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'So this is the legendary Devil Fruit shop?'
Obadiah Stane slowly swept his gaze across the interior, his expression calm and unreadable. Still, a faint trace of surprise stirred beneath the surface. For a place rumored to sell powers straight out of myth, the shop was… modest. Clean, orderly, even a little plain. There were no glowing artifacts, no ominous symbols carved into the walls.
It was almost disappointingly normal.
His eyes soon settled on the young man behind the counter. Eastern features. Far younger than Obadiah had anticipated. This was a far cry from the image he'd imagined, like a mysterious, ancient figure guarding forbidden power with an all-knowing stare.
But Obadiah Stane was no longer the man he used to be.
In the beginning, even after watching Pepper Potts casually create floating bubbles with his own eyes, he'd still doubted it. Rationality and caution had been drilled into him for decades. Miracles didn't exist; technology did.
That doubt vanished the moment he sent a trusted subordinate to investigate personally. The report that came back left no room for denial.
Devil Fruits were real.
This wasn't a scam, a trick, or some elaborate illusion. It was power, pure and undeniable.
Because of that, despite how wildly different reality was from his expectations, Obadiah approached the shop with genuine respect. He straightened his tailored suit out of habit and spoke in a polite, measured tone.
"Good afternoon, Shopkeeper."
"Welcome," Rosh replied, returning the greeting with a calm nod and a professional smile.
"Thank you." Obadiah paused briefly before continuing, getting straight to the point. "I've come to purchase Devil Fruits. If possible, I'd appreciate some recommendations."
From Obadiah's composed attitude alone, Rosh immediately understood the situation. This wasn't a curious outsider or a skeptic testing the waters. This was someone who had already seen the truth, witnessed the power firsthand, and accepted it completely.
That made things much simpler.
"Why don't you start by looking through the catalog?" Rosh said smoothly as he retrieved a catalog and slid it across the counter. "If anything catches your interest, I can explain it in more detail."
"Thank you, Shopkeeper." Obadiah accepted the catalog with both hands and began reading carefully, his focus sharpening.
Devil Fruits: mysterious treasures from the sea. Consume one, and gain extraordinary powers.
Just those opening words caused Obadiah's pulse to quicken ever so slightly. It aligned perfectly with the intelligence he'd gathered, but seeing it written so clearly, so confidently, gave it an undeniable sense of authority.
He continued.
Devil Fruits are divided into Zoan Fruits and Paramecia Fruits. Zoans grant the abilities and physical traits of animals, while Paramecias bestow a wide variety of other supernatural powers.
"Incredible…" Obadiah murmured under his breath.
Like most customers before him, his attention gravitated almost instantly toward the Paramecia Fruits. While Zoans were impressive, the flexibility and sheer unpredictability of Paramecia abilities were far more appealing to someone like him.
After briefly skimming the Zoan section, Obadiah flipped the page without hesitation and began studying the Paramecia listings in earnest, his eyes burning with interest.
Obadiah's eyes slowly widened, the sharp calculation he was known for giving way to something far rarer: awe. It was the kind of look a man wore when standing at the edge of an uncharted ocean, realizing just how small his previous world had been.
A door had opened.
And beyond it lay possibilities he had never even dared to imagine.
The Mirage-Mirage Fruit: granting the ability to project anything the user sees, creating illusions as real and vivid as living holograms.
The Mark-Mark Fruit: allowing the user to designate any target and strike it with flawless, unavoidable accuracy.
The Spring-Spring Fruit: enabling any part of the body to transform into a spring, storing and releasing incredible kinetic force.
Each page introduced another unbelievable power. Each description felt like it rewrote the rules of reality itself. Obadiah read with growing excitement, his mind racing with applications, strategies, and profit margins.
And yet… despite all of that, none of them truly clicked.
Not until his eyes stopped on one specific entry.
He slowly looked up from the catalog, a sharp gleam lighting his gaze. "Shopkeeper," Obadiah said, tapping the page lightly. "This one. The Munch-Munch Fruit."
He paused, choosing his words carefully. "It says the user can eat anything and turn it into part of their body."
Then he looked Rosh straight in the eye. "When you say 'anything,' do you really mean anything? Or are there… limitations?"
'So he noticed it,' Rosh thought, nodding inwardly.
Obadiah Stane's instincts were sharp. The Munch-Munch Fruit was infamous for being underestimated. On the surface, it sounded crude, even ridiculous. But its true potential was staggering. It was the kind of power that grew more terrifying the smarter its user was.
Even Blackbeard had initially set his sights on this fruit, only abandoning it later after acquiring the Dark-Dark Fruit. The Munch-Munch Fruit was, without question, one of the most high-potential Devil Fruits in existence.
"There are no restrictions," Rosh replied evenly. "If the catalog says 'anything,' then that's exactly what it means."
Rosh continued calmly, as if stating an obvious fact. "Steel. Stone. Wood. Gold. Silver. Any material you can imagine can be consumed."
Obadiah's breath hitched almost imperceptibly. "Then… if I were to eat steel," he asked, unable to hide his anticipation, "would I be able to turn my body into steel?"
Though the catalog clearly said so, the idea was simply too unbelievable, too important, for him not to confirm personally.
"Of course," Rosh said with a nod. "That's the most basic use of the Munch-Munch Fruit." Then he added, almost casually, "But the real power goes far beyond that."
Obadiah stiffened slightly, listening intently.
"The user isn't limited to copying a single material," Rosh explained. "They can combine everything they've consumed into something entirely new."
"For example, if you eat steel along with other metals, you wouldn't just become steel. You could transform into an alloy, stronger, tougher, and more versatile than any single material alone."
As Rosh spoke, a thought crossed his mind. 'If the Iron Monger swallowed enough metal, he'd truly become an Iron Monger in every sense of the word.'
From every angle, this Devil Fruit suited Obadiah perfectly.
"Unbelievable…" Obadiah whispered.
Then again, more softly, as if the word still wasn't enough, "Absolutely unbelievable…"
"And that's still not all," Rosh continued, his tone steady but deliberate. "The Munch-Munch Fruit can consume objects far more complex than raw materials."
Obadiah's heart skipped a beat.
"For instance," Rosh said, "the user can swallow an entire firearm. With enough control and mastery, they can directly integrate that weapon into their own body."
Silence fell over the shop.
'What…?' Obadiah stood frozen, his mind reeling as if his entire understanding of power had just been smashed apart and rebuilt from scratch.
He had assumed the Munch-Munch Fruit was limited to consuming metals and turning the body metallic.
He never imagined… it could be used in such an advanced, almost absurd way.
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Next Chapter: A Power That Preys on Other Powers
Next Next Chapter: Swallowing Steel
Next Next Next Chapter: Without Tony Stark, It Just Won't Work
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