The air in the courtyard was tense. Krieg stood ready, stripped down to his tank top and combat pants, while Monet faced him in her loose-sleeved medical coat.
「I'm not asking you to beat me,」 Krieg stated calmly. 「Just land a single hit.」
「My, my... then I suppose I'll have to give you a surprise you won't forget!」
With a fluid motion, Monet whipped her arm, and three needles hissed through the air. Krieg jerked his head aside, but the moment he dodged, another set of needles streaked toward his face. In that split second, Monet had already circled behind him. She lunged with twin ice picks, aiming for his legs.
「I see. Lead with a throw to force a movement, follow up with a second volley to pin the head, then dive for the legs to disable the mobility,」 Krieg analyzed aloud.
He caught the first set of needles in his teeth and trapped the ice picks between two fingers without even looking back. 「And let me guess... paralytic toxin? Did you learn that from Dr. Indigo?」
Monet let go of the picks and jumped back, a look of pure exasperation on her face. 「...I really think putting paralytic needles in your mouth is a terrible habit, Krieg-san.」
Krieg spat the needles into the dirt. 「I had a run-in with the Vinsmokes recently. As a precaution, I've been micro-dosing to build a resistance. But needles... that's clever. Your throwing arm is impressive. Have you been practicing?」
「Yes. When I spoke with Robin-san, she mentioned that since I lacked raw physical strength, I'd need to focus on precision and speed.」
She flicked her sleeves again, needles gripped between her fingers like claws. She rushed in, but as Krieg reached out to grab her arm, she slid between his legs with an incredibly agile footwork.
「Nui-awase (Stitch-up),」 she whispered.
Krieg turned to counter-attack, but his legs caught. 「Whoa! What the—!?」
He nearly stumbled, regaining his balance just in time. Looking down, he saw that the hems of his combat pants had been stitched together with impossible speed.
「Wire... no, steel thread! Where did you get this?」
「A young Marine gave it to me as a gift,」 she teased, a playful smile on her lips. 「It's strong and hard to cut, so I figured I'd put it to good use.」
「If you can pin a person's clothes, you can pin their life,」 Krieg nodded. 「You pass. And later, you can tell me exactly who this 'young Marine' is.」
「Oh? Is that jealousy, Admiral? But I still haven't landed that 'hit' on you yet...」
「You have enough combat skill to handle the average pirate. Let's see... varied needles (some matte-coated for stealth), ice picks, and steel thread. Anything else?」
「I was also 'gifted' a small pistol for self-defense,」 she said, reaching behind her waist to reveal a compact handgun.
「Do you know how to use it?」
「I've practiced. I can hit a target well enough.」
「As long as you know the safety from the trigger. And the needles? All in the sleeves?」
「Remo-san is a master at tailoring. She helped me sew dozens of hidden pockets into my coats.」
Krieg nodded, then held up a finger. 「Wait here.」
He headed to his private quarters, pried up a loose floorboard, and pulled out a sturdy wooden box. Returning to the courtyard, he tossed it to her.
「Take this. Consider it a graduation present.」
Monet opened the box to find a white, swirl-patterned fruit. Her eyes went wide. 「This is... a Devil Fruit!? No, Krieg-san, I can't take something this valuable!」
「Just take it,」 Krieg said, crossing his arms. 「Consider it insurance for a solo doctor in the Grand Line. It's better off with someone I trust than sitting under my floorboards.」
It took some convincing, but Monet finally gave in. She stared at the Yuki Yuki no Mi—the Snow-Snow Fruit. It had ended up in the same hands as the original timeline, but under far different circumstances.
Krieg watched with a wry smirk as Monet took a bite, her face contorting in absolute disgust at the legendary foul taste of the fruit. As she swallowed the last of it, a faint, cold mist began to radiate from her skin.
The Birth of the Snow-Doctor
The transformation was subtle at first. The moonlight seemed to reflect more sharply off her skin, and the grass beneath her feet began to frost over.
「It feels... cold, but not in a way that hurts,」 she murmured, watching her breath turn into a thick white cloud.
「That's the power of a Logia,」 Krieg explained. 「You aren't just cold; you are the snow. Now, before you head to Drum, you're going to stay here for another week. You need to learn how to turn that power on and off instinctively, or you'll accidentally freeze your patients' hearts during surgery.」
Monet nodded solemnly. 「A doctor who can control the temperature... I see. This could be more useful than I ever imagined.」
The Dull-Grey Classroom:
Krieg had already contacted the Navy's Technical Division to commission a few specialized pieces of equipment for Monet. While waiting for the delivery to Faus Island, he shifted his focus to the most critical part of her preparation: Power Management.
He stood before a chalkboard in a quiet room within the hospital, the chalk scratching loudly as he wrote. Monet sat at a desk, looking every bit the diligent student—though she was currently vibrating with anxiety.
「Listen up, Monet. What you ate was the Logia-type Yuki Yuki no Mi.」
「Logias are incredibly rare, aren't they!?」 Monet exclaimed, her face pale. 「Krieg-san, if these things are worth billions, why on earth did you just let me eat it...?」 She buried her face in her hands, realizing the sheer weight of the gift.
Krieg ignored her existential crisis and continued. 「Logia users are often called 'invincible' because almost all physical attacks pass right through them. But get this through your head: Logias are not invincible.」
Monet forced herself to calm down, picking up a pen. 「I suppose there's no taking it back now. So... Seastone and elemental weaknesses? Those are the counters, right?」
「Exactly. There are three main ways to deal with a Logia. One: Seastone. It's the sea in solid form; touch it, and your energy drains away. Two: Elemental Weakness. You are snow. Heat and fire are your natural enemies. And three...」
Krieg walked over to her desk. 「This.」
He coated his finger in a faint, invisible armor and gave her a light flick on the forehead.
「Ouch!!」 she yelped, clutching her brow.
「That is Haki. It's not a secret Navy technique, though we are the ones who formalize its training. Except for one specific type, it's an energy that can be awakened through grueling discipline.」
「Can you use all three types?」 she asked, teary-eyed as she rubbed the red spot on her forehead.
「I can use two,」 Krieg admitted. 「Busoshoku (Armament), which lets me bypass your intangibility, and Kenbunshoku (Observation), which expands my senses. The third is Haoshoku (Conqueror's). It's used to overpower the will of others, but it's said you have to be born with the 'qualities of a king' to use it. I don't have it, and frankly, I don't care for it.」
「A power based on birthright? How cruel,」 Monet murmured.
「Life usually is. But the point remains: between Seastone, natural counters, and Haki, you are vulnerable. If you get cocky because you're a Logia, you'll be dead before you reach the Grand Line.」
「So the 'invincible' power has quite a few holes,」 she noted, scribbling furiously.
「Furthermore, your fruit is technically a lower-tier version of Admiral Aokiji's Hie Hie no Mi (Chilly-Chilly Fruit). He is ice; you are snow.」
「Muu...」 She puffed her cheeks slightly.
「Don't pout. It's all about how you use it. Snow is quiet and beautiful, but it can also manifest as blizzards and avalanches. You can harden it into ice-like density or use it to obscure vision. I won't tell you how to fight—you're a doctor.
Think of the snow as a tool for your environment. Use it to protect yourself first, then to neutralize others.」
「I understand. I'll stay here and master the basics before I head to Drum. Is that acceptable?」
「It's mandatory. You have the combat foundation I gave you. Now we just have to layer the snow on top of it.」
The 10-Day Intensive Course
For the next ten days, the "Dull-Grey Lessons" continued. Krieg balanced theoretical lectures on Devil Fruit ecology with brutal practical sparring.
Temperature Regulation: He forced her to chill a glass of water without freezing the glass until it shattered.
Logia Reflex: He threw random objects at her while she was reading, training her body to turn into snow instinctively.
Medical Application: They experimented with using her "cool" to stabilize patients with high fevers or preserve medicine.
By the time the transport ship from the Technical Division arrived with her new gear, Monet was no longer just a woman who had eaten a fruit. She was a Logia user who understood her own limits—the most dangerous kind.
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