— — — — — —
Over ten minutes later…
"Still just three tomoe?"
Chika tilted her head in confusion as she stared at the three comma-like marks spinning in Hancock's eyes. "Don't tell the three-tomoe form is actually the peak of the Sharingan?"
"Did you notice any new abilities showing up?"
"Nope. But the Sharingan can evolve beyond this."
Hancock shook her head and replied calmly, "From what I can sense—though it's still a bit vague—the Sharingan can evolve at least two more tis after the three-tomoe stage."
"In the next stage, each eye should awaken its own unique dojutsu technique… but I want to wait until I've figured out exactly which ability I want to unlock before I let it evolve."
"Ha?" Chika's eyes widened in disbelief. "You get to choose what you awaken?"
"It's not like you can just pick whatever you want," Hancock explained. "But your life experiences, the emotions they leave behind, and your deepest desires… if they're strong enough, they can influence what kind of eye techniques you awaken—and how they manifest."
"…That's still amazing."
Chika sounded genuinely envious.
Thankfully, her own Tenseigan abilities—gravity manipulation, repulsion, Truth-Seeking Orbs, and the spin-off techniques Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion—had all matched her preferences pretty well.
"But the Sharingan isn't the only thing you've gained, right?"
The one who spoke up next was Veyron, watching from the side.
"Mhm!"
Hancock nodded enthusiastically, her voice rising with excitent. "My Love-Love Fruit… has awakened!"
"…You awakened your Devil Fruit?"
Veyron raised an eyebrow.
Awakening—in the world of One Piece, it was a state that only a few Devil Fruit users ever reached. Only those who had mastered their abilities to the limit and encountered the right opportunity could ever hope to unlock it.
For Zoan users, awakening brought insane physical resilience and near-limitless stamina.
For Paracia types, awakening could dramatically evolve their abilities—so even affecting their surroundings.
As for Logia types… well, as far as Veyron knew, there hadn't been any confird awakened Logias in the current canon.
The logic behind Devil Fruits was that the powers hidden in the fruit fused with the user's Lineage Factor—essentially the One Piece world's version of genes or DNA—altering the user at a fundantal level.
In that case…
Hancock had already unlocked the fourth stage of the Gene Lock, granting her control over her own genetic structure and the ability to push every gene's potential to the max. So her Love-Love Fruit awakening actually made perfect sense.
"What changed after the awakening?" Veyron asked, intrigued.
"For starters, my petrification power's kinda busted now—like, seriously leveled up," Hancock said.
(Because of a past mission involving world fusion, when the chat group mbers had to stay in World-0, Hancock had picked up a few terms not native to the One Piece world.)
"Before, my Love-Love llow could only petrify people if they felt romantic or lustful feelings toward . And if they were really good at distracting themselves or suppressing their emotions, it wouldn't work at all," she explained.
"But now, even admiration, jealousy, or outright hatred—I can use Love-Love llow to petrify them instantly!"
"Wow…"
Hearing her explanation, Veyron couldn't help but think of the Pacifista Seraphim unit Vegapunk had created more than ten years later in the original tiline—specifically S-Snake, modeled after Hancock.
S-Snake could also use Love-Love llow like Hancock, but it worked on anyone who was chard by her cuteness, turning them to stone instantly.
So yeah, the Love-Love Fruit probably had many traits from the start—it was just held back by the user's thinking or the fact it hadn't awakened yet.
"Congrats," Veyron said sincerely.
Then he looked toward the rest of the group. "Alright… who's next?"
The next person to unlock their fourth-level Gene Lock was Gwen.
Exactly as Chika had predicted.
Back in her ho universe, Gwen had originally mutated into Spider-Woman after being bitten by a radioactive spider.
Now, with her Gene Lock reaching stage four, all the abilities she'd gained from that bite—super strength, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes, durability, enhanced senses, healing, and of course, her iconic spider-sense—had all been boosted across the board.
Her physical stats had skyrocketed, and the power multiplier granted by entry-level stage four was no joke—easily over a hundredfold.
After seeing her casually test out her upgraded powers, Selina—who'd been watching from the sidelines—was so jealous she downed her own gene lock potion on the spot.
…
Despite being called "Catwoman," Selina had only been compared to a cat because of her graceful, agile fighting style. It wasn't like she'd actually been bitten by a radioactive cat or anything.
So while her base stats didn't shoot up quite as dramatically as Gwen's, the benefits she gained from entering the initial stage four realm were nothing to scoff at either.
Another person who drank the potion at the sa ti as Selina was rlin.
Though she didn't say anything about what she gained, Veyron and Chika—both familiar with her—could sense it clearly. Even though rlin wore her usual calm smile like nothing had changed, there was a quiet satisfaction beneath it.
And finally… it was Fubuki's turn.
"Hmm?"
As Fubuki drank the potion and unlocked her stage four Gene Lock, Veyron narrowed his eyes.
Fubuki had two distinct sources of power: the psychic energy granted by the T-virus used in the gene unlock process, and her own original esper abilities.
And now, those two forces, which had always felt separate, were beginning to rge.
Veyron had already confird that the telekinesis produced by the T-virus was a sketchy form of "Light of the Mind." So this fusion within Fubuki ant…
(Note: Light of the Mind is related to the Gene Lock.)
"…Not to be rude, but now I'm really curious," Veyron said, clapping his hands together lightly. "If your sister ever gets a Gene Lock too… I wonder what kind of insane transformation she would undergo."
"…To be honest, I'm kind of curious too."
Fubuki opened her eyes. Her erald-green gaze shimred with a deeper, richer glow than before.
"Ooh?"
"You finally did it this ti?" Veyron asked.
"Almost…"
Next to her, a figure silently appeared—identical to Fubuki in every way, except for her skin being a deep bluish-purple, and the shining golden armor she wore.
It was her Stand: Star Platinum. Which she got in the first Gacha (In chapter 4).
Looking at Veyron, Fubuki asked calmly, "So… do you think I'm finally strong enough to challenge the sister who's never t a real rival in her life?"
Veyron chuckled and shrugged. "Well, you haven't fought her yet—who's to say?"
"…You're right," Fubuki smiled, nodding. "We won't know until I do."
"Sooo~ It's showti~"
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