"Ying?"
Animals instinctively fear fire.
Moses watched as Bear Cub, who had just devoured every last bone, now stared longingly at the charcoal embers soaked with greasy drippings from the roast.
"Stop drooling already," Moses chuckled exasperatedly. "Go ahead, try eating a piece if you're so brave?"
"With those teeth of yours, heat shouldn't bother you anyway. I hear charcoal even aids digestion!"
Though only wood charcoal works for that.
Not that it mattered for Bear Cub - the digestive powers granted by the Munch-Munch Fruit made such concerns irrelevant.
Bear Cub gave Moses a skeptical look that clearly said "You're not tricking me, right?" while making questioning "ying ying" sounds.
Moses nodded firmly and gave a thumbs-up.
If the Munch-Munch Fruit could consume anything, why not this?
Though biological instincts might make Bear Cub hesitate to try.
Receiving Moses' confirmation,
Bear Cub blinked rapidly.
A black metallic claw sheath materialized over its right paw through its ability, and it promptly grabbed a piece of burning charcoal to pop into its mouth.
Crunch crunch!
Chewing with half-lidded eyes, tiny sparks escaping between its teeth.
Suddenly its eyes lit up as if discovering a whole new world.
"Ying."
Charcoal with roast flavoring - delicious!!
Making happy noises, it offered another piece to Moses, its beady black eyes full of generosity.
Moses watched as the charcoal's heat radiated uncomfortably close to his face and forced a dry laugh:
"I appreciate the offer, but that's really beyond me."
Bear Cub gave Moses a sidelong glance that clearly said "weakling," making Moses' expression darken as he gritted his teeth:
"Oh yeah? Then why don't you go upstairs? Doctorine's lab has all sorts of tasty things - bet you wouldn't dare eat those?"
Bear Cub froze, giving Moses a strangely complicated look before suddenly bursting into a series of incomprehensible "woo arf woo" noises.
Moses narrowed his eyes.
Amused, he pinched Bear Cub's chubby cheeks. "Oh? That reaction makes me think you've already tried?"
Bear Cub guiltily averted its gaze, even scooting its bottom backward slightly while reflexively protecting its rear with one paw.
Moses burst out laughing, patting Bear Cub's head,
"You actually did that? Why didn't you tell me? You've got guts, huh?"
Bear Cub rolled its eyes at Moses and angrily chomped down on more charcoal, crunching loudly.
"Keep eating, I'm going to ask about this." Moses wouldn't miss investigating something this amusing. "I need to hear all about your glorious misadventure."
With that, Moses stood up, dusted himself off, and headed toward the treehouse.
The frustrated "woo arf woo" sounds behind him only widened his grin.
Shortly after.
Moses arrived at the second-floor laboratory to find Kureha dissecting a dead lab mouse.
Under the high-powered microscope nearby, a vaguely pulsating mass of flesh tissue was visible.
On the adjacent worktable lay a disassembled "APTX 4869" capsule, its transparent, colorless granules exposed.
"Already started experiments?" Moses asked.
Without looking up, Kureha replied, "Fascinating compound. Induces programmed cell death while simultaneously enhancing telomerase activity in organisms."
"The little white mouse didn't make it, died straight away, but I did make some discoveries."
"This drug is practically like 'Pandora's Box'—utterly fascinating. It has the effect of inducing targeted cellular reverse growth."
Kureha multitasked while calmly explaining her new findings to Moses in professional terms, casually expanding on the mythological tale of 'Pandora's Box' along the way.
As for these myths and legends, Moses was completely lost. Many of this world's myths were bizarre amalgamations. There were familiar ones like Biblical lore, Greek mythology, and Norse legends—things Moses had heard of in his past life. But there were also local indigenous myths, like tales of Nika and the Seven Stars Gods. It all felt strangely dissonant, like a chaotic mishmash.
From what Moses knew:
There were churches here.
There were temples.
There were shrine maidens.
Bartholomew Kuma clutching what looked like a Bible?
Charlotte Linlin's Soul Homies named after Greek myths.
Elbaf, named straight from Norse mythology.
The three Ancient Weapons bearing mythical names—Poseidon, Pluton, Uranus.
Some lunar base.
Some intelligent stone golems that fired laser beams.
All these phenomena gave Moses the impression of a world rebuilt atop post-apocalyptic ruins.
"Could it be that this world is like Earth after the dinosaur extinction—that millions or tens of millions of years ago, there was an even more brilliant civilization here?"
"Only for some reason, it all went silent?"
Moses mused before shaking his head. These things meant nothing to him. Overthinking was pointless—he had to focus on the present.
Pulling his wandering thoughts back, he noticed Kureha was still lecturing, unconcerned with his distraction. She seemed less like she was explaining to him and more like she was verbally organizing her own understanding.
Moses took a moment to ask about Bear Cub.
Kureha curled her lip in disdain. "That little brat showed up one day when you went back to East Blue to visit family. No idea what he was thinking—took a bite out of my lab equipment. So I gave him a proper thrashing. Ever since, he hasn't dared come back up here."
Moses chuckled. "Sounds like you beat him pretty hard, huh?"
"Kids won't learn if you don't smack some sense into them."
"Then how come I don't remember you ever hitting me?"
"Oh?" Kureha arched an eyebrow, barely glancing up from her work. "Want me to fill your childhood with some 'fond memories'?"
"I'll pass," Moses said, shaking his head. "Those kinds of memories are better left unmade—straight-up black history."
"Since you're just standing around, make yourself useful. Hand me a salamander—let's test this on it."
Moses slipped on medical gloves, fetched a salamander, and began assisting Kureha's experiment—administering APTX 4869 granules, observing physiological responses, recording data.
Minutes later, the salamander died.
With surgical precision, they dissected tissue samples from different body regions, placing them under the microscope for Kureha's examination. She dictated conclusions while Moses transcribed.
During the experiment, Moses said, "Oh, by the way, Doctorine, could you prepare some of the medicines listed in the 'Taming Manual for Messenger Crows' for me tomorrow?"
"I'll need them later."
"Are you planning to raise crows?" Kureha asked, then nodded.
"No problem, but we're missing some herbs at home. You'll need to go to Skaina Town tomorrow to purchase them."
"Alright, got it."
Time passed.
After the experiment concluded, Moses and Kureha returned to the first floor to wash up and sleep.
...
The next day.
After breakfast, Moses went to the herbal shop in Skaina Town and bought over a dozen types of medicinal ingredients, bringing them back for Kureha.
It was a bright, sunny day.
The sun in the sky seemed particularly dazzling.
Moses and Bear Cub walked through the snowy forest, where tall pine trees were laden with snow, shimmering with colorful halos under the sunlight.
Moses observed traces of birds in the area.
Since the pinecones hadn't ripened yet this season, there weren't many birds in the pine forest.
Instead, they spotted small animals like snow grouse and snow hares.
Moving through the woods, Moses watched Bear Cub, who was about ten meters away, holding a snow grouse in its mouth. The little bear trotted over eagerly and presented the still-alive grouse to him.
Seeing Bear Cub's greedy expression—clearly hoping Moses would roast it for him—Moses had an idea.
With a smile, he said, "Why don't you eat it, then manifest it on your body so I can see?"
Bear Cub froze, tilting its head at Moses with a confused "Huh?"
As if asking, "Is that even possible?"
Moses nodded firmly, already considering an even more interesting idea. If it worked, he might even develop a new Bestowed Ability.
Bear Cub had never tried swallowing live prey before—bamboo worms didn't count.
Under Moses' curious gaze, Bear Cub hesitated, then steeled itself and took a big gulp.
"Scree—"
A sharp squawk echoed as the grouse disappeared into Bear Cub's mouth.
Watching the eager bear, Moses instructed,
"Imagine it, just like the weapons you've absorbed. Try manifesting the snow grouse's body on yourself."
Bear Cub's eyes narrowed in thought, and soon, a chicken head sprouted from its chest, loudly clucking, "Bawk-bawk-bawk!"
Suddenly, Bear Cub shuddered, its face flashing panic as it grabbed the chicken head with its paws and squeezed hard—Moses even heard a faint crack.
The chicken head vanished from its chest, but then Bear Cub's arms transformed into a pair of wings.
Bear Cub's eyes lit up, flapping the wings excitedly in place.
Moses facepalmed.
Within seconds, Bear Cub whined, "Wah-wah!"
Complaining about why it couldn't fly.
Moses rubbed his forehead, sighing, "Look at your size, then look at your chicken wings. How could they possibly lift you? Besides, snow grouse can't even fly—they just glide a little. Try it yourself if you don't believe me."
Following Moses' suggestion, Bear Cub flapped its wings with all its might.
Whoosh—whoosh—
Only a gust of wind stirred, blowing away a few snowflakes.
Realizing it hadn't moved an inch, Bear Cub drooped its head in disappointment and retracted the wings.
Soon after, Moses sensed the snow grouse's presence fade from Bear Cub's body.
"You ate that chicken, did you digest it?"
Bear Cub nodded, letting out a confused "Ying?" sound.
Wasn't that food?
Moses rolled his eyes and patted Bear Cub's head. The logic wasn't wrong, but he had an idea he wanted to test:
"Since you digested it, try transforming yourself into a chicken now."
Bear Cub's eyes went blank, his bear face visibly scrunching into a comical expression as he let out a peculiar "cluck" sound.
Yet curiosity also flashed in his beady eyes as he activated his ability.
Bear Cub's body began changing.
His arms transformed into a pair of chicken wings.
His legs became chicken feet.
His black-and-white fur turned into pristine white feathers.
Even his rear sprouted a tuft of long tail feathers.
Only his head remained mostly unchanged—though his mouth became a beak, he still looked recognizably like Bear Cub.
What appeared before Moses was an extraordinarily plump snow chicken, even larger than himself.
While chicken-like, it still retained distinct Bear Cub characteristics.
Seeing this, Moses' eyes suddenly lit up. He recalled creatures like the Sphinx—a human-faced lion—and true owl-griffins with feline heads and avian bodies.
"Chimera, hybrid creatures... So the Munch-Munch Fruit can easily achieve this level of fusion."
Bear Cub looked at Moses in confusion, not understanding his words.
"Ying?"
Hearing Bear Cub's puzzlement, Moses smiled. "Want to really fly?"
Bear Cub's eyes sparkled as he flapped his wings vigorously, but only succeeded in creating a cool breeze.
"Later, when you eat a proper flying bird. But if you want to fly, you'll need to practice flapping from now on."
"Ying!" Bear Cub nodded seriously, then opened his mouth: "Rawr!"
Moses chuckled as Bear Cub reverted to his original form.
"Actually, I see your ability having two modes.
First is static—eating weapons or equipment to manifest their shapes on your body.
Second is dynamic—consuming other creatures to acquire their 'forms' and manifest them."
Bear Cub stared at Moses in awe, amazed he understood so much about abilities Bear Cub himself had never considered.
Amused by Bear Cub's stunned expression, Moses simply smiled. The Munch-Munch Fruit was truly fascinating.
This Devil Fruit had immense potential, somewhat like Fairy Tail's "Take Over" magic but far more... unrestricted.
It could freely combine living and non-living matter.
"Ying!"
Bear Cub's ears drooped.
Moses burst out laughing.
He playfully tugged Bear Cub's ears, massaging the thick fur until the bear began humming contentedly.
Then Moses pried open Bear Cub's jaws, peering into the seemingly bottomless throat.
Hesitation flickered in his eyes before determination took over. "I'm going inside you. Swallow me, then let's try 'combining.' I want to experience what that feels like."
Bear Cub tilted his head at Moses. "Ying?"
The corner of his mouth twitched as Moses said helplessly, "I'm not offering myself as food, by the way. Would you actually digest me if I went in?"
Hearing this, Bear Cub's face showed clear resistance as he shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum.
"Grr!"
"See? I just want to go inside and take a look. Remember to merge with me—I want to know how it feels. You can just spit me out when we're done."
Bear Cub reluctantly nodded.
Sitting down in the snow, Moses watched as Bear Cub opened his mouth wide—almost larger than himself.
Steeling his resolve, Moses leaned forward and plunged his head inside.
Gripping the tongue with both hands, it felt like crawling into a tree hollow.
As Moses' feet disappeared down the throat, Bear Cub closed his mouth.
The surrounding space fell silent.