Are Devil Fruits Sentient?

Aboard the Sword of Xebec.

Newgate watched the group return and immediately noticed the demonic bat wings that had grown from Houka's back.

Those mysterious patterns really were the power of a Mythical Zoan!

"You're in a good mood, Houka!"

Seeing the smile on Houka's face, Newgate's mood improved as well. When his companions were happy, he was happy.

"Hahaha, not bad. I found this Vampire Fruit without any trouble!"

Houka suddenly turned into a bloody shadow and teleported beside Newgate, showing off his new ability.

"This ability has tremendous potential!"

To be honest, Rocks was a little envious. This was a Mythical Zoan ability capable of preserving one's youth forever.

As for the restriction and side effect of drinking blood, they were not a problem in his eyes at all.

Perhaps this evil Devil Fruit had been sealed away by some ancient powerhouse because its previous user had drained blood without restraint until everyone hated them.

"A vampire? Houka, are you going to turn into a monster?"

Newgate gave Houka a strange look. There were clearly plenty of vampire legends and stories across the seas.

"Newgate, power itself has no good or evil. Only people do!"

"Of course, that doesn't mean we're good people either."

"Just look at Rocks. He's the World's Worst Pirate who killed a Marine Admiral."

Houka chuckled as he rapidly familiarized himself with his Vampire Ability. He felt that this ability still had many possible avenues for development.

Redfield had only cared about its youth-restoring power and had overlooked the other mysterious powers of this Mythical Zoan ability.

"Power itself has no good or evil. Only people do..."

"Gurararara! I can't argue with a big-brained adviser like you."

Newgate carefully pondered Houka's words. This prophet always said things full of wisdom and philosophy.

In truth, he approved of Houka becoming vice captain.

But no one aboard even called Rocks captain, so Newgate could not be bothered to call Houka vice captain either.

"Quit gloating. We wasted so many days because of you! Let's go find Shiki the Golden Lion!"

At Rocks's command, the Sword of Xebec swiftly set off toward the middle region of the New World.

However, as Houka grew stronger, Rocks no longer needed to worry about the prophet's safety.

"Rocks, you're jealous of me!"

"I heard that some Devil Fruits possess their own consciousness and can choose their own users."

"With your personality, the Sun God Nika power that represents light and liberation probably wouldn't like you. The Dark-Dark Fruit power suits you far better."

Sitting atop the mast, Houka spoke with a smile. Though he also wanted the Dark-Dark Fruit, since Rocks wanted it, Houka would stop coveting it for now.

In any case, his Soul Fire could directly devour and fuse with Devil Fruits.

Other than its sealing ability, the Dark-Dark Fruit's powers were dispensable to Houka.

Of course, Houka was not confident that he would encounter the Dark-Dark Fruit in this era.

Perhaps it would not appear even by the time Rocks met his end.

If they really could find it, he would not be unable to accept Rocks eating it.

"Hmph! Davy Jones, like Joy Boy, would never fear Imu!"

"Even without the Sun God Nika power, the Dark-Dark Fruit power is still incredibly strong!"

Rocks had initially been somewhat displeased, but after thinking it over, he realized Houka was reminding him that the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika was unsuitable for him.

"Houka, are Devil Fruits really sentient?"

Newgate was a little shocked. Could his Tremor-Tremor Fruit power contain some devil consciousness? Would it affect him?

"Generally, only high-level Mythical Zoan Fruits possess their own consciousness."

"Of course, ordinary Zoans also possess instinctive consciousness."

"I heard that when a Zoan user awakens, if their own consciousness cannot suppress the Devil Fruit's consciousness, the awakening will fail, and they will become a muddleheaded, foolish awakened user."

Houka explained it to these illiterates, who had barely received any education.

Aside from Rocks, who had inherited the Davy Clan's teachings, orphans like Newgate, Babel, and Sambel had received no education at all. They had been struggling to survive since childhood.

"Zoan powers actually come with such a danger?!"

Sambel's eyes widened. Luckily, he had never considered eating a Devil Fruit.

Otherwise, not only would he become helpless in water, but he might even turn into an idiot during awakening.

Devil Fruits truly deserved to be called the cursed fruits of the sea.

"Then why did you eat a Mythical Zoan power?"

Newgate looked worriedly at the demonic bat wings on Houka's body.

"Heh. What powerhouse capable of developing a Devil Fruit to the awakened state lacks a steadfast will? How could they be so easily overtaken by a devil's lingering consciousness?"

"Awakening like that generally won't cause any problems."

"Only those who take shortcuts have a greatly increased chance of failing their awakening."

"The World Government's scientific forces have probably been researching shortcuts to rapid awakening for a long time. In the future, the World Government will have a batch of brainless ability users whose awakenings failed."

"They possess the powerful recovery abilities of awakened Zoan users, but because their consciousness has been overtaken by a devil's lingering consciousness, they act like idiots and are not actually that powerful in battle."

Houka thought of the Jailer Beasts in Impel Down. The World Government had definitely taken a crucial step forward in its research on Zoan awakenings.

Rob Lucci and Kaku would later awaken their powers within two years. There had to be some shortcut method.

That method was highly dangerous, but both of them had successfully awakened.

"So that's how it is. Vice Captain, your knowledge is truly vast..."

Sambel was completely won over by Houka, this prophet and great adviser, and recognized him as a wise vice captain.

"If Zoan Fruits have devil consciousness, then what about Logias and Paramecias?"

Newgate quickly caught onto that point. Houka had only mentioned Zoans.

"I don't know about that. At least in the future I've seen, there's no information on it."

Houka spread his hands, indicating that he truly did not know.

"That's good!"

Newgate felt somewhat relieved. His Tremor-Tremor Fruit power should not have any other hidden dangers.

"They can even research Zoan awakenings? The World Government's foundations are truly terrifying. It seems I need to find a scientist!"

Houka's explanation gave Rocks a new idea.

Originally, he had looked down on weak scientists. He only needed powerful officers.

But now, after Houka's "reminder," he began to value scientific knowledge.

"You want to find a scientist?"

At the mention of scientists, Houka immediately thought of Stussy, the female officer aboard the Rocks Pirates known as the [Science Bandit].

Even now, Houka had not gathered any information on Stussy. He did not know where that woman was conducting her research or when she would set sail as a pirate.

"Do you have someone to recommend, Houka?"

Rocks suddenly looked expectantly at Houka. He felt that Houka surely had a candidate in mind.

"The Rocks Pirates will indeed have a female officer known as the [Science Bandit]."

"But there is currently no information about her anywhere on the seas."

"Perhaps she'll set sail within the next year or two."

Houka only spoke after thinking it over. Stussy was two years older than Newgate, but what kind of formidable scientist could a twenty-year-old scientist really be?

This woman was originally a fraud. Even after joining Vegapunk's MADS team, she was merely a researcher who contributed nothing.