Illusion-Illusion Fruit

A month ago, the people Locke had sent out had already found Shimotsuki Village. Tomorrow, Locke would set off for Shimotsuki Village to study under a master.

And if he went to Shimotsuki Village, he should be able to see Roronoa Zoro as a child. Just thinking about it made him so excited!

As Locke bathed, he thought about all sorts of random things, completely failing to notice that an apple he had secretly hidden away during breakfast was quietly changing shape.

Purple patterns slowly appeared on the originally bright red apple. Before long, the patterns had covered its entire surface.

Not long after, Locke finished bathing and came ashore. After getting dressed, he headed toward his manor, intending to discuss his plans to leave and study tomorrow with Carmen.

As he walked, Locke pulled the apple from inside his clothes. Without paying much attention, he took a big bite.

The moment he chewed it, an awful taste filled his mouth.

How should he describe the taste? It was like eating shit. Although Locke had never eaten shit before, he was sure that stuff must taste exactly like this.

"Pah! Pah! Pah!"

The moment Locke realized something was wrong, he hurriedly tried to spit it out. But the fruit melted the instant it entered his mouth. It was already too late to spit it out; aside from saliva, nothing came out.

As Locke spat, he looked at the apple he had just bitten into. Only then did he realize that its appearance had changed. It was covered in purple patterns, and the taste he had just swallowed had been that of a Devil Fruit.

Locke more or less understood. At some point, his apple had turned into a Devil Fruit, and he had eaten it without noticing.

From Locke's point of view, eating a Devil Fruit was not a big deal. Even if he had not eaten one now, he would have found one to eat after setting out to sea. But that would have been after learning what the Devil Fruit's power was. After all, he still wanted a relatively powerful ability.

But now, he had eaten a Devil Fruit while knowing absolutely nothing about it. He had no idea what ability it possessed. He was seriously panicking.

Just as Locke was struggling with this, information about the fruit appeared in his mind.

After examining the information in his mind, Locke gained a basic understanding of the fruit. It was called the Illusion-Illusion Fruit. It could create illusions out of thin air to confuse others, and that was it.

Locke was left speechless. He had no idea what it would become after further development.

He also did not know what changes awakening would bring. Could illusions attack after awakening? If that were the case, it would not be too bad. Thinking of that, Locke felt much better.

With that in mind, Locke began experimenting with his ability. Purple light in his palm transformed into Sun Wukong one moment, Garfield the next, then Fire Man, Tom, Jerry, and other characters Locke had seen in anime in his previous life. Although they did not look particularly alike, one could still recognize them with a careful look.

As he walked and experimented, Locke soon returned to the manor. The manor was spacious, but only three people lived there. Aside from Locke and Carmen, there was only an old butler left behind by Locke's father, named Ross.

The old butler was already quite old. He had served the Locke family in this manor since Locke's grandfather's generation and was nearly seventy now. If not for the old butler constantly helping Locke manage the island's businesses after Locke's father met with disaster, Locke would not have lived so comfortably.

The old butler also had a son. However, when Pirate King Gol D. Roger was executed, he went out to sea to become a pirate. There had been no news of him for all these years. As for his son's name, the old man had never told Locke.

The moment Locke entered the manor, he saw the old butler. The old man was lying in a recliner in the courtyard, basking in the sun with his eyes half-closed and allowing the sunlight to cover his body. His completely white beard gently swayed in the occasional breeze.

"Grandpa Ross, basking in the sun again?"

Hearing Locke's voice, the old man opened his eyes. When he saw that Locke had returned, he hurriedly stood from his rocking chair and respectfully said, "Young master, you're back!"

Seeing the old butler's respectful manner, Locke could only feel helpless. He had told him many times to just call him Little Locke, but the old man refused, always saying that rules were rules.

"Grandpa Ross, is Carmen inside?"

"Miss Carmen is in the kitchen! I'll inform her to come see you right away."

After hearing Locke ask where Carmen was, Ross answered and prepared to call her out.

"No need, Grandpa Ross. Just rest here. I'll go find her myself."

Seeing the old man preparing to move, Locke hurriedly stopped him.

After bidding the old man farewell, Locke walked straight into the manor and headed toward the kitchen.

Speaking of Carmen, Locke had met her in the third year after his transmigration. That day, Locke had been practicing swordsmanship by the sea when he saw a wooden board drifting over from afar. At first, he did not pay much attention to it, but once it came closer, he discovered that there was actually someone on it. From the looks of it, she had probably encountered a shipwreck.

So Locke decisively swam over and rescued her. After she woke up, she told Locke that her name was Carmen. She had encountered a shipwreck in nearby waters, and her family had all died in the disaster.

Locke had the soul of someone in his twenties from his previous life living inside his body. Since transmigrating here, he had constantly trained himself and had no friends. Now, after meeting Carmen, who had become an orphan because of a shipwreck, perhaps their shared loneliness allowed the two of them to quickly become friends.

After they became friends, Carmen told Locke that she wanted to become the greatest chef in the world, and Locke promised that he would definitely help her.

From then on, Locke became Carmen's test subject, tasting every new dish she made. At first, he had not eaten a single decent meal. Either it was undercooked or burnt. Those days had truly been miserable.

Things were better now. Although she sometimes used too much salt, at least the food was barely edible.

Sigh! The past was truly unbearable to look back on! When Locke arrived at the kitchen, Carmen was standing before the stove, holding a kitchen knife and continuously practicing her knife skills on a radish in front of her.

Seeing Carmen's serious expression, the corners of Locke's lips curved slightly into a faint smile. He did not disturb her, simply standing in the doorway and watching.