Chapter Nineteen: Draining Every Last Drop from Luchi

What exactly happened just now? Was it that guy’s ability?

Climbing up from the ground in a disheveled state, Lucci’s gaze toward Chu Yi grew increasingly wary. The unexpected force that had flung him away moments before, courtesy of Chu Yi’s ability, still left even the battle-hardened Lucci with lingering dread.

In contrast, Chu Yi was thoroughly enjoying himself, testing the powers he’d gained from his third awakening. Especially as Lucci drew closer, the system’s task to collect awakening materials made Chu Yi aware of Lucci’s identity, which only fueled his mischievous amusement.

After all, what could be more entertaining than toying with characters from the original pirate saga? Especially someone like Lucci—he was no minor character in the story. If his newly awakened powers could utterly defeat Lucci, then the next time he set sail with Tiger and Hancock, their goal could be nothing less than rescuing Hancock’s sisters!

With that thought, a teasing smile curled on Chu Yi’s lips as he extended his palm, aiming it once again at Lucci.

Bang!

Another muffled crash! The instant Chu Yi’s palm leveled at him—even though nearly twenty meters separated them—Lucci was once more sent hurtling through the air by Chu Yi’s force.

But with the lesson from last time, Lucci remained much calmer now. After all, in these seas, it wasn’t uncommon to encounter Devil Fruit users with all sorts of strange abilities.

Still, as Lucci assumed that Chu Yi’s third awakening had granted him nothing more than the power to repel, Chu Yi’s previously outstretched hand suddenly clenched the air.

And then—

A powerful force of attraction flooded his body. To his astonishment, Lucci found he could no longer control his movements. Under that terrifying gravitational pull, he was swiftly drawn to within half a meter of Chu Yi.

At such close range, Lucci managed to steady himself, thinking this was finally an opportunity to counterattack.

But Chu Yi, reveling in his power, had no intention of giving Lucci the chance. His clenched hand opened once more—just as Lucci prepared his “Finger Gun”—and now able to freely shift between push and pull, Chu Yi didn’t hesitate: first pulling Lucci in close with gravity, then blasting him away with repulsion.

This time, he increased the force.

A thunderous crash!

Lucci was sent flying nearly two hundred meters before crashing heavily to the ground, gouging a deep pit into the earth.

Damn it, besides repulsion, that guy can control attraction too? What kind of fruit user is he? There’s no record of such a power in the CP9 archives!

Lying battered in the pit, Lucci felt searing pain throughout his body, as if his bones had shattered—proof of just how overwhelming Chu Yi’s force had been. The only consolation was that he hadn’t entirely lost the ability to fight; he could still get up and face Chu Yi. And now, two hundred meters away, he figured even Chu Yi’s bizarre powers couldn’t reach him from here.

Bracing hands and feet, Lucci prepared to rise.

But before he could, a strange pressure suddenly enveloped his entire body!

The sensation was all too familiar—it was just like the gravity field that had once covered Seabream Island. Only this time, it was different. The gravity there had varied depending on one’s location, intensifying the deeper one ventured into the island.

Now, the pressure started as only a single fold of gravity—then doubled, then quadrupled as seconds ticked by! Within moments, he was suffering under a hundredfold gravity. Injured as he was, Lucci could do nothing but grit his teeth and endure, barely resisting the crushing force with what little strength remained.

Meanwhile, Chu Yi, watching Lucci from afar with a gaze as sharp as a Shura’s, saw that under the hundredfold gravity, Lucci had effectively lost all combat ability. As the system chimed with a notice that the awakening material task was complete, Chu Yi pressed his palms together, pushing his third awakened power to its limit, and the smile on his lips deepened.

There was no need to elaborate on the new material Chu Yi had collected—it was, of course, Lucci's Devil Fruit ability, a bronze-grade awakening material called the Cat-Cat Fruit: Leopard Form. Perhaps because the material was only bronze-grade, the system’s task had not been particularly difficult: all Chu Yi needed to do was render Lucci incapable of fighting, and the material was his.

From the Observation Fruit material he’d collected from Hammock, and now the Cat-Cat Fruit: Leopard Form from Lucci, Chu Yi had figured out how the system determined when awakening materials could be harvested. Just as he’d suspected, his awakening materials had to be collected from other ability users, and he had to get close enough for the system to issue the collection task.

Of course, what delighted Chu Yi wasn’t a mere bronze-grade material, but the wondrous insights he’d gained from completing the special third awakening mission.

Until now, Chu Yi still didn’t know whether the abilities he’d gained from that mysterious enlightenment had been stripped from his targets or awarded by the system for completing the special mission. All he knew was that the powers he’d received from his third awakening were simply overwhelming: they could be divided into three categories—repulsion, attraction, and gravity!

Apart from gravity, repulsion and attraction could be used as long as he had stamina, and their effects were like the powers of the Rinnegan’s Deva Path from Naruto! If he expended all his energy to unleash repulsion, could he create a shockwave akin to the “Almighty Push”? And if he mastered attraction, perhaps not only could he perform techniques like “Universal Pull” and “Chibaku Tensei,” but also replicate the marine admiral Fujitora’s feat of pulling down meteors with gravity!

And paired with a hundredfold gravity that could render even Lucci utterly helpless...

As long as he spent a bit more stamina to create a zone of hundredfold gravity, any opponent without sufficient physical strength could be wiped out instantly!

It was practically a version of Conqueror’s Haki!

Conceiving the ultimate form of his powers after three awakenings, Chu Yi temporarily named his abilities “Almighty Push,” “Universal Pull,” and “Gravity Domain.” Glancing at Lucci—who was about to be crushed to paste under the pressure of the “Hundredfold Gravity Domain”—Chu Yi, having no intention of killing him, quickly spread his hands and lifted the domain before Lucci perished.

But to let Lucci go now?

That would be a wasted opportunity to learn the Navy’s Six Powers by observation.