As Thor kept his hand locked around Ochoku's neck, he continued reading every corner of the man's memories, not just the parts about Shakky but also the reports Ochoku had been sending to the World Government.
Thor saw every moment clearly, even the times when Ochoku leaked information about Thor's solo travels in the past. That finally explained why marine ships would randomly appear in places Thor passed through.
They had been hunting him based on Ochoku's reports, although Thor had never felt threatened enough to take it seriously. Every ship sent after him ended up destroyed through his strength alone.
Thor's grip tightened as he processed another thought. "You sold Shakky to the World Government?" Thor asked, and his voice came out lower than usual, heavy enough that Ochoku's panic became visible on his face.
Ochoku had assumed Thor was bluffing about reading minds.
He expected Thor to accuse him of selling her to normal slave traders. Hearing the exact truth made his fear spike instantly.
Thor ignored the trembling. He turned his head toward Borsalino."Bring me a fruit, Borsalino," Thor ordered. Borsalino looked at him with visible confusion, which made Thor elaborate
. "Bring me a basket of fruits and a Devil Fruit. Vegapunk, you wanted to know what happens if someone eats two Devil Fruits, right? I will show you."
Borsalino immediately understood the intention and left without further questions. The rest of the Rocks Pirates watched silently.
None of them objected. Every one of them wanted Ochoku dead anyway, but since Thor caught him first, the right to kill him belonged to Thor alone.
Ochoku began struggling more aggressively. His body twisted as he tried to reach anything he could merge into, even the smallest piece of wall or floor.
He kept trying to activate his ability, but Thor kept him suspended in a way that denied every angle.
Thor held him with a grip that felt like an iron lock, using his strength to make sure Ochoku could grab nothing, not even the air.
Ochoku squirmed from both the pain and the fear of what was coming.
After a few moments, Borsalino returned.
He carried a bag of fruits that he had taken from Shakky's bar, and in his other hand he held a Devil Fruit from the crew's stockpile.
It was a normal Zoan type, chosen specifically because no one cared if it disappeared after the transfer.
Thor took the Devil Fruit from him without speaking. Ochoku's attempts to escape became more desperate.
The rest of the crew watched without stepping in, as if it was a natural sight to them.
Thor forced Ochoku's jaw open and shoved the Devil Fruit into his mouth, making him bite into it even as he gagged and shook violently.
Thor released him afterward. He stepped back slowly while keeping his attention on Ochoku.
The traitor immediately tried to merge into the building again, but something went wrong. He transformed into a goat, which matched the Zoan fruit he had just consumed.
The transformation was unstable. Before his ability could settle, his form began breaking down.
Ochoku then partially merged with the ground while still stuck in the goat form, unable to breathe properly.
His stomach began swelling. It expanded more and more, and the sounds coming from his body were unnatural. Nobody moved. Everyone knew they were watching something that had never been seen before.
A loud pop burst through the room. Ochoku exploded right in front of them. Pieces of blood and flesh splattered across the floor and walls, turning the place into a complete mess.
The gore was enough to make most people hesitate to breathe, but Vegapunk only took notes, unmoved and focused on the details of the death.
With Ochoku dead, a few fruits among the basket shifted, confirming that the Devil Fruits had respawned. One of them showed the new appearance of the Isle Isle Fruit, a valuable one, which Thor picked up immediately.
Gloriosa, who was closest to Shakky and shared the same tribe as her, could not stop crying.
She had gone silent for a moment because of the shock from the explosion, but once her mind caught up, she broke into tears again.
"Shakky must be so alone right now," Gloriosa said while crying, and several others who felt the same way about Shakky found themselves in the same state as her.
"What are you crying for? We will find her. We already know who bought her, so we just need to attack marine vessels until they return Shakky to us," Captain John said. Ganzui and Gil Baxter agreed immediately.
Linlin shook her head at their suggestion. "Do you really think the World Government cares about losing a few military personnel? They treat an admiral like a clean up worker. They will not care about losses below that."
Rocks stepped forward as the situation became more organized.
"Just use your connections, Linlin. Check anything useful. Vegapunk, create a device that can hijack the entire world's Den Den Mushi. We need to locate her. Do not think about the budget."
Vegapunk already had formulas running in his head before Rocks even finished the sentence.
Rocks then paused for a moment, looking at his crew. This was the first time he had ever seen them united with one purpose.
For them to agree without fighting was already unbelievable, but seeing that they all valued Shakky more than they valued him made the scene even more surreal.
-------------------------
An entire year passed without a single piece of reliable news. Even with the device Vegapunk created, not one of them managed to hear anything useful about Shakky.
Over time, their hopes continued to sink lower and lower. All of them understood how the Celestial Dragons treated their slaves.
They changed them the way ordinary people changed clothes, never caring that the people they were torturing were still human beings.
Because of that, the idea that Shakky might still be alive felt thinner each day, even though none of them dared to say it out loud.
Vegapunk took full responsibility for wiretapping as many communication lines and Den Den Mushi as he could connect to.
Thor helped in his own way, which was by attacking every World Government ship he encountered, even when the ship was only present for a festival or minor patrol.
To Thor, anything connected to the World Government was fair to destroy, and if even one of those ships carried a clue, then it was worth the effort.
One day, while Vegapunk searched through clusters of overlapping communications, he stumbled upon a signal that did not match any of the usual government patterns.
He listened closely. The transmission carried a clearer voice than most of the ones he tapped into. It was as if there's an spy inside the ship of the one that's going on agod Valley.
The voice mentioned their next destination and even listed the Devil Fruits that were stored on board."The World Government is heading to a place called God Valley to begin a human hunting contest. There are two prizes that will interest you. One is the Paw Paw Fruit and the other is the Azure Dragon."
Vegapunk did not interrupt the signal. He stayed silent, letting the information continue.
"And there is a special prize the guards have been talking about. They said she used to belong to the Kuja Pirates and was known as the most beautiful woman in the sea. I think her name is Shakuyaku."
Right after the name was spoken, Vegapunk heard the familiar squawk of a sea gull that often accompanied official government broadcasts. That sound confirmed the transmission as authentic.
The moment he finished recording the contents, Vegapunk wasted no time. He immediately informed Rocks, then passed the information to every member of the crew.
He also forwarded the message to the Roger Pirates, who blamed Rocks and the Rocks Pirates for Shakky's disappearance in the first place and were already eager to move. The instant the news spread, their preparations began.
The Rocks Pirates readied their ships to sail toward God Valley, each member filled with a mixture of anger and impatience.
None of them realized that Rocks had someone else in mind to rescue as well, someone he had kept silent about throughout the entire search.