Chapter 92: New Year Approaches
"Isn't that a Mythical Fruit?"
At this point in time, Kin'emon hadn't eaten the Soru Soru no Mi yet. Two years ago, in the Flower Capital, after he snatched a child from a mountain god, he also happened to steal someone's clothes.
However, Kanjuro and Raizo had already eaten their Devil Fruits.
So, they still knew that eating a Mythical Fruit would allow one to use sorcery. Compared to the general fear of such abilities in Wano Country, Kin'emon and the others weren't too concerned.
In their view, although one could gain sorcery from eating it, it ultimately wasn't as reliable as one's own real strength. For instance, the things Kanjuro drew could be said to be completely useless.
As a result, Raizo and Kin'emon, who would later eat the Soru Soru no Mi, never bothered to develop their Fruit abilities. Kanjuro, on the other hand, had a secret talent; the abilities of his Brush-Brush Fruit were quite impressive.
If Kin'emon had been willing to properly develop his Soru Soru no Mi, he might have been able to create things like steel battle armor or Germa combat suits, which would have significantly increased his combat power.
"To be precise, they're called Devil Fruits. You all have ability users among you, so you should know the wonders of this fruit. So, I can help you set sail, providing a ship and a navigator. All you have to do is help me find these. How about it? This is a win-win, right?"
"But, this thing must be a treasure, right? It's not going to be easy to find," Denjiro retorted.
They had some sense of how rare Devil Fruits were. In any case, Denjiro had never seen a real Devil Fruit in person his whole life. Today was the first time.
"It's indeed not easy, and the value of this thing is very high. But there's no choice right now; only I can get you out to sea." Ren made it clear he was making an unequal deal, but they had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
Otherwise, going out to sea?
Not a chance!
"It's actually a pretty good deal, isn't it? After all, you don't need these things anyway. Isn't it great that we each get what we need? And I won't place any restrictions on your voyage. As long as you can find the fruits, you can go anywhere. Become pirates or Marines, or bounty hunters. As long as you leave Wano Country and act under the name 'Inazuma,' it's fine."
Kozuki Oden thought for a moment and felt that what Ren said made sense. After all, eating these fruits would just add a mostly useless ability. Although it was miraculous, the trade-off was not being able to swim, and he wasn't interested.
"Alright, I agree to your deal. But, why act under the name 'Inazuma'?" Kozuki Oden asked.
"This is the result of my discussion with Lord Yasuie. It's still too early for Wano Country to face the outside world. We'll use 'Inazuma' as a cover to avoid being targeted," Ren said.
Imu, the ruler of the Celestial Dragons, had the power to destroy a country from afar. That was a force Ren couldn't currently resist.
"I understand. In that case, I agree." Kozuki Oden smiled. "The Daimyo of Kuri, though I haven't known you for long, you're truly a fascinating person."
Ren's actions had changed Kuri. Oden had witnessed all the changes in Kuri with his own eyes. This made him approve of Ren's methods of governance. At least the prosperity of Kuri was real, and the smiles on the faces of its people were real.
There was no place in Wano Country more desirable than Kuri now.
And now Ren was willing to help him set sail, making Kozuki Oden almost consider him a close friend.
However, Ren had no desire to be infected by his "dumbing down aura." After finishing his business, he left.
"By the way, a person can only eat one Devil Fruit. If they eat two, they'll die." Ren looked at Kin'emon and the others. He didn't doubt for a second that these small-time thugs would, out of spite, get carried away and eat several fruits at once.
Ren didn't care about their lives; he only cared about losing two Devil Fruits. If they were just regular Zoan-type fruits, it would be one thing. But what if they were a Mythical Zoan, a Logia, or a special Paramecia? That would be a huge loss.
Speaking of collecting Devil Fruits, Ren thought of Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the future Warlords. The unlucky guy who was sent to Impel Down two years after the Paramount War and missed out on the benefits of his era.
Doflamingo was quite the businessman and could use his underworld connections to find all sorts of strange fruits. The Mera Mera no Mi, the Riki Riki no Mi... these were all very promising fruits.
'He should still be in the Holy Land right now, right?'
Doflamingo was born into a Celestial Dragon family, the eldest son of the Donquixote Family. He and his family originally enjoyed the privileges of Celestial Dragons. However, his father, Donquixome Homing, believed that Celestial Dragons and common folk were all human and declared he was giving up his status as a Celestial Dragon, which led to tragedy.
Ren planned to find the little brat while he was still young and get him to work for him.
Watching Ren leave, Kin'emon immediately closed the door and then turned to Kozuki Oden. "Lord Oden, I have a feeling that guy has ulterior motives. Besides, why must you go out to sea? Who knows what dangers await overseas? You shouldn't be taking such risks."
"Save your breath, Kin'emon. You won't be able to persuade Lord Oden," Denjiro said helplessly.
Since Oden was not the Daimyo of Kuri at the moment, Denjiro felt that letting Oden go to sea wasn't such a bad thing. After all, Kozuki Sukiyaki was still the ruler of Wano Country. The current Shogun wasn't that old, so it was still a long way before Oden could inherit the position.
"That's right, Kin'emon, you're too rigid," Oden said quickly. "By the way, you all come along too. How about it? Although that guy will prepare sailors and a navigator for me, rather than being with complete strangers, it's definitely better to have you guys with me."
"L-Lord Oden!"
The group was so moved by Oden's words that they burst into tears and rushed towards him.
"Get away from me! Snot, snot got on my clothes!" Kozuki Oden roared.
...
Days passed, and New Year's was fast approaching.
It was now the end of December, but the climate in Kuri was still very hot. This gave Ren no sense that the New Year was just around the corner. Besides, he wasn't used to January 1st being the New Year; in his past life, this day was called New Year's Day.
Yukiko and the others, however, placed great importance on the New Year. In December, they had already started cleaning every corner of the Daimyo's mansion. With so many servants under her command, they were busy every day.
With nothing else to do, Ren trained by himself.
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