"Next up for auction is a Devil Fruit!"
"A Devil Fruit!"
"A Devil Fruit, one of the legendary treasures of the sea?"
"I heard eating a Devil Fruit gives you the power of a devil!"
"I never thought a little auction like today's would have a Devil Fruit. What luck!"
"What a surprise. We actually get to see a Devil Fruit."
At the auctioneer's announcement, the guests in the auction house cried out one after another.
"Heh heh, this is a treasure of the sea. You're lucky to see it today-ordinary people might never get to see such a treasure in their entire lives!" The auctioneer lifted the cloth beside him, revealing an exceedingly strange fruit, somewhat like a pear and somewhat like a gourd, covered in strange patterns.
"So this is a Devil Fruit?"
"What a strange thing!"
"Eating it gives you magical powers?"
"And the sea will reject you from then on, leaving you unable to swim."
"Who cares whether I can swim? All I want is power!"
"Right. In the New World, you have everything as long as you have power."
"Exactly. Rocks gained everything through his power. Too bad he was finally wiped out by the Navy's Garp the Hero. If I had power, I'd be the next Rocks!"
The guests spoke with gleaming eyes.
As residents of the New World, where conditions were exceptionally harsh, they worshipped the strong even more than residents of the other seas.
"Hey, hey, why does that Devil Fruit look so familiar?"
"What? Someone like you has seen a Devil Fruit somewhere else?"
"Th-that's the Tremor-Tremor Fruit the papers reported on a while ago, isn't it?"
"Now that you mention it, I remember too. That's the Tremor-Tremor Fruit."
"What Tremor-Tremor Fruit? That Suicide Fruit?"
"I was wondering how an auction of this caliber could have a Devil Fruit for sale. So it's that Suicide Fruit!"
"I got excited for nothing. I still want to stay alive and enjoy life!"
"If you want to live, stay away from that Devil Fruit!"
Once the audience learned that the fruit being auctioned was the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, their faces filled with distaste.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit was very famous at the time.
But unlike in later years, when Whitebeard would earn it such illustrious reputations as the World's Strongest Devil Fruit and the fruit that could destroy the world, things were different now.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit was now notorious, known as the Suicide Fruit.
As its name suggested, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit generated tremors and was an immensely destructive Devil Fruit.
In terms of power, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was indeed a rare and formidable fruit.
But at the same time, it was also a Suicide Fruit.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit was like the Seven Injuries Fist: powerful as it was, it injured its user while striking the enemy.
The stronger the attack, the greater the recoil damage to the user.
And precisely because the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was so powerful, the damage it inflicted on its user was immense.
Those on the seas who ate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit often died not long afterward.
They were not killed by enemies, but by the recoil of their own Devil Fruit.
Thus, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit became the famous Death Fruit.
Not long ago, a great pirate had eaten the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and fought another great pirate.
Although he ultimately defeated his opponent, news of his death came not long afterward, and his pirate crew disbanded as well.
It turned out that the recoil from his own Devil Fruit had left the great pirate covered in injuries during the battle, and he eventually died of his wounds.
The newspapers had reported the incident, so everyone feared it like the plague.
Power was tempting, but their lives mattered most. They did not think themselves stronger than that great pirate.
Yet among the terrified audience, one person's eyes shone with delight.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit? Isn't that Whitebeard's Devil Fruit in the original story? I never thought people would fear it like the plague now. No wonder, though. This Devil Fruit really does have something of a self-harming effect. If I...
A gleam flashed through Zesi's eyes, and finally, they revealed his determination to obtain this Devil Fruit.
Zesi was a transmigrator!
But the time he had transmigrated to was rather far removed from the story's events.
The Rocks Pirates' rule over the seas had only just ended.
The great battle at God Valley had ended only recently.
The battle at God Valley had crushed Rocks's ambitions, and the world was cheering over it.
The World Government was busy erasing God Valley and Rocks's existence.
Sengoku had only just become an Admiral and was responsible for hunting down the remnants of Rocks's crew everywhere: Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Big Mom, John, Ochoku, and the others.
As for Kaido, a future member of the Four Emperors, he had merely been an apprentice and did not even qualify for Sengoku to pursue him personally. His pursuit was simply assigned to subordinates.
Zesi had transmigrated into the family of a wealthy merchant in the New World.
Zesi's mother had died long ago. His father was a wealthy merchant who spent all his time traveling from place to place on business, leaving only a butler at home to look after him.
He had casually attended this small auction today, never expecting to see the Tremor-Tremor Fruit here.
Others might not know, but how could Zesi fail to understand the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power?
So the instant he saw the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Zesi decided that he had to obtain it.
"One Paramecia Devil Fruit, with a starting price of one hundred million Beli. Do we have any bids?"
Seeing everyone in the venue talking among themselves and looking terrified, the auctioneer hurriedly began the bidding.
But now that everyone knew this was the fruit that brought death to its user, naturally, no one would bid. Every one of them shunned it like the plague.
"Who would want that Death Fruit?"
"Exactly. Who would go looking for death?"
"Forget a hundred million. No one would bid even ten million or one million!"
"I wouldn't take it even if you gave it to me for free!"
Not a single person in the venue was willing to bid.
That left the auctioneer feeling awkward.
Their boss had obtained this Devil Fruit by chance.
When he first acquired it, the boss had been extremely pleased with himself.
He said he had paid one million Beli to some ignorant old hick for a Devil Fruit worth at least a hundred million.
Simply reselling it would easily bring in more than a hundredfold return.
But afterward, he discovered he had been fooled. This fruit was actually the notorious Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
With no other choice, he could only put it up for sale at this small auction rather than the annual grand auction!
He had hoped the attendees would be ignorant enough for him to sell off this Devil Fruit.
But now, it seemed the boss's rosy calculations had come to nothing!
"I bid ten million Beli!"
Just then, a voice rang out!
"Someone really isn't afraid to die!"
"Ten million Beli is far below the price of a Devil Fruit, but it should be enough to buy this notorious one!"
Many guests were surprised to hear someone bid.
The auction house's boss also hurriedly signaled the auctioneer with his eyes.
Ten million Beli would still earn a profit. They needed to sell a Devil Fruit like this quickly, or it would be trouble if they got stuck with it.
"Someone has bid ten million Beli. Any higher bids? Ten million going once, ten million going twice, ten million going three times-sold!"
The auctioneer's hammer fell.