Listen to All Things, the Wild Cat's Awakening

The smoke-filled steel fortress was gradually left behind.

With Sabo and Jeno clearing the path, the Eclipse Pirates carried their heavy spoils, passing through the devastated streets with ease and reaching the outer harbor.

A massive three-masted armed transport ship, originally belonging to the warlord's forces, was docked at the pier.

Jeno slammed the several-ton block of Starfall Black Steel onto the transport ship's wide deck with a "thud," causing the entire vessel to sway violently. Buggy and Carina also threw their heavy backpacks, filled with treasure and Devil Fruits, into the cabin while gasping for air.

"The draft and load capacity of this transport ship are sufficient."

Jeno expertly inspected the mechanical structure of the wheelhouse and started the engines.

After waiting for Ace to bring the Eclipse over and using thick chains to securely lash it to the stern of the transport ship for towing, Sabo took the helm. With the two ships in tandem, they caught a favorable wind and swiftly sailed away from the war-torn Steel Country.

Two days later.

The Grand Line, an unnamed primitive island.

Far from the clamor of the main shipping lanes, the island was covered in dense vegetation, and tens of thousands of giant seabirds nested among the steep cliffs. The deafening cries of the birds circled above the island, making it appear both vibrant and incredibly noisy.

The transport ship and the Eclipse were docked side-by-side in a secluded bay.

As soon as they hit the shore, Jeno couldn't wait to shoulder the Starfall Black Steel and his pile of mechanical tools, diving straight into the lower deck of the Eclipse. Accompanied by the harsh sound of metal cutting and dazzling welding sparks, the fanatical mechanic officially began the comprehensive upgrade of the Eclipse.

Leona took her Bone-Cleaving Blade and headed deep into the island; for her, exploring unknown ingredients on a new island was the best way to relieve post-battle fatigue.

Meanwhile, on the soft sandy beach of the bay.

Carina emptied several heavy backpacks, and the golden treasure piled up into a small hill under the sunlight. She sat amidst the loot, holding a book she had scavenged from the warlord's fortress: Devil Fruit Illustrated Guide (Incomplete).

Beside her lay an exquisite wooden box.

Inside the box rested the Paramecia-type Barrier-Barrier Fruit they had intercepted at the Loguetown black market, along with the unknown fruit snatched from the steel fortress's vault.

The unknown fruit was a strange grayish-purple, and the spiral patterns on its skin were not rounded like ordinary fruits, but instead formed a peculiar, radiating shape resembling water ripples or jagged lines.

Carina flipped through the incomplete guide, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"No good, this guide is missing too many fruits; I can't find any record of this grayish-purple one at all."

Carina closed the guide in frustration and looked up at Ace, who was sitting on a nearby reef.

Ace was sitting with his eyes closed, letting the sea breeze wash over him.

Hearing Carina's complaint, he leaped down from the reef and walked over to the pile of treasure, his tall frame casting a steady shadow on the sand.

"If you can't find it, forget it."

Ace's gaze fell upon the grayish-purple fruit. Instead of checking the book, he slowly closed his eyes and released his Observation Haki without reservation.

As he pushed his Observation Haki to the limit, the noisy sound of the waves and the cries of the seabirds filling the sky gradually faded from Ace's ears.

His consciousness sank into an incredibly profound state—listening to the voice of all things.

To the eyes of an ordinary person, the Devil Fruit was just a dead object, but within Ace's sensory net, it emitted an extremely faint yet unique life pulse.

After a long while, Ace opened his deep, dark eyes.

"There is no violent aura of destruction in this fruit, nor is there the fierce, wild physicality of a Zoan type."

Ace looked at Carina, distilling the vague information he had "heard." "The fluctuations it emits are very strange. It's an extremely faint sensation, like invisible threads or ripples. It is trying to radiate outward, establishing some kind of 'connection'."

"Connection? Ripples?" Sabo, standing nearby, asked with curiosity. "Doesn't sound like an ability that can be used for direct combat."

"It is indeed not a combat-type fruit."

Ace nodded, his gaze fixed on Carina with great seriousness.

"If you eat this fruit, it likely won't directly increase your strength or martial arts. It should provide some kind of auxiliary ability leaning toward perception, communication, or the mental realm."

Ace spoke in a steady tone, leaving the choice to her.

"Carina, you are the treasurer and intelligence chief of the Eclipse. Although I promised to protect you, in this sea, having your own power is the most real thing. The information on this fruit is vague; whether to eat it or not, you decide."

Carina looked at the strange fruit in the wooden box and fell into silence.

In her mind, the scenes of the past few days replayed involuntarily.

Ace's fist, which shattered the admirals of the old era like a demon god; Sabo's Fire Fist, moving with ease amidst thousands of troops; Leona's madness, willing to cut through steel even while on the verge of death; and even Buggy, usually the most unreliable of them all, capable of achieving miraculous results in the chaos of war.

Everyone on the Eclipse was a monster.

And she, Carina—no matter how accurate her marksmanship or how sharp her mind—was ultimately just a mortal with a fragile body. If they encountered powerful enemies in the New World who couldn't even be pierced by bullets, was she destined to hide in the back as a burden that needed protection forever?

"I don't need the power to destroy the world."

Carina took a deep breath, a flash of determination and wildness appearing in her purple eyes. "It's enough that the captain has monsters like you to charge into the fray. But a team that wants to overturn the world absolutely cannot lack intelligence capabilities. I want to try!"

Without hesitation, Carina reached out and grabbed the grayish-purple fruit.

"I'll eat it."

She didn't show any affectation; she opened her mouth and took a massive bite of the flesh.

"Ugh... blech!"

An unimaginable stench exploded in her mouth, and Carina's pretty face twisted into a knot, but she pinched her nose and forced herself to swallow the fruit flesh down.

The moment she consumed the fruit.

Carina's body stiffened abruptly, and a strange, rippling light flashed through her purple eyes.

In her perception, the entire world had suddenly undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

The chaotic, noisy cries of the tens of thousands of seabirds in the sky now manifested in her mind as distinct, visible "frequencies." She could even sense the faint bio-electric waves radiating from Jeno's muscles as he swung his hammer in the hold.

"How is it? What do you feel?" Sabo asked with a hint of concern.

Carina kept her eyes closed, savoring the sensation for a long time. When she finally opened them, a look of irrepressible ecstasy curled the corners of her lips.

"Captain, I won the bet."

Carina stood up excitedly and reported at a rapid-fire pace: "Paramecia: Signal-Signal Fruit! My brain is now like a super base station! I can collect information from the surroundings, somewhat similar to Observation Haki, but most importantly,"

"As long as I establish a 'Frequency Contract' with you, no matter how far apart we are—even on different islands—I can conduct zero-latency telepathic communication and tracking directly in our minds. I can even open a group chat for everyone! And as long as you agree, I can even share your vision."

The more Carina spoke, the more excited she became, and she casually picked up a gold coin from the pile of treasure.

As a faint light flashed across her fingertips, the ordinary gold coin seemed to undergo a strange alteration.

"Not only that, but I can also imbue this electrical wave into any inanimate object. As long as I scatter these coins, they will become miniature wiretaps and trackers!"

Hearing Carina's description of her abilities, Sabo, standing to the side, opened his mouth slightly in shock.

As someone who dealt with intelligence year-round, he knew all too well what this ability meant in the context of war. This was nothing short of an irrational, ultra-wide-coverage ultimate intelligence network!

Ace looked at the excited purple-haired girl before him, a scorching light igniting in his deep, dark eyes.

What did it matter if she lacked the power to destroy the world?

In the Grand Line, where heroes vied for supremacy, intelligence and absolute team communication held a strategic value that far exceeded even an ordinary Logia fruit!

"Hahahahaha!"

Seeing the most critical piece of the intelligence puzzle for the Eclipse finally in place, Ace could no longer suppress the joy in his heart. Facing the seabirds filling the sky, he let out a laugh that was incredibly piercing and heroic.

He looked at Carina, his eyes filled with absolute confidence in the future.

"Well done, Carina."

"With this network, every secret on this ocean will be transparent to us!"