Two Devil Fruits

"Where the hell did this bring me?"

Early the next morning, Oak woke from his drunken sleep. He shook his groggy head and looked around, only to find himself lying on an unfamiliar street with not a soul in sight.

He had blacked out last night and remembered absolutely nothing—not how he had gotten here, nor why he had slept out on the street.

"You bastard, you're finally awake!!"

Just as he tried hard to recall the previous night, an enraged, teeth-gritted shout rang out behind him.

Turning around, he found Kaido standing behind him at some point, glaring at him with a hostile expression.

"You fucking %￥#@..."

The moment their eyes met, Kaido abruptly offered warm greetings to his entire family, including his mother.

"Feeling itchy for another beating?"

Being greeted like that by Kaido first thing in the morning would put anyone in a bad mood, much less Oak. He shot Kaido a sidelong glance and saw that the injuries he had suffered in their fight yesterday had completely healed overnight. Even his shattered spiked club had been replaced. Assuming Kaido had come to get even, Oak got to his feet without another word, ready to beat him down—but Kaido beat him to it.

"You bastard, do you know what you did after getting drunk last night?"

Kaido grabbed him by the collar and shook him hard as he demanded an answer, his tone agitated.

"I don't know!"

Oak scratched his head innocently.

"You treated everyone in the tavern to drinks and put it on my tab!"

Kaido continued his accusation. Oak finally remembered something—there really seemed to have been such a thing. But it was only a round of drinks for everyone in the tavern. How much could that possibly cost? Did Kaido need to get so worked up like his parents had died?

"And then?"

He questioned Kaido in confusion.

"Then those bastards in the tavern drank and hauled things away until they emptied out the entire place. Along with it, they emptied my wallet."

Whenever Kaido thought about being forced to pay nearly two hundred million Beli for drinks last night, he wanted to strangle the bastard in his hand.

By the end of the drinking, this bastard had slipped away without anyone noticing, while Newgate, Ochoku, and the others had forcibly kept Kaido behind to pay the bill.

After hearing that, Oak rolled his eyes helplessly. The people on this island truly were pirates—they were ruthless even when fleecing someone. Luckily, he had put the bill on Kaido's tab last night and run off early. Otherwise, as a penniless man, even pawning himself off would not have been enough to cover the bill.

"You didn't come looking for me this early just to demand repayment, did you? Let me make this clear first: I don't have any Beli to pay you back, and I don't have anything to use as collateral either."

Oak pushed Kaido's large hand away, spread his hands, and put on the shameless attitude of having no money and refusing to give his life instead. It made Kaido grit his teeth in fury.

"Of course not!"

Kaido let out an angry roar.

"Rocks is looking for you."

With that, he turned and left without looking back, afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would be driven mad with anger. If he started a fight then, he could not beat this bastard anyway and would only get beaten up again for nothing.

Hearing that Rocks was looking for him, Oak followed after him, curious about what Rocks wanted from him so early in the morning.

Boom—

The rock formation at the center of the island exploded violently, leaving two huge holes behind. The mountain, which had originally resembled a giant fish, now looked like a skull.

Rocks stood inside one of the openings, overlooking all of Hachinosu.

"Look at this view. Not bad, right? I knew opening a few holes here was the right choice."

Rocks was immensely pleased with the masterpiece he had created himself. Spreading his arms, he showed it off to everyone behind him.

Oak happened to arrive with Kaido at that moment, so he walked to the edge of the opening and looked down.

"It really is a nice view!"

Gazing out at the distant sea and down at the many buildings below, Oak felt refreshed, as though his heart had broadened along with the view. He nodded in agreement with Rocks's boast.

"Wororororo! Oak, you're here. Perfect timing—we're discussing two matters. You should listen in too!"

Delighted by Oak's agreement, Rocks threw an arm around his shoulders and revealed why he had summoned him today.

"I just said that I'm searching for two Devil Fruits. One of them is most likely in Elbaf, and only Harald can truly bring out its full power after eating it!"

At the mention of two Devil Fruits, Oak's brow twitched.

"Is the one in Elbaf the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Nidhogg Form?"

He looked up at Rocks. Elbaf indeed possessed an overwhelmingly powerful Devil Fruit, and it was even a Mythical Zoan, capable of transforming its eater into the legendary black dragon, Nidhogg.

The upper limit of that fruit was also tied to the eater's size. The larger the person, the larger the black dragon they became after consuming it. Thus, only an Ancient Giant Tribe member like Harald could unleash the fruit's full power. One of the fruits Rocks was seeking was probably this one. As for the other...

Without waiting for Rocks to answer, Oak continued asking.

"Is the other one you're looking for the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Nika Form, which the World Government deliberately renamed the Gum-Gum Fruit? Or is it the special Logia Dark-Dark Fruit, known as the most vicious power in the history of Devil Fruits?"

Oak guessed that aside from the black dragon Nidhogg, the other Devil Fruit Rocks sought was likely one of those two.

After all, only those two were special enough to be worth Rocks's effort. There was no need to mention the Nika Fruit. Ever since Joy Boy first awakened it eight hundred years ago and displayed the form of the Sun God, earning the title "Warrior of Liberation," the World Government had feared it. Its unimaginable powers were enough to overturn the World Government's understanding of Devil Fruit abilities.

The Dark-Dark Fruit was special because it could suppress other Devil Fruit powers. It could draw ability users in from a distance, and no matter what power they possessed, once they were touched by the hands of a Dark-Dark Fruit user, they would temporarily lose their abilities. Moreover, it was highly possible that this power could seize another person's Devil Fruit ability after their death.

It would make perfect sense if Rocks wanted the Dark-Dark Fruit, whether to seize Devil Fruit powers and strengthen his forces or to counter Imu, the unknown ability user in the Holy Land.

His string of guesses made Rocks turn his head, staring at him in surprise.

"You know about those too?"

Rocks was genuinely astonished. The true powers of those three Devil Fruits had never been recorded in history. The only reason he knew was because he had inferred them from information passed down orally through his clan.

How did Oak know?

Rocks very much wanted to know that.