Celestial Dragon Shirou wore a conflicted expression. This was not merely an invitation to look around—it was also a test of whether he was willing to share his wealth.
Still, although they were all Shirou and could share memories and abilities, they were basically the same person.
But in the end, if they stayed apart for a while and never shared memories, they were no different from two separate people.
If he did not share his possessions, he would have to find another storage space in the future, such as having a pet eat the Castle-Castle Fruit.
But the moment he shook hands with another version of himself, such stingy thoughts would be exposed.
Besides, if he did not share his possessions, the others would surely think the same way...
After a long while, Celestial Dragon Shirou nodded lightly and said with a solemn expression:
"Fine. From now on, this space will serve as the treasure vault for all of us Shirous. Every Shirou must place his possessions here. What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine."
Although Shirou had already known he would make that decision, a hint of surprise still appeared on his face.
At that moment, he could already foresee what a spectacular sight this place would become in the future.
"Ooh... Boss, that's generous. But your treasure stash is a little small. Can you collect more Devil Fruits?"
"A person can only eat one Devil Fruit. What would I collect so many Devil Fruits for?"
The moment Celestial Dragon Shirou finished speaking, he suddenly realized something and looked startled.
"Don't tell me you want to eat a Devil Fruit too?"
"That's right. You ate the Snow-Snow Fruit, but you shared its ability with me. Strictly speaking, I am not a Devil Fruit user."
"Can you really exploit a loophole like that? There's Seastone over there. Want to try it?"
"Yeah, let's try."
Young Shirou followed behind Celestial Dragon Shirou. After taking five or six steps through the white mist, he saw a pile of glittering gold.
Several exquisite wooden cabinets stood beside the gold. Inside them were Devil Fruits, Beli, Seastone, and other items.
As for the Famous Swords, they were placed on a weapon rack nearby.
Shirou opened a cabinet and placed his hand on a pair of Seastone handcuffs. His legs immediately went weak, and he nearly lost his balance before quickly letting go.
"Even shared abilities are restricted by Seastone? Doesn't that mean I'll become a landlubber too?"
"You should count yourself lucky." Celestial Dragon Shirou laughed irritably. "Without my Snow-Snow Fruit, once you went back, there was no way you could have dodged Ryunosuke Uryu's slash."
"That's true."
Shirou sighed softly.
Still, since he would also be restricted by Seastone, there was no need to risk eating another Devil Fruit.
After all, more versions of himself would definitely enter in the future. There was no need to obsess over Devil Fruit abilities with such obvious flaws.
"Why did you eat the Snow-Snow Fruit? I understand your reasoning, but isn't the Rumble-Rumble Fruit stronger? The strongest Logia-type is no joke."
Celestial Dragon Shirou smiled. They were the same person, after all. He naturally knew the other Shirou understood his thoughts; he was merely making conversation.
"If you saw the memories, you should remember. Before I ate a Devil Fruit as a child, I hesitated for a long time."
"But in the end, I still chose the Snow-Snow Fruit because it had tremendous potential for both vertical and lateral development."
At that moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly rang out.
The next second, Coachman Shirou came running over from the distance with a pair of boots in his arms.
"I knew you two would be here. Here, the Holy Relic you wanted."
Young Shirou stared at the riding boots in his arms for a while. Looking disgusted, he hesitantly accepted them.
"This is the Holy Relic you found? A pair of worn riding boots. Couldn't you find something else?"
"I wanted to steal Nero's sword, but I never got the chance." Coachman Shirou paused, then changed the subject. "What were you talking about? I think I heard something about Devil Fruits."
There Are So Many Chuunibyou These Days
Chapter 4, Section 4: There Are So Many Chuunibyou These Days
"We were talking about Devil Fruits... Forget it, let's just shake hands."
Celestial Dragon Shirou stopped halfway through. He suddenly realized that he had no reason to explain anything.
The three pairs of hands clasped together. The three sets of memories from their time apart flooded into all three minds at once.
After a long while, Celestial Dragon Shirou released their hands and continued:
"You already know what I think about sharing possessions. More big shots will definitely come in later. As the ones who came first, we have to set a good example for the other Shirous."
"Let's leave that aside. We don't know what kind of Shirou will come next, or when he will arrive. Before a big shot appears, the Snow-Snow Fruit is our greatest asset."
"I think the three of us should develop the Snow-Snow Fruit from different directions. That is the only way we can improve faster."
The other two naturally understood what he meant.
In the three years since he ate the Snow-Snow Fruit, Celestial Dragon Shirou had been pursuing vertical development, focusing on lowering temperatures in an attempt to develop the ability to freeze time.
But the Snow-Snow Fruit was ultimately not the Ice-Ice Fruit. Snow could be turned into ice, but it could not directly create ice.
At present, Celestial Dragon Shirou had developed the ability to freeze everything within a certain area.
But first, the temperature was not low enough. There was still a considerable gap between it and freezing time. At most, it could be called Freeze Thought, slowing the thoughts and movements of people within the affected area.
Second, turning snow into ice took ten seconds, making it difficult to use in actual combat.
With a ten-second delay, anyone could simply shake off the snow on their body and escape with ease.
"Understood!" Coachman Shirou pondered. "Other than feeding horses every day, I have nothing to do. I can use my spare time to develop the Snow-Snow Fruit."
"I'll focus on the conversion speed between snow and ice. Ten seconds is far too long to be useful in combat. If I can shorten it to one second, or even a tenth of a second, it will be no different from Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit."
Celestial Dragon Shirou nodded slightly and said in high spirits:
"I'll continue as before and focus on temperature. I won't set sail until I develop the ability to freeze time and space."
With the three of them working together, the speed at which they developed their Devil Fruit abilities would increase by at least twice.
That would shorten the time before they could set sail once again.
Seeing that both of them were looking at him, Young Shirou thought for a moment before saying:
"Then I'll focus on Shape Molding. Snow can be molded into snowmen, and ice can be molded into ice sculptures. The more intricate they are, the sturdier they become, but the harder they are to mold."
"Both ice and snow have great potential in that regard."
"Good, then it's settled." Celestial Dragon Shirou smiled. "It's getting late, so I should head back. Take anything here that you want."
"I'll take a piece of gold..."
Before he could finish, Coachman Shirou suddenly sighed and changed his mind.
"Forget it. Even the smallest piece of gold would be a fortune to me. If I really took it back, it would be hard to explain. If they thought I was a thief stealing from my employer, I'd be finished."
"I don't have anything I want to take either." Young Shirou nodded slightly.
"If that's the case, then... let's call it a day."
As he said that, Celestial Dragon Shirou suddenly paused and extended his right fist straight out.
"Don't die, you two!"
The two Shirous froze for a moment, then quickly understood. Smiling, they extended their fists and bumped them against his.
"Don't worry. We'll all keep living."
After leaving the space filled with white mist, time began flowing again.
The next instant, Ryunosuke Uryu's machete came slashing down.
Even though Shirou had prepared himself mentally, he still did not react in time.
Fortunately, Elementalization was an instinct of Logia-type Devil Fruit users. Even if he failed to react, it could still trigger passively.
Without seawater, Seastone, or Armament Haki, it was simply impossible to touch intangible snow.
The sharp machete came down on his head and split Shirou in two.
Like tofu, the snow was easily sliced apart without the slightest resistance.
That tofu-like sensation made Ryunosuke Uryu pause. Before he could react, a fist sent him flying.
As expected of me after three years of training in the Pirate World. Even though I never learned a single one of the Six Powers, I'm still ridiculously strong.
With physical abilities like these, even if he traded punches with Kirei Kotomine, he probably would not be at a disadvantage.
The thought flashed through Shirou's mind.
With the intention of pressing his advantage and finishing the enemy off, Shirou charged at Ryunosuke Uryu, who had been knocked into the house. He pressed a hand against his neck, and with a thought, snowflakes filled the sky from thin air, wrapping around his entire body.
Buried beneath the snow, Ryunosuke Uryu's consciousness gradually became hazy.
He wanted to resist, but Shirou's small hand was like steel, clamping tightly around his throat.
As time passed, Ryunosuke Uryu's consciousness grew increasingly blurred, until his life force gradually faded away.
Ten seconds later, the snowflakes had vanished, leaving behind only a lifelike human-shaped ice sculpture.
"I won."
Shirou let out a long breath and looked toward the family of three tied up nearby. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a pain on the back of his hand.
Looking down, he saw a strange pattern had appeared on the back of his left hand.
"A Command Seal. It really appeared!"
Ryunosuke Uryu had only been chosen to participate in the Holy Grail War because they could not find enough people to fill the spots.
Now that there was a more suitable candidate like himself, the Command Seal had naturally come to him on its own.
Next, he would naturally summon a Servant.
Of course, this was definitely not the place for it.
Shirou stepped around the ice sculpture on the ground and quickly ran over to the family of three, untying them one by one.
"You weren't hurt, were you? Looks like I made it in time."
"Y-you... who are you? How could you freeze someone into an ice pop?"
The husband and wife both looked terrified, unable to even look at Shirou's face.
Only the child, who was about Shirou's age, looked at him with admiration.
"This is the only way. Sorry."
Shirou extended the index finger of his right hand and activated Suggestion Magic.
The next moment, the family of three all wore dazed expressions.
A few seconds later, the three gradually regained their senses. They stared blankly at the human-shaped ice sculpture, as though Shirou standing right before them were completely invisible.
"I can't believe a Masked Hero came to save us..."
"That's wonderful, dear. So Masked Heroes really do exist. Son, let's go thank the Masked Hero together someday."
Even after Shirou left, the three of them continued saying similar things.
In their minds, the person who had saved them was a passing Masked Hero.
After walking out of the living room, Shirou looked back and smiled as he shook his head, complaining:
"What Masked Hero? I only made them come up with a reasonable explanation on their own. I never expected the whole family to think of a Masked Hero without even discussing it."
"There are so many chuunibyou these days."
Borrowing a magic circle
Chapter 5, Section 5: Borrowing a magic circle
So, next came the summoning of a Servant.
The crucial Command Seal was already in hand. As for the magic circle, that was easy enough—gem solution, mercury, or blood would all work.
"This is troublesome. I don't have a penny on me. Even if I wanted to exchange gold for money at a jewelry store, I'm a seven-year-old kid. They'd definitely assume I stole money from home and chase me out, wouldn't they?"
Before you continue