Link-Link Fruit · Cloud-Cloud Fruit

Don't ask why Yang Yunzhi insisted on opposing the World Government. It was something that couldn't be helped.

If you took a longer view, you would oppose it too.

After all, you would eventually get married and have children, and you couldn't stay by your children's side forever.

If you didn't change this world, then one day, perhaps your son would be snatched away by Big Mom to become her husband, while your daughter would be taken by a slave-catching ship and sold into slavery.

Making the world a better place was not only about realizing one's personal worth and creating a safe, orderly social environment. It also allowed one's family and bloodline to continue more securely!

Even if you said you never wanted to marry, didn't even want to date, and had no interest in building a harem.

Once the world became stable and ordinary people began reading, wouldn't novelists, manga artists, animators, filmmakers, and game developers gradually emerge?

At the very least, wouldn't there be a refrigerator, color TV, and air conditioner at home?

If you didn't even want air conditioning, then all he could say was that you were hardcore.

In short, Hina and Yang Yunzhi were now the closest of companions, even closer than lovers or married couples.

After all, married couples could still fly separately when disaster struck, but once their ideas spread, the two of them could only be sent to the execution block together.

Once the alert was lifted, they returned to the base commander's office.

Well, first they needed to see what these two Devil Fruits were.

Hina took out the Devil Fruit encyclopedia issued by Marine Headquarters. After flipping through several pages, she found the square Devil Fruit with I-shaped patterns first.

It was worth noting that although the Devil Fruit encyclopedia depicted the fruits' appearances, what one actually compared was not their looks, but their patterns.

When a Devil Fruit ability inhabited a fruit, it did not necessarily choose one identical to its previous vessel. What if it had been a banana before but was now a pineapple? Could one claim they weren't the same Devil Fruit just because they looked different?

This encyclopedia was such a case as well. The Devil Fruit depicted in it was clearly a cluster of grapes, but since both were green and covered in I-shaped patterns, they were the same Devil Fruit.

"This is the Paramecia Link-Link Fruit!" Hina said. "Its ability can link any two objects, whether related or unrelated. Its previous owner was a shipwright. Ships built by him needed neither mortise-and-tenon joints nor nails. Once completed, they looked as though an entire ship had been carved from a single piece of wood!"

"Oh?" Yang Yunzhi froze for a moment. So it was a supernatural-type Devil Fruit!

These kinds of fruits had considerable potential, and as long as one's imagination was broad enough, they could be developed in conceptual directions.

For example, Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit could actually repel injuries.

Then could the Link-Link Fruit develop abilities like soul links, mental links, or life links?

The other functions were secondary. Yang Yunzhi especially needed a mental link skill to facilitate long-distance communication. His intelligence department did not lack people; it lacked means of communication.

"Right!" Yang Yunzhi thought of another issue. In fact, the most suitable user of this Devil Fruit was not a person, but Little Bean, his Personal AI.

Little Bean possessed immense computing power and could grow without limit alongside his military rank. It might even develop into a true intelligent life-form in the future.

But the problem was that Little Bean had no body, and this world had not even invented computers. A dignified artificial intelligence had nowhere to put its talents to use.

But paired with the Link-Link Fruit, it might be able to develop a function like electromagnetic-wave linking, then connect everyone and create a virtual world inside their minds.

Wouldn't Little Bean be able to truly show its capabilities then?

"This fruit should be the Logia Cloud-Cloud Fruit!" While Yang Yunzhi was pondering, Hina had already figured out the second Devil Fruit's ability.

Just as Yang Yunzhi had guessed, it really was a Logia Devil Fruit—the Cloud-Cloud Fruit.

"You really struck it lucky!" Hina looked at Yang Yunzhi with undisguised envy.

A Logia Devil Fruit! The Navy's current three Admirals were all Logia users!

The Cloud-Cloud Fruit might not have strong offensive power, but it was highly versatile. It could bring rain and summon lightning. It might not necessarily be enough to become an Admiral someday, but reaching Vice Admiral would definitely not be a problem!

Unlike her Cage-Cage Fruit, whose development ceiling was right there.

If she had not just awakened Conqueror's Haki, she had no idea whether she could ever become a Marine Vice Admiral in her lifetime.

"It's decent." Yang Yunzhi nodded, then pushed the Cloud-Cloud Fruit toward her.

"What do you mean? You're not eating it?" Hina asked.

"Mm." Yang Yunzhi nodded. "The Devil Fruits I want to eat must either be Mythical Zoans. If it's a Logia, I'd rather have the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. If it's a Paramecia, I'd choose the Door-Door Fruit. This Cloud-Cloud Fruit doesn't suit me. Think about whether there's anyone among the Navy's upper ranks whom we can recruit as a companion and who hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit yet. We can give this fruit to them!"

"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit hasn't appeared for centuries, so stop thinking about it. As for the Door-Door Fruit, I can ask around for you!" Hina pointed at the Logia Devil Fruit on the table. "The higher-ups should agree to trade a Logia for a Paramecia. As for who we can recruit as a companion..."

Hina thought of someone: Gion!

Gion was currently a Marine Rear Admiral, but her strength already rivaled that of a Vice Admiral. She simply had not been promoted because she was still young.

She was twenty-seven this year and addressed Hina as a sister. Above them, they had an eldest sister figure—the Navy's Chief of Staff, Tsuru.

As for why they addressed one another as sisters, it was mainly because there were few female Marines. To avoid being bullied, they naturally chose to stick together.

Although Gion followed the path of swordsmanship, it was not that she did not want to eat a Devil Fruit. The main issue was that there had been no suitable one.

She thought Zoans were ugly and did not want to eat one, there were no especially powerful Paramecias, and Logias were too precious for the Navy to have any extras.

And so, the matter had been delayed until now.

Until Hina obtained the Cloud-Cloud Fruit.

Of course, Hina was willing to give the fruit to Gion not only because they were like sisters, but also because she valued Gion's character.

Perhaps because Tsuru had set such a good example, Gion was gentle, strong, and unassuming. She did not flatter those above her or bully those below her, upheld justice, and pursued equality. Her character was far better than that world-famous beauty next door who turned people to stone at the slightest disagreement.

More importantly, Gion had spent years patrolling the pleasure districts, capturing pirates, rescuing trafficked girls, and so on. She had witnessed the suffering of the world firsthand.

If it were her, Hina was confident she could bring her into their camp.

"What do you think of Gion?" After giving it some thought, Hina simply introduced Gion's situation to Yang Yunzhi.

She had not realized it herself, but although she was Yang Yunzhi's superior and stronger than him, she had begun to place Yang Yunzhi at the center in many matters.

That was also why civil officials could always suppress military officers. Humanity's reverence for intelligence was carved into its bones, and often, authority naturally shifted to highly intelligent civil officials.

"We can sound her out," Yang Yunzhi said. "Contact her privately. If it seems her political leanings favor ordinary people, invite her over under the pretext of collecting the Devil Fruit. Then we can have a proper talk!"

"Alright!"

"Oh, and don't forget to have the higher-ups reimburse the Devil Fruit!" Yang Yunzhi continued.

Although the fruit would ultimately end up in their own people's hands, the Navy's upper ranks did not know that.

Naturally, the Navy's upper ranks had to pay for this Devil Fruit.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was definitely out of the question, but there was still hope for the Door-Door Fruit. After all, that Devil Fruit was in the World Government's possession. The only question was whether Bruno had already eaten it.