The incident happened far too suddenly. From the moment the humanoid Hercules beetle appeared and snatched the fruit to when Allen sent it flying, the entire sequence took only a few fleeting seconds.
Just as everyone registered what had happened, the creature pivoted and charged at Bellamy. By then, no one could catch up in time; they could only watch helplessly as it snatched the fruit.
Allen landed back on the shore and glanced down. His entire chest was drenched in blood.
"Allen! Are you okay?" Nami and the others ran over, their faces etched with worry.
"It's just a scratch. Get me a shirt." Allen waved his hand dismissively. He then tore off his ruined shirt entirely, revealing two shallow, bloody gashes clearly visible across his muscles.
However, far more conspicuous was the hideous X-shaped scar right in the center of his chest.
This had been left by Drake previously. That full-force strike, imbued with Armament Haki, had nearly disemboweled him. It was the most severe injury he had sustained since setting sail.
In comparison, the two cuts torn open by the Hercules beetle were practically paper cuts.
By the shore, Bellamy, who had fallen into the sea, was fished out by his subordinates.
"Cough... hack...! Damn it, what the hell was that bastard bug?!"
*Thud!*
Half-sprawled on the ground, Bellamy coughed up seawater and slammed his fist furiously into the dirt. He gritted his teeth, his expression incredibly dark.
"That was an Ancient Zoan worth over a billion Berries, and we lost it during the exchange! If Doffy finds out, he'll absolutely kill us!"
Hearing this, Sarkies and the rest of his crew turned deathly pale.
"This... hey... I don't want to be hunted down."
"What do we do, Bellamy? You need to think of something, fast!"
"We're doomed... The Donquixote Family will definitely send an executive to kill us."
Thinking of Donquixote Doflamingo's ruthless methods, the group instantly panicked, losing their wits.
Cold sweat beaded on Bellamy's forehead. He stared gloomily at the ground, lost in thought.
Having the fruit stolen right out of his hands meant more than just losing over a billion Berries; it severely damaged the business reputation of the Donquixote Family!
At this point, there were only two ways to salvage the situation. The first was to track down that Hercules beetle and reclaim the fruit, but the difficulty of that was obvious.
Other than that, the only remaining option was...
Bellamy slowly raised his head, his gaze shifting toward Allen not far away.
With just one look, he immediately dismissed the unrealistic thought.
*Are you kidding me?* The man had a bounty of two hundred million Berries and was a Warlord of the Sea, just like Doffy. All of his executives were present as well. If they dared to make a move, they would only die faster.
"Damn it!"
*Thud!* Bellamy gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the ground in deep remorse.
*It's completely over now!*
Just as the group fell into total despair over their impending punishment, two figures walked over from the opposite side.
Buchi and Sham brought over several briefcases, set them on the ground, and said,
"This is the money for both fruits. The boss said it's yours."
"This..." Bellamy's eyes widened in shock. He looked up, staring at the two with utter disbelief.
"Why...? The fruit was lost while in my hands... Why would he...?"
"Heh heh, if you don't bring this money back, you guys are dead meat, right?"
"The boss said you're more valuable to him alive. Just consider this money as paying for a single fruit."
"Consider yourself lucky today. If any good fruits show up in the black market in the future, don't forget to save them for us."
Buchi and Sham grinned. After dropping off the money, the two turned and walked away.
They left Bellamy's crew rooted to the spot, still struggling to process what had just happened.
Looking at the black briefcases on the ground, Bellamy opened one. Inside, stacks of Berries were indeed arranged neatly.
"He actually... paid in full..."
Bellamy stood frozen in shock, his mouth slightly agape, completely at a loss for words.
Recovering his senses, Bellamy stood up, gathered his things, and turned around with the money in tow.
Words of gratitude were trivial now. He could only slowly repay this massive favor in the future.
...
The sailing ship slowly departed from the coast, drifting further and further away until it completely vanished across the boundless azure sea.
Allen watched Bellamy's crew leave.
The Donquixote Family's business spanned the globe, but their core strength was entirely concentrated in the New World.
Although Doflamingo didn't think highly of Bellamy, operating under the Donquixote Family's banner made it very convenient for Bellamy to navigate the black market networks in Paradise.
Before entering the New World, Bellamy would serve as a highly useful pawn for Allen, especially as a middleman to connect with other underground factions.
Retracting his thoughts, Allen took out the wooden box containing the Devil Fruit and glanced at it.
One of the three doses of Lunarian serum he had purchased from Vegapunk was prepared specifically for Nami.
However, if she ate this fruit, her own Lineage Factor would be altered. That would drastically increase the time needed to formulate the serum, or perhaps even render it completely unusable.
Furthermore, while transforming into the Teru Teru Bozu form would grant her the ability to fly, she would lose her limbs, practically stripping away all her close-combat capabilities.
The boost to her physical constitution was also quite mediocre. In exchange, she would gain the fatal weakness to Seastone.
Taking all these factors into consideration, Allen decided to use it to create a Devil Fruit weapon instead.
The true value of this Mythical Zoan lay in its unique abilities. Although doing this would waste the slight physical enhancements typical of Zoan types, this particular fruit didn't offer much of a physical boost anyway.
Besides, it wasn't as if Nami couldn't just eat a different fruit later.
As for the development of the fruit's powers, Allen knew that Shamrock of the Holy Knights wielded a sword that had eaten the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Cerberus, and it could enter an Awakened state upon transformation.
While he didn't know if Shamrock had trained it himself or if the Awakening was directly induced through scientific means, Vegapunk likely knew how to achieve it.
Factoring in the use of the serum as well, Allen ultimately concluded that turning the fruit into a weapon was the best course of action.
As for the other two doses of serum...
*Poof!*
Just as he was thinking, a shadow suddenly loomed over him from the side.
Allen snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. Bartholomew Kuma had appeared out of thin air, carrying a briefcase.
"So you're the contact person Vegapunk mentioned."
"I have brought the items: three Ancient Zoan fruits and a laser weapon."
Kuma expressionlessly presented the briefcase. He opened it to reveal the three fruits resting inside, along with a sword hilt that resembled a flashlight. He spoke in a flat tone,
"Are the blood samples and the money ready?"
"Of course. Though I don't have that much in cash, so I'll cut off a chunk of gold for you to take back."
Allen gestured toward the massive gold pillar on the ship.
Kuma glanced at it and nodded at him. "Acceptable."
...
A moment later, Allen brought Kuma aboard the ship. He retrieved several test tubes of prepared blood samples from the infirmary, along with seven billion Berries in cash.
Then, he went out to the deck and sliced off a chunk from the gold pillar, taking about a fifth of its total mass.
Kuma lifted the massive chunk of gold barehanded to weigh it. After confirming the value was sufficient, he took off his glove and casually swatted it. Using his Devil Fruit ability, he instantly sent the severed gold flying away.
Having completed the agreed-upon transaction, Allen handed over the Teru Teru Bozu Fruit, requesting that Vegapunk forge it into a weapon and send it back.
With this, he only had two transaction opportunities remaining.
After collecting the items, Kuma didn't linger. He activated his ability and instantly vanished from the deck.
Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giant Horned Rhino.
Bug-Bug Fruit, Model: Ancient Centipede.
Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Terror Bird.
Allen carefully stored the three fruits Kuma had brought inside multiple layers of nested safes. He then leaped back onto the shore, his gaze fixed deep into the forest.
There was still the Prehistoric Devil Flower Mantis fruit...
To think the item was snatched right from under his nose. *That damn bug. I'm definitely going to catch it, roast it, and use it for fish bait!*
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