The Fruit Obtained

Rustle, rustle...

"We can't go any farther..."

At the edge of the dense forest, Reg stopped... Although they had masked most of their scent by other means, both of them were injured and unable to bathe.

A few hundred meters ahead was where the wolf pack gathered... There were roughly 00 wolves, led by a white wolf.

The result of rock-paper-scissors was unsurprisingly that Reg had "lost"... Jabra was naturally overwhelmed with gratitude.

In at most another hour, the light would fade... The wolves would begin moving about and searching for their tracks.

"Are you ready?" Reg looked at Jabra.

"Ready." Jabra nodded seriously.

The plan they had settled on was not complicated... Jabra would lure away the strongest white wolf, while Reg would steal the dark red, pineapple-shaped fruit and hand it over to him.

After all, the white wolf was still quite dangerous to Reg... The rest of the pack would be much easier to deal with.

Smack... After completing their high-five, the two took off running wildly, startling countless animals along the way.

As Reg ran with the wind, his blood boiled... Honestly, he had not killed enough.

That battle in the morning alone had made him clearly feel his strength increasing... Sure enough, only battles brushing against life and death could stimulate a person's potential to the greatest extent.

The strong were not made through training alone, but forged through battle after battle... Although this operation was somewhat risky, Reg welcomed it wholeheartedly.

The opponents he would face in the future would be hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times more terrifying than this wolf pack... If he did not even have this much courage, there was no point considering anything else.

"Ahhh... White wolf, get out here!!"

Jabra, charging ahead like a cannonball, rushed straight into the wolf pack. The dagger in his hand instantly killed three wolves on the outskirts.

Awoo...!

The white wolf, which had discovered them before they arrived, came charging from nearby, murderous intent blazing in its scarlet eyes: Today, it had to kill this intruder!

While Jabra drew the attention of most of the wolf pack, Reg quickly headed toward the place Jabra had mentioned.

Clang, clang, clang... The wolves blocking his path were clearly much more cautious.

But as Reg pushed deeper in, the wolves began to grow frantic... The direction this human was heading was where the cubs were.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... Abandoning defense and evasion, the wolves launched their attacks without hesitation.

Surrounded by the pack, Reg did not slow down. He would rather be clawed than lose speed because of it... If he stopped here, he truly would not be able to run again.

Awoo...!

Another, slightly smaller white wolf appeared on Reg's only path forward... The white wolf's mate.

"Come on!!"

Knowing he had reached the final hurdle, Reg's speed suddenly surged.

Whoosh!

A white shadow flashed past. At the critical moment... Reg's hairs stood on end, and he followed his body's instinct, tilting aside.

He avoided the she-wolf's bloody jaws, but her sharp claws still left a shallow wound on Reg's neck... Coming within mere millimeters of death sent the blood in Reg's body surging.

"Hehe... I didn't die! Got it!"

Crash... As Reg rolled, he snatched the Devil Fruit from the fruits gathered by the wolf pack and fled the area where the wolf cubs were without looking back.

The wolf pack did not eat only meat... Besides, the leader of a pack of brown wolves being a white wolf was strange no matter how one looked at it.

Reg had no time to study why... He would just treat it as Jabra's lucky opportunity.

Watching Reg escape, the she-wolf let out a low growl... The surrounding wolves stopped their pursuit and began tightening their defensive perimeter.

"Whew... Just as expected, they didn't chase me."

Listening to the roars in the distance, Reg took a detour before breaking into a sprint... The pineapple-like fruit in his hand was clearly an "abnormal" product.

The spiral patterns on it... were far too bizarre.

Otherwise, Jabra would not have recognized this special fruit after just one glance.

As Reg sprinted onward, the two observing instructors spoke again.

"Can your student resist the temptation?" Henry teased.

"I'm not sure..."

Colin stroked his chin... If Reg went back on his word, that would be truly disappointing.

Traitors, no matter where they were... were despised. No one wanted to be stabbed in the back by their own people while carrying out a mission.

"He's here... Impressive, he didn't keep it for himself!"

"Good kid!"

Colin gazed into the distance... Though Reg was red-faced, drenched in sweat, and panting heavily from running, he still headed straight toward Jabra.

In his arms was a dark red fruit shaped like a pineapple, its colors strange and unnatural.

"It's my first time seeing such a thing... So this really exists." Henry sighed.

"You think Devil Fruit users just appear out of nowhere?" Colin curled his lip... he had never seen the real thing either.

After all, anyone who obtained a fruit would usually eat it immediately... even if a few fruits occasionally circulated on the black market, they would be bought up very quickly.

"Reg!"

"Behind you!"

Tempted by the fruit and moved by Reg keeping his promise... Jabra, who had come to rendezvous according to the original plan, got too excited and overlooked the threat of the white wolf.

Seizing the opportunity, the white wolf lunged in for a vicious bite... Jabra reacted in time and desperately leaned forward, narrowly avoiding the fatal attack.

Rip... the white wolf raised its claws and carved a huge wound across his back.

Clang!

As Reg rushed over, he tossed down the fruit and swung his dagger... crack!

The dagger he had traded from Jabra shattered just like that... Reg regretted it deeply. Why hadn't he applied for another dagger back then?!

Whoosh... Reg barely dodged the sweeping wolf claws with an extreme backbend, then rapidly rolled away after falling to the ground.

"Are you done yet?!"

"Ugh... it tastes awful!! Is this like eating shit?! Awooo...!"

Before Jabra could finish speaking, he started howling like a wolf... his thin body abruptly swelled as if pumped full of steroids, growing nearly to an adult's size.

"..."

Jabra's wolf howl had temporarily pulled him out of danger, but Reg's face darkened... had this guy eaten shit before? Just how terrible did a Devil Fruit taste?

Rustle... a gust swept past, and the surrounding wolf pack began to retreat.

Having transformed into his beast form, Jabra's black pupils turned crimson as he stared coldly at the white wolf.

But the next second, he returned to human form, then shifted into a human-beast form: wolf nose, wolf claws, human body... it really was a Zoan-type fruit.

"Turn back already!"

"Awoo..."

With a wolfish cry, Jabra transformed back into his beast form... only then did the surrounding wolves seem to wake from a dream.

They looked at one another... then collectively turned to look at Jabra. He was still a wolf?!

"Has this turned into an internal conflict...?"

"Reg, leave the rest to me... awooo!"

Howling, Jabra charged at the white wolf... one large and one small, one white and one black, the two ferocious wolves collided in midair.

Thud... Jabra, who was several sizes larger, quickly got back on his feet and launched another attack.

The snarling white wolf opened its jaws wide, and Jabra did the same... splurt!

Blood sprayed out at the same time. Reg lay motionless on the grass... he had no intention of moving around and drawing the wolf pack's attack.

Bang! Bang! Bang!... Jabra and the white wolf collided again and again, leaving deep wounds on each other's bodies.

Reg's eyes followed the man and wolf without blinking... this was the power of a Devil Fruit. It was truly incredible.