Haki, Demonic Aura, and blood energy were all simultaneously activated at this moment, coiling around the blade.
Various colored lightning intertwined on the blade, constantly colliding with each other, gradually transforming into an all-consuming darkness, with only a trace of dark red flowing at the edge of the blade.
"Secret Art: Absolute Peak!"
Swish!
A massive crescent-shaped slash tore through the sea and air, advancing with a world-destroying momentum.
"Divine Avoidance!"
Shanks quickly used his ultimate move.
However, he couldn't complete the full charge in a hurry, so this attack was far from its peak state. This was the advantage Blake had created earlier.
The two slashes collided on the sea like comets.
Time seemed to stand still for that instant, and then—
Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!
The deafening sound and light swallowed everything. The seabed was torn open into a huge rift valley, and space itself seemed to ripple with instability.
The stalemate between the two lights lasted for less than a second before Blake's slash, with an unstoppable momentum, completely devoured the red sword light.
The remaining energy directly struck Shanks, who was blocking with his sword.
Without any surprise, the opponent transformed into a brilliant blue light under this violent force, slowly dissipating.
Blake returned to the System Space and let out a soft breath:
"Feels pretty good."
Although this battle wasn't as direct and brutal as his previous fights with Kaido and Big Mom, Blake hadn't encountered an opponent who could make him serious in a long time.
He looked down at the ability card in his hand—
Conqueror's Haki (adult stage Shanks)
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