When Luffy took his first bite of the Devil Fruit, his entire face scrunched up in a grimace.
"Ptooey--Ptooey ptooey ptooey!!!"
He stuck out his tongue and frantically fanned it with his palm, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
"What the hell is this?! It tastes awful!! It's even worse than Ace's grilled fish!!"
"What did you say?!"
Ace looked up abruptly from a distance, half a roasted potato still stuffed in his mouth, his face filled with offended anger.
But Luffy ignored him.
The six-year-old boy was seething with anger, and although the food in his hand tasted awful, he couldn't waste it.
Old Man Garp had said that wasting food would bring divine retribution—so he closed his eyes and took another big bite.
Then came the third and fourth bites.
His cheeks were stuffed full, and he couldn't chew properly, so he simply swallowed it down.
Purple juice dripped down the corner of his mouth, staining his wrinkled red vest.
He swallowed while making an extremely painful expression, but he refused to stop, as if he were wrestling with the fruit!
Most of the fruit was gone in the blink of an eye.
Shanks had just wiped the alcohol off his clothes and put his Straw Hat back on.
He turned around to say a few words to Luffy, just in time to see Luffy stuffing the last bite of fruit into his mouth.
He saw the remaining fruit stem in Luffy's hand.
He saw the treasure chest—the lid was wide open, and the fruit inside had vanished.
His smile froze on his face.
" Luffy!!!"
Shanks ' voice suddenly changed, and he lunged forward as if struck by lightning, grabbing Luffy's shoulders with such force that Luffy was lifted up.
He pointed to the empty treasure chest, his voice hoarse with anxiety.
"What did you eat?! Did you eat the fruit in the box?!"
Luffy was startled by Shanks' appearance.
He had never seen Shanks with that expression before.
It wasn't his usual carefree laughter, nor his calm composure when facing bandits; rather, it was a near-panic anxiety.
His eyes were wide open, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead.
"I... I ate it."
Luffy's voice carried a rare hint of fear.
"I was just angry for a moment... I saw the fruit in the box looked really ugly, so I ate it."
I'm sorry, but I'll just buy you another one.
"That's Devil Fruit!!"
Shanks practically roared it out.
"Those who eat Devil Fruit are cursed by the sea, becoming unable to swim and forever!!"
Luffy's eyes widened instantly, even more than Shanks's.
"No way!!!"
His scream pierced the tavern roof, making the window frames tremble.
"You idiot!!!"
Shanks cursed, grabbed Luffy's legs with both hands, and lifted him upside down.
"Spit it out! Spit it out now!!"
He grabbed Luffy by the feet and shook him violently, his movements so rough it was as if he wanted to shake the kid's breakfast out of his mouth.
Luffy was hanging upside down in mid-air, his head shaking like a rattle-drum, letting out mumbled screams.
"I can't vomit anymore!! I already swallowed it!!"
Just then, something strange happened.
Luffy's legs began to grow longer in Shanks' hands.
It's not the kind of lengthening that comes from bones being stretched, but rather the entire skin, flesh, and bones being stretched thinner and longer, like rubber.
Shanks felt the ankle he was holding suddenly go limp, as if he were kneading a lump of elastic dough.
Then Luffy's body slipped out of his grasp.
"Waaaaaahh...
Luffy's scream left a long trail in the air.
His feet were still in Shanks' hands, but his body had already slumped to the ground, and then with a thud, his little face slammed solidly onto the floor.
Everyone in the tavern was stunned.
The roasted potato that Ace was eating fell onto the table.
Uta plucked a discordant note from his guitar string.
Kuina's fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of her wooden sword, her eyes fixed on Luffy's grimacing face, which had been slammed open in pain.
Shanks Luffy's foot, bent down, lifted him up from the ground, and made him stand in front of him.
He reached out and grabbed Luffy's cheek, pulling it outwards.
The little face was stretched more than a foot long before snapping back to its original shape.
"We're doomed."
Shanks covered his forehead, his tone as if he were reading a death sentence.
"He's completely turned into Rubber Man."
Luffy looked down at his hands, his eyes filled with more curiosity than fear.
He tentatively grabbed his fingers and pulled them outwards.
His five fingers were stretched out long, the fingertips bouncing and dangling in the air. Then he let go, and his fingers snapped back, hitting his own forehead precisely.
"Wow!!!"
Luffy's eyes lit up; his earlier fear was completely swallowed up by the novelty.
"This is so interesting!!"
"What a load of rubbish!!"
Ace jumped off his seat and rushed to Luffy, grabbing Luffy's cheeks and pulling them left and right, his expression growing increasingly grim with each pull.
You can't swim anymore!
How are you supposed to be a pirate?! If you fall into the sea, you'll sink to the bottom!!
Luffy's expression finally shifted from curiosity to terror. His mouth was agape, his face still bearing the red marks of Ace's pinching, and after a long pause, he managed to stammer out a sentence.
"That's right."
"Oh, right?!"
Ace punched Luffy on the Luffy, causing a large, fresh bump to appear.
"All you ever say is 'yes'! You idiot! You moron! You good-for-nothing!!"
Rouge and Makino joined in as well.
Makino knelt down in front of Luffy and softly asked him if he felt unwell anywhere.
Rouge looked at Shanks, a hint of worry in her eyes.
Devil Fruit are not a common thing in the East Blue.
Luffy eats this, will he still be able to live like a normal child?
Kuina stood up from the corner, walked to Roy's side, and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Roy, is that thing really Devil Fruit?"
"Hmm." Roy responded faintly, his gaze never leaving Luffy's face, which Ace was still pulling and tugging at.
"What will happen to him?" Kuina pressed.
Roy picked up his glass, took a sip, and a meaningful smile played on his lips.
"What else can you do besides not being able to swim?"
"Don't forget, Devil Fruit are incredibly rare in the world of One Piece; an ordinary person might never encounter one in their entire life."
"And Kuina! Don't forget I'm a Devil Fruit User too!"
Kuina was stunned for a moment when she heard that Devil Fruit were so rare.
Is... that so?
Meanwhile, Shanks was also recovering from the shock of Luffy eating the Devil Fruit.
Shanks knelt down in front of Luffy, placing his hands on the shoulders of the little boy who was still being scolded by Ace.
The rare serious expression on his face disappeared, replaced by a helpless, bitter smile.
" Luffy, you just wait and see."