New World, outskirts of Wano Country, Onigashima's affiliated supply island.
The wind here always carried the scent of rust and blood.
The sky was perpetually overcast, as if even the clouds feared the "strongest creature" who ruled these seas.
For those who lived here, there was only endless labor, oppression, and… forced laughter.
"Ahahaha! Hurry up! Move it! This batch of weapons has to be shipped to Dressrosa today!"
"If you're too slow, Lord Queen will turn you into test subjects for plague bullets! Ahahaha!"
At this massive weapons transit port, countless ragged laborers hauled heavy crates under the whips of Beast Pirates overseers.
Among them was a lowly worker responsible for clearing waste materials and food scraps, named "Aji."
He was thin, his ribs clearly visible, and his face wore an exaggerated, almost twisted grin.
Even when bent under the weight of overflowing trash bins, even when his knees were bleeding from impacts, he kept laughing.
"Ahahaha… so heavy… ahahaha… it hurts…"
Aji was a "Pleasurer."
One of the failed products of the artificial SMILE Devil Fruits, those unlucky enough to "win" in the 90% failure rate.
He had been stripped of the ability to feel sadness or anger, doomed to laugh for the rest of his life, even as his heart bled.
"Hey! You useless idiot who can only laugh!"
A Gifters, one who successfully gained animal traits, kicked Aji in the backside, sending him tumbling into a warehouse piled with rotten fruit and broken crates.
"Clean up all this rotten fruit! If there's even one moldy piece left, don't expect to eat! Got it?! Gahahaha!"
"Yes! Ahahaha! Got it! Ahahaha!"
Aji laughed as he climbed up, tears uncontrollably streaming from his eyes, physiological tears that made his smile look even more miserable.
The Gifter spat and locked the warehouse door behind him.
The warehouse was dark and damp, filled with the sour stench of fermenting fruit.
These fruits were originally meant as tribute for Governor Kaido, but after a storm during transport, most had rotted and were discarded as garbage.
"Ahahaha… clean up… clean up…"
Aji mechanically moved moldy crates, shoveling the mushy fruit into bins.
He hated this world.
Hated Kaido. Hated Orochi. And hated the Joker who created the SMILE fruits.
If not for that illusory promise of power, he wouldn't have become this inhuman thing.
Then, "Hm? Ahahaha… what's this?"
Aji stopped.
Amid the rotting brown pulp of apples, there was one fruit that didn't belong.
It hadn't rotted.
Instead, it lay there quietly, emitting a deep, unsettling glow.
It was shaped like a large pineapple, entirely dark purple, covered in spiral patterns.
Most strangely, its stem looked like it bore flame-like leaves of purple-black fire.
In the dim warehouse, it was like a black hole, greedily devouring the faint light around it.
"A… Devil Fruit?!"
Aji's heart clenched, and even his habitual laughter faltered for a moment.
Having lived at the bottom of the Beast Pirates for years, he recognized it instantly.
That unique swirl pattern… that soul-shaking aura…
This was real.
And definitely not some inferior artificial SMILE.
"Ahahaha… a real… real Devil Fruit…"
His trembling hands picked it up.
It was cold and heavy.
The moment his fingers touched the surface, an indescribable pull spread through his body, as if it wanted to swallow him whole.
"What kind of power… is this?"
He didn't know the catalog, but he could feel it.
This fruit contained terrifying power, far beyond Gifters, even beyond the aura he felt from the Headliners.
"Eat it…"
A mad thought instantly took over his mind.
'If I eat it, I'll gain power!'
'I won't have to be a porter anymore!'
'I can kill that Gifter who kicked me!'
'I can...'
His grinning mouth slowly moved closer to the fruit.
But, "No… no… ahahaha… no…"
As if shocked, he jerked the fruit away and collapsed, drenched in cold sweat.
He remembered the iron rule.
The curse of the sea.
A person could only eat one Devil Fruit.
If they ate a second, their body would explode from the conflict of powers.
"I… already ate a SMILE… ahahaha…"
He laughed in despair, tears streaming.
Even if SMILEs were artificial, even if he was a failure, they said it still counted.
He didn't dare gamble his life.
"Ahahaha… why… why me?!"
He clutched his head, laughing hysterically.
Fate had given him the greatest treasure, only to place a wall of death before him.
How cruel.
How ironic.
He stared at the dark purple fruit, as if it mocked his helplessness.
"No… ahahaha… calm down… calm down…"
He slapped himself twice, forcing clarity.
He didn't want to die.
He wanted to live, and live better.
If he couldn't eat it…
"Trade it!"
A cunning glint flashed in his eyes.
"This fruit… must be worth a fortune… ahahaha… a huge fortune!"
"Give it to Kaido? No… I'd just get scraps… or be silenced."
"To Queen? Worse, he'd experiment on me."
His mind raced.
Then he thought of someone.
A man rumored to be buying top-tier Devil Fruits across the world.
An underworld emperor who had dealing with the Yonkos.
"Joker… Doflamingo!"
Rumors said Joker was collecting powerful fruits to please a certain big figure.
Even providing clues could earn unimaginable wealth, and protection.
Maybe even passage to that rumored paradise…
"G-5…"
Aji had heard of it.
A forbidden zone to pirates, but a paradise to common people.
They said even the guard dogs there ate better than him.
They said a man named Renzo ruled there like a god, where people could sleep until they woke naturally.
"I'm going there… ahahaha… I'm leaving this hell!"
He made his decision.
If he couldn't eat it, he'd hide it.
This fruit was his ticket to freedom and wealth.
Even if he died, he wouldn't let go.
He searched for a hiding place.
The warehouse was unsafe.
Carrying it? Too conspicuous.
Then his eyes fell on a barrel of industrial waste oil.
Half-filled with thick, black sludge that no one wanted near.
"This is it… ahahaha…"
He wrapped the fruit in oil paper and rags, turning it into an unremarkable bundle.
Then, holding his breath, he plunged his hand into the filthy oil and buried it deep inside.
Glug.
The oil swallowed it completely.
No trace remained.
Aji pulled out his hand, wiping it on his clothes, his face a mix of fear, hope, and madness.
"Hidden… ahahaha… my secret…"
"No one will take it… this is my only chance…"
He stood up and resumed shoveling rotten fruit.
Still laughing.
Still insignificant.
But in that moment, the fate of this Pleasurer named Aji had quietly intertwined with the highest powers of the world.
That Devil Fruit buried in oil… was waiting for the day it would see the light again.
…
At the same time.
New World, Dressrosa, King's Plateau.
Crash!
An expensive mahogany table was flipped, fine tableware shattered across the floor.
Doflamingo's veins bulged as he crushed a Den Den Mushi in his hand.
"Trash! All of you are trash!"
He roared at the kneeling officers.
"A whole month! One whole month!"
"I told you to find a top-tier Devil Fruit! Is that so hard?!"
"Logia? Mythical Zoan? Even a strong Paramecia would do!"
He paced furiously, his pink feather coat shaking.
"Do you know how tense things are right now?!"
"That Haiiroyo Renzo… he's back at G-5! And he's got Mihawk! Even Red-Haired Shanks visited him!"
"His power is growing, and so is his appetite!"
Doflamingo was anxious.
Very anxious.
He had promised Renzo a "great gift" as tribute.
But now, time was running out, and he only had mediocre fruits.
To fool Renzo with garbage?
He remembered Tesoro's fate.
That unlucky man was now generating electricity in G-5's prison.
"Young master…"
Trebol trembled.
"We tried… but top-tier fruits are rare…"
"We offered 5 billion Beli on the black market, but…"
"But what?!"
"There's another force… also buying Devil Fruits."
"An unknown group."
"Unknown?"
Doflamingo sneered.
"Just rats in the gutter."
He sat back, eyes sharp.
"Expand the search. Even Kaido's territory. Even Big Mom's!"
"Buy or steal, I don't care. Get me one!"
His hand clenched in the air.
"I have a feeling…"
"That lazy Renzo… is about to make a move again."
"If I don't have something he wants by then…"
He didn't finish.
But he knew.
In the New World, useless allies become disposable.
"I must find it…"
He muttered, "A fruit… that even the strongest would desire."
....
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu