The smoke-filled Iron Country fortress was finally a smudge on the horizon.
With Sabo and Jeno leading the way, the Eclipse Pirates hauled their heavy spoils through the ravaged streets to the outer port. Docked there was a massive three-masted armed transport ship—a prize claimed from the fallen Warlords.
BANG!
Jeno slammed a multi-ton slab of Starfall Black Steel onto the transport's wide deck, the impact rocking the entire vessel. Buggy and Carina, chests heaving, tossed overstuffed sacks of gold and the intercepted Devil Fruits into the hold.
"Load capacity is green. Draft is stable," Jeno shouted, expertly hot-wiring the cockpit's ignition.
They waited for Ace to bring the Eclipse around. Once the smaller schooner was secured to the transport's stern with heavy towing chains, Sabo took the helm. Caught in a favorable tailwind, the two ships cut through the waves, leaving the war-torn sovereignty behind.
Two Days Later: An Unnamed Primitive Island.
Far from the bustling trade routes of the Grand Line, this island was a cathedral of emerald greenery and jagged cliffs. Tens of thousands of giant seabirds nested in the heights, their cacophonous chirping creating a vibrant, noisy atmosphere.
The transport ship and the Eclipse sat side-by-side in a secluded, turquoise bay.
The moment they dropped anchor, Jeno vanished into the Eclipse's hold with his Starfall steel and a portable forge. Soon, the screech of metal saws and the blinding glare of welding sparks echoed from the hull. The fanatical mechanic had begun the "Great Upgrade."
Leona disappeared into the jungle; for her, hunting apex predators was the only way to work out the stiffness from the previous battle.
Meanwhile, on the soft white sands of the beach, Carina emptied the backpacks. A mountain of gold coins and jewels shimmered under the tropical sun. She sat in the middle of the hoard, clutching a battered book they'd liberated from the fortress: the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia (Incomplete).
Beside her sat an exquisite wooden box containing two fruits: the Bari Bari no Mi (Barrier-Barrier Fruit) and the mysterious grayish-purple fruit from the Warlord's vault.
The unknown fruit was strange—its skin wasn't covered in the usual swirls, but in jagged, radial lines resembling water ripples or lightning strikes. Carina flipped through the pages, her brow furrowed.
"Nothing. This book is missing half its entries. I can't find a single record of this ripple-patterned fruit." She closed the book with a sigh, looking at Ace.
Ace was perched on a nearby reef, eyes closed, letting the salt spray mist his face. Hearing her, he hopped down, his shadow stretching across the gold.
"If the book doesn't know, we'll ask the fruit itself."
Ace stood before the grayish-purple fruit. He didn't reach for the book. Instead, he closed his eyes and released his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) to its absolute limit.
As he focused, the roar of the surf and the screams of the birds faded. His consciousness sank into that profound, ancient frequency: The Voice of All Things.
To most, a Devil Fruit was an object. To Ace, it emitted a faint, unique pulse of life—a signature of the "Devil" residing within. After a long silence, Ace opened his eyes.
"There is no aura of destruction here," Ace said, looking at Carina. "No wild, bestial heat like a Zoan. The fluctuations are... strange. They feel like invisible threads. It's trying to radiate outward, seeking a 'connection'."
"A connection? Ripples?" Sabo asked, leaning against a palm tree. "Doesn't sound like a combat fruit."
"It isn't," Ace confirmed, his gaze turning serious. "Carina, if you eat this, it won't give you the power to level a building. It's an auxiliary ability—focused on perception, communication, or the mental realm."
He paused, giving her space. "You are our Treasurer and Intelligence Chief. I promised to protect you, but on this sea, your own strength is the only true currency. The information I have is vague. The choice is yours."
Carina looked at the strange fruit, then at her crew.
She saw Ace—the man who had just shattered a Marine Legend. She saw Sabo—the Fire Fist who danced through armies. She saw Leona and Jeno—monsters of steel and instinct. Even Buggy, for all his cowardice, was a "Split-Man" with chaotic utility.
Every person on the Eclipse was a freak of nature. And she? No matter how good her aim, she was just a girl with a gun. In the New World, "just a girl" was a liability.
"I don't need the power to destroy the world," Carina said, a spark of purple fire igniting in her eyes. "This crew already has enough monsters for that. But a team that wants to flip the world upside down needs eyes and ears. I want to be those eyes."
She grabbed the fruit. No hesitation. She took a massive, defiant bite.
"Ugh... blech!"
The legendary foulness of the fruit hit her like a physical blow. Her face twisted into a knot of disgust, but she pinched her nose and forced the pulp down her throat.
The moment she swallowed, Carina's body stiffened. A ripple of translucent light flashed through her violet pupils.
In her mind, the world transformed. The chaotic noise of the seabirds suddenly resolved into distinct "frequency bands." She could feel the faint bio-electric hum of Jeno's muscles in the ship's hold and the rhythmic "pings" of her crew's heartbeats.
"How is it?" Sabo asked, concerned.
Carina kept her eyes closed for a long time. When she finally opened them, a look of pure ecstasy swept across her face.
"Captain... I won the bet."
She stood up, her words coming in a rapid-fire burst. "Paramecia-type: The Tsushin Tsushin no Mi (Communication-Communication Fruit)! My brain is now a walking super-processor! I can harvest information like Observation Haki, but better..."
"As long as I establish a 'Frequency Contract' with you, it doesn't matter how far apart we are. Different islands, different seas—it's real-time, zero-delay mental communication. I can start a 'group chat' in our heads! And if you allow it, I can even see through your eyes."
She picked up a gold coin from the pile. A faint spark jumped from her finger to the metal.
"I can imbue this frequency into objects. Every coin I scatter, every trinket I 'lose'... they become miniature wiretaps and trackers. The world is about to become very loud."
Sabo's jaw dropped. As a man who understood the value of a single scrap of intel, he realized the terrifying strategic weight of this power. This wasn't just a fruit; it was a global surveillance network that defied the physics of the Grand Line.
Ace looked at his Intelligence Chief, a wild, triumphant laugh tearing from his throat.
"Hahahaha!"
He looked at the thousands of birds in the sky, then back at Carina. The final piece of the Eclipse puzzle—absolute information—had fallen into place.
"Well done, Carina," Ace said, his eyes burning with confidence. "With this net, there isn't a secret on this ocean that can hide from us!"
30+ chapters are available now and daily updates! @patreon.com/Authorzero