Castle-Castle Fruit

Evidence?

Capone Bell froze for a moment and looked at the treasure in the safe, unable to react for a while.

"No, leaving the evidence here is too dangerous. It has to be secured."

Yaen said this solemnly, then casually found several briefcases in the room. He crouched in front of the safe and carefully transferred each piece of evidence into the briefcases, not forgetting to ask,

"Mr. Capone, would you mind if I conducted some evidence collection?"

In the Underworld, where the weak were preyed upon by the strong, Capone Bell naturally understood that, as the weaker party, he had no right to resist. He said submissively,

"You... do as you please..."

Yaen nodded, then said,

"Since that's the case, come and help me. Remember to be careful. These are all important pieces of evidence. You absolutely must not deliberately damage or scratch them, or else I'll have to charge you with deliberately damaging property and..."

Yaen adjusted his slightly reflective glasses and said calmly, "execute you on the spot."

???

Capone Bell.

Capone Bell, who suddenly felt a terrifying sensation, hurriedly crouched down and skillfully helped Yaen transfer the treasure into the briefcases.

Soon, as the treasure was smoothly transferred piece by piece, a rather strange box appeared beneath the safe.

Yaen furrowed his brows. He could clearly feel that this box was utterly out of place among the other valuables, so he directly ordered Capone Bell,

"Open it."

As if resigned to his fate, Capone Bell opened the box and said, "My lord, there's a Devil Fruit inside."

As his words fell, the box opened to reveal three Devil Fruits neatly arranged inside, all of them catching Yaen's eye.

Yaen took the box from Capone Bell, and his expression turned serious.

In terms of value, these three Devil Fruits far exceeded the combined worth of all the treasure in the safe.

To Yaen, these three Devil Fruits also had a special purpose.

"The strength of the Capone Mafia is even greater than I imagined. Something known as the 'Sea Secret Treasure'—you actually managed to collect so many?"

Capone Bell's eyes shifted slightly. Noticing Yaen's interest in the Devil Fruits, he answered cautiously,

"In the West Blue, this is the sea of the Underworld's forces. Collecting Devil Fruits is difficult, but not impossible..."

After a pause, Capone Bell continued,

"If my lord is willing to spare me, the Capone Mafia will do everything in its power to collect Devil Fruits for you."

Yaen glanced at Capone Bell, smiled, and said, "You've misunderstood something. What I like isn't Devil Fruits, but... cutting fruit."

Then, under Capone Bell's dumbfounded gaze, Yaen took two Devil Fruits from the box in succession and tossed them into the air.

Immediately afterward, the Zanpakutō tied around Yaen's waist was drawn in an instant and slashed toward the two Devil Fruits.

"There..."

With an unadorned slash, he cut the two Devil Fruits known as the "Sea Secret Treasure" in half.

???

Capone Bell.

At that moment, even Capone Bell, a mafia boss, felt so heartbroken that he could barely breathe. He could not help muttering,

"What a waste! Even if they were both Zoan Devil Fruits, they were worth at least a hundred million Belly each. And now they're just... gone."

Yaen had no time to care about Capone Bell's reaction. Instead, he focused most of his attention on the Zanpakutō and his soul.

As the two Devil Fruits were cut apart, an invisible energy was absorbed by the Zanpakutō. It then began slowly condensing into a mask within his soul.

It seems my feeling was right. The way to awaken the Void Soul Reaper Blade is to absorb Devil Fruits. It isn't limited to eating them myself—using the Zanpakutō to directly absorb their energy works as well.

Having reached this conclusion, Yaen could not help letting out a long breath.

After all, the taste of Devil Fruits definitely could not be considered pleasant.

The last time, with Sengoku watching, Yaen had been forced to eat a Devil Fruit right in front of him. He had even sprinkled a large amount of sugar over it, but the taste...

It still tasted like a lump of poop sprinkled with sugar.

That had truly disgusted Yaen. When he tried to spit it out, Sengoku had slapped it back into his mouth.

Fortunately, Yaen's instincts had been correct. To absorb Devil Fruit energy, he could do so directly through the Zanpakutō.

Otherwise, Yaen really would have had to seriously consider abandoning this ability altogether.

After all, according to Yaen's vague intuition, every additional Void Soul Reaper Blade would require twice as much Devil Fruit energy as the previous one.

In other words, if Yaen had to eat Devil Fruits himself every time to absorb their energy, he would most likely... die from being stuffed full, and die from being stuffed full of Devil Fruits with indescribably awful flavors.

After verifying this, Yaen had a general understanding of the situation. He was just about to take out and cut up the last Paramecia Devil Fruit in the box when—

Yaen suddenly felt that the Devil Fruit before him looked somewhat familiar. Uncertain, he said,

"Huh? Is this the 'Castle-Castle Fruit'?"

Fearing that Yaen did not understand the value of the Castle-Castle Fruit and would cut it up as well, Capone Bell hurriedly explained,

"That's right, this is the 'Castle-Castle Fruit.' Its ability can turn the inside of one's body into a castle, allowing everything—including oneself—to be deployed within the body, just like in a real castle. Objects that enter the body will all shrink, and after leaving the castle's range, they will return to their original size."

After a pause, Capone Bell did not forget to add, "Unlike Zoan Fruits, this is an extremely rare special ability."

Yaen pondered for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Capone Bell and asked, "Your son is named Capone Bege?"

In an instant, Capone Bell's pupils contracted sharply. He had never expected Yaen to know this secret.

As the founder of the Capone Mafia, Capone Bell had anticipated what might happen to him in the future. For safety's sake, he had always hidden the existence of his wife and son.

Yet this greatest secret of Capone Bell's had been casually exposed by Yaen.

Countless questions and confusion arose in Capone Bell's heart, but he instinctively knelt before Yaen and said,

"My lord, please spare my family. I'm willing to give up everything."