On the way back just now.
Since he was a little bored, Will took out the book and gave it a quick read.
That was when he discovered that the item packed alongside the Devil Fruit was no ordinary book.
It was a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, just as rare as the fruit itself across the seas.
The encyclopedia contained detailed information on a large number of Devil Fruits.
It was exactly the kind of thing that people with clear goals—or, rather, tremendous ambition—dreamed of possessing.
He had been quite surprised at the time.
But then he remembered that it had come from a Celestial Dragon, and it suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.
The Celestial Dragons were probably the group with the most abundant resources in the world.
So it wasn't strange to find any kind of valuable treasure among their possessions.
Take the battle at God Valley, for example.
The Celestial Dragons had brought a large number of Devil Fruits with them, and as a result, many powerful figures of the future had emerged.
Sometimes, Will even wondered...
If these Celestial Dragons went out without bringing anything valuable, would the other Celestial Dragons laugh at them?
As his thoughts ran wild...
Nami and Carina had also figured out what the book in their hands was.
"This is a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia..."
Carina, who had already been surprised once, couldn't help but gasp in astonishment again.
"I had no idea there were so many Devil Fruits out there..."
Along with her surprise, Nami couldn't help feeling a little greed and fear.
The greed came from the fact that those Devil Fruits were worth a fortune.
She wondered if she could make a killing by getting her hands on a few of them!
Her fear, on the other hand, came from how unpredictable the seas were.
She now felt as though a few people who had eaten Devil Fruits could suddenly pop up anywhere across the ocean.
That thought made Nami feel far less safe. Without thinking, she quickly scooted her chair closer to Will.
After her surprise wore off, Carina immediately turned to Will, who was sitting nearby, and asked curiously:
"Captain Will, have you found information about this Devil Fruit in the encyclopedia yet?"
Will came back to himself and shook his head slightly. "Not yet."
Then he casually picked up the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and began flipping through it as he said:
"There wasn't much time on the way back, so I planned to look more carefully once we got back."
As he searched for the corresponding Devil Fruit, Will came across many familiar ones.
The Logia Type Smoke-Smoke Fruit, Dark-Dark Fruit, and Flame-Flame Fruit...
The Paramecia Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Thread-Thread Fruit, and Op-Op Fruit...
And the Zoan Type Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Fish-Fish Fruit, and Human-Human Fruit...
When he reached the section on Zoan Devil Fruits, he finally found an illustration and description matching the fruit in his hand.
"Found it. Take a look."
Will glanced over it, his expression tinged with surprise, then handed the encyclopedia to the two curious women beside him.
Nami and Carina quickly took it together and leaned in to study it.
"Zoan Type · Cat-Cat Fruit · Mythical Beast Type · Matatabi Form?!"
When Carina saw the fruit's name, she couldn't help exclaiming:
"It's one of the rarest kinds of Zoan!"
Nami was just as surprised. She continued reading aloud:
"After eating this fruit, the consumer will gain two special forms: the Human-Beast Form and the Beast Form."
"Each form has its own strengths and is suited to different situations and enemies."
"The difference between the Human-Beast Form and the Beast Form is..."
"The abilities of the two forms..."
Seeing how engrossed the two of them were, Will sat nearby as his initial surprise gradually faded.
He hadn't expected the Devil Fruit he'd gotten from the Celestial Dragons to be one of the rarest Zoan types: a Mythical Zoan.
He'd originally thought he might have gotten a Paramecia, or perhaps an ordinary Zoan.
After all, those two types of Devil Fruits...
Were the most numerous and common in the first half of the Grand Line and the surrounding Four Seas.
Mythical Zoan Fruits, on the other hand, were extremely rare.
It wasn't until the later Wano Country storyline that Mythical Zoans began appearing one after another.
The Mythical Beast Type, Azure Dragon Form; the Mythical Beast Type, Yamata no Orochi Form.
The Mythical Beast Type, Daidarabotchi Form; the Mythical Beast Type, Okuchi no Makami Form...
And the one that brought people the most joy of all: the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Beast Type, Nika Form.
That was why he always felt that in Wano Country, Mythical Zoan Fruits—which had once been rare—seemed to have become common.
By then, Nami and Carina had finished reading the fruit's entry.
Carina turned to him and asked curiously:
"Captain, this fruit is so rare. It must be worth a lot more than an ordinary Devil Fruit."
"What are you planning to do with it?"
At her question, Nami looked over too, her eyes gleaming with a longing for Berries.
Will came back to himself.
Then he picked up the item in front of him, which so many people would consider priceless, and said casually:
"I don't want to waste time finding a buyer and selling it for money."
"So I only brought it back for one reason: to have one of you eat it."
"That way, we can strengthen our overall combat power."
"Huh? One of us should eat it?!"
Carina and Nami looked at each other, both of them clearly shocked.
They'd assumed Will would eat something so precious and rare himself.
Or that he'd find someone to sell it to for a huge amount of Berries.
They hadn't expected...
That he planned to have one of them eat it!
Seeing their astonished expressions...
Will didn't bother to explain himself.
With his current strength, he didn't need to eat a Devil Fruit to get stronger.
Doing so would only give him an unnecessary weakness.
If he had no system and no talent of his own...
Then, with a Devil Fruit in his possession, he would certainly have eaten it without hesitation.
But he had both a system and talent, and he was still supposed to eat a Devil Fruit?
Wouldn't that make having a system and talent pointless?
Besides, how could this mere Devil Fruit compare to his body, honed through countless trials, and the immense Haki within him?
Just as Teacher Kai had said, only Haki could stand above everything!
Will firmly believed that the strength of his own body and Haki—powers that came from within—would never betray him.
As for who should eat the Mythical Zoan in his hand...
Will didn't particularly care.
Whether Carina or Nami ate the fruit, she'd still be able to protect the other one.
Besides, both Nami and Carina were strong swimmers.
So even if the one who ate the fruit accidentally fell into the sea, the other could rescue her in time.
That way, on their future travels, he could worry less about their safety.
He wouldn't have to be as distracted during battles, and could focus more on facing the even stronger opponents ahead.
Before you continue