On the deck of the Red Force, the spoils "received" from the World Government transport ship were piled into a small mountain. Gold, silver, and jewels glittered alluringly under the sun. However, to the Red Hair Pirates, who were used to grand scenes, these were merely things to supplement their liquor funds, and they were happily sorting through them.+2
Shanks's attention was not on the treasures at all. He sat cross-legged to the side, holding an inconspicuous small wooden box found in a secret compartment in the captain's quarters. The box was already open, and inside lay a Devil Fruit that was deep purple all over and bore strange spiral patterns.+2
Benn Beckman, smoking a cigarette, walked over to him. He looked at Shanks's serious expression and asked, "What's wrong? Do you recognize this fruit?" +1
Shanks slowly shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the fruit. "No, I don't recognize it," he replied. He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts. "But I just feel like this fruit is very different. There's a sense of... indescribable incongruity about it."+1
He lightly touched the cool surface of the fruit with his finger and continued. "Furthermore, before the World Government was overthrown by Takuro, they specifically sent people all the way to the East Blue to escort it. This thing definitely isn't simple; there might be some secret hidden behind it."+1
Beckman exhaled a smoke ring and calmly said, "No matter how important it was originally, it's in our hands now. How should we deal with it? Sell it? Or..." +1
Shanks didn't answer immediately. He rubbed his chin, looking at the purple fruit, his eyes flashing. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something extremely amusing, a mischievous, bright smile appeared on his face.+1
"Heh heh..." He chuckled softly and pulled out a small Den Den Mushi from his pocket. Beckman raised an eyebrow, seemingly guessing what he was planning.+1
Shanks skillfully dialed a number. After the Den Den Mushi rang a few times, it connected, mimicking a black-haired image with an impatient expression.+1
"Hello? Who is it?" Takuro's bored voice came from the Den Den Mushi.+1
"Yo! Takuro, long time no see!" Shanks greeted him enthusiastically. "How have you been? I heard you caused quite a stir!" +1
"It's Shanks," Takuro's tone was still flat. "Why are you calling me? Do you want to fight me?" +1
A drop of cold sweat instantly appeared on Shanks's forehead, and he let out two dry laughs. "Haha... How could I! I'd be crazy to fight you!" He quickly changed the subject, his tone becoming secretive. "It's like this: I just accidentally acquired a Devil Fruit over here."+2
"A Devil Fruit?" Takuro's voice carried undisguised contempt. "It's just a rotten fruit, what's so rare about it? If you want one, I have plenty in my warehouse, all sorts of flavors."+2
"Hey! This one is different!" Shanks emphasized. "According to the intelligence I received, this fruit was specially and secretly escorted by people right before the World Government fell, you know? It might be something incredible!" +1
"Oh?" Takuro seemed slightly intrigued, but his tone remained lazy. "So what? Did you call me just to tell me this? To brag that you picked up some trash?" +1
Shanks said with a grin, "It's just that I haven't seen you in a long time, so I wanted to share! Maybe you know something about it?" +1
Takuro said impatiently, "How would I know? I've never been interested in these things."+1
"Is that so?" Shanks suddenly said in a teasing tone. "Then just assume I called specifically to brag to you, haha."+1
Veins popped up on Takuro's forehead. "You bastard, are you looking for a beating again?" +1
"Haha, so what if I am? You can't hit me anyway, and I won't tell you where I am. How about that? Are you mad?" +1
Takuro suddenly fell silent. Shanks was basking in the success of his provocation when he suddenly heard the other side speak.+1
"Hey, you haven't forgotten that I have your life paper, have you?" +1
The smile on Shanks's face instantly froze. "...Huh?" +1
Takuro's voice carried an undeniable certainty. "Wait right where you are."+1
"Wait! Takuro, what do you mean? Hello? Hello?!" +1
"Beep—beep—beep—" +1
The call was hung up. Shanks held the Den Den Mushi, which was emitting a busy signal, and looked dumbfounded at Beckman beside him. Beckman also showed a rare expression of astonishment.+1
"He... he just said... life paper?" Shanks blinked, seemingly not having fully processed it yet.+1
Just then, the space in front of the Red Force began to twist and fluctuate without warning! It was as if a giant rock had been thrown into calm water! A familiar yet terrifying, heart-stopping sense of oppression descended out of thin air!+1
Under the stunned gaze of all the Red Hair Pirates members, a golden figure burning with Ki flames stepped out from the center of the distorted space, as if tearing through it!+1
Takuro stood with his hands in his pockets, his scarlet pupils sweeping over the people on the deck, finally settling on Shanks, who was still holding the Den Den Mushi with a stiff expression. A curve of wildness appeared at the corner of his mouth.+1
"Yo, Redhead."+1
"I'm here."+1
"Where is that 'interesting' fruit you mentioned? Let me see it."+1
Shanks: "!!!" +1
Shanks looked at Takuro, who had instantly appeared on his ship, then looked at the purple Devil Fruit in his hand, and suddenly felt that this "sharing" of his might have gone a bit too far.
On the Red Force, time seemed to freeze. One second they were having a cross-sea "friendly conversation" via Den Den Mushi, and the next second, the protagonist of that conversation, the man who had just overthrown the World Government, had arrived on the deck by tearing through space in such an unreasonable and counter-intuitive manner!+1
The faint golden Ki flames surrounding Takuro had not fully receded, and the invisible pressure they exerted caused the entire ship to dip slightly; the air felt thick. His scarlet pupils, glowing with a hint of interest, swept over every member of the Red Hair Pirates who had instinctively adopted a battle stance as if facing a formidable enemy, finally settling on Shanks, who was still clutching the Den Den Mushi with a stiff expression.+1
Silence. A deathly silence. Only the flapping of the sails in the sea breeze and the sound of certain crew members nervously swallowing could be heard.+1
Lucky Roux nearly dropped the meat leg in his hand, Yasopp's hand resting on his gun holster trembled slightly, and Benn Beckman's cigarette was burning down to his fingers, yet he didn't notice. It wasn't that they were inexperienced, but this maneuver—which was almost like "what is said is done," a direct human teleportation triggered by a phone call—was truly too shocking to their worldview!+1
After a brief moment of shock, Shanks was the first to recover. The stiff expression on his face quickly melted away, replaced by a hearty but slightly forced smile. He tucked the Den Den Mushi back into his pocket and spread his hands:+1
"Whoa, Takuro, your way of saying hello... is a bit too scary, isn't it?" He tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere with a joke. "You almost gave my crew heart attacks."+1
Takuro curled his lip, ignoring the attempt at conversation, and simply held out his hand. "Less nonsense. The fruit."+1
Seeing Takuro's posture of "if you don't give it to me, I'll find it myself," Shanks knew he couldn't fool him. He smiled helplessly, bent down, picked up the small wooden box containing the purple Devil Fruit, and handed it over.+2
"Here, this is it. It looks a bit special, I feel..." +1
Before he could finish speaking, Takuro snatched the wooden box, took the purple Devil Fruit into his hand, and examined it carefully.
The moment Takuro's fingers touched the Devil Fruit—
[Detecting high concentration, high activity, Rule-Level Heterogeneous Energy Source... Analyzing...] +1
[Preliminary determination: This item contains the World Origin.] +1
In his mind, the "Saiyan System" suddenly issued a notification sound
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