Yes, you read that correctly.
Although this serpent has no physical form and isn’t a living thing, it is hugely “picky.”
Or rather, this ability has specific requirements for extracting “attribute points.”
For those sea kings that had become fat blobs, losing all combat ability, this serpent showed little interest.
Even when these “fat, useless creatures” were killed, the serpent did not react in any way, meaning it couldn’t extract “attribute points” from them.
This made Aburahamu Michion feel hopeless. According to his previous assumptions, even if there was some experience of “debuff,” gradually collecting “attribute points” would be much better than the current situation.
But now, he could only watch those experience packages eat and drink, while killing them did not give him any gains.
However, being chased had its benefits. Constantly provoking these ferocious sea beasts helped Aburahamu Michion continuously increase his combat abilities.
Yes, his evasion skills were maxed out.
On the other hand, while evading, he became increasingly adept at using the various abilities he had developed.
……
“Bang.”
At this moment, Aburahamu Michion stood on a three-to-four-meter-long amphibious sea beast. You could see blood seeping from the beast’s head, with a deep, gruesome wound that had caved in.
It was clear that the head wound was the cause of this sea beast’s demise.
This was Aburahamu Michion’s achievement, showing the most vigorous opponent he could face now, given his growing combat strength and familiarity with his abilities.
Now, the serpent encircled Aburahamu Michion, a few blue threads merging into his body.
“Hmm, this time it’s speed? It’s really annoying not being able to choose the attribute to increase. Is it determined by the target’s specialty?” Aburahamu Michion scratched his head in frustration.
After numerous experiments, Aburahamu Michion had figured out the specifics of this skill. The serpent would extract an “attribute point” based on the prey’s strength and feed it back to Aburahamu Michion.
These attributes were red for strength, blue for speed, brown for physique, and a mysterious white attribute. Aburahamu Michion noticed that he felt a bit more energized when he got the white attribute, so he guessed it increased his spirit.
However, the change was minimal and had only occurred once.
He might not have noticed if it weren’t for Aburahamu Michion’s adult mentality and the strengthening of his will through constant training.
Thus, without more instances of the “white attribute” to observe, he couldn’t confirm what it represented.
This made Aburahamu Michion believe he might have developed an extraordinary skill.
He even suspected he had created a skill most suited to this Devil Fruit’s nature: Devouring Fruit.
Instead of considering it a halo, Aburahamu Michion preferred to see it as the prototype of a domain. The serpent at the halo’s edge, like the demon within the Devil Fruit, seemed to become more lifelike with each sea beast kill, gradually gaining a sense of life.
Shaking his head, although he felt like he was cheating with this Devil Fruit, everything still depended on physical training. Even with “attribute points,” he couldn’t neglect training; only this way could he perfectly control himself.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”…
Stomach Baron began to feast again.
Feeling the tremors in the ground, Aburahamu Michion remained calm, methodically tying himself to a tree.
Then, he lay on the tree, yawning and watching the frantic “bursting balls” struggle and howl desperately.
Having grown accustomed to this scene, Aburahamu Michion felt no emotion, even a bit of joy.
After all, once Stomach Baron finished eating, new sea beasts or Sea Kings would be drawn to the island to feed.
Aburahamu Michion just needed to wait a few days until the food had weakened them before starting his hunting spree.
Of course, these were plans for a few days later.
Now, he had to take advantage of the post-feeding calm to head to the island’s edge, checking for washed-up items or passing ships.
Even floating debris might be helpful someday or bring unexpected gains.
For instance, once, he found a small bag full of gold coins.
Though useless on the island, Aburahamu Michion kept them as starting funds for when he left.
Of course, he swore never to make a raft or stuff himself into a barrel to drift away. Only some have Luffy’s protagonist aura.
As the weight on his body gradually lessened, Stomach Baron slowly opened its petals. The surrounding silence told of the terror brought by the “Baron of the Stomach.”
As usual, Aburahamu Michion reached the island’s edge, where the sunlight reflected off the sea’s surface, sometimes blindingly.
He habitually checked the land nearby first and, as expected, found nothing.
Then, he climbed a tree to survey the surrounding sea area.
But to his surprise, he saw a black dot on the horizon.
Ignoring the glaring sun, Aburahamu Michion stared at the black dot.
Though the sunlight made it hard to see, as the dot approached, its proper form was revealed—a ship.
“A ship! But what kind of ship? If it’s the navy, great, but if it’s a pirate ship, what do I do? Show my abilities, pretend to join them, and escape to a nearby island with a town?”
“But if it’s a pirate ship, the uncertainty is too high, and the danger too great… But this is the only chance to leave the island…”
The vessel rapidly approached as Aburahamu Michion was lost in thoughts of what to do if it were a pirate ship.
Now, Aburahamu Michion could see the white flag flying on the ship.
On the flag was a seagull holding a pair of scales in its beak, the symbol of the Navy, representing peace and order in the world.
“Phew, at least it’s not a pirate ship. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Seeing it was a Navy ship, Aburahamu Michion breathed a sigh of relief.
At least now, he didn’t have to worry about the possibility of the crew choosing to kill him without question.
Given the vast difference in conscience among the world’s pirates, this was not an impossibility.
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