As she reached the end, the giant mermaid's voice grew heavier and heavier.
"In the end, humanity went extinct on the Devil Fruit Tree's home planet!"
The words "humanity went extinct" made Randall's breath catch.
He could hardly imagine how desperate those last humans must have been.
They had watched humanity die out, knowing they would die too.
Wait. Holy shit!
The thing that had wiped out humanity on another planet was now on his fucking planet!
And here he was, sympathizing with its victims!
Fuck, now all that pressure had landed squarely on him.
"Yes, that's right. In fact, the Devil Fruit Tree's encroachment has already begun.
People who eat devil fruits become nourishment for the Devil Fruit Tree.
When an Ability User dies, their soul returns to the Devil Fruit Tree.
Users of the same ability generally grow stronger with each generation.
After all, they don't just have their predecessors' experience in developing the ability. The devil fruit itself has also grown stronger."
At those words, Randall's heart clenched.
He thought of Caris, Christa, and Aequus.
They were all Ability Users!
Randall took a deep breath and asked:
"Poseidon, tell me. Can the Devil Fruit Tree control Ability Users?"
The giant mermaid said quite naturally:
"Lord Randall, I would still prefer it if you called me Shirahoshi."
Then she thought for a moment before saying:
"Lord Randall, Joy Boy never told me anything about that, so I don't know the answer to your question.
I'm very sorry."
Randall's mind was in turmoil, but he remained fairly calm.
Because something had suddenly occurred to him.
When he had obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Christa had said there was a soul inside it.
And when he had struck the devil fruit with his Intimidation Aura, he had indeed faintly heard a