Usopp was completely dejected, looking like he'd rather crawl into a hole and disappear forever.
That's when Luffy and the others found him and decided to bring him along to Marcus' ship, figuring so company might cheer him up.
When Luffy caught sight of Marcus' massive vessel, his jaw practically hit the deck. "Incredible! This is amazing!"
The ship was unlike anything he'd ever seen. They were actually growing trees on the deck! And not just any trees, these looked completely bizarre, like sothing out of a fever dream.
He wasn't the only one gawking. The others were looking around in every direction. Marcus' ship design was simply too outlandish.
Even the depressed Usopp temporarily forgot his misery, reaching out to touch a thick, vine-like plant growing directly from the deck.
"This... what kind of plant is this? It looks so weird."
"Pumpkin vine," Marcus replied with a smile.
"What?! A pumpkin vine this thick that can stand upright without any support structure?" Usopp was stunned. He wasn't so city kid who couldn't tell crops apart, after all, the reason he'd survived this long wasn't because the villagers had kept him alive out of pure charity. He'd actually worked farms and grown his own food before.
He'd definitely grown pumpkins in the past, and they sure as hell didn't grow like this.
Almost as if the vine wanted to prove its identity, it suddenly curled and twisted with a soft biu sound, producing a perfectly cube-shaped, massive pumpkin.
The sight left everyone completely speechless.
Judging by the texture and appearance, it really was a pumpkin, but pumpkins weren't supposed to work like this.
Marcus pulled out an iron axe and chopped the pumpkin with a single swing.
"What the hell?!"
"Wait! Where did that huge pumpkin go?!" Luffy stared in amazent as it vanished into Marcus' body.
"You're a Devil Fruit user too?!"
Everyone except Zoro was completely shocked. They'd thought it was already rare enough for Luffy to be a rubber man, and then they'd encountered Buggy with his Chop-Chop powers, followed by Alvida with her Slip-Slip abilities. But at least those powers could be understood.
Marcus' ability, though, left everyone completely baffled. Those trees, that special pumpkin, the way items just disappeared into his body.
"Yeah, it's a pretty unique ability," Marcus nodded.
Everyone sighed in amazent at the endless variety of Devil Fruit powers, each one more bizarre than the last.
Then he reached into his inventory and pulled out a large basket filled with perfectly round, red fruits. "Here, help yourselves to so fruit."
"What are these?"
"Tropical fruit."
"Wow, this is incredibly sweet! Not sour at all!" Usopp said in surprise after taking his first bite.
The fruit in his hand looked similar to an apple, but normal tropical fruit had a more gourd-like shape. When fresh, they were crisp and crunchy, could be stored on ships for extended periods, but after about three months they would start to turn sour and lose their appeal.
However, they were excellent for making fruit wine, which was why many pirates stocked up on them before long voyages. They kept well, could be eaten fresh, fernted into alcohol, or even dried to make portable rations that would fill your stomach and provide essential vitamins.
The group dug in without hesitation.
"This is really sweet!" Nami exclaid after taking a couple of bites, then quickly finished her fruit. But after swallowing the last piece, she looked astonished. "There's no core at all! It's all flesh, if this is so new variety, it could sell for a fortune!"
As soone whose family had been in the citrus business, she knew exactly how valuable such a perfect fruit could be in the right markets.
Luffy, on the other hand, didn't care about any of that, he just kept eating one after another without pause, like a fruit-consuming machine.
Under Kira's shocked gaze, he devoured the entire basket of thirty-plus fruits in a matter of minutes.
Before she could even comnt, Marcus smiled and said, "Want more? Eat as much as you like."
He pulled out another basket.
Luffy didn't hesitate, thanked him politely, and continued his fruit rampage.
That's when the sa shocked expression that had appeared on Kira's face now spread to Alvida's.
Zoro, noticing their reaction, asked, "What's wrong with you two?"
He and the others had seen Luffy's appetite before. Sure, this seed like a lot of fruit, but fruit was mostly water anyway, so it shouldn't take up that much stomach space. Why the reactions?
anwhile, Marcus was quietly keeping count. "One hundred and forty-four."
The mont he announced the number, Luffy finally stopped eating, patted his stomach, and looked puzzled. "Weird... is my stomach feeling off today? I actually feel full."
"Holy shit..." Alvida sucked in a sharp breath.
She was finally beginning to understand the true gap between herself and Luffy. At most, she could manage maybe thirty of those fruits, and that would be when she was absolutely starving.
But Luffy had already eaten a full al earlier, the kind that made his stomach visibly bulge. Which ant that 144 fruits was nowhere near his limit.
"What's going on with you guys?" Usopp asked in confusion, not understanding why everyone was acting so strange.
Marcus didn't see any reason to hide the truth. "These fruits are created by my Devil Fruit power, so they have special properties. They can directly provide energy to people who eat them. You should have felt a strong sense of fullness after just one, right?"
"Now that you ntion it... yeah, definitely. I felt completely full after just one fruit," Usopp said, rubbing his stomach thoughtfully. He'd already been full from dinner earlier, so he'd just assud that was why he felt satisfied so quickly. Only now did he realize how unusual these fruits really were.
Zoro picked up another fruit, ate it in two bites, and his eyes lit up with understanding. "That's absolutely true. One of these fills you up like a whole al."
Then everyone turned to stare at Luffy in surprise.
"You felt completely full and still managed to eat 144 of them?! You weren't actually full at all, were you?" Nami looked at Luffy in disbelief, once again reminded that his body was essentially that of a human-shaped monster.
One hundred and forty-four! Even if they weren't magical super-fruits, she knew she couldn't finish that many regular apples if her life depended on it.
"Eating them makes feel stronger!" Luffy said excitedly, jumping up and down. He was full of energy.
"Damn... worthy of being Nika, I guess," Marcus muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
"Huh? What did you say?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion.
Marcus waved it off with a smile. "Nothing important. Anyway, you've all eaten, now let's talk about why you're actually here."
Luffy scratched his cheek and looked like he wanted to say sothing but couldn't quite figure out how to phrase it.
Naturally, Nami took over the conversation. "We heard you say earlier that you weren't planning on being pirates anymore, right? So we wanted to ask if your ship might be for sale."
"Oh, that. Well, this ship was built using my Devil Fruit ability, so I can't exactly sell it to you. But if you need help, I could modify your current ship instead."
Luffy's eyes imdiately lit up. "Really?! You'd do that for us? You're amazing!"
Marcus waved his hand. "It's no big deal, really. But there are a few important things I need to explain about how my ability works first."
"Is it about money? We don't have much, but we can offer two million berries!" Nami imdiately jumped in when she heard there were conditions involved, her business instincts kicking in.
Then her captain completely undermined her negotiating position by blurting out, "Wait, don't we still have five million berries?"
"That's MY money!" Nami snapped, giving Luffy a sharp knock on the head. When she turned and saw Marcus' slightly amused expression, she gave an awkward laugh and scratched her head sheepishly.
"Uh... we still need to buy quite a few supplies for the journey, so we need to keep so savings in reserve," she said, rubbing her hands together with a forced smile.
Marcus found her personality at this stage of her developnt rather endearing, the way she tried to be tough and business-minded while still being decent. He waved off her concerns about paynt. "I'm not asking for money, but I do need to explain so important limitations of my ability."
"First and most importantly, my constructions can't float on water by themselves. Even though our ship looks massive, at its core it's actually just a small boat that's been expanded using my powers. If the base boat gets damaged or destroyed, my additions won't disappear, but you won't be able to sail anymore."
"So you'll need to find a good, sturdy ship to serve as the foundation. Also, there's a limit to how much I can expand it."
Marcus had actually tested this limitation by trying to place wooden planks directly on the ocean. Just like in the original Minecraft ga, they would float mysteriously on the water's surface, but they wouldn't move or function as an actual boat. If Newton could see such a violation of physics, he'd probably claw his way out of his grave, but it was perfectly consistent with Minecraft logic.
User Comments
0 comments from readers