The old woman took both their hands, looking from one to the other with a smile on her face and relief in her eyes.
"Vic, when I'm gone, I'm leaving Rebecca in your care. With you looking after her, I... I can rest easy!" The old woman smiled through her tears.
Vic said nothing, merely nodding firmly, his face full of sorrow. The old woman had been very good to him, treating him like her own grandson. He would have done as she asked even without her saying so.
"Rebecca, stay with Vic from now on. You can't go wrong listening to him. Grandma won't be able to look after you anymore, so you have to take good care of yourself. Your parents would be happy to see how much you've grown..." After speaking to Rebecca, the old woman turned to look at the ceiling.
"I will, Grandma. You'll get better. We'll all live together from now on, all right? Grandma, you have to get better..." Rebecca cried, tears streaming down her face as she tightened her grip on the old woman's hand.
"Rebecca, I can see your parents. They've come to take me with them. Live well with Vic from now on. I have to go..." When the old woman finished speaking, two tears rolled down her smiling face.
Vic sensed with his Observation Haki that the old woman had breathed her last. He sighed. She had been a lovely, kind old woman. Her life could hardly be called great; she had always given of herself in obscurity, for her husband, her children, and her grandchildren. She was a reflection of ordinary old people everywhere, her life plain and real. She might have had regrets, brought about by this world...
Rebecca felt the strength leave the old woman's hand and knew she was gone. She collapsed over the bed and burst into tears. This time, Vic didn't comfort her. Letting her emotions out would make it easier to move on. Life had to go on.
Andre presided over the funeral, which was simple but solemn. The townspeople were all grateful to the old woman. Her grandson and granddaughter had protected the town for years, and the townspeople came of their own accord to pay their respects, filling the place with a sea of people. Having two good grandchildren might have been the thing the old woman was proudest of in her life.
After the funeral, peace returned to the town. With Vic's comfort and encouragement, Rebecca came to terms with her loss and set her sights on greater heights and greater strength.
The two resumed their training. After more than a year, Rebecca still hadn't mastered Observation Haki or the Realm of Cutting Steel. She was too young to easily understand such mysterious things.
Vic wasn't too worried. Rebecca wasn't even fifteen yet, and she still had plenty of room to improve. Not everyone had talent like Vic's. King Luffy had been taught by his grandfather as a child, then grew stronger fighting Ace and Sabo. After Sabo disappeared, he trained and fought with Ace until he was fifteen, then trained alone for another two years.
After setting sail, he was constantly tempered by battle, so he grew quickly, his accumulated strength unleashed through that tempering. Afterward, Rayleigh trained him for another year and a half, giving him an incredibly solid foundation. As soon as he set sail again, he began unleashing his potential and became one of the Four Emperors in one fell swoop.
None of this happened overnight. Building up strength over time before making a breakthrough wasn't just an empty saying. That was why Vic had always focused on giving Rebecca a solid foundation. He was also building up his own strength, so he could make a stunning debut when he joined the Marines.
One day, in a grassy clearing at the edge of the forest near town, Rebecca was practicing her swordsmanship. Vic sat on the ground, looking at the milky-white Devil Fruit in his hand. It was shaped like a large flatbread, and he hesitated over whether to eat it.
Vic thought about how he hadn't come across a Devil Fruit in all this time, only to suddenly find one now. Judging by its shape, it should be a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. He had a feeling that he was fated to have it.
That day, the barely perceptible gaze he had sensed had felt familiar, though he couldn't remember where he had encountered it before. He hadn't sensed any malice, though, and it had disappeared after he took the fruit away. It felt as though something had been delivered to its recipient and the task was complete.
He was still a nobody. Who would want to harm him? He couldn't figure it out. It was just a Devil Fruit, not poison, so he didn't think the other party would go to such pointless trouble.
Although there was a fruit he wanted, he didn't want to give this one up either. He also had a vague suspicion...
The longer Vic held the Devil Fruit, the more strongly he felt it drawing him in.
Ann, bless me! Vic prayed inwardly.
Once he made up his mind, he endured the disgusting taste and ate the whole thing, leaving nothing behind. He didn't believe the claim that a single bite was enough to gain all of its powers.
King Luffy had eaten an entire Devil Fruit and become the Sun God (in the anime, Red-Hair caught King Luffy halfway through eating it, but in the manga, no one noticed him eating the Devil Fruit because they were all watching the commotion, so he ate the whole thing). Ace had eaten half and had his chest punched through. Vic wasn't going to take just one bite because it tasted awful. Whether he took one bite or ate the whole thing, he was eating it either way. Once he'd tasted it, why stop there? He didn't want to risk any complications later.
After forcing himself to swallow all the flesh, Vic shuddered, goosebumps rising all over his body, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Vic, did you really eat that Devil Fruit they say tastes worse than shit? Hee-hee!" Rebecca said with a laugh.
Vic had told her about Devil Fruits and how they tasted like shit. A little fairy like her would never eat one. She knew Vic had brought back a strange fruit, and only learned it was a legendary Devil Fruit when she asked him about it.
"Vic, what power did you get?" Although she didn't want to eat one herself, Rebecca was still very curious.
Vic checked how his body felt. He already knew what kind of fruit he had eaten. Sure enough, it was a Paramecia. He didn't know its name, but it was a Devil Fruit related to speed, capable of increasing it. He could call it the Speed-Speed Fruit.
"This fruit has to do with speed. I'm calling it the Speed-Speed Fruit." With that, he began to demonstrate. Soru, Geppo, and his sword swings were several times faster than before.
Vic knew he had only just eaten the fruit. As he developed it, its potential would be limitless!
If he developed it well, his mobility in battle would be tremendous. He could attack or retreat, making him much safer. A smile appeared on Vic's lips. His feeling hadn't been wrong; it was a good power.
Then Vic took Rebecca to the seaside.
"Rebecca, they say people who eat Devil Fruits can't swim. I'm going to jump into the sea in a moment. If you see that I haven't come back up after a while, come in and fish me out." Before Rebecca could answer, Vic jumped straight into the sea.
Rebecca was a little dumbfounded. He knew he couldn't swim, yet he still jumped into the sea. Was he messing around? Though she grumbled inwardly, she would still have to fish Vic out if he couldn't swim.
Vic jumped into the sea, but he didn't feel the weakness he had heard about. He could swim freely, and his movements weren't affected.
My guess was right! The original owner's soul really is still here; it hasn't disappeared. Devil Fruits really are connected to souls. The guesses about Blackbeard in my previous life were right too. He really does have more than one soul in his body. That means I can eat another Devil Fruit, haha! Vic was ecstatic. A trait like this was rare even in this world.
However, the fact that he could enter the sea might not have meant quite what he thought...
Vic came ashore, and Rebecca was puzzled. Could the legend be wrong? She looked at Vic with wide, questioning eyes.
Vic saw her confusion and explained, "It's true that you can't go into the sea after eating a Devil Fruit, but my constitution might be a little unusual, so it doesn't affect me. Rebecca, you have to keep the fact that I ate a Devil Fruit secret. If the Marines find out I ate a Devil Fruit but still have nothing to fear from seawater, they'll capture me and slice me up." Vic spoke to Rebecca solemnly.
Although he knew Rebecca wouldn't betray him, he was afraid she might not understand the situation and accidentally let it slip. He needed to warn her in advance.
Vic decided to pretend for the time being that he hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit. As long as he didn't show it, no one would know. Just because he was fast, they couldn't say it was a Devil Fruit power, could they?
There were plenty of extraordinary people in this world, so it was perfectly reasonable for him to be a little faster, right?