“That’s so strange!”
“This makes absolutely no sense!”
“The outer chest has clearly been rotting here for decades. Even the Berries inside have practically decomposed, yet this fruit is still completely intact?”
“And it’s all pink and weird-looking.”
“There’s no way this thing is normal, right?”
Nami muttered to herself.
Rook walked over and looked into the metal box.
Under the beam of Nami’s flashlight sat a fruit resembling an oversized peach.
Yet it possessed an unmistakably unnatural presence.
It was as though the passage of time couldn’t leave even the slightest mark upon it.
Moist.
Smooth.
Its outer skin was almost translucent, covered in a faint glossy sheen.
Beneath that skin, the pink flesh appeared to be covered in swirling patterns.
At the top was a grass-green stem.
Rook reached into the box and picked up the fruit.
Nami immediately directed the flashlight toward it.
Thoughtfulness appeared in Rook’s eyes.
Before long—
He found the relevant information buried in his memories.
The Slip-Slip Fruit.
In his previous life, Rook had learned quite a bit about the future events of this world through information he had seen online.
Some Devil Fruits with particularly distinctive abilities had even had detailed images and descriptions circulated online.
So although Rook had never seen this world’s actual Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he still had a fairly strong impression of this highly recognizable fruit.
If he remembered correctly, this Paramecia-type Devil Fruit had originally appeared somewhere around this region.
And later—
It would be eaten by an ugly, enormously overweight female pirate who weighed well over three hundred pounds and whose base was somewhere nearby.
The fruit’s first ability was to make the user’s skin incomparably smooth.
It also allowed the user to freely reduce the friction acting upon their body—
All the way down to zero.
As a result, ordinary physical contact could simply slide away from them.
But that wasn’t all.
The fruit also provided the user with a one-time physical transformation.
The instant it was consumed, it would adjust the user’s body toward the most ideal version permitted by their underlying bone structure.
In other words—
Even an ugly, severely overweight woman could be transformed into the most beautiful form her natural physique could possibly achieve.
Among Devil Fruits, it could practically be considered a top-tier beauty product.
But more importantly—
It provided the user with an exceptionally optimized physical foundation.
Rook stared at the Devil Fruit in his hand.
His throat moved slightly.
He could almost feel an unnatural attraction radiating from it—
Like an invisible force urging him to take a bite.
His fingertips slowly rubbed across the fruit’s surface.
Rook narrowed his eyes.
In my opinion, compared to the ability to eliminate friction and avoid ordinary physical attacks…
The passive effect of transforming the body into its ideal state might actually be even more valuable.
A perfectly optimized physique should provide enormous benefits to someone who understands how to train.
When you’re weak, the ability to let physical attacks slide away gives you far greater room for error.
And when you’re strong, a near-perfect physical foundation could raise your ultimate potential.
On the surface, it looks like some useless “beauty fruit” with no powerful offensive ability.
But underneath that…
It could arguably be one of the best Devil Fruits in existence for supporting long-term growth.
Rook slowly exhaled.
If he didn’t possess his system—
This fruit would unquestionably rank near the top of his list of Devil Fruits worth eating.
Unfortunately—
There was no “if.”
For Rook, its value was considerably lower.
After all, Devil Fruit users generally became helpless when too much of their body was submerged in seawater.
That was a serious weakness.
Suddenly, however, another thought occurred to him.
Perhaps the Slip-Slip Fruit’s ability to make physical substances slide off the user’s body could eventually evolve far enough to affect seawater as well.
If a Paramecia awakening allowed the user to impose the fruit’s properties upon the surrounding environment—
Could the user make the seawater touching their body “slippery” and prevent it from properly contacting them?
But—
That was merely Rook’s own speculation about how the ability might develop.
There was no guarantee it would work.
Meanwhile—
Seeing Rook stare strangely at the fruit in his hand, Nami blinked.
“You know what this weird fruit is, don’t you?”
Rook looked toward her.
“What’s known as the legendary treasure of the sea?”
Nami froze.
Confusion appeared in her eyes.
But then—
She remembered the transformed man she had seen back aboard the Norton Pirates’ ship on Barbarian Island.
The Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
Her eyes suddenly widened.
Her expression filled with astonishment.
“This…”
“This is a Devil Fruit?!” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Rook looked at her meaningfully.
“I think so.”
“The kind of Devil Fruit where even the most ordinary one starts at around one hundred million Berries on the market.”
“The kind of treasure that gives you some bizarre supernatural ability after you eat it.”
“One hundred million?!”
“Treasure?!”
Nami’s breathing abruptly stopped.
Her bright eyes seemed to transform into shining Berry symbols.
For a moment, Rook almost felt as though he were literally staring at money signs instead of pupils.
He casually moved the Devil Fruit in his hand.
Up.
Down.
Left.
Right.
Forward.
Back.
Like teasing a cat with a toy.
Nami’s eyes followed it perfectly.
Kind of entertaining.
After quite a while, Nami finally tore her gaze away from the fruit.
Expectation filled her face.
“Hey, Rook…”
“Do you think this Devil Fruit could give someone a really powerful ability?”
“Devil Fruit abilities come in all kinds of strange forms.”
Rook examined the fruit.
“This one certainly doesn’t look ordinary.”
“So I’d say there’s a decent chance.”
“You want to eat it?”
He asked the question casually, his expression giving nothing away.
Nami immediately raised both hands and waved them frantically.
“No! No!”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“What I meant was…”
“If you ate it, is there a chance you’d suddenly become incredibly strong?”
“Strong enough to go kill Arlong and his crew right away?”
“You don’t want it?”
Rook asked again.
Nami’s expression became complicated.
She bit her lip and looked at him.
After hesitating for several seconds—
She honestly nodded.
“I do.”
“I desperately want power strong enough to change my life.”
Then she continued,
“But I know my own limits.”
“I’m far weaker than you.”
“Instead of me eating it and gambling everything on an uncertain future, it makes more sense for you to eat it.”
“If the gamble fails, we can still follow our original plan and slowly become stronger.”
“But if we win…”
“Then maybe we can gain our freedom ahead of schedule.”
Nami paused.
Her eyes became sincere.
“I’ve seen too many partners turn their weapons against one another when enough money or treasure is involved.”
“Everyone starts hiding their own intentions.”
“I won’t lie.”
“I want to eat this fruit.”
“But I don’t want something this tempting to create distrust between us.”
“We haven’t known each other very long…”
“But I can tell that you’ve genuinely treated me well.”
“So I’m willing to tell you exactly what I’m thinking.”
“I want you to understand something.”
“I love money.”
“But there are things in my heart that matter more than money.”
By now, Nami’s eyes had become completely clear.
“This Devil Fruit represents an uncertain future.”
“But when I look at you…”
“I can clearly see a real possibility of defeating Arlong.”
Rook smiled.
Not everyone could remain true to themselves when faced with enormous temptation.
For a girl who desperately desired freedom, power might be even more tempting than money.
Of course—
Perhaps part of Nami’s rationality also came from understanding that she was currently the weaker one between them.
Human nature was complicated.
Constantly changing.
Rook understood Nami’s personality to some degree because of his previous life’s knowledge.
But this was now a real world.
She wasn’t some two-dimensional character on a screen.
Everything Rook had known from his previous life could only serve as a reference.
The real person standing in front of him had to be understood with his own eyes and judged with his own heart.
He wouldn’t survive very long.
“Disgusting.”
The corner of Rook’s mouth lifted.
“You made that sound so touching that even I’m getting emotional.”
“How about a hug as a reward?”
He slowly spread his arms.
“GET LOST!”
Nami’s face immediately darkened.
Her mouth twitched violently.
“Why can’t you ever stay serious for more than a minute?!”
“Who wants your hug?”
“I’m warning you!”
“That’s harassment!”
Rook laughed and shook his head.
Then—
He extended the Slip-Slip Fruit toward her.
Nami froze.
Rook spoke calmly.
“I’m not eating it.”
“More accurately, I don’t want to gamble away my ability to swim for some ‘unknown’ power.”
“If you’re willing to accept becoming unable to swim…”
“Then you can eat it.”
“I trust your luck, Nami.”
“It shouldn’t be too terrible.”
“After all…”
“You’ve already survived the worst of your suffering.”
Nami stared blankly at the fruit being offered to her.
Her throat moved involuntarily.
Then she looked up at Rook.
Her voice trembled slightly.
“You’re really just…”
“Giving something this valuable to me?”
Rook smiled.
“My navigator is worth far more than a single Devil Fruit.”
Nami’s lips parted.
His words had clearly reached her ears.
Yet disbelief remained in her eyes.
Before meeting Rook—
One hundred million Berries had been the enormous mountain crushing her entire life.
And now—
A treasure worth at least one hundred million Berries was simply being held out in front of her.
If she wanted it…
All she had to do was lean forward and take one bite.
Seeing Nami frozen there, Rook lightly shook his hand.
She finally returned to her senses.
Nami pursed her lips.
“Can I really eat it?”
Rook nodded seriously.
“There are only two people here.”
“No third person.”
Nami took a deep breath.
“If you give it to me…”
“You won’t regret it later?”
“Regret won’t do much after you’ve eaten it.”
Rook grinned.
“What are you going to do, shit it back out?”
Nami’s eye twitched.
“Can you not be so disgusting?!”
“What?”
Rook looked at her innocently.
“You don’t shit?”
Nami’s eyes widened furiously.
Then she snatched the Slip-Slip Fruit from his hand.
She stared at it with expectation.
Just as she looked ready to bite—
“I’d suggest you don’t eat it yet.”
Nami’s expression changed.
She looked at him in confusion.
“Devil Fruits are strange things.”
Rook explained.
“I’ve heard some can cause unusual changes to the user’s appearance.”
“And I don’t ‘know’ exactly what ability this fruit contains.”
“I can’t guarantee it’ll immediately give you some overwhelming power.”
“So during the time we’re heading back to Cocoyasi Village…”
“You’d better hold off.”
“Someone as cunning as Arlong definitely knows about Devil Fruits.”
“If he learns you’ve suddenly become an ability user—or if he becomes wary of whatever power you’ve gained—there’s no telling what he might do.”
“We should wait until we’ve left Cocoyasi again.”
“Then you can eat it.”
“That way…”
“We’ll have much more time to prepare before we have to face him.”