"Huh? Me?!"
Sabo pointed at himself, a little dumbfounded.
"Who else?"
"All this time I was the one doing it because you hadn't mastered Armament Haki. Now that you've all learned it, you still want me to be the sole laborer?"
"What are you thinking? Get moving, hurry up and come over! We'll take turns, one by one!"
Sabo: . . . .
The warship slammed onto the sea surface, splashing up several huge waves.
Sabo obediently went to the stern, similarly coated his fist with Armament Haki, and then fiercely punched out.
The sea surface similarly caved in, forming a large pit, but it was much smaller than the one Kyle had punched out, and the resulting recoil was also considerably less.
However, it was still enough to make the warship fly.
Sabo walked back from the stern, his gaze sweeping over everyone, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
"I can't wait to see which rookie makes the warship fly the lowest!"
As soon as he said this, the others hadn't reacted much, but Zoro and Kuina, being swordsmen, both stiffened.
Seriously?!
They use swords! How the hell are they supposed to compare?!
But before they could raise an objection, something suddenly fell from the sky and landed squarely on Ace's head.
Thud!!
A dull sound rang out. Ace's head snapped downward, slamming onto the deck, stars flashing before his eyes.
The thing that had hit Ace also bounced on the deck, rolled a few times, and came to a stop right in front of Ace's face.
!!!
Staring at that object, Kyle's eyes flew wide open.
He even rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
To be fair, Kyle was rarely this surprised, but what had just happened was frankly a bit outrageous.
That object was an orange-red spherical fruit, its stem was green, one end shaped like a whirlpool, the other like a flame. Its surface was covered in countless small flame-shaped spiral patterns, resembling a burning fireball.
That's right, it was the Flame-Flame Fruit, the very one mocked as something even a dog wouldn't eat!!
In the original story, this fruit had two owners.
The first was Ace, and the second was Sabo.
Was this situation really this ridiculous now? Did the Flame-Flame Fruit like Ace this much?!
Coming to him of its own accord?
Not even pretending anymore?
Just dropping straight from the sky into his mouth?
Thinking this, Kyle couldn't help but look up, squinting, to see if another one might fall.
Even if he had no use for it himself, he could sell it, right?!
But clearly, he didn't have that luck. After staring for a long time, there wasn't even a pile of bird droppings, let alone a Devil Fruit.
Meanwhile, the others were also crowding around the Flame-Flame Fruit, examining it from all sides.
"Is this a Devil Fruit?"
Zoro asked, looking at the Flame-Flame Fruit.
"No!! The one I ate before didn't look like this at all!"
Luffy immediately refuted with great certainty, but his words only drew a wave of disdain from everyone.
"Luffy, don't you know that different Devil Fruits look different?!"
Sanji looked at Luffy, utterly speechless.
"Huh?! Is that so? I had no idea!!"
Luffy looked astonished, as if suddenly realizing something.
Everyone simultaneously raised a hand to their forehead.
Forget it, it was hard to communicate with this hick from the boonies.
Just then, Ace also shook off his dizziness and stared intently at the Flame-Flame Fruit before him.
"So you're the thing that hit me, right?!"
"Is being hit by a Devil Fruit such a bad thing? Plenty of people would never get this chance!"
Kyle's calm voice sounded.
"Besides, this Devil Fruit is a Logia-type Devil Fruit."
"It's the same type as my fruit ability."
"The Flame-Flame Fruit—eating this fruit allows you to master the power of fire!"
"For example, like this!"
Kyle extended his index finger toward the sky. Purple lightning flickered, and a small flame burst forth.
Everyone stared blankly at this scene.
Ace asked, his voice dry:
"Aren't you lightning? Why can you create fire too?"
"Is creating fire that hard?"
Kyle countered, then clenched his fist, coating it with Armament Haki, and punched outward at incredible speed.
A ball of flame shot out, flying off into the distance.
Kyle dispersed his Armament Haki, looking at everyone as he spoke calmly:
"If you're strong enough, making fire is as easy as just using your hands, isn't it?"
Everyone: . . . .
Everyone looked from Kyle to the Flame-Flame Fruit.
For a moment, the perceived value of this fruit in their hearts plummeted.
It felt kind of... garbage?
"Then again, it is still a Logia-type Devil Fruit, its strength is pretty decent!"
"Ace, do you want to eat it?!"
Kyle asked, looking at Ace.
Since this fruit had hit Ace on the head, he naturally asked him first.
A trace of interest showed in Ace's eyes, but he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze to the others.
"Does anyone here want to become a Devil Fruit user?"
Kyle, Luffy, and Law stepped aside, immediately removing themselves from the discussion.
They were already Devil Fruit users, so naturally, they couldn't eat another one.
Then Zoro and Kuina both shook their heads in unison and spoke:
"I only want to become the world's greatest swordsman. I'm not interested in Devil Fruits!" *2
Following them, Sanji also shook his head, saying:
"I'm not interested either!"
If this Devil Fruit were Absalom's Suke Suke no Mi (Clear-Clear Fruit), he might consider it. Other fruits? No thanks!!
Finally, Ace's gaze fell on Sabo.
A smile tugged at the corner of Sabo's mouth as he spoke:
"While I don't exactly oppose eating a Devil Fruit, this fruit fell on *your* head, Ace. That means it's fated to be yours. I'm not about to take your thing!"
"Besides, if I ate a Devil Fruit, wouldn't that make you even less able to beat me?"
"I don't want the gap between us to keep widening!"
"You'd better keep this and eat it yourself!"
"The gap between you and me isn't something a single Devil Fruit can close!"
Sabo glanced at Ace, a faint hint of disdain in his eyes.
"Sabo, you bastard!!"
Ace ground his teeth, speaking fiercely:
"Sabo, when I defeat you, I hope you can still talk tough!"
He knew Sabo was saying this so he could eat the fruit without feeling burdened.
But what he said was seriously infuriating!
Just wait, after he eats this Devil Fruit, who ends up as the second brother was still up for debate!!
With that in mind, Ace didn't hesitate. He opened his mouth wide, took a huge bite of the Flame-Flame Fruit, and started chewing.
The next second, his expression suddenly changed, turning deathly pale.
He instinctively wanted to spit out the bitten flesh, but at that moment Kyle suddenly appeared in front of him and punched him directly under the chin.
"Aaata!!!"
...
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