In the evening, under the arrangement of the Five Elder, Mary Geoise held a grand banquet.
All the Celestial Dragons gathered at this banquet, and the protagonist of the evening was naturally Carl.
At the banquet, Warcury personally read out Carl's "merit," which was the execution of the sinner Darian, who intended to harm Mary Geoise.
He praised Carl for his "self-sacrifice for the sake of justice." Garling and Carl sat on chairs, watching Warcury's performance with indifference.
The other Celestial Dragons were shocked. Most of them did not have a high IQ, and after listening to Warcury's speech, they began to murmur among themselves.
"Oh my god! Saint Darian was such a person. No wonder I always felt uneasy when I saw him before!"
"Thanks to Saint Carl, he protected us this time!"
"As expected, at the critical moment, we still have to rely on our own people. If the crazed Saint Darian had rushed out at that time, it would have been too late even if we called the Admiral of the Navy!"
"Have you forgotten that Carl-san is the Admiral of the Navy? It's so reassuring to have him in the Navy!"
"You are too timid. We still have Saint Garling and his Knights of God. It would be easy to capture Saint Darian!"
"No matter what, Saint Darian was also Carl's biological father. This time, he really sacrificed his own father for the greater good!"
Carl's hearing was sharp, and all these discussions reached his ears. He laughed and said to Garling at his side,
"Uncle Garling, I should have known not to attend this banquet, it's so boring!"
Garling didn't hide his fondness for Carl and replied softly,
"It's a bit dull indeed. If you're tired, go back first. I'll handle things here."
Carl nodded, stood up, exchanged a few polite words, and then left the banquet hall under the respectful gaze of the Celestial Dragons, heading straight back to his bedroom.
This time, he had returned to Mary Geoise alone, so there was no Lucia to accompany him at night.
After a quick wash, he donned a black robe and lay on his back on the bed, staring at his scarlet right arm in a daze.
He pulled open the collar of his robe, revealing the dense red bloodlines extending from his right arm, all leading to his heart.
Carl could feel a vast power constantly flowing into his body, with his right arm being the source of this power.
This was the power that Darian had absorbed using the Blood-Blood Fruit. It was these abilities that allowed Darian to rise to the same level as Garling and even faintly surpass him.
But before he could fully wield this power, Casillas had expelled him from the family and passed on that power to Carl.
Now, all Carl needed to do was wait for this power to completely integrate into himself, along with the original power of the Blood-Blood Fruit.
In order to prevent the Dark-Dark Fruit from falling into the hands of others, Casillas had stripped a portion of its power and sealed it in the Demon Sword Muramasa.
The consequence of this was that even if someone else became the user of the Dark-Dark Fruit, without the dark power in the Demon Sword Muramasa, their Dark-Dark Fruit would never be able to awaken.
Eight hundred years later, Casillas did the same thing again, stripping the original power of the Blood-Blood Fruit and packaging it with the blood power absorbed by Darian, gifting it to Carl.
It was said that devil fruit users could not normally accept the original power of other fruits, as it was akin to consuming two devil fruits, which would typically be fatal.
But when Casillas learned that Carl's body could accommodate multiple devil fruits and that he was also a user of the Vampire Fruit, he immediately considered giving Carl the original power of the Blood-Blood Fruit.
He also shared his knowledge of devil fruits with Carl through a mental link. Casillas, a figure from eight hundred years ago, possessed vast knowledge, including the secret that the original power of certain devil fruits could be merged!
This was the so-called distinction between superior and inferior fruits! The original power of superior and inferior devil fruits was the same; the difference lay in the strength of that power.
This held true for the Vampire Fruit and the Blood-Blood Fruit as well.
Casillas also speculated that the original power of the Dark-Dark Fruit might still be incomplete, as he had exhausted all known methods back then. Despite his efforts, he remained a step away from reaching the realm of "transcending the limit."
Whenever he was on the verge of a breakthrough, an inexplicable sense of loss would wash over him.
So, Casillas hypothesized that part of the original power of the Dark-Dark Fruit had likely fallen into its lesser counterpart.
However, during the time of the great war against Joy Boy, Casillas lacked the opportunity to locate this lower-tier fruit, ultimately losing the battle due to this missing piece.
Casillas' greatest regret was that he never got the chance to test his theory, and the risks of such an experiment were too great.
Until he met Carl, eight hundred years later.
He wanted Carl to test whether the original power of the Vampire Fruit and the Blood-Blood Fruit could be fused. Even if they couldn't merge, with Carl's ability to handle multiple devil fruits, at least he wouldn't perish from the attempt.
It would simply mean gaining an extra devil fruit ability.
However, what Casillas didn't realize was that Carl could only eat a maximum of three devil fruits. If his guess was wrong, Carl would lose the opportunity to consume another devil fruit in the future.
As for Carl, he wasn't particularly keen on the Blood-Blood Fruit. Although its ability to boost strength by absorbing blood was impressive, it also had the potential to spiral out of control!
Aside from that, its other abilities were merely supplementary, not worth the sacrifice of his final devil fruit slot.
But there was no turning back now, Casillas had already imbued him with the original power of the Blood-Blood Fruit. All Carl could do was wait for the power to be fully integrated. If the Vampire Fruit truly fused with the Blood-Blood Fruit, then he would be ready to consume his last devil fruit.
Reflecting on this, Carl turned his wrist, and the Blood-Blood Fruit appeared in his hand.
Although this Blood-Blood Fruit was no longer in its prime, it remained a powerful Paramecia devil fruit. Carl wasn't about to let it go to waste.
For top-tier devil fruits like the Blood-Blood Fruit and the Float-Float Fruit, he intended to give them to someone close, someone with enough potential to wield them effectively.
Among those closest to him, Ginny had yet to gain any abilities. When he returned, he'd ask Ginny if she was interested in the Float-Float Fruit, but he doubted that the Blood-Blood Fruit would suit her style.
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