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On the deck, Ace's entire body turned into a translucent, jelly-like state.
Seeing this, Luffy's eyes lit up with curiosity. He reached out, poked Ace's squishy form with a finger, and grinned. "Ace, I feel like you'd taste delicious..."
Ace: ...
Sabo also stepped forward and pressed his hand against Ace's body.
"It's really cool and smooth," Sabo comnted. "I bet it'd feel great to sleep while hugging you in sumr!"
"Oi, Sabo... that's kinda dangerous thinking!"
The mont those words left his mouth, Ace imdiately reverted to his normal form.
Even though he and Sabo were close, their bond was that of brothers—not whatever weird thing Sabo was implying.
Back in his original form, Ace sighed and muttered, "This fruit feels so useless."
Ikki patted him on the shoulder. "You're thinking about it the wrong way. Sli is an incredibly versatile thing!"
"In fact, even though it's classified as a Paracia, your Sli-Sli Fruit honestly feels more like a Mythical Zoan!"
Ace shrugged helplessly. "No matter what type it is, if it doesn't help in battle, then it's still useless."
"Whether it has combat potential or not depends on how you develop it."
Ikki smirked. "Try rging your flas with your sli body."
Ace blinked, then nodded and gave it a shot.
His body turned into sli again, but this ti, it shifted into a deep red hue.
"Wait... what the hell?"
Ace stared at his own body in disbelief. He could feel it—his very being had taken on the properties of fire. And judging by the sensation, fire wouldn't be able to harm him anymore.
Ikki grinned. "Alright, Nami, hit him with so elental attacks."
Although Nami wasn't sure what Ikki was getting at, she complied. She conjured three elental orbs—one of fire, one of water, and one of lightning.
The fireball hit Ace's body and was absorbed instantly.
The water ball, however, exploded into a burst of steam. While Ace couldn't absorb it—probably due to the Devil Fruit's natural weakness to water—the sheer heat of his body had evaporated it.
Then ca the thunderball. The mont it struck, Ace went completely still, closing his eyes as if processing sothing. For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then, when he finally opened his eyes, wisps of electricity crackled across his sli-like body.
"Just as I thought," Ikki said with a smirk. "Lightning got absorbed too, becoming part of his own power."
The realization hit Ace.
With this ability, he was practically the worst nightmare for Logia users. Any Logia attack that hit him could be absorbed, making him immune to their abilities.
He was starting to see the true potential of the Sli-Sli Fruit.
From there, Ikki began explaining his thoughts on the fruit's abilities and possible ways to develop it.
Ace listened carefully, growing more and more convinced that this Devil Fruit was far more powerful than he initially believed.
By the end of the discussion, Ikki patted Ace's shoulder and declared, "Train the hell out of this fruit! It's a hundred tis better than that la-ass Fla-Fla Fruit that even a dog wouldn't eat!"
Ace was left speechless.
"I an... c'mon, Ikki... the Fla-Fla Fruit is a Logia, after all..."
Hearing Ace's response, Ikki shrugged and asked, "Alright, then let ask you—what's the power of the Fla-Fla Fruit?"
Ace replied without hesitation, "Obviously, it's fire!"
"Right," Ikki continued. "Now, let ask you this—how many people on the Grand Line can use fire in battle without the Fla-Fla Fruit?"
Ace opened his mouth but quickly found himself unable to argue.
While only a handful of fire users had appeared in the past, after spending ti in the New World, Ace had encountered many powerful fighters who could wield or generate flas without a Devil Fruit.
When it ca to pure skill with fire, he wasn't even the best among them.
Seeing Ace's silence, Ikki smirked. "And on top of that, flas have a natural temperature limit unless they're enhanced by a catalyst. No matter how much you develop your ability, all you can really do is change the shape or size of the flas—you can't keep raising their heat indefinitely."
Ace suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
For the first ti, he realized just how limited the Fla-Fla Fruit truly was...
"Ugh..." With a sigh, he handed the Tiger Talisman back to Ikki.
Ikki, however, shook his head. "You should hold onto it for now. You still need ti to get used to controlling two Devil Fruits. Once you've fully adjusted, then you can return it to ."
"Just be careful with it. Try not to grip it too hard."
Ace raised an eyebrow. "Why? You think I'll break it?"
"I'm not worried about the talisman breaking," Ikki said with a smirk. "I'm worried that if you do break it... you'll split yourself in half."
Ace had no idea what that was supposed to an, but he nodded seriously, making a ntal note to be careful.
As Ace focused on figuring out how to develop his Sli-Sli Fruit, the Straw Hats returned to their usual routines—until a new island appeared on the horizon.
"Is that Ruluka Island?"
Hearing Ikki ntion the na, Vivi turned to him curiously. "Ikki, have you been there before?"
"Yeah," Ikki nodded. "I think this'll be an interesting adventure."
Soon, the Going rry docked at the port of Ruluka Island.
Just as everyone was about to disembark, an armored soldier approached them.
"Hey! Here on Ruluka Island, you have to pay a port tax to dock your ship."
His tone wasn't arrogant—just businesslike. It was clear that collecting taxes was standard procedure on this island.
Nami, who cherished money like her own life, imdiately scowled. "Wait... we have to pay just for stopping here?"
The soldier shrugged. "It's not up to . The mayor set this rule. If you don't pay, I'll have to arrest you for illegally entering the island."
As he finished speaking, his grip tightened on the spear resting on his shoulder.
Just then, a familiar voice shouted, "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!"
A blur shot past them—Luffy, of course—who had already leaped off the ship and was sprinting toward the town.
The soldier instinctively tried to raise his weapon, but before he could react, Luffy barreled straight through him, knocking him aside like a ragdoll.
"Oi! Luffy, don't eat everything! Leave so for the locals!"
Ikki dashed after him, but as he passed the fallen soldier, his eyes flashed—and in the next mont, the man collapsed, unconscious.
This island was currently ruled by a pirate.
Of course, as the mayor, he couldn't openly plunder the people. So instead, he found a more convenient way to exploit them—through endless taxation.
You had to pay taxes to have a child.
You had to pay taxes to eat.
You had to pay taxes to buy anything.
You even had to pay taxes just to walk down the street.
The sheer number of taxes had made life on Ruluka Island unbearable for its residents.
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