"So, shopkeeper... when will the Door-Door Fruit be available?"
Bruce Banner swallowed hard, his eyes locked onto Rorschach as he asked the question with unmistakable anticipation.
"That's hard to say," Rorschach replied. "But if you're truly interested in the Door-Door Fruit, you can leave me a way to contact you."
"When it finally becomes available, I'll notify you."
Bruce's expression immediately turned awkward.
Right now, General Ross was chasing him across the globe. He didn't have any reliable contact information at all.
Every so often, he had to switch to a new phone number, a new email, a new means of communication—everything changed, constantly.
Even if he gave Rorschach something now, there was a good chance it would be useless before long.
"Shopkeeper, could I leave with your contact information instead?" Bruce asked with an embarrassed smile. "Because of... certain special circumstances, I don't really have any stable way for people to reach me at the moment."
The request was definitely odd. In some ways, it even seemed a little impolite.
But Rorschach didn't mind at all.
After all, he knew exactly what kind of situation Bruce Banner was in.
"Of course. No problem."
Rorschach readily gave Bruce his contact details.
Bruce didn't even bother taking out a pen or paper. He just repeated the information a few times under his breath and committed it to memory.
As expected of Bruce Banner.
That kind of memory was truly outrageous.
No wonder the man held eight doctorate degrees. He really was a top-tier academic monster.
"Oh, right. How much does the Door-Door Fruit cost?"
Bruce looked at Rorschach again and asked the most important question of all.
The Door-Door Fruit hadn't been unlocked yet, so Rorschach entered the system and checked first before finally answering, "The current tentative price is eighty million dollars. But after some time, this shop will stop accepting cash and switch over to gold instead. By then, the final price may depend on the situation."
Eighty million dollars!
Bruce's pupils contracted sharply.
That was an astronomical amount of money.
And later, it might not even be enough just to have the money. He might also need to convert it into gold first.
Still, when he thought about just how absurdly powerful the Door-Door Fruit was, Bruce had to admit the price was absolutely worth it.
In fact, it was practically a bargain.
Under normal circumstances, Bruce could have made that kind of money through his knowledge alone. He was a world-class scientist with eight doctorates. Earning eighty million dollars wasn't impossible for someone at his level.
Once a scientist reached Bruce Banner's level, the phrase knowledge is wealth became very literal.
A few patents. A few research results. That was money—real money.
But the problem was... Bruce Banner was currently a fugitive.
That made everything much harder.
Looks like I'll have to plan this carefully.
"I understand, shopkeeper."
"I'll be back."
After a quick round of intense thought, Bruce made up his mind and said the words with absolute conviction.
"I'll be looking forward to that day."
Rorschach smiled.
"Then... goodbye, shopkeeper."
Bruce raised a hand in farewell.
Clang!
Clang!
Right at that moment, two canisters suddenly came flying in through the doorway, hitting the floor with a sharp metallic sound.
Before Rorschach could fully process what was happening, thick smoke immediately began pouring out of them.
Gas grenades!
Rorschach instantly understood.
This had to be Ross's men. They had tracked Bruce Banner down and were trying to move in for the capture.
Unfortunately for them, gas grenades were completely useless against Bruce Banner.
Their ideal scenario—knocking him unconscious and hauling him away—was never going to happen.
Bruce Banner could be knocked out.
The Hulk couldn't.
Which meant that if nothing changed, Hulk was about to transform right here in his shop.
And with Hulk's destructive power, would this place survive the experience?
As those thoughts flashed through his mind, Rorschach didn't waste a single second.
He immediately thrust out his hand and fired two beams of light.
The two gas grenades had only just landed and released the slightest amount of smoke before the light blasts sent them flying right back out.
"Shopkeeper, you..."
Seeing Rorschach casually fire light blasts from his bare hands, Bruce Banner's face filled with shock.
Devil Fruit!
Then it clicked.
Of course.
If Rorschach was the one selling Devil Fruits, then how could he possibly not have eaten one himself?
It was real.
The Devil Fruits were real!
First, Helen had cured his nearsightedness in an instant. Then now, Rorschach had casually fired light bullets from his fingertips.
At this point, Bruce Banner no longer had even the slightest doubt.
"Sir," Rorschach said quickly, "I believe this trouble came because of you, right? Would you mind leaving as fast as possible?"
He had no time to waste chatting with Bruce.
Instead, he immediately started urging the man out.
True, after reaching Admiral Kizaru's level, Rorschach now had enough power to survive in this world. He wasn't afraid of the Devil Fruit shop being exposed anymore—and, in truth, that kind of exposure was probably inevitable.
But that didn't mean he wanted to get dragged into unnecessary trouble.
The messy family drama between Bruce Banner and General Ross could stay far, far away from him.
Still, not wanting trouble didn't mean he feared it.
That was exactly why he had acted without hesitation and blasted the gas grenades away.
No way was he going to let Hulk trash his shop.
And honestly, even without this incident, the moment Bruce Banner walked into this place, Rorschach was already destined to end up on Ross's radar.
There was no way Ross would ignore a shop Bruce Banner had gone out of his way to visit while on the run.
So since that was inevitable, what was there to hold back for?
"Sorry, shopkeeper. I'll leave now—cough, cough!"
Bruce apologized, then immediately turned and hurried for the exit.
But the small amount of lingering gas still made him cough, leaving Rorschach speechless.
Please don't tell me Hulk's still going to come out inside my shop.
Fortunately, fate wasn't that cruel.
Bruce covered his mouth and nose and rushed out.