East Blue – inside a merchant ship under attack.
"Gah !! , ... , water .... "
Seth opened his heavy eyelids to a wavering oily light.
"Hmm ! , I'm alive ... "
He whispered in a hoarse voice because of his dry throat; he hadn't expected to open his eyes again, he thought that was the end, but fate clearly had another opinion.
"Thank God ... "
He muttered and then looked around; his eyes narrowed when he saw that he was back in the same situation, inside a metal cage with many people of different races and ages.
"Damn ! , don't tell me that everything that happened was just a dream ... " he thought in fear and worry.
"The watch !! ... " His eyes lit up; he ignored everything and quickly raised his right hand to see the only thing that could confirm whether what he had gone through was just a dream.
"Haah !! .... "
"Waaah .... damn !! , what's happening ... " Seth screamed in a hoarse voice, hysterically, waking the captives.
"Damn, who is this!?"
"That kid has gone crazy!!!"
"Shut up, bastard, your voice will bring the pirates here ..."
"Damn, you scared me ..."
"Be quiet ..."
"Shut up, you crazy bastard..."
He ignored the various curses and insults that came from the slaves' cages.
"Aagh !! ... "
Seth screamed in pain when one of the slaves in the same cage kicked him.
"What's wrong with you, man? Your damn screaming woke me up ... "
"Take it easy on the boy, Rowa ... "
"I remember you screamed like a little girl when that guard hit you ... "
"Man, how can you compare that to this, and that damn guard also took me by surp ... "
Seth clenched his teeth in anger and glared at the man who had kicked him, who was arguing with another person, standing in front of him undefended.
"Do you think I'm an easy target ... " he shouted angrily, shifted his position and kicked hard between the man's legs.
"Aaagh !! ... "
Clap!!
The other man who had been arguing with the one writhing on the ground in pain clapped.
"That must hurt, but nice! Thank you, kid, that foolish man deserved that kick ... "
He looked at Seth, who was staring at him with a thick frown; he smiled and pointed with his finger
"Look to your right, in the upper corner ... "
"You'll find your wrist there ... "
Seth did not look where the man pointed; instead he adjusted his position with difficulty, sat down, then opened his mouth and asked in a hoarse voice.
Because of his dry throat — after all he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for three days, and if not for his superior physical strength compared to the others he would have been lying on the ground by now.
"What happened!? , and where am I!?"
The rough-voiced man answered
"Hmm, where should I start, as you see, you're now on board a slave traders' ship; I remember that guard said he had caught you or something like that ... "
Seth's eyes narrowed and he became angry. "Great, what luck!!, from a Celestial Dragon's ship to a slave traders' ship," he thought with sadness and bitterness, before he lifted his right arm and looked at the severed wrist; the strange thing was that the stump had already completely healed.
While he was examining his wrist, suddenly his sixth sense activated again and he felt a dangerous crisis, but before he could move and dodge, the man's voice came in a frightening tone.
"Rowa!!, if you want to die ... keep going"
"Tch!!, damn lucky bastard ... " snorted the so-called Rowa who had intended to attack Seth in retaliation for that painful kick.
"Lucky!? Heh, if you only knew how lucky I really am ... " Seth muttered sarcastically, ignoring him and pointing to his severed right wrist.
"Did you see how this happened!? , who cut off my wrist ... " he asked again with a gloomy expression; the man hid nothing and answered.
"Hmm! , if I'm not mistaken, that guard who brought you here was trying to pull something off you; I didn't see what it was because of the darkness but from the expression on your face now I see it was something important, but the strange thing ... "
"Is that I remember he started cursing and beating you ... "
"And I don't know exactly what happened but he took you upstairs; a little while ago, when he brought you back you were in this state .... In my opinion you're lucky, that man is known for his sadistic nature; if the ship wasn't under attack right now, you'd be in a worse condition ... "
After Seth learned what had happened to him, he ignored the man who kept rambling about what would have happened to him and the terrible fate he would have faced if the ship hadn't been attacked by someone.
"Son of a bitch!, he cut off my wrist to take the watch ... " Seth thought angrily and spitefully.
"I'm sure he doesn't know its value, besides ... "
"He was probably attracted by its strange shape ... "
He touched the place of the amputation, which had completely healed; this was what Seth found strange.
A wound like this would probably take many days to heal, but according to the chatterbox, less than half an hour had passed since his wrist was cut.
Grrrr!!
The sound of his stomach protesting from hunger pulled him out of his thoughts.
"I'm extremely hungry!! ... "
He whispered weakly while looking around for a piece of bread or anything edible, but besides the rusty metal cages and the stinking garbage and waste, there was nothing edible, unless you counted his wrist lying in the corner.
He fell on his back and thought regretfully
"Damn!!, without that watch how can I get out of here ... "
He closed his eyes and imagined that if he still had that magical watch, he would have transformed again into the giant sea-king serpent and destroyed this place in his fury.
When this thought appeared in his mind, he suddenly felt a sting in his chest and then, in the blink of an eye, his skin rippled and turned purple.
Scales began to form, but suddenly he stopped transforming and reverted to his human state.
"Huff!!, huff ... huff .... "
He began to pant heavily, his skin dripping with sweat; he raised his right hand to wipe the sweat but what he wanted didn't happen.
"I will need time to adapt to my new situation ... " He stared at his severed wrist and muttered with a frown before smiling like an idiot; he raised his left hand and touched his chest, the smile on his face widened even more when he felt the strange texture on his chest.
He laughed loudly, ignoring his cellmates who started mocking him that he had finally gone insane; because of the dim light they hadn't seen his strange transformation earlier.
"The watch loves me ..... I don't know how but it seems, that guard didn't get it and somehow it moved inside my body and part of it sprouted from my chest and not only that ... "
He thought happily and focused on the mechanical voice that began to echo inside his mind when he failed to transform.
[Insufficient Energy...]
[Full transformation mode unavailable ... ]
"huh ! Hey , watch!!, what do you mean by insufficient energy!? , your energy or my physical energy!? "
Seth asked, remembering that his mother had once mentioned that Devil Fruits rely on physical fitness.
[Transformation depends on the host's physical energy ... ]
"Haah!!, it really answered!!" His eyes widened in astonishment; he even ignored his weakness and sat up.
He hadn't really expected an answer to his question, but it seems the watch has a higher intelligence than he imagined.
The sound of battle and gunfire brought him back to his senses; he cleared his mind and asked quickly, hoping for a positive answer.
"Oh watch!!, isn't there a way to transform!? , I want to get out of this damned place ... "
[Hybrid mode available ... ]