Benefits, Devil Fruit

Just as Nangong Yan felt he was about to die, he sensed something strange happening to his eyes. Scarlet tears of blood slowly streamed from the corners of his eyes as a bizarre power erupted.

The python's savage head seemed to fall into an unfathomable spatial vortex. Its powerful body was instantly twisted apart and vanished, while foul-smelling snake blood rained down over Nangong Yan.

The crushing force on Nangong Yan instantly disappeared. His body collapsed weakly onto the ground. His once pitch-black pupils had completely changed; mysterious ink-black patterns stood out within blood-red eyes, demonic and enigmatic, as though they could draw one's very soul inside.

"Pant, pant..." Nangong Yan gasped violently, relief at surviving the disaster appearing on his face. "I knew Heaven couldn't be that stingy, dragging me here without giving me anything, only to have me killed."

"People like us transmigrators and reincarnators do get benefits. Though mine came a little late, at least I'm still alive. It's not too much of a loss."

After saying that, Nangong Yan lay motionless on the ground. If not for the rise and fall of his chest, he would have looked like a corpse.

It was not that Nangong Yan did not want to move. He had simply run completely out of strength. That attack had utterly drained his stamina, and he could no longer maintain the Kamui Sharingan. He did not even have the strength to twitch a finger.

Nangong Yan rested anxiously for half an hour, afraid that another wild beast might come. After recovering a little strength, the hunger in his belly tormented him. He licked his cracked lips and looked toward the python's corpse beside him.

"Gulp..." Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Nangong Yan hardened his expression. He grabbed the severed python carcass and bit into the exposed scarlet flesh.

The overwhelming stench of blood made him want to vomit, but the intense hunger in his stomach forced Nangong Yan to swallow the raw meat before he had properly chewed it. Starving to the point of panic, he swallowed a full three pounds of snake meat before finally stopping.

Wiping his blood-covered lips, he dragged the python's corpse toward the shallows, still wanting more. It was only after night had fallen that Nangong Yan found a shelter from the wind and, after tremendous effort, lit a bonfire.

Leaning against the sheltered rock wall, Nangong Yan curled up and slept beside the bonfire for the night. Perhaps he was simply too exhausted, or perhaps the sudden upheaval had left him physically and mentally worn out. For once, he had a good night's sleep.

After waking up, Nangong Yan washed up, took care of his personal business, then used his teeth to tear off a chunk of snake meat and roast it. Afterward, he found a wooden stick and began exploring the island.

If he wanted to live comfortably, he had to gain some understanding of this island. Besides, Nangong Yan was terribly thirsty. He definitely could not drink seawater, and he urgently needed to find fresh water.

After spending most of the day searching, he finally found a small stream. Nangong Yan immediately bent down and gulped the cool, refreshing water, his Adam's apple bobbing rapidly.

Nangong Yan swore that he had never thought such ordinary stream water could taste so good. Champagne, soft drinks, and fine liquor could not compare to how delicious this water was right now.

Only after he felt full did Nangong Yan stand up and plop down onto the grassy bank beside the stream, letting out a satisfied breath.

After more than half a day of scouting, Nangong Yan had gained a preliminary understanding of the island. It was an utterly ordinary island, the kind that was countless across the sea.

The animals on the island were all very ordinary, entirely different from Sea Kings and the animals on the island where Luffy trained his Haki. At Nangong Yan's current height of five feet, as long as he did not court death by provoking large predators and remained careful, surviving would not be a problem.

With a fixed water source, Nangong Yan breathed a huge sigh of relief. At least he no longer had to worry about dying of thirst. Though he was no expert in wilderness survival, he knew a thing or two. It would not be comfortable, but staying alive was no longer a problem.

Over the following week, Nangong Yan began training his body. Since his equipment was rudimentary, he could only do simple exercises such as running, push-ups, and sit-ups.

Nangong Yan knew the importance of stamina. Martial arts, swordsmanship, Haki, and Devil Fruits were all closely tied to stamina. Someone with weak stamina could never become strong.

Furthermore, after giving it some thought, Nangong Yan realized that activating his benefit, the Kamui Sharingan, also came at the cost of stamina. It no longer consumed chakra, though it certainly still consumed mental energy.

Therefore, no matter how he looked at it, Nangong Yan had to train hard and improve his stamina.

This island was extremely remote. Who knew when a ship might pass by? Even if one did, it might not let him aboard, and even if it did, it might be a pirate ship. How could he place all his hopes on luck? If his stamina was sufficient, would it not be convenient and quick to use Kamui to leave this island?

Besides exercising, Nangong Yan had to explore the island, gather food, collect water, and arrange his shelter. He had plenty to do every day, and he would fall asleep the moment he lay down.

Today, Nangong Yan planned to explore the final area of the island. Over the past week, he had already explored roughly seventy to eighty percent of it.

Holding a sharpened wooden stick, Nangong Yan carefully crossed thorny undergrowth, climbed over hills, and avoided wild beasts, arriving at the area farthest from his shelter.

His eyes sharp as an eagle's, Nangong Yan carefully surveyed everything around him. Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a tree, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.

It was a wild fruit tree, its branches laden with yellow fruits the size of plums. Naturally, those wild fruits were not enough to shock Nangong Yan. What stunned him was a banana-shaped fruit hanging quietly from the treetop, crimson all over and covered in strange patterns.

"Devil Fruit!" Nangong Yan cried out, then hurriedly climbed the tree and plucked the Devil Fruit.

He wanted to take a bite, but hesitated. This Devil Fruit was not any kind he remembered. Eating it would be a gamble. If its ability was good, it would be worth it. But if it was a trash ability, he would be at a loss.

Nangong Yan had once seen people online say that coconut-shaped ones were Paramecia, grape-shaped ones were Logia, and banana-shaped ones were Zoan. It did not make much sense, since Devil Fruits came in all kinds of bizarre shapes, but what if it turned out to be true? Most Zoans could not compare to Paramecia or Logia fruits, and he was not Blackbeard—he could not eat two fruits.

After hesitating for a long while, struggle flashed across his face. In the end, Nangong Yan gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and encouraged himself. "To hell with it! I have no way to improve my strength right now. My only support is this Devil Fruit. If the ability is trash, I'll accept it. Besides, isn't there a saying that there are no trash fruits, only trash developers? I refuse to believe that, with my knowledge, I can't develop this fruit properly. I'm doing it!"

Looking as if he had summoned all his courage, Nangong Yan shut his eyes, stuffed the crimson banana with golden patterns into his mouth, and took a bite!

A muffled retching sound came out. Nangong Yan quickly threw away the stick and covered his mouth with both hands, refusing to let himself spit it out. He did not dare chew anymore and swallowed it whole, his face swelling red like a boiled crab.

"Damn, I'd heard Devil Fruits tasted awful, but I never imagined they would taste this awful. Compared to the taste of this Devil Fruit, the snake meat I ate at the start was practically a delicacy!" After finishing the Devil Fruit, Nangong Yan leaned against a tree, looking as though his body had been hollowed out, and spoke weakly.

Although Nangong Yan knew that taking only one bite was enough, he swallowed the whole thing just to be safe. A banana-sized fruit was bearable if he pinched his nose. But something the size of a coconut or watermelon? Forget it.

A few breaths later, information flooded into him. Nangong Yan stood up, threw back his head, and laughed. He extended his right hand, and pale golden flames appeared. The terrifying heat warped the air, while the surrounding vegetation instantly withered. Moisture evaporated at an incredible rate, and in the blink of an eye, everything had turned scorched yellow, all life extinguished.

"That guy had a point. It really is a Zoan—but a Mythical Zoan! The Golden Crow Fruit, the Golden Crow Fruit... It truly is incredibly powerful. I finally have a path to become stronger."

Nangong Yan withdrew the pale golden flames, his face overflowing with ecstasy. The Kamui Sharingan consumed too much stamina at the moment; after using it once, he was too weak to even truss a chicken. It could only save his life and was not a path to becoming stronger at all.

This Mythical Zoan Golden Crow Fruit was the foundation upon which Nangong Yan would grow stronger in the future. It even suited his name quite well!