A Devil Fruit Picked Up for Free

On a deserted island.

Roronoa Zoro, Kuro, and El Drago were dueling each other, using combat to determine their status on the ship, for only strength commanded authority.

Facing El Drago's provocation, neither Roronoa Zoro nor Kuro refused; each of them was brimming with confidence in their own strength.

"Haha! I won't hold back, so don't you dare die under my Sonic Cannon!"

Before the fight, El Drago was full of confidence and incredibly arrogant, because he believed that apart from Daddy, no one could withstand his laser-like sound waves.

Yet the result left the swordsman Gollas with his jaw on the floor!

Aside from being covered in wounds, El Drago didn't win a single match!

Although the attack power of his Sonic Cannon was formidable, possessing the terrifying destructive power to defeat an enemy in one blow, his agility and release speed were truly pathetic!

Facing the speed-based Kuro and the genius swordsman Roronoa Zoro, El Drago only managed to fire a single Sonic Cannon, and once it missed, the battle was effectively over.

El Drago sat against a large tree, his body covered in wounds and his face pale, staring blankly as he watched the high-speed battle between Roronoa Zoro and Kuro; the streaks of afterimages taught him exactly what combat speed meant.

Accustomed to the pirate combat style of blasting ships the moment they met, El Drago had once felt that his Sonic Cannon was an invincible existence.

He never expected to suffer three defeats in a single day!

This was a reality he found hard to accept!

"Too slow! Can't you shorten your charge time? Perhaps you don't need such a thick energy wave; wouldn't a smaller one be faster and have better penetration?"

Daddy offered some rare guidance to his little brother; he didn't want his crew to become depressed on their very first day.

"I've never tried that, I just thought the bigger, the better!"

El Drago said in confusion. Whenever he blasted other ships in the past, bigger was always better, and the distance between the two ships gave him plenty of time to charge.

"Practice hard in the future. Develop Sonic Cannons of various sizes and speeds. Also, your speed is one thing, but how is your defense so poor? You wasted such a tall, rugged body!"

Daddy looked at the beast-like El Drago, wondering how he had been cut down by Roronoa Zoro and Kuro so easily.

The pitiful part was that there was no ship doctor on board yet, so they could only bandage him up casually and leave the rest to his own natural healing!

"I will definitely become stronger!"

El Drago gritted his teeth. He hadn't expected that he, who was a pirate captain just yesterday, would be reduced to the fourth-in-command today; he found it hard to swallow.

"Then give it your all! Not only can you challenge me every month, but I will also check your strength at any time!

Don't you dare stand still, or I won't show any mercy!"

Daddy said calmly to El Drago, while the duel between Roronoa Zoro and Kuro was finally nearing its conclusion.

In the end, the monster-stamina Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro defeated the speed-based Kuro of a Hundred Plans, cementing his position as the second-in-command on the ship.

Kuro's expression was a bit ugly, while Roronoa Zoro wore a victorious smile.

As expected, apart from that human turtle shell Daddy, he was the strongest person here!

"Alright! Let's have a banquet!"

Daddy gave the order, and Jango, Gollas, and the Cat Brothers immediately began to busy themselves. As pirates with small bounties, they were only fit to be lackeys on this ship.

Daddy took out a nautical chart to determine their position.

Koto Island waters, 153rd Marine Branch in Shells Town...

"There's a trash pirate crew wandering nearby. The useless Colonel of the 153rd Marine Branch is someone I've already defeated. This sea area isn't very exciting; when are we going to take on the Krieg Pirates?"

Kuro accepted the fact that he had lost to Roronoa Zoro. Seeing Daddy checking the map, he began to play his role; even if he couldn't beat Roronoa Zoro, he was the only one on this ship who could serve as the brains.

"There aren't any good opponents there indeed! I'll go see if I can find some wild game!"

Daddy put away the chart and saw the Cat Brothers grilling fish again. What kind of nonsense was this? Plus, Kuro was also very fond of eating fish; they were truly little kittens from the Black Cat Pirates.

He headed toward the forest to see if there was any prey to add to the banquet, while Roronoa Zoro had no requirements for food as long as he had something to fill his stomach!

Seeing their captain, Daddy, go hunting, they also wanted to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

"What's the name of the nearby pirate crew? What's their bounty?"

Roronoa Zoro bit into a grilled fish contentedly while holding a bottle of wine. As the number two on the ship, he was entitled to the first grilled fish whenever Daddy was away.

"It seems to be called the Alvida Pirates. It's some fat woman, and the bounty is only five million—not even as high as the Cat Brothers!"

Kuro looked down on this trash pirate crew entirely and didn't even have the desire to make a move. He felt that once they cut down the Krieg Pirates, they could head straight to the Grand Line.

"Five million is indeed a bit low, but back when I had no food, I would have cut them down just to trade for meal money!"

Roronoa Zoro said with a sigh. Because of his poor sense of direction, he often lost track of bounties, so he would desperately chase every pirate crew he saw, never letting any opportunity slip by, otherwise, he really would have gone three days without a meal.

It was this madness that allowed him to slowly carve out his current reputation.

He used to think that wandering alone was the height of style, but he never expected that life in a group would be the true way to live.

"I know, you moss-headed directionally-challenged idiot!"

Kuro's mouth curled into a scornful, "Dragon King" style smirk. Out on the sea, having no sense of direction was indeed a laughingstock.

"Bastard! Number 3, what right do you have to laugh at me, Number 2!"

Roronoa Zoro sensed Kuro's mockery and immediately began to curse. Although he was directionally challenged, he wasn't stupid; he saw the disdain in Kuro's eyes at a glance.

"..."

Kuro's expression shifted instantly. Screw your number three; being strong in a duel doesn't mean you're actually strong. I have plenty of other ways to kill an enemy!

Meanwhile, Daddy, who was wandering aimlessly around the deserted island in search of prey, seemed to have stumbled upon something incredible.

"Pink and butt-shaped? The Sube Sube no Mi?"

Daddy immediately ran over and picked up a pink fruit with a surface so smooth it shone, looking somewhat like a pig's brain.

"To think I could actually be this lucky? Finding a Devil Fruit just by wandering around a deserted island?"

Daddy turned the Devil Fruit over in his hands, his heart fluttering slightly. Was his luck finally turning around?

He recalled what Kuro had just said about a trash pirate crew wandering nearby. Could it be that fat hag Alvida?

She had been sent flying by a single punch from Straw Hat Luffy; could she have landed on this very island?

Daddy no longer had the mood to hunt for a snack. Picking up a Devil Fruit worth over a hundred million berries for free—his luck was simply off the charts!

If this Paramecia-type Sube Sube no Mi were taken to a large-scale auction, given its exaggerated beauty-enhancing effects, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say wealthy women would bid up to 1 billion berries for it.

If some ugly female Celestial Dragon found out about it, it might even fetch 2 billion berries without issue!

However, if a man ate it, would he also become heaven-defyingly beautiful, perhaps even several times more handsome than the Beautiful Pirates' pirate prince, Cavendish?