The Nika Fruit

Cursing, Saint Shepherd Sommers rose to his feet. The gash across his chest had closed, and his left arm was rapidly regenerating. With his right hand, he drew the rapier with a thorn-covered guard from his waist, strode toward Ruidio, and swung.

Ruidio raised both swords to block, but the instant the blades met, he knew something was wrong.

Bang!!!!!

Ruidio felt as if his swords had collided head-on with a speeding train. Malevolent Shrine snapped on the spot, and an unimaginably immense force sent him hurtling backward!

Bang!

The mist of blood and fragments of metal still hung in the air as he smashed through the railing and flew off the deck like a meteor. He shot backward over the black sea, the slave ship shrinking visibly in the distance.

After flying roughly five kilometers over the sea, Ruidio felt himself starting to fall toward the water. Only then did he open the system interface.

[You have chosen to return]

What the fuck was that monstrous strength?

The scenery blurred before Ruidio's eyes. The moment he returned to the peaceful Mount Colubo in the East Blue, his momentum sent him tumbling backward. Lying on the ground, he couldn't help laughing.

Until now, it had always been Nami and the others who were shocked by his brute strength.

But compared to the terrifying force behind Sommers's strike, he was like... I've become Nami!

Did that incredible brute strength come from Imu's contract?

"Are you hurt?" Ace's face appeared in Ruidio's field of vision, interrupting his thoughts.

Only then did Ruidio notice the searing pain in both arms, as if his muscles had been torn apart. The rest of his body felt much the same. He opened his mouth to speak, but a mouthful of blood came up first.

"I'm fine. I'm actually doing all right..." Ruidio slowly sat up, his arms trembling uncontrollably. He tried to wipe his mouth, but blood kept pouring out.

With a clatter, his numb, aching hands could no longer hold the swords. The broken Malevolent Shrine and the still largely intact Demon Subduer fell to one side, striking each other.

Chapter 53: The Nika Fruit

[Cover serial: Executive Vice President Miss All Sunday 3: "Intelligence"]

[This was the intelligence King Cobra had gathered over the past month that might have been related to the Revolutionary Army. Most of it concerned regional rebellions across the East Blue, South Blue, West Blue, and North Blue, and news of aid from the Revolutionary Army.]

Mount Colubo, the next day—

"Ace, he's hurt really badly! You hit him way too hard, didn't you?!"

"It wasn't me! He's about as strong as I am. If I could do this to him, he might've already beaten me to death! Besides, he came looking for a fight in the first place. So what if I did hit him?!"

"No, he didn't! He's my friend! He's a good guy!"

"He never even agreed! Stop deciding things for yourself!"

"Didn't he ask you to call on him for help yesterday? Hee-hee, Ace, why don't you just ask him to join us? It'd be fun for sure!"

"..."

"Whoa, what a cool sword! Ace, did he have swords with him yesterday?"

"That guy comes and goes out of nowhere. How would I know? I don't think he did!"

"Ah, this sword's broken. This one's so weird! It looks like iron, but also like stone. Ah... I'm all weak again... It's made of that incredible... Sea Dragon Stone..."

"It's Seastone. Luffy, give it to me."

In his sleep, Ruidio heard their voices back and forth through a haze.

He opened his eyes in annoyance and instinctively sat up. A dull, tearing pain immediately spread through his body and arms, and the rusty smell of blood filled his nose and mouth.

Just as I thought...

With Zoro's beastlike body, no matter how much he abused himself in the gravity chamber, a good meal, some good liquor, and a long, sound sleep were enough to get him mostly recovered.

Ruidio, however, couldn't do the same. The damage from overtraining used to linger for several extra days.

This time, Sommers's strike had injured him internally and shaken him so hard that it felt as if every muscle in his body had torn. As expected, a single night's sleep was nowhere near enough to heal him.

...Could it be because I didn't wrap myself in supreme-grade bandages?

"This is yours, right?" Ace tossed Ruidio the Seastone Great Grade Sword, Demon Subduer.

Ruidio beckoned to Luffy as well, and Luffy handed him the broken Great Grade Sword, Malevolent Shrine.

As soon as Malevolent Shrine reached his hand, it vanished into thin air, tossed into the system's Three-in-One module.

A blink later, a brand-new, intact Malevolent Shrine returned to Ruidio's hand.

[Essence remaining: 260009]

Repairing that Great Grade Sword had cost Ruidio over three thousand Essence!

Empress, oh Empress, if this mission doesn't drop something good, you'll have done me wrong.

Ace stared, his mouth hanging open. "..."

"That's amazing!!" Luffy's eyes lit up. "Can you use ninjutsu?!" He clapped his hands and slapped his feet in excitement. "Do it again, do it again!!!"

Ruidio tossed Demon Subduer into Three-in-One as well. The sword was made of Seastone, after all, and was harder, so it hadn't suffered much damage. Still, he spent a few Essence to clean the blood remaining on its blade.

[Essence remaining: 260007]

[Essence remaining: 260000]

Ruidio simply took out the remaining single-digit amount and used it to produce a feast even more lavish and nutritionally balanced than last night's all-meat banquet, one that would help his body recover.

He watched the other sword disappear into thin air and reappear, then watched steaming food spring up and pile into mountains wherever Ruidio pointed his finger...

Ace was dumbfounded.

Luffy had already started eating.

"Don't just stand there. I'm not charging you for the food."

Ruidio patted the dazed Ace, then went over and sat on the ground to wolf down the food himself.

"It's so good! Boo-hoo-hoo... Nom, nom..."

Luffy fell on the food like a wolf among sheep. His rubber mouth was stuffed so full that it stretched to four or five times the size of his head. The food was so delicious that tears streamed uncontrollably down his face. Lost in the bliss of flavors that seemed to blow the top of his head off, he didn't stop eating for a moment.

Ace was also tearing through plate after plate, but he couldn't help staring at Ruidio. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer. "You're a Devil Fruit User too, right? You seem to know a lot about this stuff, including Luffy's fruit. What power do you have?"

"..."

As if sucking on an ice pop, Ruidio stripped a whole steamed fish of indeterminate species clean in one mouthful, leaving only its spine. There wasn't a single small bone in the tender, flavorful flesh.

He considered Ace's question, then used the fish spine to draw on the ground.

Ace stuffed a huge clump of creamy shrimp pasta into his mouth, watching what Ruidio drew as he ate.

The top row contained three large categories: "Logia," "Paramecia," and "Zoan." Beneath Paramecia and Zoan, three branches extended from each...

Ruidio explained, "Devil Fruits are broadly divided into three types: Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan. There's not much to say about Logias. They're elements found in the natural environment, such as fire, magma, and light. People who eat these Devil Fruits can turn their bodies into the corresponding element and become immune to all physical attacks.

"Paramecias can be roughly divided into three subtypes: 'superhuman body,' 'superhuman substance,' and 'superhuman ability.'

"In the superhuman body category, for example, the Chop-Chop Fruit lets its user split their body at will and become immune to slashing attacks. The Glitter-Glitter Fruit lets its user turn their body into diamond, with unmatched hardness.

"In the superhuman substance category, there's the String-String Fruit, which can create strings and control puppets, and the Wax-Wax Fruit, which can create wax.

"In the superhuman ability category, the Clone-Clone Fruit lets its user take on the appearance of anyone else, and the Time-Time Fruit can send people into the future...

"But combined abilities that mix two of these three Paramecia subtypes often appear.

"Zoans also have three types: 'ordinary,' 'Ancient,' and 'Mythical.'

"Take three fruits from the Dog-Dog Fruit category as examples. The jackal model is an ordinary Dog-Dog Fruit, the wolf model is an Ancient Zoan, and Okuchi no Makami, which exists only in myths and legends, is a Mythical Zoan."

"So that's how it works..." Ace nodded thoughtfully as he gnawed on some meat.

Ruidio smiled faintly. "The Human-Human Fruit is another example. An ordinary Human-Human Fruit would only turn its user into an ordinary person who can't swim, while an Ancient Zoan would let its user turn into a type of extinct primitive human.

"As for a Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruit... like the Nika model your little brother Luffy ate, it possesses incredible powers of fantasy."

He put a hand on Luffy's shoulder and squeezed.

"Oh, I see—huh?!"

Ace had been nodding along, but suddenly caught on. "Didn't Luffy eat the Gum-Gum Fruit?" he asked, puzzled. "Going by what you wrote, shouldn't it be a superhuman body type under Paramecia?"

"Oh?"

Luffy's stuffed mouth hadn't deflated once. He looked over blankly.

[Name: Monkey D. Luffy]

[Overall strength: ★★]

[Mastered: Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika (proficient), rubber hand-to-hand combat (beginner), running (proficient)]

Ruidio glanced at the information the system had read. The Sun God's a little underwhelming.

He let go and smiled. "The power of the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika just happens to turn the body into rubber, letting it stretch and contract freely. But Luffy happens to be human, so at first glance, it looks as though he ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. That's all."

Luffy asked blankly, "But Shanks and the others said I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit?"

"Shanks was wrong."

"Is that so?" Luffy was a little surprised. "Oh well, it's all the same!" He went right back to stuffing himself without a care. Spending even one more second distracted would have been disrespectful to all this food!

Amused, Ace said, "Its power just turns the body into rubber. Does that count as a power of fantasy?"

Ruidio said, "That's why this fruit needs to awaken before it can reveal its true form. Even Pirate King Roger eagerly anticipated the power unleashed by that form."

"..."

Ace fell silent and looked up, gazing at Ruidio. "You really do know a lot about him."

"What I know even better is..."

Ruidio put both swords into his system inventory and pushed himself to his feet, bracing his hands on his knees. "Ace, as long as you're Pirate King Roger's son, the Marines will want to capture you, and ordinary people will hate you to the bone. You want to live freely? Wait until you've surpassed Roger before you dare hope for that!"

"At least, as far as I know, there are plenty of powerful people on those seas who can surpass the power of this attack of mine!"

As Ruidio spoke, his hair quietly turned white, and a gemlike blue radiance flickered in his eyes, reflecting the shocked and astonished expressions on Ace's and Luffy's faces.

"Hiss..."

Hot steam poured from Ruidio's body.

Normally, his injuries would have taken several more days of rest to heal... but as soon as he activated Satoru Gojo Mode, the positive energy of Reverse Cursed Technique swept through his body, and everything was better. His torn muscles healed and regenerated, and his internal injuries were mended.

[Satoru Gojo Mode remaining: 58 seconds]

With a rustle, the food scraps on the ground, along with the broken trunks and branches and the shattered rocky earth scattered by yesterday's fight, floated up, drawn by an invisible force of attraction.

Elsewhere, an invisible repulsive force flattened the pile of food in front of Luffy...

A dark blue sphere of attraction, Blue, and a dark red sphere of repulsion, Red, rapidly converged and merged in front of Ruidio's outstretched palm, then erupted with terrifying energy.

Ruidio flicked a finger.

"Boom—!!!"