The Star Train's Journey Through the Heavens

Chapter 183 Devil Fruit Will
"I heard it doesn't taste very good," Meng Huaifeng said hesitantly, though it was probably useless.

"How bad can it be? None of us have tried it before, so let's at least give it a shot," March 7 said nonchalantly.

“Huaifeng, you have no right to speak if you haven’t tried it. Everyone’s tastes are different, so you can’t just believe what others say,” Himeko added.

"Whether it tastes good or not isn't important. What's important is that after leaving this world, I probably won't be able to eat it even if I want to," Dan Heng said.

"So, it doesn't matter if it doesn't taste good, at least we know what it really tastes like," Zhu Zhuqing said.

Meng Huaifeng shrugged. Well, I knew it would turn out like this.

Because even he himself wanted to try it.

You can't just say it's bad and call it bad; I need to know exactly how bad it is.

Su Xiaoli took out a fruit knife, took the Devil Fruit from Xing's hand, cut it into small pieces, then thoughtfully inserted toothpicks and placed it on a plate.

"Ah Xing, you eat first," Meng Huaifeng said.

Xing is the one who wants to obtain the Devil Fruit power, so Xing must be the first to take the first bite.

Xing picked out a big piece and stuffed it into her mouth with a "whoosh".

"Chew~"

Xing's mouth moved slightly and then stopped moving; her eyes and eyebrows started twitching.

"Oh, looks delicious. Look how much Ah Xing's eyebrows are dancing with delight," Meng Huaifeng said with a sarcastic smile.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh; it was obviously not going to taste good.

"Gudong."

Xing stopped chewing and swallowed it all in one gulp, choking so hard that her eyes rolled back slightly.

At the same time, Xing clearly felt a special energy attached to his soul.

It feels a little uncomfortable, like something has landed on you, making you want to wipe it off.

Xing endured it; wiping it off would be easy, but the Devil Fruit power would also be gone.

"My assessment is that it's just average, not as good as Himeko's coffee," Hoshi said, frowning.

Himeko smiled contentedly, and the others understood—it just wasn't as bad as Himeko's coffee.

That's alright, they can drink coffee.

"So you've gained the ability, right?" March 7th asked.

“I got it.” Xing nodded.

On March 7th, he finally felt relieved and forked a piece of fruit into his mouth.

The others also took a bite, and Meng Huaifeng picked the smallest piece.

Himeko's coffee significantly improved the train crew's endurance.

The rumored extremely unpalatable Devil Fruit only made Meng Huaifeng frown for a moment.

"Ugh~"

Su Xiaoli couldn't help but gag, concluding that Ji Zi hadn't drunk enough coffee and needed more exercise.

"The taste is not bad, quite unique, but it's definitely not as good as my coffee," Himeko said, savoring the coffee.

Meng Huaifeng looked at Ji Zi with a complicated expression. Sure enough, Sister Ji Zi's sense of taste was different from ours.

"Roar!"

Xing has activated the Horned Dragon Fruit's half-beast form, growing to nearly three meters tall and becoming several times more robust.

A high, round collar resembling a formal dress grew from the back of his neck, and a single horn grew from his forehead.

"So ugly!" March 7th looked at Xing with disgust.

Xing didn't care about March 7's evaluation at all. She moved her body with a curious expression, touching her unicorn and collar.

"How much has your strength increased?" Dan Heng asked.

Xing scratched his head, looking confused, and said, "It seems like there's no improvement. Hmm, no, there's been a slight improvement, but I can't really feel it."

"So, besides turning into an ugly dragon, it's actually useless?" Meng Huaifeng said.

"Wait, the Devil Fruit's will has awakened and wants to merge with me." Xing closed her eyes slightly.

The overwhelming soul power instantly shattered this will, and the broken, fragmented soul gradually dissipated into the air, leaving only the pure Devil Fruit ability.

Without that chaotic will, Xing felt much more at ease, just like the difference between a drop of dirty water on her body and a drop of pure water.

After all, it is an external power directly bestowed upon one. Ordinary people cannot sense it, but those who reach a certain level of strength can clearly feel it.

There's no way around it; we can only gradually integrate the habits.

"It's fun," Xing replied, opening her eyes again.

“If it’s a functional Devil Fruit, it might be of some use to us,” Dan Heng said.

"Oh right, do you have a cell phone Devil Fruit?" Xing's eyes lit up. She had been envious of Meng Huaifeng's cell phone martial soul for a long time. If only she could have one too...

"I don't know. Even if there's a vast ocean, where would we find it?" Meng Huaifeng said.

"Don't you have the Heavenly Questioning Technique? Quickly search it, okay?" Xing grabbed Meng Huaifeng's arm expectantly.

Meng Huaifeng pushed Xing away with disdain: "Don't make that face like that, it's a bit unbearable to look at."

"Hehe." Xing chuckled foolishly.

Meng Huaifeng used a replica of the Heavenly Question Technique to search the entire pirate world.

"No." Less than a minute later, Meng Huaifeng shook his head.

Xing was somewhat disappointed.

"Hurry up and change back, you look awful," March 7th said to the stars.

"Wait, it seems there's also a complete transformation form. Let me try it out," Xing said.

"Don't stay on the boat," Meng Huaifeng said hurriedly.

However, it was too late for Meng Huaifeng; Xing had already transformed into a giant horned dragon.

Dan Heng reacted swiftly, kicking Xing into the sea before Xing could fully transform.

Xing completed its transformation in mid-air, becoming a true horned dragon.

A horned dragon that should normally be tens of meters long became several thousand meters long due to the powerful influence of the star!
This is completely beyond the limits of Devil Fruit abilities!
"Boom!"

The star's enormous body crashed into the sea, creating waves hundreds of meters high.

Meng Huaifeng deployed a firewall to protect the Skyfall Justice.

With a flick of his sleeve, Dan Heng calmed the massive waves, causing no damage to the nearby islands.

"Ah Xing! You better behave yourself!" March 7th jumped up and down in anger, shouting at the star in the sea.

Himeko glanced sideways, recalling how she had worried about whether Little March had caused any trouble for everyone back at the space station.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to grow this big," Xing said, standing in the sea.

"What does it feel like when you're in the sea?" Meng Huaifeng asked.

"I feel a little bit annoyed, but otherwise I don't feel anything," Hoshido said, which is about the same as a cat's dislike of taking a bath.

"It seems that the so-called Seastone factor in the ocean has too little effect on Ah Xing, and can be almost ignored," Himeko said.

Walking on two legs is normal, but now that he's crawling on four legs, the novel experience has Xing extremely excited.

The seabed in this area is not very deep; for a star several thousand meters high, it only covers her four legs.

Xing ran back and forth in the sea like a husky that had broken free of its reins.

Occasionally, I'd step into a trench, lose my footing, and fall flat on my face, but I'd get up and keep running.

Waves tens of meters high spread outwards with Xing's turmoil, but were calmed down by Dan Heng not far away.

More than half an hour later, Xing finally had enough fun and turned back into human form.

Then Xing expelled the fruit's power that was attached to his soul. Xing used his pioneering power to bind it, slammed it into a fruit, and the Horned Dragon Devil Fruit reappeared.

It has become the least prestigious Devil Fruit among all the Devil Fruits in the One Piece world.

"Had enough fun?" March 7th rolled her eyes at Xing.

"Hehe." Xing smiled sheepishly and put the Devil Fruit back on the table.

"Everyone has already packed up the boat. Have you had enough fun?" Himeko said kindly.

Xing froze, realizing he'd forgotten about it.

"Would it be alright if you took over the task of cleaning the deck for everyone for one day?" Himeko asked.

“No problem, Sister Himeko,” Hoshino replied obediently.

"Congratulations on your promotion to intern," Meng Huaifeng said.

Xing adjusted his captain's hat. What intern? Who says a captain can't clean the deck himself?
"Huaifeng, go back to Windmill Village," Ji Zi said to Meng Huaifeng again.

"Mm." Meng Huaifeng nodded.

Among the current train crew, he is the most adept at understanding the spirit and soul.

"What are you going back to Windmill Village for?" March 7th asked.

“Didn’t Luffy also eat a Devil Fruit? The soul and will inside might affect him,” Himeko said. “He’s a rare talent who can forge his own path.”

If Luffy's personality changes and he ultimately doesn't embark on the expedition, that's fine; Himeko won't force him.

However, Himeko could not tolerate the fact that external factors forcibly influenced his personality, causing him to deviate from pioneering spirit.

"Oh right." March 7th suddenly remembered.

Meng Huaifeng activated the boundary anchor of Windmill Village and returned to Windmill Village.

If Luffy wasn't found in Windmill Village, then he's probably already been thrown to the bandit Dadan by Garp.

Because of the train crew, Luffy, Ace, and Sabo got to know each other a few days in advance.

They also went through Garp's grueling training together.

Seeing that Luffy, who was younger than him, could withstand such brutal training.

Ace developed a sense of shared hardship with Luffy.

They've been through thick and thin together, so their relationship is pretty good for now.

"Rules are meant to be broken!"

Ace's steel pipe slammed into Garp, but Garp didn't budge. Instead, he punched Ace away.

"Gum, rubber!" Luffy swung his arm and used the elasticity to smash heavily into Garp's head.

"Snapped!"

Garp caught Luffy's fist, swung it around in the air a few times, and threw it out. You couldn't tell at all that this was his grandson.

Fortunately, Luffy's rubber body can resist most blunt force injuries, otherwise he would be severely injured even if he doesn't die.

Luffy crashed hard into the tree, his body stretched out and wrapped around it several times before bouncing back.

"Luffy."

Just as he got up and was about to rush forward again, a familiar voice rang out behind him, and Luffy turned around in surprise.

"Brother Huaifeng! Why are you back? Where are the other brothers and sisters?"

"I came back to see you. I came back by myself," Meng Huaifeng said.

Xing actually taught his special move to the other two kids. Should I teach Luffy something too?

But what should we teach?

Luffy is a bit dim-witted; he always acts before he thinks.

But most of the things I know require brainpower and energy.

The domineering aura in this world is less malleable and may not be able to be fully unleashed...

Ace and Sabo watched quietly from the side. They were more familiar with Xing than with Meng Huaifeng.

"Young man, want to have a go?" Garp said, overestimating his abilities.

Having not been beaten for several days, even knowing he was no match, Garp couldn't resist the urge to fight.

"We'll talk about it later. How has Luffy been these past few days?" Meng Huaifeng asked.

"We get beaten by that stinky old man every day, and it hurts so much! He tortures us nonstop! Brother Huaifeng, please teach this big devil a lesson!" Luffy complained pitifully.

"Hey, brat, Grandpa's doing this so you can get stronger," Garp said unhappily. He wasn't even willing to let the elite Navy training camp get his training, and you're already complaining.

Meng Huaifeng learned about Garp's training process over the past few days from the surrounding environment: cliff bungee jumping, hand-to-hand combat with wild beasts, running with weights, being beaten by fists wrapped in Armament Haki, and then eating meat after being beaten... Meng Huaifeng's eyebrows twitched wildly.

"Uncle Garp, isn't that a bit too harsh?"

"What's so ruthless about him? Isn't he making rapid progress? No wonder he's my grandson." Garp laughed heartily.

Meng Huaifeng ignored the old man and began examining Luffy's soul.

The Gum-Gum Fruit is actually the Nika Fruit. It is rumored that this fruit will consciously evade the World Government's search and find a suitable owner on its own.

As expected, the Devil Fruit will attached to Luffy's soul was excessively active, and even though Luffy's fruit had not yet awakened, he was already in a semi-awakened state.

If this were to truly awaken and fuse, its strength would definitely increase dramatically.

But it's hard to say whether Luffy will be Luffy himself, or the sun god Nika or Joy Boy at that time.

Just as Meng Huaifeng was about to shatter the will of the Nika Fruit, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and copied the experience of developing the fruit's abilities contained within that will.

Instead of brutally shattering the will, it erased it, leaving behind the fragmented soul that carried the will.

He then copied the experience of developing fruit abilities into a pure, incomplete soul.

This yields an experiential soul that does not contain any special will.

After awakening, one will no longer be affected by the will contained within the Devil Fruit, and one's strength will be greatly enhanced.

Luffy was completely oblivious to Meng Huaifeng's actions, still denouncing Garp's atrocities against them.

Meng Huaifeng had also decided what he wanted to teach Luffy, and the Star Version of the Law of Heaven and Earth was transmitted into Luffy's mind.

The Nika Fruit itself can expand into a giant, so the concept of "Heaven and Earth in Harmony" should fit quite well, right?
The truth is that none of the other abilities Meng Huaifeng possesses are suitable for Luffy.

Even if Haki doesn't meet the requirements for using the "Heaven and Earth" technique, it should still help Luffy develop Gear First and Gear Second.

Maybe?

Meng Huaifeng began to worry about Luffy's intelligence.

At Garp's insistence, Meng Huaifeng sparred with Garp again.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy cheered wildly for Meng Huaifeng, which infuriated Garp.

After Meng Huaifeng won, the three looked at him with admiration, completely unaware of what was happening.

Tomorrow, they will face even more rigorous training.

They're still young and can't see reality clearly.

Having resolved Luffy's worries, Meng Huaifeng teleported back to the ship.

The Justice Ship sped up its journey and passed several more islands in a few days.

The East China Sea truly lives up to its reputation as the weakest sea, especially the islands near the windmill village.

Thanks to Garp's constant sweeping, the train crew hadn't encountered a single pirate even after sailing for so long.

Another island appeared ahead, and the name of the island made Meng Huaifeng look up slightly.

"Ahead is Shells Town. Unlike the previous islands, Shells Town is a naval base. You can see what the navy of this world is like. Those who are interested can disembark," Himeko said.

(End of this chapter)