Eating the Shadow-Shadow Fruit wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision for Maude.
He had carefully considered it beforehand and acknowledged the immense potential the fruit possessed.
The primary reason behind this decision, however, remained the great upheaval that would take place in a year's time.
Hunting wasn't the only way to quickly enhance his overall strength in the short term.
Life-or-death battles and Devil Fruits could achieve the same result.
To stand firm in a battlefield filled with powerful figures, consuming a Devil Fruit had become one of Maude's highest priorities at this stage.
Strictly speaking, time was no longer on his side.
And the Shadow-Shadow Fruit was the most accessible high-tier fruit he could obtain quickly.
If circumstances allowed, what Maude truly desired was Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
However, such a thing was far too unrealistic.
Furrowing his brows, Maude forced down the bite of fruit rolling around his mouth.
The taste was beyond words.
The moment it touched his tongue, a wave of nausea nearly overwhelmed him.
Beside him, fellow Devil Fruit users Law and Lafitte exchanged a glance, subtly lowering their eyes to conceal their amusement at Maude's rare grimace.
Maude, oblivious to their reactions, silently stared at the partially eaten Shadow-Shadow Fruit in his hand.
A single bite was enough to gain the power of a Devil Fruit.
However…
Somewhere in the depths of his hazy memories, he vaguely recalled people endlessly debating a particular theory—
That only by consuming an entire Devil Fruit could one achieve one hundred percent mastery of its power.
Initially, Maude had dismissed such talk as nonsense.
But now…
After a moment's hesitation, he took another large bite, suppressing the revulsion as he swallowed it down.
Law and Lafitte watched in surprise, both looking as if they wanted to say something but held back.
Maude finished the fruit in just a few more bites, and his tightly furrowed brows eased slightly.
After eating a few more bites, it wasn't so bad.
He mused to himself.
Then, noticing the strange looks from Lafitte and Law, he quickly offered an explanation.
"Something this valuable shouldn't go to waste."
Law looked skeptical. In his eyes, Maude was already a master theorist when it came to Devil Fruits.
There had to be a reason for deliberately consuming the entire fruit.
So what was his motivation?
Once Law's thoughts started running wild, he found it hard to rein them in.
Lafitte, adjusting his hat, gave Maude a way out with a chuckle. "Hoho, precious things should not be wasted. Now that the fruit has been eaten, shall we get to business?"
"Business?"
Law snapped back to reality, raising an eyebrow slightly.
Maude simply smiled. Unlike Law, who was only half-informed, he fully understood what "business" meant in this context.
"Indeed. You brought the camera, right?"
He turned his gaze to Moriah's corpse, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"Naturally." Lafitte retrieved a camera from his pocket.
"Then let's begin."
Closing his eyes, Maude calmed his mind, allowing himself to sense the changes in his body after consuming the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
A strange sensation…
No, it felt more like an additional faint heartbeat inside him—both familiar and foreign at the same time.
The presence of this heartbeat was so weak that if he didn't focus, it seemed like it could vanish in the next second.
It was as if it existed purely on a spiritual level.
Maude attempted to connect with this phantom heartbeat.
His consciousness extended like tendrils, intertwining with the heartbeat, and suddenly, an instinctive knowledge—one that required no teaching or external guidance—surfaced in his mind.
A genetic… instinct.
Maude slowly opened his eyes, and with a single thought, the shadow on the floor beneath him rippled like liquid, rising up and morphing into a three-dimensional human form that bore a five-to-six-point resemblance to himself.
"Heh…"
Looking at the doppelgänger, which mirrored his movements perfectly, Maude smirked and directed it toward Moriah's corpse.
Under his control, the shadowy figure propped Moriah's body upright.
Every object that existed physically, when exposed to light, would cast a shadow.
Corpses were no exception.
The room's light illuminated Moriah's lifeless body, casting a shadow on the floor behind him.
Narrowing his eyes, Maude willed his shadow doppelgänger to merge into Moriah's shadow.
The moment it did, Moriah's corpse collapsed backward with a heavy thud, hitting the ground.
Maude focused his will, attempting to manipulate Moriah's body through the connection of their shadows.
However, the corpse remained motionless.
His command had disappeared like a stone sinking into the sea, receiving no response at all.
"Theoretically, this should be possible."
Maude did not give up. He continued experimenting with the control of Moriah's corpse through his shadow.
After all, he had just eaten the fruit. His proficiency was still low, so failure was expected.
Lafitte and Law remained silent, watching without interruption.
Several minutes passed.
Then, Moriah's body twitched slightly—finally showing a reaction.
Encouraged, Maude continued transmitting commands, and soon enough, Moriah's corpse slowly sat up, then clumsily stood.
Now that the initial step was complete, everything else became much easier.
"Success."
A smile tugged at Maude's lips. Like a child with a new toy, he wasn't about to stop just yet. Instead, he focused on controlling Moriah's facial expressions.
Under his command, Moriah's rigid face gradually contorted into a menacing grimace.
The only flaw was the lifelessness of his eyes.
Noting this, Maude adjusted, shifting the expression into a vacant, almost incredulous stare.
With that done, Maude drew his sword,Shusui, and nodded at Lafitte.
Understanding the cue, Lafitte raised the camera and aimed it at Moriah's corpse.
Without hesitation, Maude thrust his sword into Moriah's heart.
Click!
Lafitte pressed the shutter at the perfect moment, capturing the image of Maude executing Moriah's corpse.
Retracting his blade, Maude flicked off the blood before sheathing it.
Once the photo was developed, he would send it directly to his dear "Turkey" Dada.
With his help, spreading the news would be effortless.
Once the information circulated, the World Government wouldn't be able to sit still.
Finding a new Warlord was one thing, but salvaging their reputation was another.
And at that precise moment, the idea of letting the one who killed a Warlord replace him would be an outcome the World Government found highly convenient.
Law wasn't slow. Watching Maude and Lafitte's operation, he immediately grasped their intent.
"The Warlord seat…"
He murmured internally.
Right now, Law had placed most of his bets on Maude.
Would he win or lose?
He had no certainty.
But Maude was determined to claim the Warlord title.
For now, Law wasn't in a hurry for the answer.
At the moment, something else intrigued him even more.
Maude calmly looked at Moriah's corpse, now bearing a fresh hole in its chest.
By eating a Devil Fruit, he had accepted the weakness to seawater and Seastone without hesitation.
However, there was something he needed to verify.
When a person loses their shadow, exposure to sunlight causes them to disintegrate.
Would this property apply to the user themselves?
If so, it would significantly impact the versatility of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
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