Fate Always Loves to Toy with People
"I... I've never used humans in my experiments."
A red glint flashed in Kuta's eyes. He stared at Indigo for a moment, then looked away and eased the pressure he had been exerting.
From Indigo's emotions, he could tell the man probably wasn't lying. He hadn't seen any humans in the Laboratory, either.
Besides, Indigo wasn't truly a bad person. He was just a doctor.
So Kuta formally invited him.
"Doctor Indigo, as captain of the Freedom Adventure Crew, I'm officially inviting you to join my ship as its doctor."
Indigo let out a long breath when Kuta eased off. He had been certain that if his answer hadn't satisfied Kuta, the man really would have killed him.
Then, to his astonishment, he heard Kuta's invitation.
He looked up into Kuta's earnest eyes and froze.
"Y-you really mean that?"
He couldn't believe he still had a chance to become the doctor aboard Kuta's ship.
The man might be a pirate who had only just set sail, but he was also the pirate who had just killed Golden Lion!
Being invited aboard by someone like that felt like a dream.
Kuta smiled at Indigo.
"My ship happens to need a doctor. Will you join us, Doctor Indigo?"
Indigo finally came to his senses and hurriedly accepted.
He and Golden Lion had been together for decades, but they weren't particularly close. Joining another crew hardly counted as betrayal.
Golden Lion was dead, after all. Indigo needed somewhere to go, didn't he?
If he refused Kuta, there was no telling whether Kuta would let him go. And the Marines certainly wouldn't.
"Oh, right, Doctor Indigo. Now that you've joined my crew, you can't research this stuff anymore."
Kuta helped Indigo up and said sternly, "From now on, stick to researching treatments for injuries and medicines for diseases."
"Can you do that?"
"Yes, yes, of course, sir."
Indigo answered in a fluster, still adjusting to the change.
"Call me Captain."
"Yes, Captain."
Fate Loved Playing Tricks
"Do we really have to burn it all?"
At the Laboratory entrance, Indigo held a ball of Chemical Magic in his hand and looked back inside with obvious reluctance.
"Of course. You want to leave it for the World Government?"
Kuta stood beside him with his arms crossed, a mocking smile on his face.
"Or do you want to keep researching this stuff?"
"No, no, Captain! Don't get me wrong."
Indigo waved his hands frantically. "It's just hard to let go. I've spent nearly twenty years researching IQ. Losing all those notes is a shame."
"Hurry it up. We still need to check the treasury. Once the Marines arrive, I can get away. You might not."
At the mention of the Marines, Indigo promptly tossed the Chemical Magic into the Laboratory.
He had no desire to be caught and locked up in Impel Down.
He might not have a bounty, but the Marines would arrest him all the same.
He was Golden Lion's ship's doctor, after all. The World Government had him on record.
The Chemical Magic struck an incubation tube and exploded. Flames spread rapidly through the Laboratory.
A flicker of regret crossed Indigo's eyes as he watched it burn. But when he saw Kuta heading outside, he pushed the feeling aside. His eyes filled with hope for the future instead.
Following a captain like him should be interesting!
He was so young, after all.
Rumble!
Kuta looked at the heavy iron door before him, anticipation lighting his face.
"With a door this thick, there must be plenty of good stuff inside!"
But when he opened it and saw what lay beyond, he stood dumbfounded.
The treasury was piled high with weapons.
Blades, spears, swords, staffs, guns, cannons—it had everything except gold and jewels. There was barely any Beli, either.
Kuta turned his head stiffly toward Indigo, his expression darkening.
"Indigo, this is what you've gathered over nearly twenty years?"
Indigo missed the look on Kuta's face and grinned proudly.
"Keh-leh, keh-leh! Of course. We were planning to destroy the world. Naturally, we needed to stockpile enough weapons!"
"What about the gold and jewels?"
"We traded them all for weapons."
"And the Beli?"
Kuta's voice grew colder.
"Weapons, of course! Come on, Captain, what use is Beli? Aren't weapons better? Besides—"
"Uh..."
Indigo abruptly fell silent. He had finally noticed Kuta's dark expression.
He gave a cautious, awkward laugh.
"Keh-leh... ha ha!"
"What's wrong, Captain? Isn't it good to have this many weapons?"
"Good. Of course it is."
Kuta stared at the treasury full of weapons and the mountains of cannonballs stacked inside, on the verge of tears.
"Good, my ass."
There were enough weapons here to equip an army and fight a massive war.
But to him, they were completely useless.
He liked gold
and jewels. He liked Beli. He didn't like these cold lumps of iron!
Then a thought struck him. His eyes lit up, and he turned to Indigo expectantly.
"Oh, right, Indigo. You've spent nearly twenty years roaming the world. You must have found plenty of Devil Fruits, right?"
Indigo thought for a moment.
He was afraid to answer. He didn't want to upset Kuta again.
He knew what Kuta wanted now, but everything Kuta wanted had been traded for weapons!
Yet as Kuta's gaze grew more dangerous, Indigo had no choice but to speak.
"Well... um..."
Kuta cut him off sharply.
"Stop stammering. Say it."
Indigo flinched at the shout and said plaintively, "Captain, you don't have to yell! I'll tell you!"
"We did find a few Devil Fruits, but we sold them all to buy weapons."
"You sold them?"
Kuta felt sick.
Was there something wrong with that old bastard Golden Lion's head?
He could have given them to his subordinates! What use were all these lumps of iron in the warehouse?
"But..."
Kuta's eyes lit up at the hint of a silver lining. "But what?"
"But there are still two rather useless Zoan Devil Fruits left."
Kuta breathed a sigh of relief.
At least there were two. He'd thought the whole trip might be a waste!
The higher his hopes, the harder the disappointment. At first, he'd imagined piles of gold, jewels, Beli, and Devil Fruits!
The old man had planned to destroy the world. How could he not have money?
Who could have guessed he'd spent it on all these weapons?
If the Revolutionary Army got this many weapons, they'd be unstoppable.
Kuta rubbed his chin and stared at the treasury, lost in thought.
Then he shook his head. Even if he gave them to the Revolutionary Army, they couldn't haul them away. The Marines would be here soon.
He would have to destroy them all. He wasn't leaving them for the World Government.
Even if it had no shortage of weapons.
Indigo stole a cautious glance at Kuta. Seeing that his expression had noticeably improved, he let out a quiet breath.
He was still afraid of Kuta. He had only just joined the crew and didn't know what kind of person his new captain was.
Kuta turned to him, exasperated. "If there are still two left, go get them."
"Yes, Captain!"
Indigo hurried into the treasury and rummaged through a heap of scrap metal behind the door. He emerged with two fruits, each the size of a pineapple.
To Golden Lion, the fruits had been worth less than the weapons, so he had tossed them into a corner of the treasury.
Kuta's mouth twitched as he watched Indigo retrieve them from what looked like a pile of junk.
He wanted to see what kind of worthless fruits had earned such contempt.
He took them from Indigo and turned them over, but he couldn't tell what either one was.
He looked up at Indigo.
Sensing
Kuta's gaze, Indigo hurriedly explained, "The black one is an Ant Devil Fruit. We have no idea what specific form it takes."
"Based on past experience, it's an ordinary Zoan Devil Fruit. It lets someone become an Ant-Man, but the strength boost from an ant is so small that we couldn't even sell it. That's why we still have it."
"People underestimate ants? They're strong, aren't they? They have armor and plenty of strength."
Kuta stared at the black Ant Devil Fruit, which looked like an oversized grape. "How could nobody want it?"
"Ants may seem strong among insects, but it's different for humans. At first, this fruit only doubles a person's strength or so."
"And..."
"What?"