There were only two ways to gain the abilities of a Devil Fruit: eat the fruit yourself, or control the person who had eaten it.
Since someone had already eaten the Phantom Fruit, Mosen had no choice but to control its user.
The middle-aged man looked gloomy and unapproachable. He clearly wasn't easy to get along with, and Mosen knew he couldn't handle someone like that.
So Mosen decided to hand this glorious task over to Mia.
"What? You want me to get close to some middle-aged man and win him over? No way!" After hearing Mosen out, Mia refused without a second thought.
"You're going whether you like it or not. That man's Devil Fruit Ability is very special, and I'm determined to get that fruit. If you don't go, I'll cut your food rations in half for the next few days."
The moment she heard her food was at stake, Mia's attitude did a complete 180. "Oh, come on, Warden! Don't be like that! We can talk this over."
"There's nothing to talk over. You have to go."
"Why me?" Mia asked, looking miserable.
"First, you're beautiful, and men are less guarded around beautiful women. Second, you're the best at talking to people out of all of us. Paddy isn't very bright, Ian only knows how to tell lame dirty jokes, and Michael barely speaks, much less manages to get a word out. So you're the only choice."
Mia automatically tuned out everything Mosen said after that. All she heard was that he thought she was beautiful.
Women loved that sort of thing. Mia, who'd been reluctant just moments earlier, happily accepted the task.
For the next few days, Mia kept trying to approach the middle-aged man, but she made no progress.
Mia wasn't in a hurry, though. As a "veteran" of Extreme Cold Hell, she knew perfectly well that in a place like this, even the strongest-willed people would eventually give in to the cold and hunger.
Sure enough, a week later, the middle-aged man could no longer keep up his tough act. Mia got all the information she needed from him with just one piece of roast meat.
"Warden, this man is bad news!" Mia ran back to the hut and got straight to the point.
"Why? What's wrong with him?" Mosen pressed.
"This man's name is Carmain Rodornado. He's forty-one years old and from Dressrosa. He used to be a member of the Dressrosa royal guard.
"Six years ago, he took a liking to a woman and used his position to abduct her by force. He also killed her husband and child.
"When the truth came out, he was afraid the king would hold him accountable, so he fled Dressrosa in the middle of the night.
"Carmain Rodornado had planned to head to the first half of the Grand Line, or even flee to one of the Four Seas, so he wouldn't run into any pursuers from Dressrosa.
"But as soon as he reached the waters near Punk Hazard, someone knocked him unconscious. When he woke up, he found himself locked up.
"After that, they used Carmain Rodornado as a test subject and performed all sorts of experiments on him. In the end, they even cut off, well... that.
"Then, one day, an explosion rocked Punk Hazard, and Carmain Rodornado escaped in the chaos.
"Carmain Rodornado hated that place, but he was too weak to get revenge.
"Just when he was about to give up hope, he happened to come across a Devil Fruit. Using its power, Carmain Rodornado began a frenzied campaign of revenge against Punk Hazard."
Hearing this, Mosen understood why Carmain Rodornado was so fixated on Punk Hazard.
Forget Carmain Rodornado—any man would seek revenge if that part of him had been cut off.
But Carmain Rodornado was clearly a vile person. There was nothing wrong with liking married women; Cao Cao liked them too! The problem was that he'd murdered an entire family to claim this woman for himself, not even sparing the child.
Mosen couldn't possibly let someone like that join the Revolutionary Army.
That left only one option: kill Carmain Rodornado and let his fruit be reborn.
In his previous life, Mosen had read a theory that Devil Fruits could be inherited.
There were similar examples of inheritance in the original story.
For instance, Chaka of Alabasta had the Jackal Fruit, and Bell had the Falcon Fruit.
This could be seen from the statues of a jackal and a falcon that had stood in front of the Alabasta royal palace for many years.
The original story also repeatedly emphasized that the jackal and the falcon had always been Alabasta's guardian deities.
Then there was Deken of Fish-Man Island and his Target-Target Fruit. He'd said that he'd gained his ability through a curse, and that generation after generation of his ancestors had also gained their abilities through this curse.
This showed that Devil Fruits could be inherited.
As for how this inheritance worked, Mosen figured that the devils inside different Devil Fruits had different preferences for the fruits they inhabited.
In plain terms, when a Devil Fruit user died, the devil lurking in that user's Lineage Factor would randomly inhabit the nearest fruit of the same type and become a new Devil Fruit.
For example, the Rubber-Rubber Fruit was based on a melon. After Luffy died, the devil inside the Rubber-Rubber Fruit would attach itself to the nearest melon.
The Thread-Thread Fruit was based on a pear. After Doflamingo died, the devil inside the Thread-Thread Fruit would attach itself to the nearest pear.
The Chop-Chop Fruit was based on a pineapple. After Buggy died, the devil inside the Chop-Chop Fruit would take up residence in the nearest pineapple.
The Phantom Fruit looked like a lamp, wrapped in green skin covered in swirls.
If it were just the bulb, its shape would be a little like a pear. But with the skin wrapped around it, Mosen wasn't sure what kind of fruit it was.
"Mia, when you think of fruit with a peel, what comes to mind?" Mosen asked her.
"Fruit with a peel? Obviously, bananas," Mia answered without hesitation.
"Bananas? That makes sense! Then we'd better get some bananas too."
That afternoon, Mosen went upstairs and took a basket of assorted fruit from the storeroom.
He carried the fruit back to Extreme Cold Hell and called everyone over.
"Huh? Is Warden treating us to fruit today?" Mia picked up an apple and was about to take a bite.
Mosen quickly stopped her. "Mia, don't eat that! The fruit is for something else!"
"Something else? What else can you do with fruit besides eat it?" Mia asked, bewildered.
"Paddy, could you go find a Devil Fruit user who's nearly frozen to death? Ideally, one of those especially vicious pirates."
Paddy nodded and got up to leave.
A short while later, Paddy returned, carrying a Devil Fruit user who'd been frozen unconscious and was wearing Seastone Handcuffs.
Before you continue