Chapter 64: Bomber Nojiko
Lister prepared the lots himself.
There were twelve in total. He placed them into a container.
"There are twelve lots in here. Only one of them has the character for 'fate' written on it! Akame and Sheele already have Devil Fruits, so you don't need to participate. Nami, Nojiko, you two draw one each as well!" Lister said.
"I get to participate too?" Nami was a little surprised.
"You're one of the girls, so of course you have a share! Besides, it's not certain you'll draw it. Just think of it as participating in a game!" Lister laughed.
"Alright then!" Hearing this, Nami had no more objections. She glanced at the other girls and smiled. "I'll draw first, no objections, right?"
"None! Go ahead, Sister Nami!" the girls said one after another.
Even if they had an objection, they wouldn't dare to say it.
"Alright, then I'm drawing!"
With that, Nami casually pulled a lot from the container. She looked at it closely; there was nothing on it.
"Thank you for your participation!" Lister teased.
Nami shot Lister an annoyed glare and walked to the side.
Quickly, the other girls came up one by one.
A blank!
A blank!
A blank!
Whether it was Yuran, Shizuka, or the other girls, none of them drew the Bomb-Bomb Fruit.
Soon, only two lots were left in the container. At the same time, only Nojiko and Koren, who had gone with Vivi to get medicine, hadn't drawn yet.
"No way, no way, is Koren going to win by default?!"
"There's a fifty percent chance!"
"If I'd known, I would have waited until the end to draw too!"
"Come on, didn't you hear what the captain said before? Getting a Devil Fruit depends on fate."
"So my fate isn't strong enough?"
"Is yours?"
"Nojiko, Koren isn't back yet. You're the only one left. Hurry up and draw!" Nami said with a smile.
"Alright!!" Nojiko glanced at Nami, walked up, and without picking, grabbed a random lot. She focused her eyes on it.
On the slip, the character for 'fate' appeared before Nojiko's eyes.
"Whoa, I got it!!" Nojiko couldn't quite believe it. She rubbed her eyes and checked again. That's right, she had really won.
"Really?? Let me see!" Hearing this, Nami immediately walked over and snatched the lot from Nojiko's hand to look.
"It's real! Nojiko really won! It seems the Bomb-Bomb Fruit was fated to be with Nojiko!" Nami laughed.
As the saying goes, keep the good fortune within the family. Nami was happier that Nojiko got the Bomb-Bomb Fruit than if anyone else had.
"Let me see!" Lister took the lot from Nojiko and glanced at it, confirming it was the 'fate' slip. He then announced, "Alright! The lottery game is now over. The Bomb-Bomb Fruit belongs to Nojiko!"
"Aww, what a shame for Koren!!"
"Yeah, she almost won by default!"
"Am I the only one who thinks Koren and the Bomb-Bomb Fruit don't match at all? Koren is gentle, and she usually trains just to get a little stronger so she won't be a burden to others. What she really loves is being a doctor."
"If there were a Devil Fruit that could cure all illnesses, I'd think it would be a perfect match for her. But the Bomb-Bomb Fruit... it just seems completely out of place for her."
"I felt something was off before, but hearing you say that, it all makes sense now!"
Hearing this conversation, the girls all felt it made sense and no one felt sorry for Koren anymore.
"Nojiko, go ahead and eat the fruit!" Lister said.
"Okay!" Nojiko didn't hesitate and ate the Devil Fruit cleanly.
Among the girls in the group, she was the last to join the Money Pirates and also the weakest. She always needed others to look after her when they went out. She felt helpless about this situation. In truth, she also wanted to become stronger. So, these past few days, besides undergoing physical enhancement training, she had also been practicing her marksmanship.
Now, this Bomb-Bomb Fruit allowed her to ascend in a single step, becoming one of the top ten strongest members of the Money Pirates.
"Try out your ability!" Lister said.
"Alright!" Nojiko recalled how the booger guy had used the Bomb-Bomb Fruit. Of course, she wouldn't attack with her boogers like he did.
She picked up a small stone, infused it with the power of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, and then flicked it!
Boom!
The moment the stone touched the ground, it exploded, blasting a crater over two meters wide in the ground.
"The power is decent!" Lister nodded after seeing this.
"I have an idea. I want to try it, but there might be a risk!" Nojiko said, looking at Lister.
"An idea?" Lister asked.
"I want to infuse the explosive power into a bullet!" Nojiko said.
"That's a good idea, but it has a certain risk. The impact from pulling the trigger might cause the bullet to explode directly in the gun's chamber!" Lister instantly analyzed the advantages and risks of Nojiko's idea.
"To apply the explosion ability to firearms, you'll need much more precise control over your power!"
"That makes sense." Nojiko nodded upon hearing this.
"Actually, there's a more convenient method. For example, infusing the explosive power into an arrow. It wouldn't be so troublesome," Lister said.
"But I like guns," Nojiko said.
When her adoptive mother, Belle-mère, was alive, she liked to take her shooting. Unfortunately, that gun was destroyed by Arlong before Belle-mère died. Now, she wanted to be a gunslinger, just like her mother.
"Suit yourself," Lister said indifferently.
"Can I try it now?" Nojiko asked.
"Go ahead and try. Just try not to infuse too much explosive energy into the bullet."
"Yes!" Nojiko responded. She pulled a revolver from her back waist and emptied the bullets. Carefully, she infused the explosive power into the warheads. After finishing, she loaded all the bullets back into the revolver. Then she aimed at a distant rock and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet didn't explode in the chamber; it shot towards the rock. The moment the bullet hit the rock, a small crater was blasted into its surface. This was because Nojiko hadn't infused too much explosive energy.
Nojiko pulled the trigger again.
Bang!
This time, she wasn't so lucky. The revolver exploded in her hand.
Fortunately, the amount of explosive energy Nojiko had input wasn't large. Furthermore, after becoming an explosion human, she now seemed to have a superhuman immunity to explosions. The gun exploding in her hand didn't cause her much harm. She only felt her hand go a bit numb; there was no blood.
"Nojiko, are you okay?" Nami asked with concern.
"I'm fine. I seem to have a superhuman immunity to explosions. The damage from this explosion wasn't very significant to me," Nojiko said, shaking her head.
"Well, in that case, you can practice boldly without worry!" Lister laughed. He had expected this; after eating the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, one would naturally have a certain immunity to explosions. Otherwise, he wouldn't have suggested that Nojiko switch to practicing with a bow and arrow.
"That's what I was thinking too!" Nojiko smiled faintly.
With Nojiko's issue resolved, Lister turned his gaze to Sheele, who had been experimenting with her Kilo-Kilo powers on the side, and smiled.
"Sheele, how is the Kilo-Kilo Fruit's ability?"
"Captain, I feel the Kilo-Kilo ability is amazing! It can make me as light as a feather and as fast as lightning, and it can also make me as heavy as a mountain, overpowering everything with sheer force. This Devil Fruit is perfect for me!" Sheele said to Lister, her face full of excitement.
"After all, you're the one who found it. Naturally, it's the most suitable for you!" Lister laughed.
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