Baiyisi fell backward, his eyes rolling white. A gruesome wound ran across his chest from his lower right abdomen to his left shoulder, staining the surrounding fur red. Crimson droplets flew through the air, and Vic stepped back twice to keep them from reaching him.
Baiyisi collapsed to the ground and slowly returned to human form, blood pooling beneath him. So what if Zoan users had powerful recovery abilities? Push past your limit, and you still went down.
The crew's faith crumbled when they saw their captain brought down with a single slash. They had all witnessed how powerful Baiyisi was after transforming. He had hurled a Marine warship with his bare hands, throwing it straight into that Marine Base and smashing quite a few of its buildings. Their jaws had dropped at the time, but even now, looking at their captain lying on the ground, they could hardly believe it.
"Hey, stop standing there and get some food ready. I have a big appetite. Take too long, and you'll end up like him." Vic pointed at Baiyisi, who lay in a pool of blood.
The crew finally came to their senses and hurried off to prepare the food. No one paid Baiyisi any attention.
Vic ate nearly all the food aboard the ship, leaving the crew on the verge of tears. How were they supposed to survive now?
When Vic had finished eating, he picked his teeth and said to the crew, "Is there anything valuable on the ship? Bring it over and let me have a look." Following the old habit of taking a shot whether or not there was a chance, he asked on a whim.
"Yes, yes, sir! We'll bring it right over!" the crew chorused. They ran into the cabins to search, afraid that if they were too slow, someone else would bring the treasures out first. If they came back empty-handed, they might get cut down.
By the time everyone returned, a small mountain had formed on the deck: all kinds of gold jewelry, gemstones, gold knives set with gems, and more. Vic wasn't interested in any of it and only gave it a passing glance, but one treasure chest caught his attention.
"What's in that chest?" Vic asked, pointing at it.
"We don't know what it is either. We took it from the captain's safe, but we can't open it without the key." The crew trembled with fear.
"The key should be on him. Have a look," Vic said casually.
The crew hurried to search him, and a few went to look in the captain's quarters, but none of them found it. More curious than ever, Vic walked over and tapped on the chest. It was sturdy; an ordinary person couldn't have smashed it open.
Vic reached out, gripped a corner of the chest, and squeezed hard. The corner broke apart, and he caught a glimpse of milky white. He continued working until he had opened it completely, revealing a fruit covered in spiral patterns lying inside.
"Ah, I wasn't even trying. I couldn't find one when I was looking seriously, and now I've stumbled upon one by accident. Could this be fate?" Vic marveled at the fruit in his hand. It was milky white all over, with spiral patterns, flat and round, and evenly thick like a large flatbread.
The crew were curious too. They knew nothing about the miraculous things called Devil Fruits; Baiyisi had never taught them about them. He had hidden this Devil Fruit because he intended to sell it. The ship's cook knew about it, having gone to sea with Baiyisi.
"Does anyone know what this is about? Where did it come from?" Vic asked, holding up the Devil Fruit. He was curious. Two Devil Fruits appearing on a single pirate ship in the East Blue was a little hard to believe.
The ship fell somewhat quiet. Those who didn't know what had happened didn't dare speak.
"Th-that... I know a little about it," the cook said after a moment's hesitation.
"Go on, then. I'm interested." Vic smiled.
"Baiyisi and I went to sea together. He was the captain of the kingdom's guard. One day, he defected, taking two fruits with strange patterns from the royal treasury. This is one of them; the other looked like a coconut. Baiyisi and I came from the same village. He knew I was a good cook, so he kidnapped me to cook on his ship. I never saw those two strange fruits again after that." The cook spoke slowly, glancing at Vic from time to time.
Looks like he stole Devil Fruits stored in the royal treasury. The king probably meant to offer those two Devil Fruits to the Celestial Dragons. He ate the Zoan one, so I'll gladly accept this one, Vic thought.
"All right, I understand. Now turn each other in. Anyone who's done evil, jump overboard yourselves. Don't make me do it," Vic said coldly.
The pirates accused one another. Only the cook and a few others with useful skills had been kidnapped; the rest had joined of their own accord and had many lives on their hands.
Under Vic's piercing stare, they reluctantly jumped into the sea. Whether they survived was up to fate. In any case, Vic hadn't spotted an island nearby. Otherwise, he wouldn't have boarded the ship and would have gone straight ashore to rest.
"You people haven't done evil, so I'll let you off this time. Once you get ashore, live good lives and don't become pirates again." Vic warned those who remained, packed up the treasure, and left some aboard the ship. Then he departed using Geppo, leaving the few of them staring blankly after him.
As Vic left, he felt a faint gaze turn away from him, though his Observation Haki hadn't sensed anything watching him at all.
"Is he even human?"
"Being a pirate is so dangerous! Even divine beings come to kill us!"
"I want to go home! I want to go home!!!"
Vic paid no more attention to what happened aboard the pirate ship and flew toward Laipe Island.
Three days later, Vic returned to Laipe Island.
This time, Vic didn't land at the docks. He descended straight into his home, left the treasure there, and hurried to Rebecca's house.
When he arrived, Rebecca and Tuya were both there. The old woman lay in bed, even older and thinner than she had been a year ago. She was asleep, so Vic called Rebecca, whose eyes had reddened, outside.
"Rebecca, has a doctor seen her? What's wrong with Grandma?" Vic asked quietly.
"The doctor said her mind and spirit have been exhausted too badly, and there's no way to treat it. If it weren't for the meat you brought back, Grandma probably wouldn't have lasted until now. The doctor said she'd received excellent nourishment before she fell ill. Without it to sustain her, she would have fallen ill long ago. It's just that her body has grown old, and it can't retain those nutrients for very long," Rebecca said sadly.
The old woman was her only family, and she had raised Rebecca from childhood. Now that her only family was about to be gone, she was truly saddened. Rebecca had been very young when the accident happened to her parents and didn't remember it at all. Grandma was the person who had treated her best.
Vic knew that the death of Rebecca's parents had been a terrible blow to the old woman. In his childhood memories, she had always sat alone in her chair, staring vacantly into the distance. She had pined herself sick. If she hadn't still had Rebecca to care about, things might have been even worse.
"I understand. I'll always be here with you, so don't be too sad. Birth, old age, sickness, and death are part of life." Vic stroked Rebecca's head as he comforted her.
For some time afterward, Vic stopped going out to train and stayed by the old woman's bedside. When she was asleep, he sat cross-legged beside her and meditated.
During that time, the old woman woke once. She was delighted to see that Vic had returned and held his hand as she spoke to him for a while. Then, drained of energy, she fell asleep again.
The doctor came every day to give her nutritional injections, and Tuya cleaned her body daily to keep her comfortable. Mayor Andre occasionally came to visit, and the neighbors often stopped by as well. The old woman was well liked.
One day, two months later, the old woman woke again. This time, she looked full of energy, with a rosy glow on her face. Vic knew at a glance that something was wrong. It was a final rally before death. He hurriedly called Rebecca in.