The Second Devil, [Ain]

Dimon smiled. The man looked fierce, but he was surprisingly a good person. Dimon picked up the clothes on the ground, walked over, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Goodbye, Cedric. I hope you're still alive the next time we meet. Don't get caught by the World Government."

With that, he left the sea cliff and returned home.

Cedric snorted.

"Even if you die, I won't get caught. Goodbye, Zoro."

Dimon waved without looking back.

When he got home, Mammon was out. He took the last of the Longevity Wine from the liquor cabinet, poured the crimson liquid into a glass, and tipped his head back to drain it in one gulp.

"I've been going through more wine while training in the Six Powers. Looks like I'll have to go out and get some more. I'm almost out of money, too..."

Between rent and tuition, he had paid Cedric 11.2 million Beli. With his daily expenses over the past month added in, only a few million remained of the haul from plundering the Warrior Pirates.

What could he do with a few million?

He couldn't even afford the skin of a Devil Fruit!

He needed to find a few more unlucky fools...

As he was thinking, Mammon appeared at the villa's entrance.

Mammon wore a crisp black suit today, which, combined with his height of over two meters, made him look even more like a bodyguard.

"You're back? Good timing. I need to go out, so let's leave tonight. By the way, how's the information I asked you to gather?"

Mammon immediately pulled out a thick stack of wanted posters.

"These are all the pirate wanted posters I've gathered recently... As for the particular pirate you asked me to investigate, master, there's no information about him here."

The target of the investigation was Portgas D. Ace.

It was now the year 1536 of the Sea Circle Calendar, three years before Luffy set sail.

This year, Ace would set sail and form the Spade Pirates, and during his adventures, he would come across the Flame-Flame Fruit and become a Logia user.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Dimon took the wanted posters and flipped through them one by one.

There were pirates worth a few million, those worth tens of millions, and even Supernovas worth over a hundred million, but Dimon didn't recognize a single one.

The pirates he knew were either major figures of the past or rising stars of the future.

He reached the last poster without finding Ace's.

"Looks like he really hasn't set sail yet, or he has, but hasn't made a name for himself..."

Either way, he had to make a trip to the East Blue.

That was right. He had his eye on the Flame-Flame Fruit.

Not even a dog would eat the Flame-Flame Fruit!

Before he transmigrated, all sorts of people online had often made fun of the fruit, but it was still a Logia. Dimon didn't mind getting his hands on it; he wasn't the one eating it anyway.

Besides that, there was one other powerful Devil Fruit Dimon remembered that had yet to be eaten.

The artificial Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Form!

It was the fruit of Kaido, one of the current Four Emperors.

His power had been replicated through scientific means by the "genius scientist" Vegapunk.

There was no rush to get the Azure Dragon Fruit. Kozuki Momonosuke would accidentally eat it five years from now, so there was plenty of time. Getting the Flame-Flame Fruit first and then going for it would be just as well.

"I hope the Flame-Flame Fruit is still there..."

After dinner.

Dimon left with Mammon, and the two came to the foot of the sea cliff, where Ship Zuizui was already waiting aboard the Wave-Breaking Warrior.

As soon as Dimon boarded, the chatterbox piped up.

"Oh, great and wise master, I finally get to see you! Boo-hoo-hoo~ Your loyal, poor servant has missed you day and night~"

A creepy mouth appeared on the deck, and Dimon stepped on it without noticing.

"Hm?"

Dimon lifted his foot and looked down. "Why aren't you sailing? If you don't do it, am I supposed to?"

"Ah~ What an honor it is to be trampled so hard by you, master~"

"Honored master, I shall take command of the ship immediately, right away. I have just one tiny request..."

"Could you please tell me where you wish to go, master?"

"..." A trace of helplessness flashed in Dimon's eyes. "The East Blue."

"The East... Where's the East Blue?"

Ship Zuizui sounded a little panicked.

It was just a pirate ship that had come to life. How would it know the way to the East Blue?

"Sail against the Grand Line's magnetic route. We'll go to Reverse Mountain first."

"Reverse Mountain... Where's that?"

Ship Zuizui sounded increasingly uneasy.

"Reverse Mountain is... Why do you have so many questions?" Dimon said irritably. "Just get moving first."

"Yes, master. I'll study hard from now on and strive to become as wise as you!"

You're just a ship. What are you going to study? I think you're being sarcastic!

Chapter 8: The Second Devil, [Ain]

The next day.

Dimon got up early and washed up, then took another shower after his morning training.

By his reckoning, the day he had arranged with Colonel Ed had arrived.

"Mammon, bring me the Den Den Mushi."

Dimon called outside.

A moment later, Mammon brought him a Den Den Mushi. Dimon dialed the number he remembered and waited a short while for the call to connect.

"This is Marine Headquarters Colonel Pierce Ed. Who is this?"

"Mr. Ed, important people do have short memories."

Dimon lay in the bathtub, relaxed, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"So it's you, Mr. Zoro."

Ed seemed to have only just remembered him, and his tone was apologetic. "I just got the item and was about to contact you to complete the final transaction. Are you still on Farn Island?"

"I just left."

Dimon didn't believe a word about him having just gotten the item. If he hadn't contacted Ed himself, another month might have passed without Ed reaching out.

"What do you mean, you just left?"

"I'm a bounty hunter. Naturally, I went to sea to capture pirates."

"Then don't go just yet. Let's meet in the waters near Farn Island. I expect to get there at noon."

"No problem."

After a brief conversation to settle on a time, Dimon hung up.

Then he lightly tapped his fingers against the bathroom wall.

"Zuizui."

"Yes, great master. Your devoted servant Ship Zuizui is always at your command."

"Turn back for now."

Before long, it was noon.

The Wave-Breaking Warrior met a Marine warship in the waters near Farn Island. This time, Dimon boarded the warship.

Seeing Dimon again after a month, Colonel Ed came forward and warmly shook his hand.

The three heads from last time had added considerably to his merits. With one or two more achievements of the same caliber, he might be promoted from colonel to commodore!

"Mr. Zoro, I went to quite some trouble to find you a Devil Fruit at a suitable price."

After taking credit, Ed waved behind him, and a Marine immediately came forward carrying a small treasure chest.

He opened the chest himself, revealing a Devil Fruit inside.

"What fruit is this?" Dimon asked curiously.

"The Zoan Snail-Snail Fruit, Snail Form."

As Colonel Ed spoke, he watched Dimon's expression. When he saw him frown, he explained helplessly:

"You know Devil Fruits are treasures of the sea. With a budget of 150 million Beli, it's impossible to buy a good Paramecia, much less a Logia."

Dimon rolled his eyes. "So, does this ordinary Zoan have any special abilities?"

"It does. It really does!"

Hearing that, Colonel Ed immediately smiled. "Actually, it has another name: the Den Den Mushi Fruit. Whoever eats it gains the same abilities as a Den Den Mushi! Ordinary Zoans don't have any special abilities, so this fruit is fairly unusual."

So I paid 150 million for a Den Den Mushi? I could buy a hundred of them at a Den Den Mushi shop, damn it!

Still, Dimon hadn't expected to buy a decent Devil Fruit for a little over a hundred million Beli. This fruit was for an experiment.

"Fine, then. Goodbye."

Dimon took the fruit and turned to leave.

"Wait," Colonel Ed called hastily. "You said you were going out to hunt pirates? As it happens, I've picked a target too. Want to work together? Same terms as before. You'll receive the appropriate bounty."

It wasn't Dimon he had his eye on, but Mammon, the bodyguard under Dimon's command.

"Who's the target?"

"The Isaac Pirates. Their captain is Isaac the 'Undying,' with a bounty of 99 million Beli!"

"Only ninety-odd million?"

Dimon's response left Ed at a loss for words.

"What do you mean, only ninety-odd million...? This is Isaac the 'Undying' we're talking about. His crew is far stronger than the Warrior Pirates!"

Dimon shook his head. He wasn't very interested in pirates worth less than a hundred million now. If he ran into one, he could take care of them along the way, but going out of his way to find one was too much trouble.

"If we're going to catch someone, let's catch a Supernova with a bounty over a hundred million. You can go after this man yourself."

Holding his newly acquired Devil Fruit, Dimon leaped across the gap between the two ships and returned to the Warrior.

Colonel Ed's expression immediately soured.

"Hey! Are you crazy? Supernovas aren't like ordinary pirates! A hundred million is a threshold! Don't you understand?"

Ninety-nine million and a hundred million seemed to differ by only one million Beli, but their actual strength was on an entirely different level.

On the Grand Line, pirates worth tens of millions were a dime a dozen, but there were only a handful of rookies worth over a hundred million each year!

Most of these people's bounties had only just passed a hundred million. That wasn't because their strength was worth only one or two hundred million, but because rookies who had just set sail hadn't yet demonstrated their threat to the World Government.

Once a Supernova pirate like that made it through Fish-Man Island, which had a ten percent survival rate, and entered the New World...

Their bounty would immediately skyrocket!

"Idiot!"

Colonel Ed clicked his tongue and cursed inwardly. I thought he was a bounty hunter I could befriend, but if he wants to get himself killed, so be it.

Back aboard the Wave-Breaking Warrior.