Burning Stamina!
What's that woman thinking?
Recalling yesterday's embarrassment, Vidal stood in his office inside the ship, covering his head and sighing.
Nacil left him with a mess, and Enid's constant questioning made him miserable.
Finally, they had to resort to their ultimate weapon to finally end the conversation.
He said that Nacil's age is about the same as Vice Admiral Tsuru's.
These words were like a sharp blade, severing any lingering thoughts in Enid's mind.
I was planning to come over and give Nacil a piece of my mind, but when I walked into my office, I realized I had no reason to yell at her.
What are you cursing about?
To scold her for visiting his home? Wouldn't that be too disheartening for a subordinate?
[Knock knock knock]
"Come in." Vidal looked at Vincent with surprise as he walked in.
"Brigadier General Vidal, I've made up my mind!" Vincent said, his lips pursed in a very serious tone.
"Really? That's wonderful." Vidal's face lit up with a happy smile.
He was genuinely worried that the other party might get stuck in a rut and not be able to get out.
"Let's go, I'll go with you to get a fruit!"
"But," Vincent hesitated, "My military merits aren't enough to exchange for Devil Fruit, not even the most common Zoan."
"What's the big deal? Use mine first!" Vidal laughed heartily.
He had captured Bondi Byrnndi World on his own, and that military merit was enough to earn him four or five fruits.
Moreover, Vincent will be his direct superior officer from now on, so he can't be too weak!
If he could exchange a little military merit for Vincent's loyalty, he felt it was worth it, just like when he gave Rogers the shield and Comil's twin swords before; these were all considered early investments.
You have to give up something to gain something.
Vidal kept those words in mind.
He pulled Vincent down the warship and across the plaza. Along the way, Rogers and Comil joined them, and the four of them arrived together at the sixth level of the Justice Fortress.
They chatted casually on the way, and Vidal discovered that neither Rogers nor Comil had much interest in Devil Fruits.
The two people's accounts were largely the same.
Both believed in their shields and swords, and the two even agreed to spar more often in the future.
One for defense, one for offense—it certainly seems like a great combination.
The key point is that they have both Awakening Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
"Hey, isn't this the famous 'Horn of Justice'?"
The person in charge, whom I met with Zephyr last year, greeted me quickly with a broad smile.
"A warm welcome to our Devil Fruit Administration Office, Commodore!"
Vidal simply nodded in response. "I've come to select a fruit for my men."
"Okay, okay, this way please!" The person in charge smiled and quickly led the four to the sofa. "These two books on the table are picture books. Please take your time choosing. I'll wait here."
He never expected that the young man who was his classmate would become a general in just one year.
He's a powerful admiral who defeated a pirate with a bounty of 500 million, and there's no exaggeration in that!
Comil, Vincent, Rogers also noticed that Vidal didn't seem to like the person in charge very much.
So no one said much to him, and Vincent picked up the fruit encyclopedia with relevant records and started reading.
Based on his previous discussion with Vidal, Zoan should be the first choice for someone like him who relies on physical combat, with those that enhance speed and leg strength being the best.
"Why are there dogs, pigs, and sheep everywhere?"
"Don't you have leopards, horses, or anything like that?"
After flipping through the illustrated guide, Vincent found that while there were indeed quite a few Zoan Fruits, he wasn't very satisfied with any of them.
The key point is that he pays a lot of attention to his image; after all, he's quite handsome, so someone who's too ugly is out of the question.
"Vincent, can't you trust me just this once?"
At this moment, Vidal, who was sitting alone opposite, spoke up.
What he was holding was the unrecorded illustrated guide.
"I'll pick a few for you from these unknown illustrations."
Although he hadn't seen all the unknown fruits before, he still had some impression of most of the ones he had.
"Since I'm willing to let you earn military merit for me, it means I trust you completely!" Vincent said in a deep voice.
"Very well." Vidal was satisfied with his attitude, then looked at the person in charge standing to the side, "Please bring me the fruits on pages twenty-four and thirty-two for inspection."
"Okay, please wait a moment."
The person in charge quickly left and personally went to the warehouse to retrieve the Devil Fruit that Vidal had mentioned.
Then it was respectfully placed on the small table in front of the four people.
At Vidal's signal, Vincent opened the two wooden boxes one by one.
Immediately, two strange fruits, one green and one white, came into view.
"So this is Devil Fruit? It looks really weird." Comil was quite surprised.
Rogers nodded. "This is the first time I've seen it in person either."
Benson shook his head and smiled wryly; this was his first time being involved in the case either.
This Devil Fruit looks so unappetizing, it's almost too pretty to eat.
For Vidal, however, the dynamic images that appeared in his mind were more important than their appearance.
First of all, neither of them are Zoan.
The blue one conjured up an image of a rising, bluish-green flame; it was unclear whether it was fire or something else.
The white one is more interesting; it looks like a cloud or something similar, a white mist.
The reason I chose it was because Vidal strongly suspected that it was a Logia.
It exhibits the properties of a fluid!
If Smoker doesn't start out with a pre-existing skill like Sakazuki and the others...
That means it's very likely that you drew the Smoke-Smoke Fruit here!
If this isn't Smoke-Smoke Fruit, then what is it?
"It's a choice between two options. Now it's up to your fate to decide," Vidal said to Vincent with a smile.
Vincent nodded heavily, then took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
This is indeed something that will affect one's entire life.
He cannot afford to be careless!
Comil and Rogers did not urge him, but patiently waited for him to make a decision.
After an unknown amount of time, Vincent suddenly opened his eyes and quickly placed his right palm on the blue one.
"That's it!"
I love its color!
"Alright then." Vidal wasn't disappointed, even though the white one was truly Logia.
"Deduct it from my military merits." He took out his officer's ID card from the inside pocket of his coat.
"Okay, please wait a moment!" The person in charge took the officer's certificate with both hands and walked quickly to the counter.
"So, how about we eat it now?" Comil asked.
"Okay then."
Vincent hesitated for a moment but still agreed, since he had to eat it sooner or later anyway.
Vidal didn't speak, he just watched.
He knew that from the moment Vincent chose the fruit, he would have gained a Vice Admiral as a subordinate.
By the time the officer's ID was returned, Vincent had already taken a bite of the green fruit.
"You only need to eat one Devil Fruit; the rest are useless and tasteless fruits," the person in charge habitually reminded them.
"Is that so? That's great!"
Vincent savored the rotten taste in his mouth and put the remaining fruit back in the box.
If he absolutely had to eat it all, he could certainly swallow it all with sheer willpower; but if it wasn't necessary, then so be it.
"Feel the changes in your body, and then guide that newly emerging instinct to come."
Vidal offered a quiet instruction.
A moment later, Vincent closed his eyes again, and a flame-like green aura rose from his body.
At the same time, the three who had already used their Observation Haki noticed that Vincent's aura was rising sharply.
Vincent opened his eyes, staring intently at the layer of green on his hand.
I think I've gotten stronger!
"Could you tell me roughly what kind of ability it is?" Vidal was naturally very curious as well.
"It's burning through my energy, transforming it into the purest form of power."
I'm also thinking about what to call this fruit. Ideally, it should be something in line with the Pirate King style.