In just a few minutes, three Devil Fruits had materialized out of thin air and were now lying in front of Usopp.
He stared at them. Devil Fruits were supposed to be legendary treasures of the sea. And yet here were three of them, acquired as casually as picking flowers from a garden. It didn't make sense. Even the most basic logic suggested that if this method was so simple, major powers would've monopolized the entire Devil Fruit market centuries ago. Given enough time and resources, a single organization should theoretically be able to control eighty percent of all Devil Fruits in existence.
But that clearly hadn't happened. The World Government hadn't cornered the market. Pirates still found fruits randomly. New abilities kept appearing in unexpected places.
Why?
He turned the question over in his mind, trying to puzzle it out. Maybe what he was witnessing now was just a special case, the twenty percent exception rather than the eighty percent rule. Maybe harvesting Devil Fruits only looked this easy under these specific circumstances.
"Careful not to accidentally eat one," Marcus said with a slight smirk.
The comment snapped Usopp out of his thoughts. He'd been staring so intently at the fruits in his hands that he hadn't even noticed how close he'd brought them to his face.
His expression grew complicated as he looked at Marcus. "This is..."
Countless questions bubbled up in his mind, each fighting to be asked first. How long had Marcus known about this? How many fruits had he collected this way? Did the others know? Should he tell them? The words tangled together in his throat, and he didn't know which one to let out first, or if he should say anything at all.
Marcus shrugged at Usopp's internal struggle. "It's just how Devil Fruit reincarnation works. Nothing mysterious about it."
"But if it's that straightforward, how come ancient organizations like the World Government haven't figured it out? Or major kingdoms..." Usopp trailed off.
"You mean like Arabasta?" Marcus asked. "The two guardian deities protecting Vivi's kingdom? They've been passing down the same Devil Fruits for generations using a method similar to this. Though I doubt their process is as crude as mine. They probably have some kind of ritual or ceremony involved."
He gathered all the fruits from the cloud surface, and packed them away. He placed the two new types into his transmutation interface, then turned to look at Usopp with an expression that was hard to read.
"What?" Usopp asked, suddenly uncomfortable under that gaze.
"Aren't you curious what would happen if you ate two of the same Devil Fruit?"
Usopp shook his head and looked down at the wild Bomb-Bomb Fruit still sitting nearby.
"If I ate it... wouldn't I just explode?"
"No idea. Never tried it."
"You haven't even tested it, and you're suggesting I be the guinea pig?"
"I only asked if you were curious. I never told you to eat it."
Marcus flicked his wrist, and the Bomb-Bomb Fruit vanished into his inventory.
But the seed had been planted. Usopp found himself seriously considering what might happen if someone consumed two identical Devil Fruits. It went against everything everyone knew about how Devil Fruits worked. The uniqueness rule was absolute, common knowledge that nobody questioned. Except that common knowledge had already been challenged today. He had just witnessed a second Bomb-Bomb Fruit appear after its user died. If that rule could be broken, what other rules might not be as absolute as everyone assumed?
The thought was dangerous. Under normal circumstances, he would never even consider something so reckless. But Marcus had never openly given anyone on the crew duplicate Devil Fruits before. Sure, both Usopp and Clucky technically had the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, but one was a person and the other was a chicken. Nobody had thought to make the connection. Now that the possibility had been explicitly brought up, wild theories exploded in his mind like a chain reaction of detonations. His curiosity felt like a mischievous cat constantly batting at his willpower, trying to get him to act on impulse.
And his imagination was already overactive on a good day. Resisting this particular temptation felt nearly impossible.
He looked at Marcus. "Should I... try it?"
Marcus immediately shook his head. "Let's experiment on someone else first. If something goes wrong, I won't be able to save you."
That sobered Usopp up quickly. He nodded, forcing his rational mind back into control. Marcus could create items with incredible regenerative properties, but if he exploded from the inside out, not even a golden apple could fix that level of damage. He pushed the seductive thought aside and refocused on more practical concerns.
"If Devil Fruits can really be harvested this easily... why isn't everyone doing it? Why isn't this common knowledge?"
"Think about Impel Down," Marcus said. "The world's most secure prison, full of captured Devil Fruit users. If this method was as simple as it looks, the Marines would've executed every single prisoner years ago and collected their abilities."
Usopp nodded slowly. That was a good point. Everyone knew about the three great Marine strongholds, Enies Lobby, Marineford, and Impel Down. The prison specifically held dangerous Devil Fruit users, criminals too powerful to be kept in regular facilities. If harvesting fruits was this straightforward, the Marines would've turned Impel Down into a Devil Fruit farm. They'd have every incentive to execute prisoners and collect their abilities. It would be the most efficient way to consolidate power and prevent dangerous abilities from falling into enemy hands.
But that hadn't happened. Prisoners were kept alive. Abilities remained locked up rather than being harvested.
"So there must be complications we're not seeing. Something that makes this method less reliable than it looks."
"Yeah, I've thought about that." Marcus leaned back against a cloud formation, looking up at the sky.
After spending so much time in this world, he'd stopped thinking of everyone as background characters or NPCs. The people here were real, they had their own knowledge, motivations, and secrets. Someone like Vegapunk would definitely know about Devil Fruit reincarnation. Hell, the evil scientists working for major powers probably knew too. It wasn't exactly a secret among people who paid attention.
The original manga had even shown it happening. Back in the Punk Hazard arc, that poisonous slime creature had eaten the Axolotl Fruit. When it died after consuming Caesar's poison candy, a nearby apple transformed into a Devil Fruit right there on panel. Most readers missed it or didn't think about the implications, but it was a clear demonstration of how the process worked. So if major organizations knew about reincarnation, why didn't they exploit it more aggressively?
The answer was control, specifically, the World Government's approach to maintaining power. They didn't want eighty percent of all Devil Fruits locked up in their vaults. What they wanted was stability, a world where they remained on top without constant rebellion.
It was basic resource management. The Government deliberately let certain fruits circulate, harmless Zoans, weak Paramecias like the Jacket-Jacket Fruit or Whisper-Whisper Fruit. Abilities that couldn't threaten their power structure. Those fruits floating around gave people hope, made them think they had a chance at becoming strong.
But the dangerous ones? Logia types and special Paramecias like the Tremor-Tremor Fruit or Dark-Dark Fruit? Those they'd keep locked down tight, probably with collection protocols in place for when users died.
The World Government had ruled for over eight centuries. They hadn't maintained that kind of power by being stupid or short-sighted. If they obviously controlled every Devil Fruit, it would spark rebellion. But if fruits seemed to appear randomly, people stayed complacent, thinking the system was fair.
There was another factor too, something Marcus had only recently figured out.
Devil Fruits responded to human will.
They weren't just passive objects waiting to be found. They actively gravitated toward people with strong desires. The Whisper-Whisper Fruit appearing on their path right when Vivi had made up her mind about something important? That hadn't been coincidence. Devil Fruits might choose their users, or at least be drawn to people whose desires aligned with their abilities. Which meant even with the reincarnation method, you couldn't completely control where fruits ended up. They might revive near their intended targets instead of in controlled facilities.
It was kind of terrifying when you thought about it. Devil Fruits either had some kind of consciousness, or they were connected to something that did. And if that was true... it was a scary thought. The knowledge about duplicate fruits especially, if that became common knowledge and people realized you could potentially stack Devil Fruit abilities, it would start an arms race that would make the current pirate era look peaceful.
Some secrets were too dangerous to share.
He pulled out one of the newly acquired Devil Fruits, examining its spiral patterns thoughtfully.
"A Devil Fruit will actively or passively approach someone with powerful wishes. Even if there's a compatible fruit nearby for it to reincarnate into, it might choose instead to revive beside someone more fitting, or somewhere close to them. Just like when Vivi made up her mind about protecting her kingdom, the Whisper-Whisper Fruit appeared right on the path we had to take."