Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 379 Jinchuuriki

"...Then my vision blurred, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself back."

Under La's questioning gaze, Taolong recounted his experiences over the past period in detail.

This adventure, which lasted only a dozen days, was arguably the most bizarre experience of his life. Tao Long felt like the little hamster that Ossie had failed to raise, thrown into a running wheel and forced to keep running forward without a moment's rest.

What he saw and heard along the way completely overturned the common sense he had built up over the past few decades.

First, he was chased by a bone dragon flying through the sky, then he fell into a trap dug by a tofu monster, and at the bottom of the pit, he met the equally unlucky blue and yellow demons.

After the three of them finally managed to climb out of the deep pit, they were just about to confront the tofu block when... but as soon as they kicked the broken tofu block, it suddenly turned bright red, and then they were all sent flying by an elbow strike.

To make matters worse, they fell right into another, bigger and deeper trap.

The good news is that the bottom of the pit is a hidden paradise, inhabited by many beautiful and charming young women. They warmly invite Taolong and his companions to their homes and promise to treat them to local delicacies.

The bad news is that after they attended the banquet, they discovered that they were the "special dish"—and that the true identities of these girls were actually carnivorous man-eating plants and insects!

The good news is that after desperately protecting his two teammates, he managed to escape.

The bad news is that he hadn't run far before he was inexplicably abducted into a strange village.

Compared to those colorful cannibalistic little girls, the residents there were rather...unpleasant-looking...each with a strangely shaped head, multicolored skin, and wearing only underwear.

Fortunately, although these perverts were perverted, they were not a threat and were even quite friendly.

Taolong rested and recuperated in the village, and successfully became good friends with the group of friendly guys, spending a leisurely and happy time together.

However, their good fortune didn't last long. Just a few days later, the small village was summoned by the emperor to participate in the great war for the Beast King... and Taolong, an outsider, was also unwittingly dragged into the war.

The war was exceptionally brutal, with mountain-sized behemoths, lion-bodied, scorpion-tailed monsters, alluring and beautiful harpies, savage and ferocious trolls, and kangaroos wearing boxing gloves...

These previously unheard-of monsters fought each other for the throne of the Beast King, causing the sky to darken and the sun and moon to lose their light.

Meanwhile, their leader, the seemingly strongest, mountain-like purplish-red behemoth, suffered the worst defeat. Not only was he rendered powerless by the roar of the lion-bodied, scorpion-tailed monster, but he was also punched in the face by the kangaroo, knocking out his front tooth.
And those underwear perverts who came with him weren't much better.

At first, the fact that these several perverts merged into a giant pervert with underwear over his head did shock everyone. However, as the fusion time ended, these perverts were chased around by those bird-winged, human-bodied banshees... and on the battlefield, they basically became cannon fodder.

Fortunately, at the crucial moment, Taolong managed to summon a giant dragon clad in armor by relying on a dragon-summoning ritual that was supposedly passed down through generations in that bizarre village, but which sounded utterly unreliable.

With the help of the armored dragon, he successfully led those little monsters away from the battlefield, leaving only the Beast King, who was already being beaten up by the small animals.

Even so, many perverts in colorful underwear died on the battlefield, and the village was destroyed in the war.

However, the little guy seemed to know nothing of frustration. In the blink of an eye, he cheered up and joined hands to prepare to rebuild their home.

They even built a statue of Tauron... the kind that only wears underwear.

Fortunately, these guys really don't have much artistic talent. The statues they built can't be called lifelike, but they can at least be described as indistinguishable from animals... Otherwise, Taolong would have shown them what pirates really look like.

After spending some time helping them rebuild the village, Taolong and his companions set off on their journey once again...

He hadn't forgotten the purpose of his trip. Having gained power (partners), Taolong vowed to make that piece of broken blue tofu pay the price!
Just when he finally found that damned piece of tofu after going through countless hardships, and was about to use the power of bonds to avenge his humiliation, an unexpected event occurred...

He didn't remember exactly what happened, but when he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in his original world.

……

"Oh, right, buddy!"

Where are my friends?

"I clearly heard my partner shout just now!"

As partners who have braved hordes of monsters together, single-handedly rescuing the freaks, Taolong and the armored dragon have developed a deep bond, to the point that they are practically one.

The moment the voice echoed in his mind, he immediately recognized it as the voice of his partner (aibo).

"Friend, where are you?"

"Ahhh~"

As Taolong called out, the voice indeed rang in his mind once again.

It's not an illusion; your partners are right beside you!
Taolong suddenly stood up and stared wide-eyed as he searched the yard... Even though his companion's voice was so close, right next to his ear, Taolong couldn't find it anywhere.

"partner?"

"Where's my partner?!"

"Where are you, buddy?!"

"No need to look for it, it's inside your body."

Just as Tao Long lifted the tablecloth and was about to crawl under the table, La Shi spoke up in time. "Huh?"

"Inside my...body?"

Tao Long put down the tablecloth in his hand, slowly stood up, and looked down at his body with a puzzled expression.

"Why don't I feel anything at all?"

"That's what you just ate."

He stretched out his finger and pointed to the fruit plate in front of him, speaking in a flat tone.

"?"

"I...I ate 'Partner'?"

Seeing the incredulous look on the other person's face, La decided to explain everything to Taolong from beginning to end:
"The place I'm taking you to this time is called the 'Elf Realm,' a completely new world different from this one."

"The creatures that live there are called 'Duel Spirits,' including the Bone Dragon you mentioned, Tofu... and your current 'partner,' they are all spirits."

"An elf...?"

"Hmm. But the name isn't important, it's just a general term... You can call them mythical beasts if you want."

"A mythical beast?!"

La is indeed very good at stirring up other people's emotions... As soon as he heard the word "fantasy beast", Taolong immediately perked up.

Mythical Beasts are legendary creatures that are manifestations of people's fantasies and possess a variety of magical abilities; they are miracles residing within Devil Fruits.

Tao Long had always dreamed of having a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit like Kaido... but unfortunately, Mythical Zoan-type fruits are extremely rare. In all his years of searching the seas, he had only found a few ordinary Zoan-type fruits.

Now that he heard Rat mention the word, Taolong's heart began to pound uncontrollably.

"Goooo~"

He swallowed hard, and with a hint of hope, cautiously began to speak:
"You...you just said I 'ate' my partner. That doesn't mean..."

"You're right."

"Captain Kaido once mentioned to me that Zoan-type Devil Fruits seem to contain consciousness and will seek out suitable 'hosts' on their own."

"And the reason I'm taking you to that world this time is so that you can choose a 'mythical beast' that 'matches' you."

La's crimson eyes shimmered with a holy light, surrounded by a ring of ancient priestly script that slowly rotated, as she stared at Taolong... or perhaps at the small, pale yellow dragon curled up inside him.

"Looks like you've found it!"

"..."

"But don't get too excited yet."

"The passage I've created isn't large enough to allow powerful Duel Pokémon to pass through directly, so your 'partner' has been forced to regress to its juvenile form."

"Fortunately, there is the 'Devil Fruit' as a ready-made vessel to serve as a medium..."

He stretched out his hand, used a fork to pick up a piece of fruit from the fruit plate, put it in his mouth, and then closed his eyes to savor it carefully.

Unfortunately, it didn't have the disgusting taste that Kaido described, which was ten times worse than the worst food. Instead, it had a sharp, razor-sharp texture.

“I killed the animal consciousness residing in the ‘Hedgehog Fruit’ you once brought back, and then used it as a vessel to carry the ‘partner’ you brought back from there.”

"In this way, it can exist stably in this world for a long time, instead of collapsing at any time like the cards that Obey made."

"I see... that's how it is~"

Taolong nodded, he roughly understood the meaning behind Ra's words.

But while he could understand it, this almost fantastical method still exceeded his wildest imagination...

What does it mean to 'send me to a whole new world'?
What does 'selecting a mythical beast species' mean?
What does it mean to 'kill the consciousness within a Devil Fruit'?
Is this really not a story I made up for him?
"It will grow back eventually with some time, and you can also take this opportunity to get used to your new way of getting along with it."

"A new...way of getting along?"

Taolong muttered somewhat mechanically.

"Yes. After all, it's not a true Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, so it's inappropriate for you to develop it from the perspective of a Devil Fruit user."

Taolong's current state is more like that of a "Jinchūriki" than a so-called "Ability User".

He can communicate freely with the 'partner' that exists within him... When he needs to use his power, he simply claps his hands together and shouts "Ikusou, aibo!" which works better than anything else.

Even if the bond reaches the point of direct unity of opposites, soaring to the heavens is not impossible!
(End of this chapter)