Devil Fruit

Since he had already accepted the fact that he had transmigrated, he had to find a way to survive—and survive without arousing anyone else's suspicions.

After all, he couldn't go around telling everyone he had amnesia, nor could he avoid interacting with others. Besides, this was a world where strength ruled supreme. Without strength, he might not even have a chance to protect himself. The Marines outside might be useful against lackeys, but in the eyes of true experts, those Marine soldiers were still nothing more than lackeys.

Was William a Two-Sword Style swordsman?

William's gaze settled on the two swords hanging on the wall. While grumbling inwardly, he picked up one of them. Still, he thought that perhaps this body had once merely been a One-Sword Style swordsman who simply enjoyed collecting famous blades.

"What a sharp sword!" The moment William touched the blade, fragments of memories related to it flashed through his mind. Though those memories were disordered, he learned that the two swords hanging on the wall were both his personal weapons. Moreover, both of them were Skillful Grade Blades.

So he was a Two-Sword Style swordsman? After learning that he was a swordsman—and a Two-Sword Style swordsman at that—William gained a little more confidence in this body's former strength. If he also knew the Six Powers, could he become a Four-Sword Style swordsman like Kaku from CP9? Just thinking about it, William felt that Four-Sword Style looked incredibly cool.

Still, William believed that he probably knew the Six Powers. Although they were CP9's techniques in the anime, most officers at Marine Headquarters knew at least some of the Six Powers; only their proficiency differed. As a colonel from Marine Headquarters, it was impossible for him not to know them, right?

And hadn't he taken a photo with those two important figures at Marine Headquarters? That meant he came from Marine Headquarters. Being able to take that photo at least proved that he had a good relationship with them. He must have received guidance from the two of them somehow.

"Hmm?" William found a safe in the room. Fortunately, it used a key rather than a password. Otherwise, William, who did not know the password, would have been unable to open it.

There was not much inside the safe: only a pair of handcuffs, a box, and some documents beneath them. Anything kept in a safe was obviously important.

But why would a pair of handcuffs be kept in a safe? Their surface was extremely rough, clearly polished into shape. Yet William quickly thought of Seastone Handcuffs. Only handcuffs made from that rare and hard material would be treated as valuables. However, such handcuffs were specifically meant for Devil Fruit users; using them on ordinary people would be overkill.

These were equipment used to arrest Devil Fruit users. Yet he felt no reaction at all from directly touching the Seastone Handcuffs, which clearly meant this body had not eaten any Devil Fruit before. Otherwise, his body would have gone weak all over. This disappointed William somewhat. He felt that if someone came to the One Piece World and did not eat a Devil Fruit, then the transmigration had been wasted. Although not every strong person was a Devil Fruit user, he still thought having Devil Fruit powers would be much cooler.

However, a Devil Fruit was worth at least one hundred million Beli on the black market, and even then, they were unavailable despite the price. If he could obtain a Devil Fruit, he would not mind becoming a landlubber at all. Devil Fruit users could not swim because of the Sea's Curse, and a person could only eat one Devil Fruit, or they would suffer a backlash and explode to death.

What made William even more curious was the exquisite large box beside it. He wondered whether it contained jewelry or gold.

Of course, whatever was inside now belonged to William personally. He immediately opened the box to see what treasure it contained. But after opening it, William found no gold, silver, or jewels inside as he had imagined. There was only a fruit with strange patterns.

William stared excitedly at the fruit in the box, drool even running from the corner of his mouth. That fruit was not something delicious. On the contrary, it was universally acknowledged to taste awful. Yet faced with this universally despised thing, William could not help drooling!

That was right—it was a Devil Fruit! William had never imagined that there would actually be a Devil Fruit aboard his ship. This was something that could rapidly increase one's strength. For the current William, strength was the most important thing. Only with sufficient strength could he survive in this world filled with dangers.

Why had this body's previous owner not eaten this Devil Fruit? He should not have been a Devil Fruit user. William could not sense any unusual changes in his body, and he felt no discomfort while holding the Seastone Handcuffs either—unless those were not Seastone Handcuffs at all. But that clearly made no sense. Why would ordinary handcuffs be stored somewhere so important?

Perhaps this body's former owner simply did not want to become a Devil Fruit user. Devil Fruit powers were certainly tempting, but not everyone was interested in them. Especially for people who pursued pure physical combat power, Devil Fruits were fundamentally unnecessary. Since the former owner had been a skilled swordsman, perhaps he truly disdained eating one.

But William clearly could not resist the temptation of a Devil Fruit. From the moment he accepted that he had transmigrated to the One Piece World, he had hoped to obtain one.

But a person could only eat one Devil Fruit, and he did not have a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. William had no way of knowing what power this Devil Fruit possessed.

Could it be that this body's former owner had seen the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and knew that this fruit was unsuitable for him, which was why he had not eaten it? Without a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, however, one could not determine a Devil Fruit's power merely from its patterns. One could not even tell whether it was a Logia, Paramecia, or Zoan.

There were no useless Devil Fruits, only weak users! William repeated those words over and over in his heart. He believed that any fruit could become powerful if developed properly.

Even if William obtained the legendary Devil Fruit Encyclopedia through the Marine intelligence network, it would only record Devil Fruit powers that had appeared before. Devil Fruit powers that had never appeared could not possibly be recorded in it.

So William was gambling on his luck. If he was lucky, he might get a good power. It was even possible that he could obtain a Logia ability.

But after eating a Devil Fruit, he would have to face the weakness of the sea. Even so, countless pirates and Marines still hoped to become Devil Fruit users. No matter how hard many people trained, they could never break through their physical limits, while a Devil Fruit was equivalent to gaining another option.

For example, One Piece's protagonist Luffy developed Gear Second and Gear Third through the Rubber Fruit, allowing him to unleash power beyond his own limits.

But for William, even though he did not know what power the Devil Fruit in his hand possessed, he still resolved without hesitation to eat it. In his eyes, only an idiot would leave a Devil Fruit uneaten. Train honestly? He did not know how talented this body was. If his training reached a bottleneck, then developing Devil Fruit powers would be the best way to increase his strength.

Besides, having another trump card gave him an extra measure of security. He might become a landlubber, but he had never been good at swimming anyway. As long as he stayed on land as much as possible in the future, it would be fine.

"Blergh!" William nearly vomited after taking just one bite. Though he had prepared himself mentally, it was still unbelievably disgusting. Fortunately, one bite was enough to gain the power. Otherwise, William might have given up entirely. This thing did not just taste bad—it tasted deadly.

Looking at the Devil Fruit in his hand with a bite taken out of it, William tossed it back into the box. Once someone had tasted a Devil Fruit, they would never forget its flavor for the rest of their life. At this moment, merely seeing the Devil Fruit made William nauseated. That was enough to show just how terrible it tasted.

A moment later, William discovered that his consciousness had somehow appeared inside a castle. It was a very crude castle. Moreover, his consciousness could freely control it, creating and manipulating tables and chairs at will. He could even turn the crude castle into something luxurious and extravagant.

He could freely alter his body and the surrounding environment with his consciousness alone. This was somewhat similar to a Logia's elemental transformation. Had he obtained a Logia Devil Fruit power?

But why did the scenery outside the castle look so familiar? It also seemed somewhat strange! It was as if everything outside had grown enormous!

No, that was not right! Could this castle be his body? William quickly realized that the fruit power he had gained was not a Logia, but a Paramecia. And this ability reminded William of one particular Paramecia Devil Fruit—the Castle-Castle Fruit.

In the original anime, the Castle-Castle Fruit belonged to one of the eleven Supernovas who debuted alongside Luffy, the captain of the Fire Tank Pirates from the West Blue—"Gang" Capone Bege.

But how had "Gang" Capone Bege's Castle-Castle Fruit appeared on his warship? Could he be in the West Blue now? Or had he already entered the Grand Line?

Gol D. Roger's name was derived from gold and the Jolly Roger pirate flag.