"How... how was that possible?!" Benn Beckman had guessed that the Devil Fruit Yake ate might not have been the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but he had never imagined that Yake could eat two Devil Fruits.
A person could only eat one Devil Fruit. That was common knowledge on these seas, and a lesson paid for with the blood of countless greedy people.
"Yake, was that true? But this... this was too..." Shanks felt like his whole world had fallen apart. Two Devil Fruits was simply too absurd.
"That's right. My constitution is somewhat special. I am indeed a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, but at the same time, I am also a Zoan Fruit user."
"Sigh... so that was all. Nothing special..." Yake wore an utterly unimpressed expression. He had truly mastered the art of humblebragging.
"What is your Zoan Fruit ability? Please, you have to tell me!" Shanks said indignantly. It seemed Yake had still held back. If he possessed the vitality of a Zoan, that final blade through his heart might not necessarily have killed him.
"Haha, you'll find out soon enough, Uncle Shanks. I'm leaving now. My goal has been achieved, and I'm heading back to my kingdom." Yake smiled mysteriously and did not tell Shanks directly. It would not be interesting if he just said it; seeing it with his own eyes would be much more satisfying.
"You're leaving already, Yake?" Benn Beckman lit a cigarette.
"Yeah, I need to go back and take a look."
"Wait, Yake. If Usopp comes to your country, give this to him." Yasopp took out an exquisite pistol and handed it to Yake, wiping away the tears in his eyes as he smiled.
He was not a good father. He could not even personally give his son a coming-of-age gift.
Yake silently accepted it and turned to Shanks.
"Uncle Shanks, if you run into Luffy, is there anything you want me to pass along?"
"Hahahaha! If you meet him, tell him I'll be waiting for him in the New World!"
Yake smiled and turned away. He stored Yasopp's gun in his inventory, shot into the sky, transformed into his dragon form, and spat a mouthful of dragon saliva at Shanks—the kind that could catch fire—before flying off triumphantly.
(ΩДΩ)!
"I knew he had to be connected to Kaido somehow!" Shanks slashed Yake's fiery spitball to pieces with one stroke, saying furiously in embarrassment.
"So that dragon we saw two years ago really was him." Benn Beckman took a deep drag and slowly exhaled.
"What? Two years ago? Why don't I remember that?" Shanks looked utterly confused, completely unaware of what Benn Beckman was talking about.
"With the mobility of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and vitality as monstrous as Kaido's, he already stood invincible on the seas." Lucky Roux was unusually calm. Even the meat in his hand no longer tasted good.
"Hahaha, who cares? He isn't an enemy. Let's continue the feast!" Shanks said unconcernedly, and the ship was soon filled with cheerful energy once more.
Yake ran off right after showing off, which was quite thrilling. But for speed, he changed back into human form. His dragon form was still too slow for travel, especially since he needed to return from the New World to Paradise. The journey was rather long. In human form, he could also eat something and replenish the stamina he had spent fighting.
"Hmm, there's an island here. It looks pretty nice. I'll rest here tonight." Yake vaguely spotted a brightly lit city in the distance. It was already nighttime, and after fighting for seven days, he desperately wanted to sleep.
After landing on the island, Yake casually found an inn and went straight to bed, sleeping like a log. Fighting had not made him sleepy, but the traveling had truly worn him out.
The next day.
Only then did Yake learn that he had arrived in Butch, the City of Food, an island in the first half of the Grand Line and a world-famous culinary city.
Looking at the dazzling variety of foods throughout the city, Yake's appetite was stirred. He entered full shopping mode. No matter what, he had to bring some local specialties back to Skypiea.
However, Yake had not expected to run into an acquaintance here.
Ahead on the food street, a giant white bear in orange-yellow clothes drooled as he stared at the food before him, yet his expression was full of conflict.
"Eh, I still want to eat, but I've already used up all my allowance..." The giant white bear searched his pockets and found them cleaner than his face.
"Hey, are you buying or not? If not, get lost already! Don't hold up my business!" the sharp-tongued owner said disdainfully.
"Ah, sorry! I'll leave right away." The giant white bear immediately lowered his head to apologize. He radiated gloom as he left, looking back with every other step.
"Boss, pack all of it up for me!" Yake said lavishly, the Beli in his hand clinking loudly.
"Ah! Here you go, customer."
Yake carried a huge bag of food and stopped in front of the giant white bear.
"Do you want to eat this? Here, have it!" Yake said with a broad smile. Giant white bears were the cutest. This was an adorable creature worth a 500 Beli bounty! Besides, if he was here, then Law should be on this island too. Yake would not let such a promising subordinate slip away.
"Ah, this is for me?! Thank you! Sob, sob... I never thought I'd meet such a kind person here!" The giant white bear was so touched that he cried, then tearfully devoured three huge bowls.
"Hey, Bepo, what are you doing over there?! Hurry up, we're leaving!" Shachi and Penguin shouted in unison.
"Oh, okay, I'm coming! Oh, right, thank you again! I have something to do, so I'll be going first." Bepo hurriedly finished the food in his hands, turned around to thank Yake once more, then rushed off.
"Hehahaha, we'll meet again soon." Yake muttered to himself as he watched Bepo's departing back.
"Bepo, didn't you run out of money? What were you doing there?" Penguin said helplessly.
"Exactly, exactly. The captain gave you so much allowance, but you spent it all on snacks." Shachi hurriedly chimed in.
"Sorry!"
"But just now, a kind person treated me to lots of snacks, so I..."
Luo, wearing a spotted hat, rested his sword on his shoulder and slowly walked over to Bepo. After giving Bepo a bland glance, he said, "Stop talking about meaningless things. Let's go."
The group followed Luo to the shore and jumped onto a submarine.
"Bepo, go confirm the heading. We're setting off."
"Don't be in such a hurry. Aren't you going to stay a little longer?" Yake sat atop the submarine, looking down at everyone below.
Luo vigilantly drew the cursed blade Kikoku. With the sunlight shining directly at him, he could not make out Yake's face, and the Heart Pirates also prepared for battle.
"Who are you? It seems there's no conflict between us," Luo said calmly, looking up at the figure above.
"Trafalgar Law, right?"
"Who exactly are you? Are you from the Donquixote Family?!"
"Hahaha, Joker? He isn't even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me."
Yake smiled disdainfully and jumped onto the deck. Slippers, bare chest, beach shorts—he looked like a true big shot.
Luo was dumbfounded. He had seen reports about him two years ago. Because Yake had killed a Celestial Dragon, and Luo's enemy happened to be Celestial Dragons as well, he had always kept track of Yake's news. Yet Yake had vanished for two years. Luo had never expected to encounter him directly today.
"God Yake! Why are you here?!" Luo said with difficulty.
"Captain, he's the one who treated me to snacks." Bepo immediately recognized Yake as the kind person who had fed him.
"Shut up, Bepo."
"Sorry!"