Chapter 279: Half-Step Evolution Skill!

Chapter 279: Half-Step Evolution Skill!

After equipping the [Ancient God]skin, Uchiha Yi didn't feel much of a change himself.

But in the eyes of others, it was utterly horrifying!

The once handsome and refined Uchiha Yi suddenly began to twist in an irregular and unnatural manner.

His head split open into two halves, from which emerged a mass of writhing tentacles, resembling an octopus.

Scales sprouted all over his body, covered in a thick, gelatinous substance... A pair of long, narrow wings stretched out from his back... Gigantic claws formed on his feet... His bloated, grotesque body oozed a greenish liquid...

Yet, in the next second, the entire scene distorted once again.

What they saw transformed into a cold, glowing mist—shimmering in blue, green, and yellow hues…

…

His form kept mutating, each transformation beyond the comprehension of human understanding.

It was an indescribable phenomenon that defied logic.

The longer one gazed upon it, the deeper they were drawn into it, unable to extricate themselves.

Their minds became polluted, their thoughts growing chaotic.

Their will slowly twisted into madness until they lost themselves completely!

This was the effect of the [Skin: Ancient God] skill!

The awakened ability of the Drawing Fruit allows one to influence the surrounding environment.

Now, by reversing this principle and applying it to himself, Uchiha Yi's entire aura became utterly unfathomable and terrifying.

Since the Drawing Fruit is related to "art," he used its awakened power on himself and imbued this transformation with a mental command: "Unobservable, Unperceivable, Undescribable!"

Thus, the final effect made him resemble the enigmatic and eldritch qualities of an Old One—an Ancient God beyond mortal comprehension.

Of course, this was merely an ability derived from the Drawing Fruit; it didn't truly make him an Ancient God.

Otherwise, with a single manifestation, this world would have been doomed.

Strictly speaking, this [Skin: Ancient God] skill belonged to the threshold of Half-Step Evolution, meaning it was beyond Devil Fruit Awakening and closer to an advanced stage.

Awakening affects the external world.

Evolution, however, influences the user themselves in a unique way.

(Author's Note: Whether the original story has a level beyond Awakening, I don't know. This is just my own creation—don't overthink it!)

As for what exactly this "unique way" entails, Uchiha Yi was still figuring it out.

The [Skin: Ancient God] was just his first breakthrough toward this threshold. Given time, he was confident he could push his Devil Fruit ability to the Evolution stage.

Of course, Uchiha Yi could also use his system abilities to consume Soul Points and forcibly advance the Drawing Fruit to the next level.

However, the required Soul Points were far too high, and he had never been able to save up enough.

So, for now, he experimented and innovated on his own.

The Skin: Ancient God was one of his self-developed abilities—a trial experiment.

…

Meanwhile, in the Door-Door Fruit dimensional space, Blueno remained in hiding.

At first, fearing exposure, he only dared to peek at Uchiha Yi occasionally.

But soon, he realized that Uchiha Yi was completely unaware of his presence.

Growing bolder, he repeatedly tested the waters.

And just as he suspected—Uchiha Yi showed no sign of noticing him.

With this confirmation, Blueno no longer needed to be cautious.

In fact, he even entertained the thought of assassinating Uchiha Yi.

However, he dismissed the idea almost immediately.

If he failed, their entire plan would be ruined.

Thus, Blueno stopped hiding his surveillance altogether, blatantly keeping watch on Uchiha Yi.

After all, from within the Door-Door Fruit dimension, Uchiha Yi couldn't do anything to him.

However—once a person reaches a certain level of power, their sixth sense becomes incredibly sharp.

Sensing that someone was watching him, yet unable to detect them with Observation Haki, Uchiha Yi immediately thought of Blueno.

He had long prepared a countermeasure for this scenario.

"If you love spying so much, then I'll let you take a good look!"

The moment the Ancient God Skin was activated, Blueno was instantly doomed.

After just a few seconds of staring at Uchiha Yi, Blueno let out a deranged shriek.

Clutching his head, his expression contorted with agony, and he began babbling in an unintelligible language.

A wave of madness and terror took hold of his mind, rapidly eroding his sanity.

His rationality crumbled, his thoughts fragmented.

In less than five seconds, Blueno's Devil Fruit powers spiraled out of control.

The Door-Door Dimension began collapsing bit by bit.

In a final act of desperation, Blueno instinctively escaped, forcing himself back into the One Piece world.

The entire process took no more than five seconds.

Any longer, and Blueno would have been completely corrupted by Uchiha Yi's ability—transformed into a lunatic.

"Oh hoh!"

"So, you've finally revealed yourself?"

With Observation Haki fully activated, Uchiha Yi instantly pinpointed Blueno's location the moment he emerged from his door-space.

With Shukuchi—"Shrinking the Ground"—he took a single step and arrived beside Blueno, who now stood motionless, his eyes glazed over, reduced to a babbling idiot.

"Here!"

"Sign this Demon Contract!"

Uchiha Yi retrieved a Demon Contract and held it in front of Blueno.

Barely retaining a sliver of awareness, Blueno reflexively took the contract and wrote his name on it without hesitation.

After all, if the Door-Door Fruit was fully developed, it had the potential to become a God-tier Devil Fruit.

Killing Blueno outright would simply cause the fruit to reincarnate somewhere random in the world.

Trying to track it down before someone else ate it would be an almost impossible task.

Thus, keeping Blueno alive was the better option.

After dealing with Blueno, Uchiha Yi finally turned his attention to Lucci and the others.

For a moment, he couldn't quite figure out their true intentions.

Were they acting under their own orders?

Was it the directive of Spandam, that incompetent fool?

Or was it the will of the World Government itself?

"Well then, let's see what you're really up to."

Noticing that Robin showed no signs of having been forced into anything, Uchiha Yi realized she must have willingly left with Lucci and his group.

Whatever her reasons, she hadn't even informed him before leaving.

How did that make him look?

If she could do it, what stopped others from following suit?

"This foolish woman… I'll let her suffer a little first."

Uchiha Yi had no intention of rushing to save Robin.

She needed to face her inner demons and resolve them herself.

Otherwise, even if he rescued her today, she would just run away again tomorrow.

It would all be meaningless.

"Captain! Bad news!"

"Robin is missing!"

"We've looked everywhere, but we can't find her!"

At that moment, Nami, Vivi, Chopper, and Karoo came running over in a panic.

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