Baby-5 Eats the Fruit

After returning to the base, life settled back into a calm rhythm. For Gray and the other two youngsters, there was nothing to do outside of their daily training.

The reason they had been taken out to sea twice was merely to broaden their horizons.

However, because of these voyages, the many executives who had learned about Gray's situation from Gladius now held different feelings toward him.

Regardless, the capable Gray had already earned some of their respect, and his importance and status within the Donquixote Family had risen significantly.

For instance, Gray instructed Trebol to have the family's logistics team build him a custom boss-style wheelchair, collect scientific books, and most importantly, forge durable weapons.

The Fuma Shuriken he had brought along last time had been melted and ruined by the high heat generated from its rotation after only two uses.

If Gray were to further develop his Devil Fruit ability in the future, generating heat through friction would be a trivial matter; by then, he would be like Killer, with his weapons sparking and crackling with electricity.

Until he could protect his weapons with Armament Haki, the rate at which Gray's weapons were destroyed would surely increase with each passing day.

For this single matter of weaponry, Doflamingo didn't say a word about the tens of millions of Berries spent.

If you were to suggest that Buffalo needed to spend that much money, Doflamingo would be lucky not to give you a beating.

One day, the family members gathered for another meeting.

"Doffy, is there something we need to head out to sea to handle?" For Pica, when there was nothing to do, training to become stronger was the only thing he cared about.

Since Doflamingo had called them all over even though he knew they were working hard on their training, Pica guessed there must be something important.

"Fuffuffu... It's not that we have to head out to sea, but rather, it's a good thing for the family members!" Calming Pica's warlike spirit, Doflamingo gestured toward Trebol beside him.

"Neh, neh, neh, I quite enjoy doing this." With snot dripping from his nose, Trebol took out a black leather briefcase and placed it on the table.

Everyone looked over with curiosity, and the moment Trebol opened it, they saw: "Devil Fruits!"

Those who had already eaten a Devil Fruit, as well as Lao G who had no interest in eating one, lost interest.

"Fuffuffu, I have seen everyone's hard work during the last incident. The family's final two Devil Fruits are being brought out as rewards."

"Senor, Buffalo, Baby-5, Corazon—only you four do not have Devil Fruit abilities. If any of you need one, come and choose!"

Gray asked, "What abilities do these two fruits have?"

"Neh, neh, neh! I can't tell you that!" Trebol shook his index finger. "Since you are all family members and there are only two fruits, we can't let you pick and choose."

"Which fruit they end up with depends entirely on the luck of those four."

Hearing this, Gray understood instantly.

If Doflamingo were to assign them, the members who ended up with less powerful fruits would inevitably feel jealous of those who got the stronger ones, which would be detrimental to family unity.

"I'll pass! I'll leave this opportunity to Baby-5, Buffalo, and Corazon!" With only two fruits available, Senor—a true man with a cold exterior but a warm heart—directly gave up his chance.

As for Corazon beside him, he naturally refused immediately; as an undercover agent, he had already eaten a Devil Fruit.

"Then thank you!" Gray thanked Senor on behalf of Baby-5, then pushed her forward. "Go ahead! Just pick one that looks good to you!"

To be honest, Gray had no idea which of these two fruits was the Weapon-Weapon Fruit. But Gray believed in one thing: the Weapon-Weapon Fruit would choose Baby-5.

After all, anyone could tell the difference between an ugly guy and a little beauty.

Of course, that was just a joke!

Based on what Gray knew, the fruits currently in the Donquixote Family's possession were nothing more than the Swim-Swim Fruit and the Weapon-Weapon Fruit.

The Weapon-Weapon Fruit was far more famous than the Swim-Swim Fruit, and its fruit will was naturally more active. The two-way selection between the will and the person would surely lead Baby-5 to eat the Weapon-Weapon Fruit that belonged to her.

The reason Gray let Baby-5 choose first was to prevent Buffalo from ruining her opportunity.

Everyone has selfish motives, and Gray didn't care at all about what happened to Buffalo. Baby-5's presence in Gray's heart was simply incomparable to Buffalo's.

From beginning to end, Buffalo—or rather, most of the Donquixote Family—remained "familiar strangers" in Gray's heart.

"Fuffuffu, in that case, Baby-5, you choose first!"

"Hai!"

Standing before the table, she glanced casually at the two fruits. Baby-5 could only follow her intuition and picked the one whose color looked pleasing to her.

"Eat it!" Gray encouraged her, then as if remembering something, added, "Don't spit it out!"

Gray's words instantly stirred the memories of every member in the family who had eaten a Devil Fruit.

At this moment, they all revealed a slightly wicked smirk: having been caught in the rain themselves, they didn't want anyone else to have an umbrella.

"Crunch!"

"Ugh!" At the very first bite, Baby-5's expression became indescribable.

"Don't spit it out!" everyone shouted in unison, startling Baby-5, who had instinctively wanted to gag, and she immediately swallowed the fruit flesh in her mouth.

"Hahaha, well done!" Seeing Baby-5 eat the fruit, the others couldn't hide the smiles on their faces.

"Here, have some water!" Gray handed her the sugar water he had prepared in advance. "Rinse your mouth, it won't be as bad."

"Thank you, Gray-sama!"

Gray took Baby-5 downstairs, and Buffalo stepped forward. Looking at the Devil Fruit on the table, Buffalo's expression turned quite ugly.

It wasn't for any other reason than seeing the miserable state Baby-5 was in after eating hers; his heart was filled with trepidation.

Just how disgusting can this Devil Fruit be? Despite his anxiety, for the sake of the Devil Fruit's miraculous power, Buffalo encouraged himself internally: Baby-5 managed to eat it, I can't be worse than her!

Crunch.

"Blegh!"

"Hahaha!" The laughter of the crowd erupted once again. Having tasted the flavor of a Devil Fruit themselves, everyone felt instantly balanced and at ease.

"Fufufu, then let's adjourn the meeting!"

"Baby-5, Buffalo, develop your fruits well!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

Once they were out, Gray was curious if Baby-5's fruit ability was the same one from the original story.

"Baby-5, what is your fruit ability?"

Hearing this, Baby-5 didn't answer immediately. Instead, she closed her eyes to sense it for a moment before extending her right hand.

As she activated her fruit ability, Baby-5's right hand transformed into a flintlock pistol.

"Gray-sama, mine is the Weapon-Weapon Fruit!"

"That's good!" Gray nodded and began to educate Baby-5 on the direction of her ability development: "Since it's the Weapon-Weapon Fruit, you should be able to transform into every known weapon."

"Ask Trebol for a favor and have the masters at the Family Weapon Workshop teach you about weapon knowledge."

"That way, you can research and develop your abilities on your own later, such as submachine guns, flamethrowers, or ice-cannons."

"Understood, Gray-sama!"