บท 120: Chapter 120: Devil Fruit!?

Walking through the forest of food, the five of us looked around the island while heading to the center, though other than the occasional giant beetles, there really wasn't anything of significance; of course, that's excluding all of the food that was growing. The beetles weren't the only creatures; there were tons of other animals; however, they were all massive, or more like super fat; most of the animals couldn't even move, while the ones that could weren't going far.

Honestly, while this place was a food heaven, it didn't really have much to offer; there weren't any exceptionally powerful beasts, nor was any of the food poisonous, other than the fact that they were delicious.

"Am I the only one who feels like everything is going a little bit too well?" Asked Scar with a raised eyebrow while observing his surroundings before glancing at Grand, who was currently in a wrestling match with a giant beetle the same size as him.

"Well, you might be right, but why not just use this chance to relax? We're pirates, so we don't have many chances just chill and enjoy ourselves, not to mention the food here is utterly delectable." Remarked Trenza with a slight smile as she grabbed a random fruit and ate it, causing her to release a soft moan from its heavenly taste.

"Y-Yeah, it's also a good place to test my might!" Stated Grand with a grin as he forced the beetle back before suddenly picking it up and slamming it on its back, dazing the beetle, which gave him enough time to do a finishing blow.

"Now, that was a challenge; these beetles are tough; not only are they strong, but also super durable. If you don't hit them in the soft spot between their head and carapace, your attacks hardly make a dent!" Added Grand with a victorious smile as he looked at his fallen foe before glancing at the rest of his crew, only to slightly freeze at the sight of Diddy effortlessly stabbing his hand through the carapace of an even larger beetle.

"Eh, they're decently strong but still weak when compared to a sea king." Remarked Diddy blandly as he retracted his arm from the inside of the beetle's body before flicking his hand, flinging the guts and blood off.

"Yeah, they're also not that resistant to heat. A hard carapace means nothing if you can't withstand a little fire." Said Freyja calmly while sitting on top of a smoking beetle, which was even bigger than the one Diddy had killed, causing Grand to sigh.

"Haa, a couple of monsters." Muttered Grand, feeling demoralized, as he shook his head and continued walking alongside his crew, heading towards the center of the flower island.

While walking toward the center, killing the occasional group of beetles we met along the way, I suddenly stopped as I felt my instincts blaring inside my mind, warning me of danger. Tensing my body, I reached behind me and grabbed Naga-sa while eyeing my surroundings, searching for the cause of why I sensed danger, yet even after a whole minute, nothing happened, causing me to frown intensely.

"Was it a false alarm, Captain?" Asked Trenza as she, Scar, Grand, and Freyja were also prepared for battle, doing so the moment they saw Diddy wield Naga-sa.

"No, it's impossible; Diddy's senses haven't ever been wrong. If he senses danger, then danger will surely arrive; besides, I'm also starting to feel something wrong." Remarked Freyja with a frown, eyeing the forest with her elongated nails, capable of slicing through iron, as she was ready for a battle.

Feeling something, I closed my eyes and deeply focused on whatever I was feeling, only to realize that the ground beneath my feet was trembling ever so slightly, causing me to frown, though as time passed, it grew in intensity.

"Freyja, you feel that?" Asked Diddy with furrowed brows as he glanced at Freyja, who was also frowning.

"The ground, it's shaking; an earthquake? No, what's the likelihood of that happening while we are on an Island?" Questioned Freyja while nodding her head as she and Diddy continued to observe.

"Yeah, I'm also starting to feel the shaking." Said Scar lightly while looking around.

"Could it have been a stampede of beasts?" Asked Trenza with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at either Freyja or Diddy, hoping one of them would answer.

"No, I would've heard them; also, beasts aren't stupid enough to cause a stampede in such a dense forest. Most importantly, have you seen any animal that can walk more than ten meters besides those beetles? Let alone run; that would be a miracle." Declared Diddy promptly with a deepening frown as he looked at the ground.

"Nope." Said Grand, and before anyone else could speak, Diddy suddenly raised Naga-sa into the air before slamming into the ground, embedding his bo-staff into the earth.

"We're gaining altitude." Remarked Diddy with a slight grin as he felt the way gravity pulled him slowly change.

With my words, everyone else seemed to finally notice we were getting higher; how or why was that happening? I had no clue, but I had a feeling we were about to find out. As we continued to be lifted in the air, it started getting harder to stand, with Trenza and Grand sliding while Scar stabbed his dagger into the ground, though it only slowed him down.

"W-What the!?" Exclaimed Trenza as she grabbed the ground, trying to latch onto something.

"Tch, stop crying; grab my staff." Said Diddy, prompting Grand and Trenza, who were behind Diddy, to reach forward, barely managing to clutch Naga-sa in time while Scar arrived a few moments later.

While those three held onto Naga-sa, I gripped the ground with my feet, and Freyja hovered in the air as we continued to get lifted into the air until we eventually were able to see over the thick canopy of trees that were otherwise previously blocking our view.

"Hahaha, no wonder my instincts were warning me about the island; this mother fucking island is actually alive!" Stated Diddy with laughter as he and his crew gazed at the massive mouth at the center of the island that was eating the hundreds upon hundreds of fat beasts that fell into its mouth.

"A little disturbing, honestly." Muttered Freyja as she flew in the air while evading the occasional beast that fell from behind her.

"Y-You're telling me we've been walking on a man-eating island!?" Exclaimed Trenza in astonishment before suddenly grabbing her stomach with a disgusted expression while sitting atop Naga-sa.

"I want to vomit." Added Trenza.

"Paradise surely can't get any weirder, right?" Remarks Scar in uncertainty while gazing behind him at Grand, who simply shrugged his arms.

"Probably." Replied Grand, causing Scar to sigh and shake his head.

As we observed the massive man-eating island eat a ridiculous number of animals, I suddenly spotted a falling object, and upon closer inspection, I noticed it was a fruit, which was fine, but unlike others, I noticed it had those weird swirls on it like the one Freyja ate all those years ago.

"Devil Fruit." Muttered Diddy with widened eyes and a feral grin as he suddenly bent his legs before powerfully pushing off the ground toward the falling fruit.

Kicking the air behind me, I increased my speed and tried reaching the devil fruit, but by the time I had noticed it, it was already too far away; it was about to enter the mouth of the island.

'Can't let that happen; it'll be a literal waste of the devil fruit.' Thought Diddy, hardening his eyes while watching the devil fruit enter the jaws of the man-eating island, though even so, his speed didn't slow down.

Despite how dangerous this probably was, I entered the mouth of the island, chasing right behind the devil fruit as I speedily neared it; the insides of the island were hollow with a large amount of acidic liquid at the bottom, considering even the bones were slowly melting away.

'Yep, I'm inside it's stomach.' Mused Diddy as he glanced at the unfortunate beast fall in the stomach acid, only to resurface a few moments later with nothing but its skeleton.

Seeing how powerful the stomach acid was, I knew I couldn't even let the devil's fruit touch even a drop of it if I wanted for myself; using soru alongside geppo, I significantly increased my speed, reaching the devil when it was just mere inches from the stomach acid.

Grabbing the devil fruit, I used my other hand to slap the air in front of me, bringing my momentum to an immediate halt and scattering the acidic liquid while slightly injuring my arm in the process, but it'll heal within minutes.

"Heh, that was close." Muttered Diddy as he looked at the stomach acid that he was only an inch away from touching.

Pushing off the air, I flipped around and speedily exited the mouth while returning to my crew.

"So, mind explaining what that was all about?" Asked Freyja curiously, though when she noticed the square silverish fruit with swirls in Diddy's hand, her eyes widened in shock.

"Devil fruit!?" Exclaimed Scar, his words causing both Trenza and Grand to notice the devil fruit in Diddy's hand.

"Hehe; yep, a bonafide devil fruit. Aren't I lucky?" Remarked Diddy with a grin as he looked at the devil fruit and even smelled it, though he got nothing from it.

"Before any of you fools ask, no, this is my devil fruit, as I found it." Added Diddy as he glared at Trenza, Grand and Scar.

"So, as long as we find our own devil fruit, we can eat it if we want?" Asked Trenza with a smirk, only for Diddy to ruthlessly deny her.

"No, I'm your Captain; anything you find is also mine; that includes devil fruits." Said Diddy with a grin while Trenza just huffed in annoyance, though she kind of expected that response.

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Elven Legacy (Chapter 197: Elif's Cry of Pain) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 78: Truth Revealed) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 130: Five Vice-admirals) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]