His eyes widened in shock.
"Huh!! Completely immune to injury!! That means… he's literally invincible..."
He couldn't help but look again at the three Devil Fruits inside the chest.
"I wonder if one of them is from that powerful type…" he muttered under his breath, imagining that if one of the three fruits were a Logia type, he would eat it without hesitation.
But he quickly shook his head with a sarcastic smile.
"Look at what I'm thinking… I'm really an idiot. Why risk eating one and getting cursed by the sea when I can simply let the watch copy the DNA of the fruit…"
He mocked himself for the foolish idea of eating a Devil Fruit that would only give him a fatal weakness, when he could simply use the watch to copy their DNA , something he had already succeeded in doing with Ace, and currently, he was temporarily storing the DNA of another fruit. He could also copy his mother's power.
And more importantly, the greatest discovery he had just made , when he saw the three Devil Fruits , was that it had never occurred to him that the watch could interact directly with the fruits and copy their DNA.
His mother's voice pulled him out of his thoughts again.
"Did you know that your friend, the freckled-faced boy, also uses that rare type…"
"What!? Ace…?" Seth was stunned, his huge body shivered.
"You mean Ace uses a Logia Fruit!?" he asked with excitement.
Suzanit nodded, smiling when she saw her son's enthusiasm. She understood the reason for it , he had already told her that he had successfully copied Ace's ability.
"Yes, I couldn't be mistaken. I saw him get hit, but instead of blood… fire appeared at the point of impact."
"That means… I have that power too…" Seth whispered excitedly. If not for the fear of tipping over the boat, he would've danced in the water with joy. After all, based on his mother's words, he now possessed an invincible ability.
After calming down from his excitement, he said bitterly
"If only I had known that earlier… I would've used it against that World Government guy…"
Suzanit chuckled softly.
"Even without it, you still managed to beat him."
She paused briefly, then added seriously:
"Seth, don't ever think that this ability makes you invincible."
"There are ways to injure even a Logia user…"
"One of those ways is the sea…" she pointed to the blue water around them before continuing.
"In addition to the sea, there's also a special mineral called Seastone. It can cancel out Devil Fruit powers and render the user completely helpless, just like if they'd fallen into the sea…"
"But Mom, I don't have that weakness !," Seth said suddenly.
She stared at him with widened eyes, placing her hand over her mouth in shock.
"Oh my God! I completely overlooked that. You can use your powers without drowning or weakening in the sea… and likely, Seastone doesn't affect you either…"
Suzanit couldn't help but re-evaluate the strange ability her son had suddenly gained , from transforming into Sea Kings, to copying Devil Fruit powers from others, to the possibility that he could use multiple fruits , something that would kill anyone else who tried.
Because of all these powers that shattered her understanding of the world, she had overlooked the fact that he could swim without drowning or losing strength , and this likely included immunity to Seastone.
If this ever became public knowledge, it would cause a massive uproar, and he would become a target for many people who, with Seth's current strength, could crush him like an ant.
Thinking about her son's potential, her shock faded and was replaced with seriousness. She opened her mouth and said firmly
"Remember !! , never tell anyone about this. Not even your siblings…"
"It's better if you also don't show that you can use multiple powers… not until you're strong enough to ignore the consequences."
"You need to understand , no one has ever been able to use multiple Devil Fruit powers without their body exploding. And even if someone did, they'd likely still have the same weakness as all other Devil Fruit users…"
"The fear of the sea and Seastone…"
"And unlike them, you… are unaffected."
Seth nodded, fully understanding what his mother was trying to tell him. He had been about to tell her that he could copy the powers of the fruits in the chest, but he swallowed the words.
"Don't worry. I'm old enough to understand…"
Suzanit laughed.
"Of course you are…"
She sighed in exhaustion and yawned.
"hmm, son, I'm a little tired. I'm going to sleep for a bit , make sure we don't get lost…" she pointed at the compass placed atop one of the chests.
"Just leave it to me…"
A/N:
TRANSFORMATION UNLOCKED : ZORO
-------
In some area of the vast sea, aboard a small sailboat cutting through the waves at an incredible speed…
"Hey Deis, do you think Seth's mom made it out alive?" asked Ace, who was sitting at the back of the boat, flames shooting from his arms like flamethrowers , just like an engine, the force was propelling the boat forward, defying the winds.
Deis, who was standing at the front, shrugged uncertainly.
"Well… we both saw her insane strength. But the other side could fly, and they had the numbers…"
"Besides, didn't we see Seth reappear in the form of that giant serpent? Most likely, he and his mother managed to kill them…"
Deis stroked his chin and muttered,
"What I'm really wondering is… why does there seem to be bad blood between Seth and the World Government? Even his mother got involved…"
"Crazy family…"
"Hmm, anyway , forget it. That was just a passing incident. What matters is that we survived…"
He turned to look at the silent Ace and added
"So, Captain, what's our next destination?"
Ace pointed forward excitedly,
"To the Grand Line!"
Deis's smile froze before he muttered helplessly,
"Captain… that's the wrong direction."