Ares's words were proven true almost immediately.
Somewhere on the island…
Kuma stared at the Devil Fruit in his hands, his face lit with pure surprise and joy. The fruit looked like a bear's paw.
"This… this should be the Devil Fruit they've been searching for, right?"
Beside him, Ginny's watery eyes widened as she stared at the fruit in Kuma's hands, amazed.
"Kuma!!! Your luck is insane! On an island this huge, there are only six Devil Fruits!"
"And one of them is in your hands!"
Ivankov practically pressed his face against the paw-shaped fruit, his eyes only a few centimeters away, gawking like he'd seen a miracle.
"This fruit is so precious that even the Celestial Dragons wouldn't bear to waste it as a reward for slaves. It has to be incredibly strong."
He lifted his head to look at Kuma, who still wore that innocent, simple expression.
"Big Kuma, eat it! Hurry and eat it, and let's see what ability it gives you!"
The kind-hearted, naïve Kuma froze. Then he cupped the fruit with both hands and offered it toward Ivankov, refusing gently.
"Iva… Ginny… we found this fruit together. You both have a share."
"I don't want it. You two split it."
Ivankov and Ginny were instantly moved by Kuma's selflessness and generosity.
Ivankov shook his head and pushed Kuma's hands back with a firm expression.
"Kuma! You're the strongest out of the three of us, and you found it first. You should be the one to eat it!"
Ginny nodded so hard her head nearly became a blur.
"Kuma!! Hurry and eat it! If you eat it, you'll have the power to protect us!"
The scene was almost painfully pure, like an old moral tale brought to life, children yielding treasure to one another with sincere hearts.
A Devil Fruit worth a fortune…
Yet for kids as young as them, maybe they didn't truly understand what it was worth.
They only hoped it would give them the power to escape God Valley.
To win freedom.
Kuma stared blankly at the fruit in his hands, hesitating.
"Th-then…"
Ivankov snapped, "Big Kuma! Stop dragging your feet. Eat it!"
Ginny urged, "Kuma! Let's see what it does! It looks like a bear paw, it's practically made for you!"
"…Okay."
Kuma nodded, raised the fruit, and was just about to take a bite
Suddenly…
"Stop right there!"
"Slaves don't have the right to eat Devil Fruits!"
A cold, furious shout made all three of them freeze.
A figure flashed through the forest.
A glint of steel.
A whole swath of trees were cut clean in half, their cross-sections smooth and flat.
In the blink of an eye, a man with a crescent-moon hairstyle and a gorgeous, ornate longsword appeared before them.
Saint Garling.
His pupils contracted, instantly locking onto the fruit in Kuma's hand.
Joy spread across Garling's face.
"It's the Paw-Paw Fruit. What luck. If I'd arrived a little later…"
"This divine fruit would've been ruined by you slaves!"
The moment they saw the Celestial Dragon in his lavish armor
Ivankov and Ginny went pale, cold sweat pouring down their backs, hearts leaping into their throats.
And Kuma stood there like a wooden post, stunned and helpless.
Garling's face turned frosty, his voice sharp as winter wind, issuing an order that didn't allow refusal.
"Hey, slave. Hand it over."
"If you have even a single thought about keeping that fruit for yourself…"
"Then you won't be the only one who dies."
"Everyone connected to you…"
"Dies."
Those words were so cold that goosebumps exploded across the children's skin.
Ivankov clenched his teeth and hissed, "Kuma! Eat the fruit, now!"
"I…I…" Kuma struggled, his face twisting. "No. I can't. If I eat it, I'll hurt you."
"I'll get you killed."
Ginny's face went hollow with despair.
"Kuma… just eat it. Even if you don't, they… they were never going to spare us anyway."
Unlike Kuma's innocent heart, they understood the Celestial Dragons' cruelty.
To them, the hundred thousand slaves on this island were nothing more than numbers in a game.
Points.
From beginning to end, they had never considered slaves "people."
Only insects.
Filth.
A pile of disgusting pests to be crushed and cleaned away.
Seeing Kuma's troubled hesitation, Garling's tone turned even colder, pressing down on them like a mountain.
"I'll count to three."
"If you don't put that Devil Fruit into my hand…"
"Then I'll just send all of you straight to hell."
As he spoke, he raised a finger.
"One."
The moment the number fell, Kuma panicked. He stepped forward, about to hand the Paw-Paw Fruit over
But Ivankov threw himself against Kuma's waist, locking him in place with all his strength. Kuma's face flushed red from the force as he gritted his teeth.
"Kuma!!"
"No matter what, you can't give it to him!!"
"Two."
Kuma grew frantic. He shoved Ivankov off.
"If I don't, you'll die! I don't want you to die!"
He burst forward like a leopard, sprinting straight at Garling, desperate to place the fruit into his hands before the final number came.
At the same time…
Kuma remembered what his parents had warned him again and again, what they'd comforted him with.
Don't resist the Celestial Dragons' orders.
Grow up.
Endure.
Wait for the Liberator God… to arrive.
Ivankov, thrown aside, collapsed onto the ground in despair, muttering like someone whose world had ended.
"It's over…"
"It's over. We're finished."
Ginny's bright, jewel-like eyes fogged over instantly. A sting rose behind them, burning, threatening to spill.
Kuma ran with everything he had.
In his vision, there was only Garling.
He even held his breath, squeezing every last drop of strength from his body, forcing out the fastest speed he could manage.
But…
After he'd sprinted dozens of meters, when he was just about to reach Garling
A teasing smile curled in Garling's eyes.
His mouth snapped out a single word.
"Three."
Kuma's eyes widened violently.
And the next instant
Black-and-red lightning erupted from Garling's body and struck Kuma like a divine punishment.
Kuma hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"Big Kuma!"
"Kuma!!!"
Ivankov and Ginny screamed his name and rushed toward him
Only to be struck down as well, their bodies following Kuma's, collapsing unconscious under the crushing force of Garling's Conqueror's Haki.
Garling looked down at the Paw-Paw Fruit on the ground and smiled.
"The Paw-Paw Fruit is among the very best. Good thing I came in time, or those pirates would've snatched it away."
At the thought of Devil Fruits being taken by pirates…
A sharp killing intent surged in Garling's eyes.
"Damn that Whitebeard. He actually stole the Mythical Zoan… the Phoenix fruit…"
"Unforgivable."
"Luckily he didn't get the other one, or…"
"I would never let him off."
He stepped forward, reaching down to pick up the Paw-Paw Fruit.
And then
A sudden change.
Disaster in the blink of an eye.
Garling's back hair stood straight up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"