Chapter 004 – Emotion Fruit Awakening
Thump… thump…
The moment Kai swallowed the Devil Fruit, his heart began pounding powerfully. Somewhere in his body, a strange transformation began—an otherworldly energy surged into him, then flooded straight into his mind!
In just a short moment, Kai understood the ability of the Devil Fruit he had gained: he could control the emotional fluctuations of others within a certain range!
So this was the Emotion Fruit!
"Damn it all to hell!"
Upon realizing what his fruit did, Kai inwardly cursed loudly. He had fantasized about getting something like the Rubber Fruit, Bomb Fruit, or some other flashy, powerful ability. Instead, he ended up with something similar to the Whisper-Whisper Fruit—something that could only manipulate emotions. In his eyes, it felt like a total chicken-rib ability: tasteless when eaten, but a shame to throw away!
It was only later that Kai learned the fruit he had swallowed was actually a Mind-type Paramecia—one even rarer than Mythical Zoan fruits!
Rarer than Logia fruits were the Ancient and Mythical Zoans, and within Paramecia, the Mind-type fruits were among the scarcest!
Fruits capable of controlling others' minds had never appeared in the One Piece world before—showing just how extraordinarily rare this one was. But rarity didn't equal strength. How much power one could draw from a Devil Fruit ultimately depended on the user!
"This is… rage…"
After cursing inwardly, Kai immediately sensed a clear surge of furious emotion behind him—and that rage was under his control! Within a 10-meter range, Kai could freely amplify or suppress the strongest emotion a target was feeling!
BOOM!
In his mind's eye, a heart-shaped planet suddenly condensed with a bang—representing Kai himself. Around the planet swirled endless darkness, like a newborn universe. A wave-like energy rippled outward, but in Kai's cosmic consciousness, the distance felt tiny and insignificant.
Still, one bright red point of light appeared in his scan: Clart's raging emotion!
"You damn brat! You ate my Devil Fruit—I'm gonna chop you to pieces!!"
With his rage fully exploding, Clart no longer cared about Kai's appearance. He swung his massive cutlass in a furious overhead slash toward Kai's back!
"You son of a—! It's just one Devil Fruit!"
Sensing the lethal blade coming from behind, Kai's expression changed. He bent his knees and sprang upward with a explosive leap, cursing inwardly!
BOOM!
A deafening crash rang out. The deck where Kai had been standing shattered under Clart's blow, sending wooden splinters flying everywhere!
"Phew… that was close!"
Kai twisted mid-air, glancing back with relief—but his face quickly grew grave. He knew that one careless moment today could end with him dead here.
"It's you!"
Clart finally got a good look at Kai and froze in shock, recognizing the tavern errand boy who had carried their drinks and food.
"So it was you, you little bastard! You must have been targeting us from the start—I'm gonna kill you!"
Clart roared in fury. The feeling of being played for a fool only fueled his rage further!
At the same moment, Kai sensed Clart's red light point in his consciousness universe flare even brighter and swell larger! He didn't need to focus deliberately—it appeared naturally in his mind, informing him instantly.
Whoosh!
Clart's cutlass whistled through the air with terrifying force—no holding back just because his target was a child!
Clang!
But without his weights holding him down, Kai wasn't defenseless. His agile body dodged again with nimble grace!
In a direct fight, Kai knew he stood no chance against Clart. But in terms of pure speed and body control, he was superior!
Shock flashed across Clart's face once more—he hadn't expected the kid to evade him twice in a row!
But the surprise was fleeting. Rage quickly reclaimed his eyes.
"You damn brat! Stand still!"
Clart roared and swung again!
Clang! Clang! Clang! …
In the spacious warehouse, Kai dodged Clart's attacks over and over in hair-raising near-misses. Not a single blow landed. With each failed strike, Clart grew angrier—more furious!
The warehouse was wrecked: treasures smashed, crates shattered. The pirates at the doorway watched in heartache as their loot was destroyed.
"What's wrong with the captain? He can't even handle one kid?"
A red-haired pirate asked in confusion, watching Clart fail repeatedly.
"Didn't you see? That brat isn't normal…"
"Yeah… but the captain's way too angry. Otherwise he wouldn't be like this…"
"Can't be helped. Aren't you angry? That kid ate our Devil Fruit…"
"Yeah! A 100-million-Berry treasure…"
The battle on the merchant ship had already ended. The Scar Pirates had fully taken control—the marines were wiped out! Through Clart's constant furious roars, the crew realized the Devil Fruit had been eaten by the brat. Every pirate was seething with rage! But none dared rush in to help—one wrong move and their captain might accidentally cleave them in half!
"Ah—!"
Suddenly! Clart let out a startled cry as his body pitched forward. In his blind rage, he hadn't noticed a loose pearl underfoot. He stepped on it, lost balance, and stumbled!
"Perfect opportunity!"
A glint flashed in Kai's eyes. After so long, the mistake he'd been waiting for had finally come! It hadn't been in vain—he'd been subtly using the Emotion Fruit the whole time to fan Clart's anger into an inferno!
"Huge rage makes people lose reason, perform poorly, and make mistakes! It really works!"
Kai shouted inwardly in triumph. As Clart lunged forward off-balance, Kai clenched his right fist, channeling every ounce of strength into it, and smashed it straight toward Clart's head!
"Hahaha… got him! That brat's dead meat…"
"Haha! What's the kid trying? Does he think he can attack the captain…?"
"Haha… overestimating himself…"
To the watching pirates, Clart's forward stumble looked like he was about to grab the boy. Seeing Kai actually swing a punch at their captain, they sneered in mockery—not taking the kid's fist seriously at all!
But in the next instant—
The pirates' mocking smiles froze. Their jaws dropped. Their eyes bulged in disbelief.
Their captain—the 10-million-Berry bounty pirate Clart—had been sent flying by Kai's single punch! His massive body crashed to the ground, right cheek caved in, eyes rolled back, unconscious!
"How… how is this possible…"
"Impossible…"
"No way…"
After a stunned silence, the pirates stared at Kai like he was a demon!
"Phew…"
Kai let out a long breath, turning to face the remaining twenty-or-so pirates. He sensed the fear blooming in their emotions—gray light points flickering to life in his consciousness universe!
"Charge! Kill that brat! Avenge the captain…"
"Everyone together—!"
Two pirate grunts mustered their courage and shouted…