"Ugh."
"Mm~" He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from throwing up, forcing himself to swallow the mouthful of fruit.
"It's so, so, so disgusting!" Even though he knew Devil Fruits tasted awful and had mentally prepared himself, the moment Gray took a bite, the taste was worse than he'd imagined.
It was like soaking a pair of stinky socks in black garlic and canned herring for ten days or half a month.
Gray could hardly describe that ultimate combination of flavors.
"Make sure you develop this fruit's abilities properly!" Seeing Gray eat it, Doflamingo, who already knew what the fruit could do, gave him a reminder before leading everyone out of the room.
"Oh, right. Once your injuries no longer keep you from moving, go call Shark Chili over. The family will help train him." Doflamingo knew what the Spin-Spin Fruit could do from the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia owned by the Celestial Dragons. He intended to train Gray as a mobile combat officer.
Throughout history, every Spin-Spin Fruit User had relied on external objects to give himself the ability to fly.
In the conventional view, the Spin-Spin Fruit was nothing special!
But Gray had a different idea!
The Spin-Spin Fruit could be considered a rule-based fruit, even stronger than the Slippery-Slippery Fruit, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, and others.
Back in the Dressrosa arc in his previous life, when he saw Buffalo's abilities, Gray, who loved the mysterious and unpredictable powers of the Devil Fruits in One Piece, had already started making guesses and thinking up ways to develop them.
Of course, he hadn't only thought about the Spin-Spin Fruit back then. People had discussed the abilities of other Devil Fruit Users on the forums, too.
But that's a tangent. Back to the point!
In the One Piece world, where the average person was illiterate, the Spin-Spin Fruit could only be seen as a simple flight ability.
But in Gray's eyes, it wasn't merely about making things spin.
The Spin-Spin Fruit made objects spin—that was how the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia described it.
"It's not just objects that can spin. Other things can, too!" Gray, having received the fruit's information, couldn't help exclaiming.
"If it only made objects spin, then the ways to develop it really would be limited. But what if it could do more than that?" At that thought, the first thing Gray considered was a magnetic field!
Why couldn't a magnetic field rotate?
For a Spin-Spin Fruit User, this was the most powerful and suitable path for developing the fruit.
"For Paramecia users, the first thing they need is an idea. Only then can they develop their abilities in that direction." Having just eaten the Devil Fruit and inhabiting a child's body, Gray didn't have the stamina to support developing magnetic fields.
"Magnetic fields are one possibility, but wouldn't force fields be easier?" At that thought, Gray's mind instantly cleared.
"Gravity exists everywhere on a planet, and that's the simplest example of a force field at work."
"If I make my own force field rotate, then flying and controlling gravity will be easy!" Now that he had a direction, he could start developing his ability toward it.
"Gray-sama!"
"Gray-sama!"
Gray snapped back to the present and turned to look at baby-5. "Huh? What's wrong, baby-5?"
With her eyes wide, baby-5 asked curiously, "Gray-sama, what happened just now?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how to develop my fruit."
At that, baby-5's eyes sparkled. "That sounds really amazing."
"Is there anything I can help with, Gray-sama?"
Seeing baby-5 looking ready to do anything he asked, Gray thought about her unhappy childhood and found it hard to refuse her.
After all, what kind of pervert could refuse a little girl?
"Perfect. I'm going to the beach. Let's go together!"
"I'll call Shark Chili back, and you can meet him, too."
"Sure!" With a radiant smile, baby-5 led the way out.
Stepping outside, Gray looked around. Apart from the two-story building where they were staying, everything nearby was silent.
"The White Town, Flevance?" Once he recognized the location from his memories, Gray could only sigh. "What a tragic country!"
"Lead Amber Disease, and the fate of being wiped out!" At the thought, Gray's feelings changed completely.
In his previous life, sitting in front of a screen, all he could do was get angry—and then vent his anger.
But now that he was truly living in this world, the thought of that fate of destruction filled him with dread.
Back then, in front of a screen, no matter how inhuman the World Government acted, all he could do was complain. But now, here in this world, without strength, Flevance's fate would be his own.
Not to mention, he'd already experienced it firsthand once in his predecessor's memories.
That real experience made him understand the importance of strength even more clearly.
"Only strength can prevent tragedies like this!" Clenching his fist, Gray renewed his resolve.
If he wanted to live well in this world, Gray had set himself two goals for now.
First: train his body hard and develop his fruit, doing everything he could to gain strength—or, in other words, grow stronger than anyone!
Second: beautiful women, to help the Fullbuster Family thrive and grow.
With those two things, he'd have no regrets in this life!
As they walked toward the harbor, Gray tried to feel gravity's effect on him and use his fruit ability to rotate his own gravitational field.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time. The distance from their lodgings to the beach was barely a kilometer.
After looking around, Gray chose a spot that was relatively high.
He pressed the tips of his index finger and thumb together, put them in his mouth, and whistled. "Whew~"
The loud whistle rang across the entire harbor. Unfortunately, on this deserted island, aside from the Donquixote Family, everyone else had fled, terrified of the contagious Lead Amber Disease that the World Government had publicized.
"Whew~" Gray whistled five times in a row before stopping. It helped carry the sound farther, but it was also the signal he used to contact Shark Chili.
"baby-5, stand back a little. The waves are going to get pretty big!"
"Sure, Gray-sama!" baby-5 trotted behind Gray, watching the sea curiously.
After waiting quietly for ten minutes, the water in front of Gray began to boil.
"Boom!" The sea surged skyward, and a shadow fell over the two of them.
They looked up and saw a twenty-meter-long "giant serpent." But this serpent was a little different from the giant snakes Gray remembered from his previous life.
It had a shark's head and a serpent's body. Most of its scales were black, with white ones scattered among them.
Those white scales were actually a manifestation of its electric eel genes.
"Choo-mi~" Despite its fearsome shark head and sharp teeth, it made a cute sound.
"Long time no see, Shark Chili!"
"Choo-mi!" Shark Chili lowered its body, gently pressing its toddler-sized head against Gray's palm.
"We won't be leaving this time. We can stay together from now on!"
"Choo-mi."
"I'll take that as a yes." Laughing, Gray patted Shark Chili's head. "This time, you'll have food and lodging covered!"
"We won't have to run around or hide like before."
"Besides, you're still a little one. Hunting sea beasts in the North Blue would be a hassle, and you might not even be able to beat them. You'll be fine in a few years!"
"Choo-mi?" Shark Chili tilted its head in confusion, having no idea what its friend was talking about. Its simple mind only wanted to be with Gray.
"Climb aboard. I'll take you to a feast!" Gray beckoned Shark Chili to follow, took baby-5 by the hand, and led the way back to their base.
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