After leaving the Marine Headquarters building, Michael and Stella headed straight to the library.
Upon entering, Michael handed the slip of paper directly to the librarian.
"Please wait a moment, Lieutenant Commander Michael" the librarian said before turning to a massive safe.
Opening it, they retrieved a hefty tome.
"You have thirty minutes to review the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia" the librarian stated, handing it over to Michael.
Leading Stella to a secluded corner, Michael flipped open the first page of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
Meanwhile, Stella set down the bag she had been carrying on the table and opened it. Inside lay three Devil Fruits, resting quietly.
"Let me see…"
"This purple one shaped like a pear… must be the Paramecia-type Tone-Tone Fruit."
"And this one… ah, found it!"
"It's the Zoan-type Rat-Rat Fruit. Tch, doesn't seem very useful."
Michael quickly identified two of the fruits.
But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find any information on the last one.
He examined the final Devil Fruit closely.
Its appearance resembled a honeydew melon sculpted from clouds.
This characteristic… It strongly suggested a Logia-type fruit.
Paramecia fruits typically displayed their "traits" through their appearance, while Zoan types bore distinct "animal features."
Logia-types, however, reflected their "elemental attributes."
For instance, the Flame-Flame Fruit had fiery edges, while the Rumble-Rumble Fruit looked like a spherical lightning bolt.
But…
This fruit could still be a Paramecia.
Caught in indecision, Michael weighed the Tone-Tone Fruit against the unknown one…
Honestly, the "Tone-Tone" Paramecia suited Stellar identity as a wandering singer perfectly.
Its potential just felt limited.
"Stella, which Devil Fruit do you want to choose?" Michael placed the two fruits before her. "The Paramecia Tone-Tone Fruit, or this possibly Logia-type unknown fruit?"
"You pick first. I'll take whichever one you didnt choose." Stella blinked and pushed the offered fruits back toward him.
"Uh, I appreciate the thought…" Michael wiped his brow. "But I've already eaten one Devil Fruit."
"Wouldn't eating another grant you a second ability?"
"Good idea, but a person can only consume one Devil Fruit. If you eat a second…"
Michael didn't finish his sentence, instead miming an explosion with his hands.
Realizing her ignorance, Stella lowered her head in thought.
Finally, she reached for the unknown fruit.
"When life presents a crossroads, sometimes you just have to take a gamble, right?"
With that, she brought it to her mouth.
"Wait—!"
Michael eyes widened in alarm, but before he could stop her, Stella took a big bite.
"…That is the most disgusting thing in the world, bar none!"
"Cough! Why didn't you warn me?!"
Stella endured the horrifying taste exploding on her taste buds, her face nearly turning the same color as her eyes from the shock.
Yet she forced down the entire Devil Fruit despite the nausea.
Michael wiped away a cold sweat.
The fact that only the first bite of a Devil Fruit was needed...
He'd better not tell her that just yet.
Just like when Michael had eaten his Devil Fruit, Stella instantly knew what kind of fruit she had consumed.
"Michael, we gambled right!"
"I've eaten the Cloud-Cloud Fruit—I'm a Cloud Human now, the dual lower-tier fruit of both the Ice-Ice and Rumble-Rumble Fruits."
With that, she transformed into a pure white cloud, visually resembling Smoker Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
As for being the lower-tier version of the two Logia-type fruits, Ice and Lightning...
No mistake there!
Clouds are essentially aggregates of tiny ice crystals and water droplets.
And among cloud types, there's the "cumulonimbus," also known as the "thundercloud."
Dual attributes!
Though the ice and lightning abilities individually couldn't match their superior counterparts.
But with so few Logia-type fruits in existence, this was still an incredibly powerful ability against most enemies.
Michael couldn't help but marvel again—that slave trader had some ridiculously good luck, didn't he?
Not only did he manage to capture Stella, but out of the three Devil Fruits he had, one was a Logia!
"Still, are there any downsides to eating a Devil Fruit?" Stella then voiced her doubts.
"Just enduring a disgusting taste in exchange for power? That sounds too good to be true."
"Of course. Once you eat a Devil Fruit, the sea will reject you, turning you into a 'hammer'—Make you unable to swim and if your body touches seawater, your will lose your power, leaving you weak and helpless."
"Oh? Then it doesn't matter." Stella said cheerfully. "I was already a terrible swimmer anyway."
"...Wow, you sound really proud of that!"
***
After leaving the library, Michael took Stella back to his home in Marineford.
To be precise...
It was Sengoku's home.
Also the first place Michael had stayed in for more than a week.
A two-story house with a small courtyard.
Pushing open the never-locked gate with practiced ease, memories came flooding back.
The three years he'd spent in this little courtyard might have been the most relaxed of his entire life.
Just as Michael was reminiscing, a window on the second floor suddenly opened.
A tall young man, rubbing his bleary eyes, leaned out:
"Who is it? Coming to push open someone's gate in the middle of the day... M-Michael!? Big bro Michael, is that you!?"
The boy rubbed his eyes harder, his weird looking eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
Then, with a cheer, he leaped straight down from the second-floor window.
"Hey, Rosinante, long time no see." Michael reached out to pat Rosinante shoulder but found the guy was now way too tall, settling for his arm instead.
"Damn, you... you're over 2 meters now! What the hell have you been eating? Fertilizer!?"
Michael couldn't resist poking fun at his little brother height.
And this wasn't even his final height—Rosinante would eventually grow to a staggering 2.9 meters!
The human threshold in this world was just absurd.
Thinking about it, Michael couldn't help but feel a little bitter.
His own 1.88-meter frame was already considered tall among ordinary people.
But at Marine Headquarters...
In this place, those under six feet were a dime a dozen and anyone under seven feet wasn't worth mentioning.
Rosinante had no idea what his brother was thinking, excitedly lifting Michael into the air.
"Big brother Michael! I thought you wouldn't return until your next promotion!"
"Anyway... welcome home!"
Michael froze for a moment, the recent gloom weighing on his heart instantly dissipating.
"Yeah, I'm back."