Chapter 349: Transformation and Adaptation

Before the Navy soldiers completed their shift rotation, Dom and Oboro seized the crucial window of opportunity to slip back into their designated building. The structure provided temporary sanctuary from the relentless manhunt that had transformed Sabaody Archipelago into a battlefield, but Oboro knew their respite would be brief.

Once they were safely concealed within the bullet-scarred walls, Oboro called forth his system interface for the first time since arriving in this hostile world. The familiar virtual display materialized before his consciousness, confirming that his most valuable assets had survived the dimensional crossing intact.

A single card appeared in his palm—one of the precious resources he had harvested from the Demon Slayer world during his systematic dismantling of that reality's power structures. The item pulsed with contained energy, waiting to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting target.

Without hesitation or explanation, Oboro acted upon Dom.

The card dissolved into a stream of brilliant light that shot directly into the pirate's body, penetrating flesh and bone to reach the core of his being. The transformation began immediately, violent and uncompromising in its thoroughness.

Dom's skin flushed crimson as alien power flooded his system, his eyes rolling back in agony as his entire physiology began to revolt against the foreign influence. His limbs convulsed uncontrollably, muscles spasming as they adapted to capabilities they had never been designed to contain. Every nerve in his body screamed warnings about the catastrophic changes occurring within.

He opened his mouth to release the torment building in his chest, but Oboro's iron grip closed around his throat with surgical precision. The sound that emerged was little more than a strangled wheeze—insufficient to attract the attention of Navy patrols moving through the streets below.

Through the grimy window, white-uniformed soldiers continued their methodical sweep of the district. Their movements followed predictable patterns, professional but routine, suggesting they had not yet noticed the absence of their "colleague" from his assigned post.

"Wuwuwu..." Dom's muffled cries carried all the desperation of someone watching their humanity slip away piece by piece.

The agony was beyond description. His organs writhed like living things, reshaping themselves according to new biological imperatives. His bones cracked and reformed, growing denser and stronger to support enhanced musculature. Even his skin seemed to crawl with its own life, the surface rippling as fundamental changes rewrote his genetic structure.

Oboro observed the process with clinical detachment, monitoring Dom's vital signs through his enhanced perception while maintaining the throat hold that prevented any betraying sounds. This was a calculated experiment—one of the many tests he would need to conduct to understand how his accumulated power translated to this new reality.

The resource he had chosen was one of his most valuable acquisitions from the Demon Slayer world: a blood card infused with the essence of an Upper Moon demon. In that reality, such power had been capable of transforming ordinary humans into supernatural predators with abilities that bordered on the divine. But this was the One Piece world, where different rules applied and foreign power systems faced automatic resistance.

As minutes crawled past with agonizing slowness, Dom's condition finally began to stabilize. The convulsions ceased, his breathing steadied, and the terrible heat that had radiated from his flesh gradually cooled to normal temperatures.

The transformation, however, was markedly different from what Oboro had expected based on his experiences in the Demon Slayer world.

While Dom's skin had acquired a subtle reddish tint and two small, horn-like protrusions had emerged from his forehead, his overall appearance remained recognizably human. The dramatic physical metamorphosis that characterized demon transformation in that previous reality had been significantly muted here.

"Hmm." Oboro released his grip on Dom's throat and stroked his chin thoughtfully, processing the implications of what he had witnessed.

This had been a deliberate experiment—using Dom as an unwitting test subject to determine whether power systems from the Demon Slayer world could function within the One Piece reality. The results were both encouraging and concerning.

He understood the fundamental challenge they faced. These were two completely different worlds operating under distinct metaphysical laws. Power systems that functioned seamlessly in one reality might be severely constrained or completely ineffective in another.

His own soul abilities provided a perfect example of this principle. In the Demon Slayer world, spiritual power had been a recognized and established force, allowing him to operate at full capacity. But here in the One Piece world, those same abilities felt artificially restricted—not because they were weaker, but because this reality's governing will actively suppressed external power sources that didn't conform to its established rules.

The World Government might hunt him as an escaped slave, but the world itself rejected him as a dimensional virus that threatened to contaminate its carefully maintained order.

"Simply enhanced physical capabilities?" Oboro frowned as he studied Dom's transformed state.

Before Dom could fully regain consciousness, Oboro dragged the pirate's limp form to the window where afternoon sunlight streamed through the broken glass. In the Demon Slayer world, direct exposure to solar radiation would have caused a demon's flesh to burn and smoke, ultimately reducing them to ash within moments.

But as the golden light fell across Dom's altered features, nothing happened. His skin remained intact, showing no signs of the supernatural vulnerability that had defined demonic existence in that previous reality.

"Interesting," Oboro murmured, pieces of a larger puzzle clicking into place within his analytical mind. "The difference in dimensional background and established settings... all external power sources are instinctively suppressed by the world's governing will. The effects remain, but they've been dramatically weakened."

He paused, comparing his current limitations with his experiences across multiple realities. "It's similar to my soul abilities. They haven't been weakened so much as... normalized. The true level of these powers has been restored to their appropriate scope. Demon Slayer was only a lower-tier world, after all. The seemingly impressive effects I achieved there couldn't match the standards of a world like One Piece."

The realization carried both humbling and encouraging implications. "To put it simply, this level of power represents the normal baseline now. If I were to return to Hunter x Hunter, the results would probably be identical."

His expression grew more thoughtful as he considered the broader ramifications. "I thought I had successfully elevated Demon Slayer to higher-world status, but it seems the fundamental gap remains vast."

Dom's eyes fluttered open at that moment, pupils gradually regaining focus as consciousness returned to his transformed body. The first thing he noticed was the profound change in his physical capabilities—strength flowing through his limbs like liquid fire, senses so sharp they bordered on overwhelming.

Oboro lowered his gaze to meet Dom's confused stare, hands still casually tucked in his pockets. A slight smile played across his scarred features as he delivered his verdict. "Congratulations. You didn't die, and you've successfully become something stronger."

Dom pushed himself upright with arms that felt alien in their newfound power. His original physique had been lean and wiry—built for speed and agility rather than raw strength. But now he could feel explosive potential coiled within his flesh and blood, waiting to be unleashed.

The most dramatic changes were in his senses. His vision could penetrate the window's dirty glass to observe Navy soldiers moving in the distance with crystal clarity. His hearing picked up fragments of their conversations from blocks away. Even his sense of smell had become almost supernaturally acute, allowing him to distinguish individual scents in ways that would have been impossible before.

"My face..." Dom raised trembling fingers to touch the small protrusions that had emerged from his forehead, his throat working nervously as he tried to process what had happened to him.

In the One Piece world, all power and transformation had to operate within established parameters. The seas were home to dozens of different races—Fish-Men, Giants, Oboroarm Tribe, Snake Neck Tribe, Mink Tribe, and countless others. Charlotte Linlin's Totto Land served as a perfect example of this incredible diversity.

What Oboro had accomplished was to personally add a new entry to that catalogue of species: the Oni Tribe. A race that could be created through artificial transformation rather than birth.

"What did you do to me?" Dom's voice carried equal parts wonder and terror as he struggled to comprehend his altered state.

The system interface and transformation cards remained invisible to outside observers—one of the many advantages Oboro's dimensional abilities provided. From Dom's perspective, the change had occurred through inexplicable means that defied rational explanation.

"I performed a minor procedure on you," Oboro replied with deliberate vagueness, settling into a rickety chair and crossing his legs with casual elegance. "Don't worry about the specifics. What matters is that you're stronger now, with significantly better odds of survival in our current circumstances."

Dom's mind immediately latched onto the most logical explanation available within his understanding of this world's power systems. "You're a Devil Fruit user?"

"You can think of it that way," Oboro confirmed without actually lying.

To demonstrate his point, he extended one hand palm-up. A weapon materialized in the air above his fingers—a blade with distinctive craftsmanship that spoke of exotic origins and superior metallurgy. The weapon's design was elegant yet functional, clearly the product of master smiths working with materials beyond ordinary steel.

With a casual flick of his wrist, Oboro sent the weapon spinning through the air toward Dom.

The transformed pirate caught it with reflexes that surprised him, his enhanced coordination making the motion feel as natural as breathing. The blade's weight distribution was perfect, its edge sharp enough to part individual hairs.

"Consider it a gift," Oboro said simply.

The weapon was actually a Nichirin Sword—one of the specialized blades used by demon slayers in that previous world. Here in the One Piece reality, it would function as little more than high-quality steel, but it remained superior to the crude cutlass Dom had wielded previously.

For a minor pirate accustomed to salvaged weapons and hand-me-down equipment, such a blade represented a treasure beyond his normal reach.

Dom's eyes shone with genuine gratitude, though his mind remained clouded with confusion and unanswered questions. He wanted to press for more information about Oboro's abilities, but understood that such secrets weren't shared casually. Their partnership was built on mutual necessity rather than trust.

For several days, they maintained their vigil within the damaged building, observing Navy movements through broken windows while waiting for the manhunt's intensity to diminish. The soldiers followed predictable patrol patterns, but their numbers remained substantial enough to make any escape attempt extremely risky.

Extended periods without food or water posed no significant challenge for Oboro. His enhanced physiology could reduce biological functions to minimal levels, essentially hibernating while remaining alert to external threats. It was a survival technique he'd perfected across multiple realities.

Dom, however, struggled with the deprivation despite his transformation. While his conversion to Oni status had eliminated the supernatural weakness to sunlight that characterized demons in the Demon Slayer world, it had also stripped away many of their more exotic abilities. He no longer possessed the capacity for supernatural growth through devouring flesh, but neither had he transcended basic biological needs.

These compromises represented the price of integration into the One Piece world's power system—foreign abilities had to be severely modified to function within established parameters.

"With your current strength," Oboro asked during one of their quiet conversations, "do you believe you could defeat Captain Bornans of the Flame Dragon Pirates?"

Dom considered the question carefully, testing his enhanced muscles and reviewing his memories of their leader's capabilities. "There's a reasonable chance," he admitted. "Better than fifty-fifty, I'd estimate."

"Interesting." Oboro nodded with satisfaction.

The response confirmed his growing understanding of this world's unique characteristics. The One Piece reality was inhabited by natives whose baseline physical capabilities far exceeded human norms from other dimensions. While individuals like Luffy and Ace might be exceptional, they weren't complete anomalies—the entire population operated on enhanced parameters.

Captain Bornans carried a bounty of fifteen million berries, marking him as a moderately dangerous pirate by Grand Line standards. If Dom's transformation had elevated him to a comparable level, it suggested that Upper Moon demon blood could produce the equivalent of a ten-million-berry criminal when properly integrated.

The power scaling was both impressive and sobering. In the Demon Slayer world, such a transformation would have created an nearly unstoppable predator. Here, it merely brought Dom up to the level of a mid-tier pirate crew member.

Fortunately, Oboro's system inventory contained numerous additional resources—cards representing everything from demon blood to breathing techniques to soul manipulation abilities. The question was determining which powers could be successfully adapted to this reality's constraints.

"The Navy is withdrawing," Dom announced suddenly, his enhanced vision catching movement through the window that would have been invisible to normal sight.

Large formations of white-uniformed soldiers were indeed pulling back from their positions, their orderly retreat suggesting a significant shift in operational priorities. The relief on Dom's face was palpable as he watched their oppressors disappear into the distance.

"Finally," he breathed. "We've survived this disaster safely."

But Oboro remained more cautious in his assessment. The World Government's withdrawal might be tactical rather than strategic—a temporary repositioning designed to lull escaped fugitives into revealing themselves. Admiral Kizaru's earlier presence suggested that higher authorities took this manhunt seriously.

Still, the reduced pressure provided an opportunity to plan their next moves. Dom would need time to fully adapt to his transformation, and Oboro required space to experiment with other resources from his collection.

The game was far from over, but they had successfully navigated its opening phase. Now came the more complex challenge of building sustainable power within a reality that actively resisted their very existence.

As Navy footsteps faded into the distance, Oboro began formulating plans that would transform them from hunted fugitives into forces capable of shaping this world's destiny. The One Piece reality had rejected him as a foreign virus, but viruses had a tendency to evolve and adapt.

Soon, this world would learn exactly what kind of infection it had attempted to suppress.