"Trade Devil Fruits?"
Kaito's request left Ivankov utterly confused. He didn't have any spare Devil Fruits to trade, after all.
He thought about it carefully for a moment, then looked at Kaito and said,
"I don't have any Devil Fruits. Did you maybe get the wrong person?"
"No, I'm talking about your Horm-Horm Fruit."
"Nani?!"
Ivankov's nerves instantly tightened. He hadn't expected Kaito to be asking for his own Fruit.
As everyone knows, once a Devil Fruit is eaten, it remains with the user for life—unless the user dies, the Fruit will never reappear.
To Ivankov, Kaito's words sounded like a death sentence.
But then he recalled the terrifying Conqueror's Haki Kaito had unleashed just moments ago, and a wave of despair washed over him. Anyone who possessed that kind of Haki clearly had the power to kill him instantly.
Still, surrendering without resistance wasn't an option.
With a dramatic spin and leap, Ivankov vaulted to a distance far away from Kaito. He widened his right eye and suddenly blinked hard.
Boom!
The spot where Kaito had been standing erupted into a violent explosion, the resulting smoke and dust completely engulfing his figure.
Even though his attack had landed, Ivankov felt no joy. There was no way someone with such overwhelming aura would go down from something like that—it was only meant to test the waters.
Sure enough, as the smoke cleared, Kaito reappeared with a helpless expression on his face.
"Oi, oi, I didn't even want to fight. What are you getting so worked up for?"
Kaito hadn't wanted to absorb the Horm-Horm Fruit for himself. He actually planned to give it to Law.
After all, he had already taken in the Op-Op Fruit, and Law—his loyal little fanboy—had long since been on his mind. He had been meaning to find another medical-type Fruit to gift him.
"Don't joke around! I've already eaten the Horm-Horm Fruit—it can't be taken out again!"
Ivankov shouted, waving his arms around in agitation. After flailing for a bit, the tips of his ten fingers suddenly sharpened like needles, which he then jabbed into his oversized face.
"Facial Growth Hormone!"
Ivankov, whose face was already enormous to begin with, caused it to swell even further after using his ability. His face now looked at least twenty meters long.
With his chin in the way, his entire body was blocked behind his gigantic face. That face began to tremble violently, creating countless afterimages.
From Kaito's perspective, it looked like a wall of abstract, distorted giant faces charging toward him.
He immediately recognized that this guy was preparing to use Galaxy Wink—undoubtedly Ivankov's strongest technique. Looks like he was really panicking now.
With a resigned shrug, Kaito decided to forcefully cut Ivankov's performance short. That face was already abstract enough—now it was multiplied several times over, and not just one of them!
He could even see every pore clearly on that massive face.
Kaito's figure flickered—and the next instant, he appeared directly above Ivankov's colossal head.
Ivankov's attack was already primed. With his mouth wide open, he shouted,
"Galaxy—"
Boom!
Before he could even finish saying the name of the move, Kaito slammed a punch straight down on Ivankov's gigantic head, driving his face into the ground in a very intimate meeting with the earth.
Kaito didn't use any Haki in this punch—it was just a regular hit. He held no intent to kill Ivankov.
The guy was a bit of a weirdo, sure—but at heart, he was a good person.
With his advanced medical skills and the healing powers of the Horm-Horm Fruit, he had saved countless patients with incurable diseases and even rescued an entire nation.
Kaito wasn't the type to murder someone just to snatch a Devil Fruit.
He didn't mind killing, but he definitely wasn't one for senseless slaughter. For people who were kind at their core, Kaito's stance was usually one of tolerance. That was his bottom line.
Of course, even without using Haki, Kaito had already reached the level of the Ōtsutsuki clan—so even a "normal" punch from him was enough to leave Ivankov in a world of pain.
Under that single punch, Ivankov was forced back into his normal form, his face buried in the dirt as he whimpered,
"That hurts! My face is ruined!"
Landing back on the ground, Kaito heard Ivankov's groaning and looked at him speechlessly.
Honestly, he thought, with a face like yours, whether it's ruined or not doesn't make much difference—as long as you don't turn into a woman.
He patted Ivankov's head and said,
"Alright, can we talk properly now?"
Ivankov's body twitched and wiggled before slowly rising to his feet. He looked at Kaito with a face full of grief and indignation.
"You're strong. I admit I'm no match for you. If you're going to kill me, then just get it over with! But could you at least spare my adorable subordinates?"
Kaito shook his head. Seeing this, Ivankov's face turned ashen. He thought Kaito was planning to wipe them all out.
However, Kaito simply took out another Devil Fruit and placed it in front of Ivankov.
"This is a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit—the Yamata-no-Orochi Fruit. Eat it, and you'll have eight lives. I'm offering it in exchange for your Horm-Horm Fruit. What do you say?"
A Mythical Zoan—Yamata-no-Orochi?!
Ivankov's eyes bulged as he stared at the Devil Fruit in Kaito's hand. He had come across records of this Fruit in ancient texts.
He knew this Fruit's abilities were a perfect fit for his combat style—after all, it would literally give him extra heads, not just afterimages from high-speed movement.
Eating it wouldn't just strengthen his body; it would also make his Hell Wink technique more rapid and powerful. There was no way he wasn't tempted.
But he also didn't want to give up the Horm-Horm Fruit. Aside from combat, the ability to freely switch between genders was something that perfectly suited his tastes.
And besides, he had already eaten the Horm-Horm Fruit—how could he just go and eat another one?
Thinking of that, Ivankov shook his head reflexively and said,
"Even if I wanted to eat it, I'm already a Devil Fruit user. I can't just switch Fruits, can I?"
"You don't need to worry about that. I have my own method. You just need to agree."
Seeing Kaito's confident expression, Ivankov truly didn't know what to do. After all, both his and his subordinates' lives were still in this Marine's hands—he didn't dare refuse outright.
Thinking it through, Ivankov figured he might as well see what kind of method this Marine had.
At this point, Kaito could kill him with a single thought—he had no bargaining power whatsoever.
And let's face it—the Yamata-no-Orochi Fruit was pretty amazing. For Kaito to even offer it as compensation was already incredibly generous.
With that in mind, Ivankov gave a solemn nod with his oversized head, indicating his agreement.
Seeing him agree, a dazzling smile appeared on Kaito's face.
Ivankov was momentarily dazed as he stared at him, thinking to himself,
"This Marine's really good-looking... I wonder how beautiful he'd be if he turned into a woman..."