Fruit Will and Compatibility

After everyone finished eating and Jora finished clearing the table with the three little ones, they began to discuss recent events within the family.

As the person in charge of family logistics, Torrebol spoke first: "Neh neh neh! Doffy~ a shipment from Sweet Potato Island was intercepted by a group of bold pirates. This matter needs someone to handle it!"

"Fufufufu." Supporting his forehead, Doflamingo was almost amused to the point of laughter by these foolish thieves: "No matter the era, no matter the time, there are always some idiots who will challenge consequences they cannot handle!"

"Did the intelligence say which pirate crew it was?"

"According to the information sent by my subordinates, it is a pirate crew called the Greybeard Pirates, and the captain has a bounty of~ 35 million berries!"

"Fufufufu, it seems we haven't made a move in so long that any stray cat or dog wants to come and pull the tiger's whiskers."

"Gladius!"

Gladius adjusted his mask and pulled on his gloves, looking ready for action: "Present, Young Master!"

"You go and make a trip!"

"No problem, Young Master! Let me present them with a magnificent funeral!" As he spoke, Gladius had already risen and walked toward the door.

"Wait!" Catching sight of the three little ones out of the corner of his eye, Doflamingo called out to Gladius.

Gladius: ?

"What is it, Young Master!"

Glancing at the three little ones, Doflamingo thought to himself: Gray is injured and cannot travel, and I still need him to pacify the newly arrived Shark Chili.

"Baby-5, Buffalo! You two go with Gladius and get a good look at this cruel world!"

"Yes!"

"Ah? Me?" Buffalo was stunned; he pointed at himself and looked at Doflamingo in confusion.

"Go! Gladius~ take them with you!"

Gladius: "Yes, Young Master!"

"Kids, keep up!"

Although she was surprised by this sudden event, Baby-5 quickly followed and said to Gray: "Gray-sama, wait for my return!"

"Alright! Be careful out there. If you encounter danger, remember to hide and wait for Gladius to handle it before coming out!" Gray quickly whispered his instructions.

"I know, Gray-sama!" Feeling this kind of concern, if time hadn't been so pressing, Baby-5 felt she might have fallen into a daze of infatuation again.

After the three of them left, the cafeteria fell into a silence!

Gray felt the atmosphere was so heavy it made him uncomfortable all over, so he quickly looked for an opportunity to slip away: "Hiss~ my head hurts a bit, I'm heading back first!"

As he spoke, Gray stood up and left, exiting the door under the gaze of everyone.

"Phew~ why make it so heavy!" Patting his chest, Gray complained with a look of dissatisfaction.

In this situation, as a small fry, Gray had no say and no confidence to keep sitting there, so he could only choose to protect himself and leave.

"Forget it! I might as well go back and develop my fruit ability!" Taking two steps at a time, he quickly returned to the small courtyard next door.

"Chumi~" Shark Chili, having swallowed a large mouthful of bloody beast meat, looked at Gray in confusion and used his tail to push the last remaining piece of meat in front of him toward Gray.

Gray quickly waved his hands: "No need, you just eat yours!"

"Chumi!"

After parting ways with Shark Chili, Gray returned to his bedroom, sat on the bed, and closed his eyes to contemplate.

Well~ it wasn't exactly contemplation!

He was using his fruit ability to sense the gravity acting upon his own body.

If one cannot even feel the force field, how can one talk about rotating the force field?

Developing a fruit ability is not something that can be done with just a "I think I can" attitude.

Gray didn't know how other fruit abilities were developed, but he understood the method for developing his own.

Only by feeling it can one rotate it.

This~ was Gray's development strategy, or rather, the necessary condition.

Time passed quietly; Gray didn't feel any gravity, but he felt the sleepiness quite clearly.

"Hey! Lying down~ shouldn't interfere with sensing gravity, right?" Sitting was really quite uncomfortable, so Gray decided to change his posture.

After convincing himself in his heart, Gray lay straight down.

After an unknown amount of time passed, the quiet room became completely still.

Taking a closer look~ whoa!

He had fallen straight asleep!

And after Gray fell asleep, on another unknown level, the ignorant will of the Spin-Spin Fruit~ finally awakened under Gray's tireless use.

In this world, Devil Fruits all possess a will, though the strength of that will varies from fruit to fruit.

The most typical ones~ are the Zoan-type Devil Fruits; Zoan fruit wills are active, restless, and powerful. They are the easiest to awaken~ and also the most dangerous to awaken.

The wills of other Logia and Paramecia fruits possess a certain inertia, making them difficult to awaken and relatively less dangerous.

As for the will of the Spin-Spin Fruit, although it was lazy and reluctant to move, one could hardly blame it; after all, despite its immense power, it had been disparaged as nothing more than a "helicopter fruit" that required external objects to function.

How could it possibly endure such an insult!

Therefore, whenever a user consumed it, it would merely wake up to sense the direction of their development before falling back into a disappointed slumber.

But this time, having just awakened and received Gray's ideas for its development, its drowsy spirit was instantly invigorated.

"Family, who gets it!"

"Finally, someone who understands me!" This was likely the most genuine thought the Spin-Spin Fruit had at this very moment.

"Rest assured, since you understand me, I will never let you lose!" In order to let itself shine with a different brilliance, the Spin-Spin Fruit decided to cooperate with Gray with all its might.

This was the best opportunity it had encountered since its birth, and it might also be its last.

Only when Gray became stronger would his reputation resound across this sea, and the human intent that brought would, in turn, be of immense benefit to the fruit.

When a fruit cooperates with its user, it is known on this sea as "compatibility."

There has always been a saying in this world: Devil Fruits have wills, and they choose their users.

In truth, this is simply the fruit's will finding the user agreeable and choosing to cooperate.

More powerful fruit wills will even manipulate themselves to escape, such as the Nika Fruit.

The morning sun shone through the window glass onto Gray's youthful face. His eyelashes fluttered, and he woke up in a daze: "Augh~"

He stretched, his mind becoming fully alert.

"Eh!"

"I think... I was supposed to be developing my fruit ability?" He scratched his cheek in embarrassment, his flexible modern-day bottom line allowing him to convince himself instantly: "Well, abilities aren't developed in a single day."

"I'll just work hard today, carrying over yesterday's tasks!" After getting up, dressing, and quickly washing up, Gray went downstairs and headed toward the neighboring building.

"Chumi!"

"Oh! Good morning, Shark Chili!" After greeting Shark Chili, Gray arrived at the cafeteria.

"Good morning, Aunt Jora!"

Jora, who was busy studying art at the table, tore her gaze away from her work and turned to look at Gray: "Good morning, little brat!"

As a woman, Jora generally didn't get angry at children and often wore a smile.

"Aunt Jora, I'm hungry. Where is breakfast?"

"Over there, help yourself." Jora pointed toward the kitchen: "After you eat, clean up your own dishes!"

"This... is your punishment for being so late!"

Gray: "Ah! No problem."

Cleaning up his own dishes was hardly a punishment at all.

Jora: "Don't wake up so late next time."

"That's only because you're currently injured. At any other time, your training instructor, Diamante, would never let you off so easily."

"Understood, Aunt Jora!"