"This guy should have a vivre card. If we don't deal with him quickly, Doflamingo might catch up with us."
Nerl reminded them.
Rod had said earlier that he wanted to pick an auspicious day to try to obtain a Devil Fruit. But considering the risk of a Shichibukai tracking them down by vivre card, it would be better to kill the man now.
At Nerl's reminder, Rod instantly came to his senses.
He'd almost forgotten about that.
Especially since Dressrosa, where Doflamingo was based, lay in the second half of the Grand Line, along the stretch of sea between the North Blue and the West Blue. All Doflamingo had to do was cross the Calm Belt to reach the North Blue from the New World.
And with his String-String Fruit ability, Doflamingo could move by attaching strings to the clouds in the sky. He was more than capable of crossing the Calm Belt and coming after them.
If they faced Doflamingo now, Rod had no confidence that he could win.
"Good thing you're here, Nerl!"
Rod clapped Nerl on the shoulder, looking relieved.
"But let's kill that scrawny guy first and use him as a warm-up."
"A warm-up?"
The others looked puzzled by the word Rod had used.
"Well, we can't pick an auspicious day anymore, but we can at least start with someone relatively unimportant. It's all about the ritual!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I agree."
After resting for a while, Luo, now recovered from most of his fatigue, held out his hand. A pale blue light flickered in his palm.
"ROOM—Isolation Room!"
A pale blue circle appeared, enclosing the two captives and the fruit around them.
"That looks more reliable."
Drawing on his experience of being treated by Luo many times, Rod made his assessment.
Compared to how it had looked when they killed Bellamy last time, the ability seemed much more solid.
"That's right. That area is almost completely separated from us, as if it's in another dimension."
Nerl nodded in agreement.
His Observation Haki was unusual, so he could sense this more keenly.
"You people are..."
As a family officer who followed Doflamingo, Gladius knew a thing or two.
When a Devil Fruit user died, their fruit would respawn somewhere in the sea. No one knew exactly how it worked.
But someone had once seen an ordinary fruit suddenly turn into a Devil Fruit.
And what these people were trying to do now...
"Looks like you know something about it, too."
Luo had no time to talk to Gladius. He focused all his attention on the area covered by ROOM.
With a flick of his finger, a dagger that had been placed in a water tank earlier slowly moved and pierced Manudo's heart.
Time passed slowly. Three minutes later—
"Looks like we failed again!"
After maintaining the field at full strength for three minutes, Luo dispelled his ability, looking somewhat exhausted.
This technique consumed far more stamina than using his ability normally.
Even though Luo had trained desperately alongside Rod since childhood and was much stronger than before, maintaining "Isolation Room" at full strength for three minutes had nearly pushed him to his limit.
"I heard that Devil Fruits have a will of their own and choose suitable hosts. Looks like none of us are scrawny enough. Hahaha!"
The experiment had failed again, but Rod wasn't too disappointed.
It had only been an idea of his in the first place. It would be great if it worked, but even if it never did, they wouldn't lose anything.
"Come on, keep going. We've already used the warm-up, so let's strike while the iron's hot!"
Rod turned to Gladius and urged Luo on.
"I can only maintain the ability for half a minute at most right now."
Meeting Rod's gaze, Luo looked troubled.
Although Rod seemed unconcerned, Luo still wanted to do his best.
As the one using the ability—and something of a researcher—Luo understood that Rod's idea was viable. The problem was that he hadn't developed his Devil Fruit ability enough yet.
"No wonder we couldn't preserve that scrawny guy's fruit earlier. The demon inside probably knew you were already a fruit user. Otherwise, you and the Scrawny-Scrawny Fruit would've been a perfect match."
Rod teased Luo without mercy, then waved his hand before Luo could retort, cutting him off.
"Forget it. Half a minute should be enough. This kind of thing comes down to luck. If it works, ten seconds might be plenty; if it doesn't, even half an hour won't help. I believe luck is on my side!"
At Rod's words, Luo didn't hesitate any longer. He activated his ability again, covering Gladius and the fruit with its range.
"The young master won't let you get away with this!"
Having foreseen his own death, Gladius calmed down instead. He merely looked at Luo with cold eyes and spoke softly.
"I won't let him get away with it either!"
Luo met Gladius's gaze calmly, his own heart just as steady.
At Luo's gesture, a long blade pierced Gladius's heart. The head resting on the wooden crate trembled slightly, and the light faded from his eyes.
The instant Gladius died, an apple lying beside him suddenly changed. Before everyone's eyes, it became a Devil Fruit covered in strange patterns.
A Paramecia-type Devil Fruit—the Explosion-Explosion Fruit!
"We did it!"
Having witnessed the Devil Fruit's rebirth with their own eyes, everyone erupted in cheers. They'd accomplished something truly remarkable!
At least, before this, none of them had ever heard of anyone being able to take a Devil Fruit ability.
They'd finally succeeded!
Seeing the fully formed Devil Fruit, Luo let out a breath of relief.
Just as Rod had said, it had only taken a second for the new fruit to appear!
Now that they had a successful example, he could finally relax. It was awful to carry everyone's expectations and not be able to meet them!
Then what kind of pressure must Rod bear, carrying everyone's dreams and leading them all on this voyage?
As the others cheered over their success in extracting the Devil Fruit ability, Luo felt a hint of the responsibility and pressure Rod bore as captain.
"Why do you look like you're about to collapse? We were at it for less than ten seconds."
Rod slapped Luo on the shoulder, interrupting his thoughts.
"What should we do with this Devil Fruit?"
His train of thought broken, Luo asked a different question.
"Um... Pekoms, Shakky, do either of you want to eat it?"
"Us?"
A trace of surprise crossed Pekoms's and Shakky's faces.
"This Devil Fruit is worth at least a hundred million Berries! You're just giving it to us, Boss Rod?"
Their earlier cheers had been partly because they'd witnessed the rebirth of a Devil Fruit with their own eyes, and partly because they were happy for the Rod Pirates as a whole. Until now, they hadn't even considered eating a Devil Fruit themselves.
"Of course! You're my companions!"
"Boss Rod!" x2
The two of them hugged Rod, overcome with emotion.
"Quit fooling around. We only have one fruit for now, though. Which of you wants to eat it first?"
"But, Boss, you still don't have a Devil Fruit yourself."
The two exchanged glances. After hesitating for a moment, Pekoms spoke up.
"I don't plan on eating a Devil Fruit for now, and neither does Nerl. We haven't even fully tapped into our own strength yet."
"We'll save the opportunity for now."
Shakky picked up where he left off. She glanced at Pekoms, then nodded firmly at Rod.
Then the two of them plastered on ingratiating smiles and grabbed Rod around the leg.
"Since you asked who wants to eat it first, that means we'll get another chance to choose a fruit later, right? When another one turns up, the two of us can become Devil Fruit users together! You'll keep your word, won't you, Boss Rod?!"
"Don't worry, I'll let you choose—now stop clinging to me! It's disgusting when two grown men do that!"
Before you continue