As the roulette wheel began to spin, Mio's eyes followed the flashing lights and flickering symbols, skimming over gene after gene without stopping. He didn't know what kind of gene he would land on this time.
Of course, Mio didn't bother wishing for anything in particular. He knew from experience—sometimes the more you want something, the less likely you are to get it. But when you let go, fortune might just surprise you.
So he let his gaze drift calmly across the rows of powerful genes on the roulette. They all looked impressive, but he kept his heart neutral.
The wheel gradually slowed under the tense atmosphere, ticking softly as it approached its final stop.
Then—
It stopped.
"Congratulations on winning the Fire Dragon Gene through the lottery!"
[Fire Dragon Gene: The gene of a Fire Dragon from the Dragon Clan in the Fairy Tail world. These are powerful, intelligent beings that possess formidable bodies and the ability to use Dragon Slayer Magic.]
"Dragon gene?" Mio murmured as he scratched his chin, staring at the screen.
This gene was undeniably strong. Very strong.
Compared to the Millennium Dragons of the One Piece world, the dragons in the Fairy Tail universe were on an entirely different level. While the Millennium Dragon was still a dragon, it lacked the raw destructive power and magical ability of a Fairy Tail dragon. The latter could devour specific elements to replenish their strength and possessed extraordinary combat potential.
"If nothing goes wrong, I'll use this Fire Dragon Gene to cultivate the Millennium Dragon's egg," Mio thought to himself. The dragon hadn't hatched yet, but he could feel its vitality steadily growing stronger. It wouldn't be long now.
The Fire Dragon Gene would be a perfect match for it.
However, Mio's thoughts shifted to something else—the Thunder Fruit. Should he use the Thunder Fruit on the Millennium Dragon as well?
He wasn't too keen on consuming the Devil Fruit himself. Having a weakness like losing the ability to swim wasn't appealing. It was a vulnerability an enemy could easily exploit.
"But it's okay to take a gamble," Mio reasoned with himself.
If someone else consumed the Thunder Fruit and he managed to kill them later, he could extract the Thunder Fruit gene for himself. And in time, the Devil Fruit would respawn somewhere in the world anyway.
So even if he lost it once, he'd have other chances to get it back.
"It's better than having a weakness," Mio concluded, smiling with conviction.
Closing the gene panel, Mio didn't dwell on it any further and went back to training with Erica and the others. The room was filled with energy and motivation.
Robin had also caught the fever of hard work. Occasionally, she would walk over and ask Erica questions about Haki, clearly eager to improve.
Time slipped by quietly.
A week later, the new ship was still under construction.
That night, Kuroken returned—very discreetly.
He came back under the cover of darkness, carrying a man barely clinging to life.
It was the man Mio had instructed him to bring back—Marcus Gary, a native of the South Blue with a bounty of 24 million. He had just stepped foot onto the Grand Line.
His Devil Fruit? A Superhuman-type Picture Fruit. Not to be confused with the Painting Fruit.
Useless for most. But Mio had plans.
With a heavy thud, Kuroken dropped the battered body in front of Mio.
Marcus Gary was beaten within an inch of his life, his breath ragged and weak. When he looked up at Mio, his eyes were filled with terror and disbelief. "Why… Why are you going to kill me?"
"Do I need a reason to kill you?" Mio replied coldly.
Drawing Raikiri, Mio slashed once.
Marcus Gary's head rolled clean off. Blood sprayed across the room.
[Congratulations on collecting Human (Picture) Genes!]
The system prompt flashed before Mio's eyes. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Warwick. Deal with the body," Mio ordered calmly.
The hulking werewolf silently dragged the corpse and head away.
Erica, without a word, began cleaning up the blood and smell from the room like it was routine.
Mio ignored the mess and turned his attention to a Den Den Mushi in his hand. He smiled as he tightened his grip.
Crack— The Den Den Mushi twitched. It wasn't completely dead, but it was definitely hanging by a thread.
Mio then walked over to the culture tank and placed the nearly-destroyed Den Den Mushi inside.
This little guy would play a very important role in his infiltration of Impel Down.
Pulling Marcus Gary's gene into the gene slot, Mio initiated the cultivation process. He didn't bother adding other genes this time. His goal wasn't to create a powerful fighter, just a functional tool.
As he pressed the "Cultivate" button, the familiar interface appeared.
[Please choose the cultivation direction: Beast-type? Human-type?]
"Beast-type," Mio selected.
He needed to sneak this Den Den Mushi into Impel Down. A beast form would be less suspicious.
But then, something unexpected happened.
[Please select the main form: Den Den Mushi-type? Human-type? Fusion-type?]
"Huh?" Mio blinked.
Den Den Mushi-type would likely result in a creature similar to the original. Human-type, obviously, would be humanoid. But Fusion-type?
"Would that mean a combination of Den Den Mushi and human?" Mio muttered.
Suddenly an idea struck him. "If I collect genes from deer, camels, rabbits, snakes… and fuse them all… could I create a dragon?"
Although, it might be a dragon that couldn't fly.
Still, Mio didn't want to take any unnecessary risks right now.
"Den Den Mushi-type it is."
A few minutes later, the process was complete.
[Cultivation Successful!]
[Name: Unnamed]
[Abilities: Den Den Mushi Link (can connect and communicate with other Den Den Mushi); Picture Formation (can display images at any location)]
[Strength: Worse than the top five weakest creatures. (Ultimate combat power: Not even as strong as a scumbag.)]
[Potential has reached its limit. No further development possible.]
Mio: "…"
He stared at the panel in silence, lips twitching slightly.
Well, at least the system was brutally honest.
The creature had only two abilities—communication and image projection. As expected, the Den Den Mushi wasn't meant for combat. Its only strength was its function, not its force.
Potential? Yeah… best not to talk about it.
"Let's call this little guy Millet from now on," Mio said with a chuckle.
Den Den Mushi were like mobile phones in this world—and "Millet" was a phone brand back in Mio's original world. The name felt perfect.
[Do you want to extract the ability?]
"Let's do it," Mio replied, not expecting much.
As his words fell, the extraction process began.