Dark-Dark Fruit!

Gigue and the others had not run far when, behind them, a clash of top-tier Haki and Devil Fruit abilities erupted in an instant, the thunderous booms unceasing.

God Valley had now completely become a battlefield for "gods." Ivan could not help looking back, only to see countless boulders rise into the sky before raining down below.

Gigue noticed it as well. He tugged at the dumbstruck Ivan and said,

"That's the Float-Float Fruit's power. Run! It'll be trouble if we get caught in it!"

Ivan came back to his senses, swallowed hard, and sighed.

"Devil Fruit powers are actually this terrifying? If we ate one, could we reach that level too?"

Gigue narrowed his eyes and replied firmly,

"We can. At the very least, those Devil Fruits the Celestial Dragons put up as prizes won't be any worse than that Float-Float Fruit!"

With that, he continued leading them toward the lavish house where the suited man had been earlier.

By now, Saint Saturn had summoned every one of the Celestial Dragons' lackeys in town to join the battle. No one was paying attention to people like them anymore. They absolutely had to seize this chance.

When they returned to the spot, the house had already become a pile of rubble. Without a moment's hesitation, Gigue rushed atop the ruins and used his bare hands to shove aside the broken stones. Seeing what he did, Ivan and the other three followed suit.

No one dared slack off at a time like this. A single aftershock from those monsters' battle could take their lives at any moment.

Rocks and the others' battle whipped up a fierce gale. Atop the ruins, Gigue's robe snapped loudly in the wind, his small body swaying as though it might be swept away.

Gigue gritted his teeth and kept digging with all his strength, muttering,

"Devil Fruit... if you really choose your owner, then choose me! Let's climb to the peak of this world together!"

His fingernails had nearly worn away. Bright red blood seeped from his fingertips, dripping onto the shattered stones and roof tiles below, gathering into a crimson trail that slowly flowed into a crack.

Gigue raised an arm and wiped his blurred eyes, then instinctively began digging in the direction the blood trail had flowed.

After a full day of fleeing, Gigue's body was already at its limit. He struggled to move aside a stone, staggered, and nearly fell over.

Just then, a faint golden gleam flashed from beneath the stone. Gigue hurriedly focused his eyes and discovered a wooden chest, with only one gold-plated corner exposed.

Gigue felt the blood rush through his entire body. Forcing himself to remain calm, he dug out the wooden chest with trembling hands.

Fortunately, the chest was not locked. They had probably wanted some weak Celestial Dragon to be able to open it easily after receiving it. Even the weakened Gigue could open it without effort.

At that moment, the chest was Gigue's Pandora's box. Holding his breath, he flung open the lid. Inside lay a strange, entirely purple fruit shaped like a pineapple.

At the sight of the fruit, Gigue's eyes widened as thunder flashed through his mind.

"This... this is the Dark-Dark Fruit!?"

The Dark-Dark Fruit's appearance had appeared in the manga before. As the fruit Blackbeard had waited over twenty years for, its appearance was deeply etched into Gigue's memory.

The appearance of this fruit far exceeded Gigue's expectations. It was an enormous surprise!

The Dark-Dark Fruit was unquestionably a top-tier Devil Fruit. Though it could not transform its user into an element like other Logias, elemental transformation became practically useless later on. Other than bullying fodder, it had little value.

Aside from the few elements that inherently possessed powerful offensive properties, some Logias had simply become obsolete, complete jokes.

But the Dark-Dark Fruit was different. Leaving aside its broken ability to strip Ability Users of their powers, what Gigue valued most was the "natural disaster" it represented: a black hole that annihilated everything!

Less than three seconds after confirming that the fruit in his hand was the Dark-Dark Fruit, Gigue opened his mouth and bit into it.

The pale purple flesh and juice entered his mouth, flooding his mouth with an indescribable taste. His face immediately turned dark purple as he held it in, and before he could even swallow, his stomach was already churning violently.

Thankfully, one bite was all it took to gain a Devil Fruit's power. Otherwise, with Gigue's current "little mouth," who knew how much suffering he would have endured.

Casually tossing aside the fruit, now reduced to an ordinary one, Gigue stood still for a moment to recover. Then a strange sensation washed over him. He felt as if he had gained another "sense," like an extra limb that could move freely.

Gigue raised his right hand before his eyes and tried activating his ability. His hand instantly turned pitch-black, wisps of black smoke rising from it.

He stared blankly at his right hand, lost in thought. From this moment on, he was the master of the Dark-Dark Fruit, the controller of darkness!

"Gigue!"

Ivan's shout interrupted Gigue's thoughts. Turning around, he saw Ivan excitedly holding up a paw-shaped Devil Fruit and shouting,

"Look what I found! A Devil Fruit!"

Gigue's pupils shrank. From its appearance alone, the fruit in Ivan's hand was undoubtedly the Paw-Paw Fruit. Finding the Paw-Paw Fruit was certainly good news, but Ivan had always been impulsive. What he was doing now was far too conspicuous.

Ivan had meant well, really. He did not know Gigue had already eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit, and Gigue had previously shown an intense desire for Devil Fruits. So the moment Ivan found one, his first thought was to give it to Gigue.

Ivan's voice was simply too loud, and the words "Devil Fruit" were exceptionally sensitive. Whether it was Rocks' side or the World Government's side, whose hearing did not far surpass that of ordinary people?

The instant Ivan shouted "Devil Fruit," both sides in the midst of battle stopped in unspoken accord. Several dangerous gazes locked onto Ivan, who was holding the fruit aloft, freezing him in place.

Ivan was actually doing quite well. After all, several among them possessed Conqueror's Haki. The fact that he had not been knocked unconscious by their stares alone showed that his potential surpassed that of most ordinary people.

Saint Saturn recognized the Paw-Paw Fruit at a glance and immediately called for Garling to seize it. Yet Garling did not move at all. His attention was wholly focused on Gigue, not far from Ivan, and his expression was peculiar.

The Marines were more astonished that several children had appeared here. Garp curled his lip, thinking it must be another atrocity caused by the Celestial Dragons!

Rocks' side did not care about any of that. Before Rocks could say anything, Linlin charged forward, her target Ivan, frozen in place.

"Brat! Hand that Devil Fruit over to me!!!"