"The Devil Fruits those two brought?"
"Yeah. Letting 'em rot in storage is a waste. We oughta be looking at all the ways we can put 'em to use."
The visit to Zephyr-san's grave was already done.
I'm sorry to still be a pirate, but truly, thank you for everything.
Ain and Binz, and Zwei too, had all been properly seen off. From here on, they intended to watch over this world in Zephyr-san's place, sometimes fighting as they walked their own paths.
With things wrapping up like that, the "ONE PIECE Z: Artificial Human Seraphim Arc" had reached its conclusion. I needed to get myself back to normal operations too... or so I'd been thinking lately.
Having been summoned, we made our way to the Hideout's main residence, where Papa broached the subject.
This was one of the larger conference rooms in the main residence. Present were Papa and Dr. Indigo, me and the Three Girls, two aides... and then Iris and Snow. Ten people total, no more.
Given what we'd be discussing, only those who could truly be trusted, people you could call family, had been gathered.
The agenda, as stated: what to do with the Devil Fruits.
When Iris and Snow came to this era, they'd brought along a massive cache as a gift: over a hundred Devil Fruits. Every single one naturally occurring.
The question was how to use them going forward.
"Having this many Devil Fruits lined up in one place... 'spectacular' doesn't even begin to cover it. Each and every one of these could potentially become a 'Monster' capable of destroying an island, or even an entire nation, depending on how it's used..."
"Only a handful of really crazy-level Ability Users could pull that off, I'd think... but yeah, Blume's right, there's no denying these things can birth monsters. I mean, look at Sue and Boss, swinging around their insane Powers."
"Hey now, don't go talking about people like they're freaks of nature. Beauty, like you just said yourself, Powers are nothing but wasted potential unless you properly train and hone them to a razor's... ah, wait, no no, I got sidetracked. The point is what we do with these, right, Papa?"
"Yeah. No question these aren't Powers you can use carelessly... but leaving them asleep in a warehouse doesn't accomplish anything either, and that's its own waste, right? Same as money or authority... 'Power' only has meaning when you follow the proper dosage and put it to effective use."
As Blume had briefly mentioned, this scene itself was already at the level of a 'bomb.' No question about it.
Over a hundred Devil Fruits gathered in one place. The 'power' to create more than a hundred Ability Users, concentrated right here.
A veritable Powder keg. Its very existence, if sniffed out, would inevitably attract unwanted interference. From Pirates, from Marines, from the Government.
Whether as 'weapons,' as 'treasure,' or as 'intelligence,' handling them would require the utmost care.
And yet, as Papa had just said, keeping them locked away and hidden forever would be its own waste. They should be 'put to effective use.'
"But when it comes to effective use... naturally that means 'eating' them or 'having someone eat' them, correct?"
Blume asked.
Well, obviously... they're Devil Fruits. Of course you eat them. That's the whole point.
People in the world sometimes say 'one sells for a hundred million Berry,' but anyone who understands just how much power a Devil Fruit represents would see that as nothing but foolishness.
It would depend on the type of fruit, sure, but eat one, gain its power, hone it to perfection... and recouping a hundred million is actually pretty easy. When you consider that the power you gain might be worth far more than that, converting them to cash is simply out of the question.
I mean, unless you're someone who has absolutely no interest in power, or the type who'd say 'Power only brings trouble! I don't want any of that, I just want to live in peace!'... actually, now that I think about it, there are probably quite a few people like that in this world...
But anyway, that doesn't apply to us.
We're the Golden Lion Pirates. You can never have too many Ability Users when they directly translate into combat strength.
That said, we'd need to be very careful, very deliberate about choosing who gets to eat them.
"I intend to handle that selection process carefully. Even though we have a hundred of these, each and every one is neither light nor cheap... they're not the kind of thing you feed to just anyone off the street. I'm planning to gradually pick candidates from among our subordinates, but... if any of you have someone in mind, feel free to recommend them."
"So we can pick promising ones from among our underlings and followers and let 'em eat?"
"Of course, whether that person is 'qualified' will be properly screened and evaluated with me and Sue and others involved. Loyalty, drive, potential for growth... there's a lot we need to look at. Best not to compromise on any of that, for everyone's sake."
That was certainly true.
Just as Papa said, no matter how many we had, wasting them would be absolutely unacceptable when you considered the value of each individual one. Every single fruit held a different Power.
"That said, most of the people in this room are already Ability Users. Eating one yourself isn't an option. The ones who aren't are..."
"Just Beauty and Dr. Indigo. How about it? Either of you want to eat one?"
Those two already met all the trust requirements and everything else, so if they wanted one, they could take their pick.
"Nah... I'll pass. Becoming unable to swim and getting weak to Seastone? No thanks. I wouldn't be able to dive for seafood ingredients anymore."
That was Beauty. Yeah, as for her... I figured she'd say that.
She free-dives to take down Sea Beasts and even Sea Kings, gathering ingredients herself. The Chef of the Winter Sky continues to grow stronger with each passing day.
And, to touch on something a bit more practical... Beauty also serves as my aide with the role of rescuing me or Blume if we ever fall into the sea.
In that sense too, it was better for her to stay in a position where she could swim.
As for the other one, Dr. Indigo...
"I also... would be lying if I said I wasn't interested, but I don't feel compelled to choose anything right this moment. Would it be acceptable to defer?"
"Sure, why not? It ain't like they're gonna run away if you don't rush."
I see, so as expected, those two were a pass for now.
Dr. Indigo, though... it seemed like the possibility of eating one in the future wasn't entirely off the table.
So then, going forward, we'd slowly take our time, carefully select candidates, and then the Devil Fruits would be... 'bestowed,' I suppose? Have them eat the fruits, increase our Ability Users, and thereby increase our fighting strength.
If there were subordinates with strong drive and good potential... it might be worth approaching them with something like 'Do you want power?' I'd keep that in the back of my mind.
...That was what I was thinking, when it happened.
"...Hm?"
A small sound of puzzlement.
Looking over, Iris was surveying the rows of Devil Fruits spread out before her, and for some reason, her expression had gone blank with confusion.
Snow, standing beside her, noticed and asked,
"What's wrong, Iris?"
"...Hey, Snow. The Devil Fruits we brought to this era... how many were there again?"
"Twenty-nine Paramecia, thirty-two Zoan-type, nine Logia, thirty-five unclassified... a hundred and five total. What about it?"
"Mom, Grandpa... out of those hundred and five, have you already used some?"
"? No, we shouldn't have used a single one yet. Right, Sue?"
"Right. ...Actually, up until just now, I'd been storing them all inside me with Enigma the whole time... ever since the first Unveiling. So..." A beat. "Wait, huh?!"
As I said that much, I noticed it too.
Right, we hadn't used a single one. I echoed Papa's words in my head, and almost reflexively, almost unconsciously, I counted the Devil Fruits laid out before us...
"...Hey, Mom. I, um... I can only see a hundred and four Devil Fruits here right now... Am I miscounting?"
"Wha?!"
At Iris's words, everyone jolted and scrambled to count the arranged Devil Fruits.
I counted again too, just to be sure.
Let's see, five across, and lengthwise... twenty-one, all neatly arranged.
Five times twenty-one equals a hundred and five. ...Yes, a hundred and five. It should be a hundred and five.
...It should have been.
...One was missing.
The grid of five by twenty-one that should have been there had one gap, one empty space gaping open.
Just as Iris said... there were only a hundred and four.
"Wh... what? How? Were we robbed?!"
"N-no, that's impossible! No one could steal something Mother has stored with Enigma! In that case, perhaps Iris and Snow miscounted and there were only a hundred and four from the start...?"
"N-no, that can't be! Snow and I definitely counted them properly!"
"Besides, I counted all hundred and five at the previous Unveiling too, so I know for sure... and I counted them today too, when I took them out just now! There were definitely a hundred and five!"
"So that means... it was stolen just now? ...Right in front of us?"
"That should be even more impossible... to sneak in and steal something with everyone here assembled... and besides, no one should even know that this many Devil Fruits are gathered here right now..."
"...Wait. I just realized something even worse."
While everyone was talking over each other, I cut in, interrupting Blume mid-sentence, because I had noticed 'it.'
Certainly, if what Alice had said was true, then the culprit had just now, from this very room where we were all gathered, stolen a Devil Fruit without anyone seeing or noticing. That alone was alarming enough.
But... as I said, I had just realized something even worse.
Not 'who' or 'how,' but the question of which fruit, which Power, had been taken.
The instant I heard that one Devil Fruit was missing, I instinctively searched for 'that fruit.'
Because among all the fruits brought from the future, it was one of the most dangerous.
When I explained this to everyone, their faces all twisted into expressions of 'oh no.'
Papa and Dr. Indigo in particular went white as sheets. ...My face was probably just as pale.
And at the same time, sadly, a prime suspect snapped into focus.
No doubt about it. 'That person' would want 'that fruit.' Absolutely.
Just like always, they would take it without permission (no doubt certain that asking would only get them refused), and forcibly make it their own. Using every means, every invention at their disposal.
"All of you, go secure that guy and bring him here right now! This is top priority, I don't care how you do it! If that bastard eats that thing, it'll be... it'll be a complete... hurr..."
"ROOOOOOOOM!!"
"YOU! HAVE! GOT! TO! BE! KIDDING!!"
From just outside the room, in a voice far too familiar and far too loud, that single word of despair came booming through. The moment we saw the Circle of the Operating Room spreading from the other side of a single wall, Papa, myself, and Dr. Indigo dropped to our knees.
Too late... the one Power that should never have ended up in that person's hands had ended up there.
I mean, sure... it was an incredibly compatible Power, no question!
The synergy went beyond even giving a demon an iron club. The exponential potential was plain to see. And the person in question would probably cure their own incurable illness by sheer force of will (not a typo)!
Even so, the 'incidents' that would follow were guaranteed to be even worse, so there was no way to be happy about this. Even though logic told us it was the optimal answer, for the sake of our mental stability, this was a future we never wanted to choose...!
But it was already too late.
And so... a new Ability User was born into our Golden Lion Pirates.
Golden Lion Pirates: New Ability User Registration
Name: Venerdi Sou
Power: Paramecia Op-Op Fruit
(Free Modification Human)
To be continued...