You're Already a Mature Devil Fruit! / [Devil of Greed], Mammon

Author: Shark Yu

Synopsis:

"You're already a mature Devil Fruit!"

Dimon said to the Devil Fruit, and so, the Devil Fruit gained sentience.

When a human ate a Devil Fruit, they still needed to constantly train and develop their own ability, but a sentient Devil Fruit could instantly reach one hundred percent proficiency.

"You're already a mature Haki, you need to learn to cultivate on your own!"

"Hawk-Eye, your Black Blade Yoru is fated with me, and seems to want to acknowledge me as its master. If you don't believe me, ask it? Right, Little Yoru?"

"So you're the one called Laugh Tale? Why make me come look for you, can't you just come over yourself?"

Until one day, as Dimon looked at the Red Line before him, he raised a hand and activated the Animation talent...

Chapter 1: You're Already a Mature Devil Fruit!

(A note written beforehand: official setting for Luffy setting sail is 1539, commonly used as 1520 in previous fanfiction, simply +19 years for conversion)

Sea Circle Calendar 1536, Grand Line, Sleepy Town.

"Father, I am searching for something."

"You aren't from the town, are you? Young lamb."

Inside the church, the priest wore a spring breeze-like smile on his face.

"Yes."

"Here for a certain Devil Fruit?"

Dimon showed a look of surprise, as expected the priest in this town knew something.

"I'm looking for a Zoan fruit, the Zoan Bat-Bat Fruit Mythical Zoan Vampire model."

The priest shook his head: "Lost lamb, go away, this fruit does not exist."

You say it doesn't exist, so what was the Pirate King I watched before?

Dimon's expression was calm: "I have reliable intelligence, half a month, I've searched the entire town, and only this place is left."

Devil Fruits were known as "the sea's secret treasures."

Any Devil Fruit had a starting price of one hundred million on the black market.

But those were only the most ordinary goods; a Mythical Zoan fruit like the vampire could fetch prices breaking one billion, even two billion, or three billion.

The priest let out a helpless sigh,

"Every year people like you are tricked into coming to this island, these are false rumors intentionally spread by the mayor for the town's tourism industry.

My teacher, the previous priest, started it from his time.

What a pity, there is no thing you're looking for here."

His tone was sincere, paired with his image of wearing a long black robe and holding a Bible, ordinary people might really have believed it.

Yet Dimon was no ordinary person!

As a transmigrator who had just turned half a month old, he was very clear that this fruit was right here, and he had spent half a month searching every corner of the town, except for this final church.

Holmes once said: eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth, no matter how impossible it seems.

The Mythical Zoan Vampire Fruit was right here.

"Since you refuse to talk, Father, then let me show you something fun."

Dimon strode toward the priest, and the priest wanted to offer a few words of persuasion, but discovered Dimon walking past him and coming to the statue behind him.

That was a full-body sculpture nailed to a cross, also called a crucifix, the core of the entire church, representing redemption and suffering.

Dimon touched the statue with his hand.

"Wait, don't touch the divine statue randomly, this is blasphemy against the gods!"

The priest's expression changed slightly, as a devout believer, he did not allow anyone to desecrate the divine statue.

Dimon turned a deaf ear, his gaze fixed on the mysterious panel before him that only he could see.

[Animation]: Animate all things, grant life.

[Counts]: 1 time per day.

This was the talent he obtained after transmigrating, commonly known as a golden finger; its ability effect was extremely simple, and the conditions for use were not complex.

Without hesitation, Dimon activated the ability on the statue.

Animation!

A strange force poured from his palm into the statue, and a hazy golden light enveloped the surface of the statue's body.

"Father, if your god comes alive, will you be happy?"

The priest stared blankly up at the statue. The bizarre sight left him stunned.

The next moment, the statue moved.

It stepped down from its pedestal and onto the church floor, its heavy footsteps echoing.

Then, as the priest watched in astonishment, the statue moved like an old, poorly maintained machine that had gone without lubrication for years. It slowly bent its knees and knelt before Dimon.

"Master."

"N-no... impossible!"

As he watched the statue behave so strangely, the priest murmured in a daze. Then he suddenly came to his senses and glared furiously at Dimon.

"Y-you're a Devil Fruit user! You bastard, what did you do to the statue?!"

"You have yourself to blame. If you'd told me where the Vampire Fruit was, I wouldn't have had to go to all this trouble."

Dimon made a little bear-like shrugging gesture.

"You're already a Devil Fruit user. Why do you want a second one?" The priest couldn't accept it. "You damn blasphemer!!"

Rage surged within him, and he lunged at Dimon.

But the statue suddenly stood up and swung one arm, smacking him to the floor.

"Why didn't you bow before your god? I'm starting to doubt your faith, Father."

Dimon teased him, then asked the statue, "You're an old statue. If the Devil Fruit is in the church, you should know where it is, right?"

"In the basement, Master."

The church had a basement, too?

The priest, knocked to the floor by his own statue, looked utterly bewildered.

Then his eyes widened as he watched the statue push aside its pedestal and lift a floor tile, revealing a staircase leading underground.

"There really is a basement..."

The priest felt as if his whole view of the world had been upended. That bastard of a teacher had kept this from him and taken the secret to his grave!

Could it be... that the Mythical Zoan Vampire Fruit really existed?

Dimon paid no attention to the priest's racing thoughts. He ordered the statue to lead the way, then followed behind it down the stone steps.

Who knew whether there were any traps below?

Fortunately, his concerns proved unfounded. There was nothing unusual in the basement; the air had simply gone stale from being shut away for so long, giving the place a strange smell.

The space wasn't very large, about the size of an ordinary family's living room. Opposite the entrance stood an altar, upon which rested a Devil Fruit that was a deep purple all over.

"Master, this is the Devil Fruit you were looking for."

So it really was here. The church basement was keeping the Vampire Fruit under lock and key-how perfectly reasonable!

Dimon walked over and took the Devil Fruit, then turned to leave.

As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, he saw the priest blocking the entrance.

The priest stared fixedly at the mysterious fruit in Dimon's hand. His Adam's apple bobbed, and greed showed in his eyes.

"Leave the Devil Fruit behind!"

The priest suddenly pulled a pistol from beneath his long black robe, his voice tense. "You're already a Devil Fruit user. If one person eats a second fruit, they'll explode and die. It's useless to you!"

"A gun? Why does a priest carry a gun around?" Dimon was speechless.

"I told you, pirates often come here because of the rumors about the Devil Fruit. I have no choice but to carry a gun in case I run into danger-like right now!"

The priest took a deep breath and gripped the pistol in both hands, trembling slightly. "I'll say it again. Put that fruit down!"

Seeing this, Dimon made a gun shape with his hand and said calmly:

"This isn't a toy. Are you ready to stake your life on it?"

Their eyes met, and the priest felt an immense pressure, as though prey had come face-to-face with a hunter.

Fear, panic, and turmoil made him tremble even more.

He knew it was only in his mind, but he couldn't control it.

This man was serious!

If I shoot, someone's going to die. Either him... or me!

The air fell silent for several seconds. The priest lowered his pistol in defeat. He simply didn't have the courage to fire.

"Goodbye, young priest. Don't be so impulsive next time. Not everyone will be as easy to talk to as I am."

Dimon smiled faintly and climbed the steps. When he reached the priest, he patted him on the shoulder.

In truth, he didn't have a superhuman body that could withstand a bullet, nor the speed to dodge one.

But he was confident the statue he had given Animation to could deal with the problem the instant the priest fired.

That was why he had nothing to fear.

Late at night, on a stretch of coast somewhere near Sleepy Town, beside a blazing bonfire.

Firelight illuminated two figures. Dimon ate grilled fish as he waited for his talent to recharge.

As soon as midnight passed and his ability uses refreshed, he immediately took out the Devil Fruit.

"After half a month of work, I finally got my hands on it. It's time to see whether I can use my ability to animate a Devil Fruit..."

"You're a fully mature Devil Fruit now. Time to wake up."

After a solemn little incantation, his ability activated the next moment.

Animation!

In an instant, the fruit began to swell irregularly and slipped from Dimon's hand.

Once it hit the ground, it continued to grow until it was over two meters tall. Then it began refining its own appearance, gradually taking on a human form.

"Master!"

Chapter 2: [Demon of Greed], Mammon

A Devil Fruit had gained sentience!

Even though it was his own creation, Dimon still felt a strange sense of unease.

Right before his eyes, a Devil Fruit was slowly turning into a person.

"What are you now? A Devil Fruit? A human?"

Devil Fruits were the embodiment of humanity's wishes, a manifestation of its yearning for evolution.