Twisted Fruit

As Truk swallowed the Hami melon-shaped Devil Fruit, a purplish tint suddenly appeared on his face. He looked as though he had been poisoned and began retching on the spot.

"Looks like that thing really tastes worse than dog shit."

Luo Ze raised an eyebrow. That was one of the reasons he did not want to eat a Devil Fruit. Something that tasted worse than dog shit was simply too terrifying.

Truk quickly came back to his senses, though his expression was unpleasant. It seemed that revolting taste had thoroughly disgusted him.

He squeezed his body but found no unusual changes. It seemed this fruit did not turn his body into rubber like the Gum-Gum Fruit.

"Strange, why hasn't anything changed? Don't tell me I ate a fake Devil Fruit."

Truk muttered to himself. He found it odd—he had eaten a Devil Fruit, yet there was not even the slightest reaction.

"Try throwing a few punches."

He swiftly assumed a stance again, drawing back his arms, clenching both fists, and punching several times into the air.

His punches were remarkably powerful. Each strike created a faint gust of wind. Yet when his fist reached the end of its arc, a strange phenomenon appeared.

The patch of air he struck seemed to undergo a slight mutation in that instant. The air began to twist back upon itself, gradually becoming distorted.

"Hm?"

Truk raised an eyebrow and reached out to grab a seat beside him. To his surprise, the moment his palm touched it, the seat began twisting back upon itself before warping apart. In less than half a second, it looked as though it had become a twisted dough stick.

"Twisted Fruit?"

Luo Ze muttered to himself.

He had read of such an ability in a tome that recorded Devil Fruits. It seemed capable of twisting anything. If developed to its limit, perhaps it could even twist gravity, twist time, and so on.

"Wow! What an incredible ability!"

"This ability should be called a twisting ability, right? That's terrifying! If any swordsman encounters Truk in the future, the moment he grabs their blade, it'll turn into a twisted dough stick."

""

The pirates below were all shocked by what they had seen. This ability was incredibly powerful—it could twist anything.

"Hmph, that damned bastard. I should've made a move sooner."

Kid was also somewhat frustrated. Had he known the ability was this powerful, he would have bought it no matter the cost. Though he could not eat it himself, he still had companions!

"That idiot got it for nothing."

Truk soon returned to his seat. However, after obtaining this powerful ability, he felt as though his strength had risen considerably.

He had always relied on hand-to-hand combat, and with this ability, he would be even more formidable in close-quarters combat.

Remembering how he had casually ruined a seat with one hand, he felt smug. Now, those so-called swordsmen were no match for him. If they truly fought, one slap from him would turn any sword into a twisted dough stick.

And swordsmen without swords were nothing to fear!

He turned his gaze toward Luo Ze, his expression faintly mocking.

"Hmph, he's already getting carried away just because he gained an ability?"

Luo Ze frowned. This Truk seemed to think himself invincible beneath the heavens after gaining his ability.

Still, he quickly withdrew his gaze. The auction was still underway, so he would first see whether there was anything worthwhile. As for that idiot named Truk, if he had any ill intentions toward him, Luo Ze would not mind sending him to his grave.

The Twisted Fruit was indeed powerful, but whether an idiot of Truk's caliber could even hit him was another matter entirely.

"Haha! It seems our first auction winner has been very fortunate and acquired this unparalleled ability. All right, next up is our second auction item."

The man on the auction stage quickly clapped his hands. After calling to his subordinates a few times, the second auction item was soon brought out.

However, the second item was nothing remarkable—merely a fairly powerful cannon. Luo Ze had no interest in it.

The next several auction items were equally ordinary. Luo Ze and Ellie remained where they were, waiting without leaving.

He knew that once these useless items were sold, the final few lots would be the true treasures of this auction.

As that thought crossed Luo Ze's mind, the auction finally entered its final stretch.

The second-to-last auction item was a blade.

One of the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades—a cursed sword named Snow Joy!

The moment the blade appeared, many pirates who used swords fixed their eyes on it, their gazes filled with intense greed.

To swordsmen like them, the quality of a blade was immensely important.

Yet most of them could only use Skillful Grade Blades that were only slightly better than ordinary swords.

It was their first time encountering such a sharp Great Grade Blade.

In an instant, many pirates' eyes turned red.

"I have to get that sword!"

"Start the bidding already! What's the opening price?"

""

The pirates shouted impatiently at the man on the stage.

"Haha, then the auction for Snow Joy officially begins! The starting price is 130 million Beli. Same rules as always: each bid must increase by no less than 10 million Beli. All right, the auction begins now!"

The man on stage shouted excitedly as well. It seemed he was about to make another fortune.

"140 million Beli!"

"150 million Beli!"

"160 million Beli!"

""

The swordsmen frantically raised the price. A good blade was incomparably important to them; even if it meant losing everything, they would absolutely buy it.

Before long, this group of crazed swordsmen had driven the price of the cursed blade Snow Joy up to 200 million Beli—higher than the Devil Fruit that had appeared at the start of the auction.

Once the price reached 200 million Beli, many swordsmen fell silent and stopped bidding. They simply had no more money to raise the price.

"Cursed blade Snow Joy... the name's pretty nice, but it's a cursed blade. I wonder if there'll be any problems if Ellie uses it."

Luo Ze had taken a liking to the cursed blade as well, though he did not intend to use it himself. He already had his own sword. While it had not yet reached the level of a famed blade, it could be upgraded, so Snow Joy held little appeal for him.

Ellie, on the other hand, had only just begun practicing swordsmanship, so Luo Ze had never gotten her a good sword. The name Snow Joy was rather elegant, and its blade was fairly short, making it very suitable for Ellie.

Still, the fact that it was a cursed blade gave Luo Ze a headache. He did not know whether Ellie would be able to handle it.

"Forget it. I'll buy it first and worry about that later."

Luo Ze stopped dwelling on it and quickly made up his mind.

Last month, he had run into several pirate crews at sea and robbed them all, so he still had some funds on hand. Buying Snow Joy should not be a problem.