The Best Helmsman of the Century!

Let the ship spirit eat the Storm-Storm Fruit, which could control storms!

The idea had suddenly flashed through Kael's mind when he saw Tiga hauling cannonballs.

As a ship spirit, Tiga already possessed the ability to control the ship's direction of travel...

If he paired that with a fruit power capable of creating storms, allowing him to conjure wind from nothing and propel the ship...

Then this pirate ship of his would absolutely become the fastest and most agile sailing vessel in the world!!!

Of course, this was only a spur-of-the-moment idea. Before putting it into practice, there were still a few questions Kael needed to confirm.

With a thought, he gave Little Tiga a friendly smile.

"Little Tiga, do you know about Devil Fruits?"

"Devil Fruits?"

Little Tiga tilted his head, looking adorable.

"I do~"

"Devil Fruits are treasures of the sea. If you eat one, you can gain mysterious powers!"

"But at the same time, those with powers will be hated by the sea!"

"I also know that there's one such Devil Fruit in the captain's room~"

The ship spirit, who possessed only a child's mentality, answered his captain's question with utmost seriousness.

Beneath his hood, a pure smile appeared—enough to make even meat-loving women unable to resist.

Hearing Tiga's answer, Kael's face immediately lit up, and he hurriedly praised him.

"That's right! As expected of my ship spirit, you're so smart~!"

Sure enough, creatures like ship spirits possessed innate knowledge.

Kael did not know whether it was inherited memories passed down through ship spirits or knowledge conveyed through the memories of crew members...

But with this basic knowledge, Tiga would undoubtedly save Kael a great deal of explaining in the questions to come.

After praising him a few times, Kael immediately asked the question that concerned him most.

"So, if Little Tiga eats a Devil Fruit, and then the Tiga comes into contact with seawater..."

"As a ship spirit, would you become weak and be unable to use your powers?"

Letting a ship spirit eat a Devil Fruit was undoubtedly an idea even bolder than filming in one continuous take.

But if eating a Devil Fruit caused the pirate ship to become weak and powerless the moment it touched seawater, that would be a huge problem!

Fortunately.

After pondering for a moment and thinking it over seriously, Little Tiga gave Kael an answer that delighted him immensely.

"Um... no, Captain Kael."

"Although I am the embodiment of the Tiga, the connection between a ship spirit and its ship is a force similar to the soul and spirit, not something biological in nature."

"So Devil Fruits will not affect both the ship spirit and the ship at the same time."

With a serious expression like Conan's, Little Tiga answered Kael's question.

Upon hearing this explanation, Kael immediately beamed.

"That's wonderful!"

"Come with me, Little Tiga!"

He slammed his fist into his palm with one hand, anticipation gleaming in his eyes.

After learning that the system could make him stronger and even grant him special powers, Kael naturally would not choose a Devil Fruit with such an obvious weakness.

Thus, this highly valuable Storm-Storm Fruit had only two possible destinations.

One was to sell it at an auction house in exchange for a large amount of Beli;

The other was to keep it until he encountered a suitable crew member and let them use it.

And now, the appearance of the ship spirit Tiga perfectly fit the second scenario!

If he did not use the Storm-Storm Fruit now, then when would he!?

Seeing Kael enter the captain's cabin, Little Tiga, in his spirit form, suddenly turned translucent and followed him to the railing outside the captain's cabin.

Before he could step into the captain's cabin,

Kael had already returned to him with the Storm-Storm Fruit in hand.

"Try it. See if you can eat it."

A blue-green spiral-patterned fruit was held out before Little Tiga.

"Huh!?"

"Captain Kael, do you want to give this Devil Fruit to me?"

Little Tiga cried out in surprise, his tone clearly becoming a little happier.

However, he obviously did not understand the practical value of a Devil Fruit. He simply saw it as a gift from Kael, and that made him happy.

And since his captain's task was for him to eat the Devil Fruit, he would naturally carry it out seriously.

The translucent Little Tiga suddenly jumped down from the railing.

At that moment, Kael distinctly heard the sound of something landing.

He instantly understood that Little Tiga had entered his physical state.

Watching him take the Storm-Storm Fruit from his hand and bite into it without hesitation, Kael inexplicably felt a little nervous.

After all, there was no precedent in the pirate world for a ship spirit eating a Devil Fruit. He had no idea whether his plan would actually work.

After swallowing, the ship spirit showed no particular expression and continued eating the remaining flesh, so Kael immediately asked curiously:

"How does it taste?"

"Hm?"

Little Tiga raised his head, still chewing nonstop as he replied indistinctly:

"Sorry, Captain Kael. I do not possess the sense of taste of a normal organism, so I cannot answer that question."

"Oh, oh~ That's good too, that's good."

Though he felt that a ship spirit unable to taste delicious food was rather pitiful, at least Little Tiga had not answered, "Like eating shit." That was fortunate enough.

After a while, Little Tiga finally swallowed the entire blue-green spiral fruit, which was a full fifth of his height.

Before Kael could ask again, a breeze suddenly began to swirl around Little Tiga.

He waved his little arm as if he were playing.

In an instant!

The storm surged, forming a sideways tornado that crashed toward the sea beside the ship!

The next moment, a spiraling column of water rose up like a giant python lifting its head from the sea. It let out a tearing roar at the distant ocean before slowly dissipating over the waves.

"It worked!!?"

Watching Little Tiga truly use the power of the Storm-Storm Fruit, Kael immediately relaxed, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.

Then, he pulled a compass and a nautical chart covering most of the East Blue from his inventory.

After briefly confirming the direction based on the location of Aksi Island's port, Kael immediately pointed in one direction and smiled.

"Come on, Little Tiga. Next, let's test out your newly acquired power!"

"From now on, use your fruit power and head full speed in that direction!"

"No problem, Captain!!!"

Having received another command, Little Tiga's lips curved upward.

He did not appear to do anything, yet the ship silently began to turn.

Little Tiga's figure flickered, and he moved directly from the entrance of the captain's cabin to the lookout tower, standing steadily atop the railing.

The next second.

The previously calm sea suddenly began to churn with rolling waves.

The still sails swelled at that moment as well.

The gale surged, yet it was miraculously divided into upper and lower layers.

One blew against the sails, while the other pushed the waves.

Yet on the ship's deck, there was not even the slightest trace of wind pressure.

Clearly, the storm around the ship had all fallen within Tiga's control!

Ripples flickered in Kael's dark eyes.

If the ship's previous speed had been like riding a bicycle, then their current speed was at least that of an electric motorcycle!

Their speed had increased by more than three times!

This had clearly surpassed the normal sailing speed of an ordinary sailboat!

And that was only because the ship spirit had just eaten the fruit.

The ship spirit created by the system, just like Kael himself, possessed limitless potential!

Once the Tiga's level rose in the future and its crew grew larger, the ship spirit's power would surely be enhanced.

By then, perhaps the Tiga could even become a ship capable of traveling through the sky!

Moreover, Tiga possessed the passive ability to turn intangible, so he would not fear seawater, Seastone, or other things that restrained Devil Fruit users.

The more Kael thought about it, the more perfect he found this decision!

As expected of me. I sure have plenty of clever ideas!

He silently gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart!

Kael believed...

There could not possibly be a better use for this Storm-Storm Fruit than this!!!

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it next time!