Rosinante returned to Skypiea, bringing everyone along to his villa atop the clouds of Birka.
As they entered the villa, they saw a long table in the main hall covered with ten Devil Fruits. On the floor nearby lay an array of swords and spears, along with heaps of treasure and piles of Berries.
Shaxia was currently sorting the named swords and guns into categories with Robin.
"Looks like you had quite the haul," Rosinante said to Katakuri, who was perched by the window.
"Your Majesty!"
"Rosinante-nii!"
Shaxia and Robin all called out when they saw him enter.
"You don't look so good," Katakuri observed after glancing at Rosinante.
"I just didn't expect the Navy Headquarters to still have a monster like Kong around. Luckily Garp was called away—otherwise things might've gotten completely out of control. I may have pushed things a little too far this time… but the rewards were worth it," Rosinante said with a grin.
"Rosinante-nii, are you alright?" Robin asked worriedly.
Rosinante's face was slightly pale. Kong's attacks had been monstrously powerful—just a few direct hits had drained a large chunk of his stamina and life force.
And the power of Devil Fruit awakening came with a huge physical cost.
If not for his abundant life force holding him up, Rosinante might have already passed out by now.
"I'm fine. Robin, bring me a cup of coffee," Rosinante said as he sank into the sofa.
"Devil Fruit awakening, huh?" Katakuri gave Rosinante a deep, meaningful look.
He'd already heard from Bins about Rosinante's awakening.
"Oh right, Captain, I heard you awakened your Devil Fruit? How was it? Raelmann said it was an incredible sight! Show us! Let us see it for ourselves!" He eagerly asked as he walked in behind.
"I can't use it right now," Rosinante replied.
"How's that possible? I clearly saw the Captain awaken his Devil Fruit!" Raelmann said in surprise.
"That was just because of the pressure Sengoku put on me. My body's natural limits were pushed so far they broke. With no restraints, the Devil Fruit power surged out uncontrollably—that's how the awakening happened. Right now, I can't replicate it. But after this experience, give me a bit more time, and I'll be able to fully awaken it on my own," Rosinante explained.
"I see. So Sengoku really pushed you that hard," Katakuri remarked.
"Yeah, Sengoku's terrifying. His strength may not surpass Garp's, but his mind is extremely sharp. The moment you show even a slight weakness, he'll see it and immediately find a counter. If I hadn't awakened my fruit power by chance, I don't know how long I could've held out," Rosinante said.
"Admiral Sengoku, huh?" Katakuri murmured thoughtfully.
"If Sengoku was already a serious opponent, at least he was still within the realm of what I could handle. Even without awakening, I might've been able to stall him for a while. But that Fleet Admiral Kong… he's a real monster. If I hadn't awakened my fruit, he could've probably taken me out in just one or two blows," Rosinante said grimly.
"Fleet Admiral Kong? I've heard about him from Mama. She never wanted to provoke that man. They say he earned the name 'Steel Bone' for a reason. His fists are like iron, and his physical prowess is said to be the greatest of his era. I've heard Garp learned his combat skills from him," Katakuri said.
"That guy is pure violence. Every punch is raw muscle with no wasted motion, no tricks—just clean, brutal force. Attacks from his pure martial arts don't contain any extra energy that I can nullify," Rosinante added.
Although Rosinante's ability allowed him to silence attacks, it mainly targeted energy-based strikes. Against Kong's pure physical might, his silence ability had little effect.
During their battle at Marine Headquarters, Kong's powerful body made Rosinante's Heaven-and-Earth Supremacy almost useless. Even his Eternal Silence willpower only managed to dampen Kong's strength slightly. But the sheer physical blows still left Rosinante battered and reeling.
If his opponent had been another Devil Fruit user, even one as strong as Kong, Rosinante wouldn't have struggled this much.
"That man… he's more terrifying than Garp," Rosinante finally said, a trace of lingering fear in his voice.
"But enough about me. Things seem to have gone pretty smoothly on your end. When Kong finds out his treasure vault's been emptied, he's going to blow a fuse!" Rosinante chuckled.
····
"All the Navy's top fighters were distracted by you guys, so I didn't run into anyone too strong. That made it easy to raid the Navy's treasury," Katakuri replied.
While Rosinante drew the Navy's focus, Katakuri had taken a squad of the Bloodsworn Guard and used Bins' wormhole ability to silently infiltrate Marine Headquarters.
With his future-sight Observation Haki, Katakuri was able to avoid detection and storm the treasury without alerting the enemy—clearing the entire vault.
"Let me see your haul. Do you know what kind of Devil Fruits you picked up?" Rosinante asked.
He cared more about the Devil Fruits than the gold or weapons—perhaps because his own strength was so deeply tied to his fruit.
"There are ten Devil Fruits in total. Seven of them are Zoan-type, but we haven't identified their exact nature yet. The other three are Paramecia-type: the Chainsaw Fruit, the Quick-Calculation Fruit, and the Coffee Fruit," Katakuri reported.
Totto Land was obsessed with Paramecia Fruits and had the world's most comprehensive Devil Fruit encyclopedia. Thanks to that, Katakuri could identify those three.
"The Quick-Calculation Fruit?" Rosinante repeated in surprise.
"Yeah, supposedly, eating it enhances your calculation abilities. Nothing too special—it just makes your mind sharper and boosts your memory a little. Could be useful for researchers," Katakuri said, pointing to one of the fruits.
"That's an amazing ability! If it can boost mental processing and memory, wouldn't that mean you could learn all the world's knowledge faster—and study history more effectively?" Robin said as she rolled over with the coffee cart.
"It does have great value in research and education, but its combat application is pretty much nonexistent. It's more of a support ability," Katakuri commented.
"This Devil Fruit is incredibly valuable to me," Rosinante said, picking it up and handing it to Shaxia for safekeeping.
To him, this fruit was worth more than everything else in the room.
"As for the rest of the fruits—figure out what they are when you have time," Rosinante instructed.
"Yes, sir!" everyone responded, quickly taking notes.
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Author's Note: The Paramecia-type devil fruits mentioned in this chapter are from this AU
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T/N:
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