New Devil Fruits

Two weeks had passed since Lind last ordered an expansion of his forces.

It was all thanks to the reputation Lind had built lately and the efforts of his subordinates.

In just two weeks, they had recruited nearly five thousand people. Lind wasn't simply rounding up able-bodied men, either. Every recruit had to join voluntarily and pass a series of assessments.

Over the past few days, everyone from Lind to his officers and even his elite pirates had been smiling nonstop.

Especially with a tournament scheduled for half a month later, where the strongest of the new pirates would be selected to join the elite squads.

Then the strongest members of those elite squads would be chosen as squad leaders and prospective officers.

Everyone was itching to prove themselves, training desperately to improve their strength.

Especially today, after word spread that Lind had received the ransom for two Marine Vice Admirals and planned to add it to the tournament prizes, the entire Seventh Division buzzed with excitement.

The Marines were indeed short on manpower, and Lind kept his prisoners under extremely tight guard. Seeing no way to rescue their officers anytime soon, the Marine higher-ups had decided to discuss ransom terms with him.

Just moments ago, Lind had sent the two Marine Vice Admirals away and gained three Devil Fruits.

The strongest was the Paramecia Steel-Steel Fruit. It was similar to Katakuri's Mochi-Mochi Fruit, perhaps even a little stronger, and could be considered a near-Logia Devil Fruit.

The others were the Zoan Dog-Dog Fruit, standard type, Bully Dog Form, and the Zoan Cat-Cat Fruit, standard type, Maine Coon Form.

Aside from the Steel-Steel Fruit, the other two weren't useless, but they were little more than extras. Lind had only agreed to the Marines' proposed exchange because the Steel-Steel Fruit particularly appealed to him.

After all, his original demands had been outrageously high. Getting a Steel-Steel Fruit alone was an incredible bargain, let alone two barely serviceable Zoan Devil Fruits thrown in.

With his earlier acquisitions, Lind now had seven Devil Fruits in his possession. That was certainly a substantial stockpile.

Besides the two he had obtained on Hachinosu-he had received three in total, used one on Great Kun, and had two left-he had also acquired two during his half month on Oran Island.

Both fruits from Oran Island had been sold to him by local factions eager to win his favor after he announced that he was buying Devil Fruits.

Fortunately, Lind had made plenty of money selling the Angel's Heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to afford them even when the sellers came right to his door.

Both gangs had been quite generous in their efforts to please Lind, offering fairly powerful Devil Fruits.

One was the Zoan Human-Human Fruit, standard type, Silverback Gorilla Form. Though it couldn't match an Ancient Zoan, it fell only slightly short and was undoubtedly powerful.

The other was the Zoan Snake-Snake Fruit, Ancient Zoan, Titan Python Form, an exceptionally powerful and formidable fruit.

Thinking of the five Zoan Devil Fruits he already had, along with Liana and Great Kun, Lind felt as though he might assemble the Beasts Pirates before Kaido did.

"How should I distribute these fruits? This is a bit of a headache!" Lind muttered, rubbing his head.

Distributing Devil Fruits properly was clearly a delicate task, especially when he had to consider both the number he possessed and his subordinates' strength and potential.

"Ah, it's a shame my mutation ability doesn't work on Devil Fruits yet. These treasures of the sea really are too special." Lind suddenly sighed.

Back on Hachinosu, after receiving Devil Fruits from the other officers, Lind had tried using his mutation ability on them. Unfortunately, it had done nothing at all.

If the Mutation Fruit could really affect other Devil Fruits, it would be absurdly overpowered-unless it was the seed of a Devil Fruit Tree.

"Hmm, I suppose that isn't impossible." Lind suddenly sank into thought.

"I'll ask Axel and the others first and let them choose. If they want to eat one now, they can. If none catches their eye, they can wait until I get some other Devil Fruit Trees!"

Why do I suddenly feel less like a boss and more like an old father worrying about his children? Lind realized that he really did treat his subordinates a little too well and silently grumbled to himself.

That evening, Lind called Axel and the other four original officers, along with Larry, into his room.

As for the other five captains, Lind intended to have them participate in the tournament normally and secure their positions as captains.

"I'm sure you've already guessed why I called you here today. I have a batch of Devil Fruits on hand."

"Besides the Devil Fruits that will serve as tournament prizes, I also intend to let you choose first."

"Apart from Liana, none of you has eaten a Devil Fruit. Eating one should give your strength a considerable boost!"

Though they had expected it, the officers couldn't help growing excited as Lind finished speaking.

Looking at the group, whose breathing had grown a little quicker, Lind nodded and continued:

"There's something I need to make clear first. Most of the Devil Fruits I have are ordinary Zoan Devil Fruits, so their potential may be limited."

"It's up to you whether you want to use one. Even if none of these appeals to you, I'll arrange for you to have a suitable fruit if I find one later."

"Of course, even with ordinary Zoan Devil Fruits, I'm confident I can train you into powerful fighters capable of holding your own."

"That's all I have to say. What you choose is up to you."

Lind watched them ponder without rushing them, then introduced all eight Devil Fruits to the group.

"All right, those are the seven Devil Fruits I have. Axel, you choose first!"

At Lind's words, Axel chose the strongest one, the Steel-Steel Fruit, without any hesitation.

As a pirate who had fought his way up from being a petty thug, Axel had changed quite a bit lately under Lind's influence.

But as a pirate, he had no intention of yielding to anyone at a crucial moment like this. In this world, strength was ultimately everything.

"Thank you, boss. From now on, my life is yours. Even if you tell me to die, I won't so much as blink."

Holding the Steel-Steel Fruit, Axel thanked Lind, disbelief still written across his face.

After thanking him, Axel felt words alone weren't enough and even wanted to kowtow to him. Had Lind not stopped him in time, he might really have done it.

The more seasoned a pirate was, the better he understood just how precious the fruit Lind had given him was-and how worthy Lind was of his loyalty as a boss.

"Hahahaha! Axel, there's no need for that. You're my most important subordinate. The Seventh Division can't do without you. I'm still hoping to build something great together with all of you!"

"All right, eat the Devil Fruit first and get a feel for its power."

"Allison, you're next. Come up and choose one too."

After giving Axel some encouragement, Lind turned to Allison and told her to choose the Devil Fruit she wanted.