The Twenty-Third Chapter: The Logia-Type Mercury Fruit! (Seeking Reads!)

Roa sized up the boy in front of him.

His first impression was, how tall is he?

He was the same age, yet the boy was almost one and a half times his height.

He wore tattered, ill-fitting military uniforms, his blond hair unwashed for a long time, matted with dried blood.

He stood ramrod straight, like a javelin. Despite numerous injuries, his spirit was full of vigor.

At the same moment, Bullet was also sizing up Roa.

He had seen many children in the army, but he had never seen a child like this.

Fair-skinned, cute, dressed impeccably, with an innocent smile.

"Sir?"

Bullet looked at his superior, Gray, in confusion, not understanding what the child in front of him meant.

What did he mean that he would be following him from now on?

"Cough, cough."

Douglas Gray, the captain of the boy soldier unit, wiped the sweat from his forehead, coughed, and glanced at Roa cautiously. Then, in front of Bullet, he puffed out his chest again. "Bullet, I saw your performance! It was outstanding! Therefore, I've decided to award you this year's medal!"

"Really?"

The young Bullet's eyes lit up instantly. His gaunt face was now completely covered in surprise, and his voice became stammered. "Sir, c-can I really have it?"

"Of course! Bullet! Stand tall! You are the soldier I am most proud of!"

Bullet instinctively straightened his chest and lifted his head. Gray stepped forward and hung a medal on Bullet's chest.

The craftsmanship of this medal was hardly exquisite; it was on par with a child's toy.

But Bullet was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.

The young general, who was unrivaled on the battlefield and few could stand against him, now showed his childlike side. He wanted to reach out and touch it, but he was afraid his dirty hands would soil the medal. He just sniffled and stared down at it intently.

Just in time.

Roa looked at the boy's incredibly moved expression and his smile widened.

Bullet had become insane after experiencing three major setbacks.

The first was when he was eight years old and about to receive the medal he had always dreamed of. A comrade betrayed him, not only stealing the medal but also trying to kill him.

The second was when he was fourteen. Gray promised him that if he destroyed the enemy country, he would be granted freedom. But after Bullet destroyed the enemy forces, Gray betrayed him.

The third time was on Roger's ship. After finally being touched by the Pirate Succubus and gradually adapting to life with companions, Roger fell ill, making Bullet see no possibility of defeating him.

After Roger's death, Bullet finally fell into complete madness.

Sigh, Roger, you scoundrel! You're a femme fatale! Repent!

However, before these setbacks, Bullet was indeed a model soldier.

"Bullet!"

Gray suddenly shouted sternly.

"Yes, sir!"

Bullet instinctively stood at attention.

"Since you have received your medal, I am entrusting you with a mission that only you can carry out!"

Gray's voice was solemn.

But inwardly, he sighed uncontrollably.

He knew better than anyone that his boy soldier unit had gained fame entirely thanks to Bullet, a natural monster.

"Yes!"

Bullet showed no hesitation, his face filled with pride.

"Listen carefully, Bullet,"

Gray pointed at Roa. "From today onwards, you are this Lord Roa's bodyguard! You must obey his orders absolutely! You are to ignore all other orders, including mine! You will defend his safety with your life!"

Bullet's eyes held confusion, but the education he had received since childhood was to obey orders, so...

"Yes!"

The boy spoke clearly and without hesitation.

"Very good."

Gray feigned satisfaction and nodded. He then cautiously looked at Roa. "Lord Roa, what do you think..."

After all, why would remnants of the Rocks Pirates visit this godforsaken country!

When this boy was brought here by his superior, Gray almost died of fright.

Although he was a child, he was also a cadre of the Rocks Pirates, someone he couldn't afford to offend.

He could only obediently hand Bullet over to him.

"Bullet."

Roa smiled, raising his hand and pointing at Gray. "Hit him with everything you've got."

Bullet hesitated, his gaze involuntarily shifting to Gray.

While he would obey the order, this kind of command...

The moment Gray saw Bullet looking at him, cold sweat broke out. "Bullet! Have you forgotten my teachings? Obey orders!"

Bullet nodded heavily, then took a step forward, swinging his right fist back. As he twisted his waist, he suddenly threw his punch.

The seven-year-old boy's punch landed heavily on Gray's stomach.

Gray was instantly bent over like a shrimp, his eyes bulging, blood spraying from his mouth as he was sent flying like a cannonball.

Brat!

Go easy on me a little!

"Very good, very spirited!"

Roa was finally satisfied.

Now that's a good kid.

Dylan, who had been quietly following behind Roa, looked at Bullet with some surprise.

Such strength wasn't that of an ordinary child.

Like Lord Roa, he was a uniquely gifted existence!

As expected of Lord Roa, to find such a rough gem in such a backwater place.

"From now on, just like you did just now, you only need to follow my orders."

Roa jumped up and patted Bullet's shoulder.

There are too many tall people in this world!

"Yes, Lord Roa!"

Bullet no longer had any hesitation.

Just like in the past, he didn't need to think too much; he just needed to obey orders!

However, from now on, he would obey Lord Roa's orders!

"Good boy, as a reward,"

Roa reached into his pocket, rummaged around, and handed Bullet a Devil Fruit he had snatched from God Valley. "Eat this."

Although I don't know the specific abilities of this fruit, it must be much better than the Combination Fruit.

The awakened Combination Fruit does look intimidating, but upon closer thought, it has too many limitations.

First, it's too reliant on external factors. In the original story, Bullet only reached the scale of a large Bullet after absorbing the fleets of the Buster Call and the cities of an island. It's impossible under normal circumstances.

Second, if the combination material is destroyed, the user themselves will also be harmed. That's ridiculous; it's not even as good as Pica's Stone-Stone Fruit.

Third, if not for Bullet's Haki, the monster created by the combination would be quite fragile, easily destroyed by Usopp's plants.

In the end, the strong one is Bullet, rated 13.0, while the Combination Fruit is purely a lucky tag-along.

So, I'll give him a different fruit.

"Yes!"

Bullet didn't hesitate at all. He opened his mouth and swallowed the fruit, which was slightly larger than his fist.

Devil Fruits were naturally difficult to eat, but the young soldier's face showed no change. He had eaten far more unpleasant things than this.

"Do you feel anything?"

Roa asked curiously.

How could I not be curious? A fruit that can be placed alongside the Azure Dragon Fruit and the Paw-Paw Fruit, what kind of ability could it be?

"Report! Nothing--"

Bullet, who was in the middle of reporting, suddenly his eyes sharpened. "I feel something!"

Almost instinctively, the latent ability within his body was triggered.

Roa watched as Bullet's body faded, instantly turning into a silver humanoid.

His body was composed of a liquid that shimmered with silver light, dripping in large amounts onto the ground, turning into silver beads.

"Careful! Lord Roa!"

Dylan instantly blocked in front of Roa, shielding him with his body. "This appearance... it must be mercury!"

"Huh? Mercury? A Logia type?"

Roa sighed in disappointment.

Before the Haki update, Logia types were indeed invincible.

But after the version update, Mythical Zoans are the dominant class.

Moreover, this mercury stuff is completely outclassed by those top-tier Logia types.

"It seems... it can change again."

Bullet said.

His silver body shifted once more, the liquid evaporating and turning into a hazy gas.

"So hot!"

Roa felt the heatwave coming at him, and he was quite surprised. "A second elemental transformation? It turned into mercury vapor?"

Mercury vapor's temperature is astonishingly high.

And this stuff is also highly poisonous!

This is getting interesting.

Liquid mercury's density is 1.7 times that of iron; that alone is enough to complement his physical abilities, allowing him to be on par with Katakuri. Imagine a mercury giant fist tens of meters wide and weighing 100,000 tons, combined with Bullet's strength and Haki – aren't you scared?

And gaseous mercury is even more intriguing. With temperatures comparable to the Mera Mera no Mi and its poisonous properties, it's a significantly superior ability to the Gasu Gasu no Mi.

Smoker, why don't you just not eat the Gasu Gasu no Mi? It's completely a side effect.

Wait, poisonous?

"Bullet, change back quickly."

Roa urged him.

He didn't care; he could recover by absorbing some black energy.

But Dylan is an ordinary person.

"Yes!"

Bullet immediately returned to his original form.

Roa admired the kid even more.

When King Luffy had just become a rubber man, he could barely control his abilities.

"Do you like it?"

Roa asked with a smile.

"Reporting, Lord Roa! I like it very much!"

Bullet was indeed beaming.

He didn't know what a Devil Fruit was, but he knew he now possessed a very powerful ability!

"Then, do you want to try out your abilities?"