Chapter 111: Extraction

20 years ago, right after Toki sent Momonosuke, Kinnemon, and the others into the future, she hid Hiyori in a secret compartment in the castle.

When the castle crumbled down and everything burned to ashes, it was believed that the entire Kozuki family had perished.

Having lost all of her family, Hiyori was lost and didn’t know what to do.

That was when a familiar figure had approached her.

Denjiro. One of Oden’s retainers who wasn’t present in the castle when it was burnt down and survived because of it.

Consumed by anger, Denjiro’s appearance has changed and is now known as Kyoshiro. A yakuza leader that appears to be loyal to Orochi today.

“Denjiro-san told me to change my name...we are to secretly make our way up and find an opportunity to kill Orochi in the future...since then, I became the one known as Komurasaki.”

“I see...Denjiro huh? It’s good that he is also still alive.”

Lucas nodded and sighed.

“Well, there’s no need for those plans. I’m here. I’ll just go and cut Orochi’s head in a bit.”

Hiyori smiled bitterly at that.

20 long years of planning...all to be thrown away because someone powerful enough to challenge Kaido is here.

Lucas chuckled as he knew what Hiyori was thinking.

He patted her head and smiled.

“Don’t worry. Your plan allowed you both to be able to live for 20 years...I’m thankful that I managed to see you again.”

“Uncle…”

“Ahem, you can stop calling me uncle. Look how old you are, our ages aren’t too far apart you know.”

“Then...Lucas…-sama?”

“...Well, that’s good enough…”

Lucas shook his head and didn’t bother with it anymore.

He looked at the grinning little girl who clung to Hiyori and raised a brow.

“You seem so happy. Right, your name was…Toko, right?”

“Haha! That’s right! I am Toko! If you put O in front, I am O-Toko(boy)! I’m a girl but my name is O-Toko! Hahahahahahaha!”

“Pft-!”

Lucas choked in his laughter.

What an interesting kid.

However, when he looked at Hiyori, he saw her reveal a sad smile instead.

“Something wrong?”

“Toko is a very kind and warm girl...that’s why...I’m sad that she is like this…”

Lucas frowned.

He can’t seem to see anything wrong with O-Toko...what did she mean?

Hiyori sighed and continued.

“Have you heard about the artificial devil fruits? The SMILEs?”

“Yeah. I heard that Kaido is using it to give power to his crew. However, it’s still not perfected so some weird mutations happen most of the time.”

Lucas remembered the weird people he had seen before as he shook his head in pity.

Hiyori nodded as well.

“That’s true. However, there is another side effect…”

“Hm?”

“Those who ate the SMILE fruit and fail to gain any animal traits are called Pleasures among Kaido’s crew. As a side effect, they are forced to...always smile and laugh...no matter what kind of emotion they feel…”

Lucas’ eyes widened in surprise. He then looked back at O-Toko who was still grinning widely. However, there are tears on the corner of her eyes.

“You mean…”

“Yes...Toko ate a SMILE fruit...and failed to get any powers.”

Lucas could feel his anger bubbling up. However, he didn’t lose control since Hiyori and O-Toko were here.

He exhaled deeply and calmed himself down.

After a while, he looked back at O-Toko.

There must be something he could do...his ability is insanely powerful...can’t he reverse this process?

Lucas thought.

There was something that Lucas had been thinking since he first figured out his abilities.

He can easily copy other Devil Fruit powers as long as he thinks of it. However...can he steal them? Or better yet, extract the Devil Fruit out of someone?

If he can do that...then maybe...just maybe...he could extract the SMILE devil fruit in O-Toko’s body!

But he didn’t want to test this on O-Toko. She is just a child, if something went wrong, it would be bad.

Right, isn’t there Orochi?

Orochi has a devil fruit too...but he doesn’t deserve it.

Thinking of this, he turned back to Hiyori.

“Hiyori, stay here with Toko, I’ll be back soon.”

“Uncl...Lucas-sama, are you going to face Orochi now?”

“That’s right.”

“I...I want to be there as well!”

“T-Toko wants to go too! Hahahaha!”

Lucas was a bit surprised at that. But when he looked at her eyes, she reminded him of her late mother’s fierceness.

Smiling wryly, Lucas nodded.

“Alright, let’s all go then. Come on.”

O-Toko clung to Hiyori again while Lucas carried her and flew to the skies.

As they flew above Wano, Lucas could see the people panicking over Komurasaki’s disappearance. Hiyori peeked down and exclaimed.

“Ah! It’s Denjiro-san!”

“Hm?”

Lucas looked down as well and saw a guy with a long pompadour and slanted eyes among the crowd. He seemed to be leading a bunch of people and frantically looking for Hiyori.

...Eh? That’s Denjiro?

He looked so...different…

“Well, I can’t carry him too so just ignore him.”

“Eh? But…”

“Let’s go!”

Carrying two girls is fine, but carrying a guy is another thing…

Lucas didn’t say anymore and flew straight to the castle.

*Boom*

With a snort, a hole appeared at the side of the castle which he flew in without any problems.

They appeared in a large hall.

There was an ugly man with a large head sitting on the far end while surrounded by beautiful women.

Lucas was instantly annoyed.

Before the guards could spring into action, Lucas unleashed his Emperor’s Haki and made them all faint.

Those that managed to remain awake was drenched in a cold sweat and crumbled down.

Lucas ignored all of them and continued to walk toward the ugly man with the large head.

Of course, this man was none other than the hateful Orochi.

At this moment, Orochi’s eyes had widened as he stared at the man wearing a red demon mask in front of him.

He pointed his finger at Lucas shakingly.

“Y-y-y-you...Akaoni!!!??? W-w-why!? How are you still alive!?”

“Did you honestly think I am dead, Orochi?”

“T-this is impossible! And you! Why are you standing beside him, Komurasaki!?”

Hiyori smiled and removed all the pins and clips on her hair, letting it flow down. She fixed her bangs a bit and spoke.

“My name isn’t Komurasaki. I am...Kozuki Hiyori…!”

Orochi’s eyes widened in shock.

“K-K-KOZUKI!!!???”

Orochi stumbled backward in fright.

It was happening...the day that he most feared!

The Kozuki family...and the Red Demon...are back!!!

Orochi’s face was pale, however, he still held on to the fact that behind him was one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, Kaido!

“Y-you think you can kill me!? If you kill me, Kaido will come for you!”

Lucas chuckled.

“Let’s hope he does.”

So stupid. He was already here, did Orochi think Lucas was afraid of Kaido?

Lucas instantly disappeared from his position and reappeared before Orochi.

He held out his hand and grabbed that large head.

Orochi growled and his head started to grow long as it split into 9 snakeheads.

While Lucas held onto one head, the other 8 heads lunged towards Lucas in an attempt to bite him. However, it was futile.

Lucas could materialize his body on will. As the heads bite, they could only bite through the water.

Lucas ignored Orochi’s struggles and concentrated on his power.

Closing his eyes, he imagined pulling something out of Orochi's body...a Devil Fruit.

As if he could feel the changes in his body, Orochi’s eyes widened and he started to roar even louder while trying to break free from Lucas’ grasp but it was for nothing.

“Roaaaar!”

“Nooo!”

“Don’t do this!”

“Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”

Lucas' eyes snapped open and clenched his fist while pulling something out.

At that moment, Orochi reverted back to his original appearance.

Looking at the object on his palm, Lucas smiled.

It was a Devil Fruit.

To be exact...it was Orochi’s Devil Fruit!

Lucas laughed.

Hahaha! What an insanely broken ability this is…!

Lucas looked back at the pathetic sight of Orochi and grabbed his head again.

He lifted him up and glared at him as if he was already a dead man.

Orochi’s body continued to shiver in fright.

“Your reign is over, Orochi. After you...Kaido is next.”

Lucas no longer bothered to say anything more as a flash of light appeared on Orochi’s neck.

His body fell to the ground while Lucas was still holding his head.

Seeing this ugly head, Lucas couldn’t be bothered anymore and tossed it aside.

Lucas sheathed Nidai Kitetsu after flicking off the blood on its blade.

Hiyori walked over and continued to stare at Orochi’s body.

Tears started to fall in her eyes as she collapsed to the ground.

“Finally...mother...father...finally...Orochi is dead…!”

Lucas sighed and patted her shoulder. Then, he looked towards O-Toko who was also crying while grinning.

He placed his hand over her head and smiled.

Closing his eyes, he felt his ability once more but instead of aggressively pulling it like he did with Orochi, Lucas was careful so as to not hurt her.

After a while, Lucas pulled his hand away and a light escaped from O-Toko’s body as it started to form into a fruit in Lucas’ hands.

Gradually, O-Toko’s grid started to loosen...and eventually, it was back to normal.

O-Toko realized the muscles on her face had relaxed and was confused.

Lucas smiled and created a mirror using water to hover in front of her.

Seeing her reflection, she was even more shocked.

“My face…?”

It was then that she finally realized that she was now capable of showing negative emotions once more.

“Uwaaaaaaaahhh!!!”

O-Toko cried her heart out.

All those days of sadness that she couldn’t show gushed out in one go as she cried.

Hiyori noticed something was wrong and turned around, only to see O-Toko crying. For a moment, she was confused, however, when she saw the lack of grinning on her face, she was surprised.

“Lucas-sama...this…”

“I managed to extract her devil fruit. With that...she’s back to normal.”

Hiyori brought her hands to her mouth in surprise. Soon, she walked over to O-Toko and hugged her while crying.

“Thank you…”

Lucas smiled as he watched the two of them.

Suddenly, the doors swung open and a large group of people arrived. They were lead by a man who stood at the front.

It was Denjiro, AKA Kyoshiro.

“Orochi-sama!”

Kyoshiro shouted as he slammed the doors open. However, he froze when he saw the situation inside the hall.

Orochi’s dead body on the ground…

Komurasaki…

And a man wearing a red demon mask…

“A-A-A-AKAONI-SAMA!?”

Kyoshiro’s jaw dropped to the ground.

Huh? What? What’s happening? What about our plan!?

Lucas laughed awkwardly and waved.

“Yo, Denjiro. No need to act anymore. Orochi’s dead.”

“...Hah?”