The Logia Devil Fruit, even with a discount, costs only 4,800 Adventure Coins.
Luffy fell into deep thought.
As tempting as it was, this thing was completely useless to him. One person cannot eat two Devil Fruits.
Blackbeard is a special case. How he managed to do it remains a mystery.
But the power of a Logia is unquestionable, not to mention an Akuma no Mi without side effects. It seemed like a waste not to buy it, especially while it was on sale.
The price of 4,800 is equivalent to 24 Haki Fruits.
If an Akuma no Mi and 24 Haki Fruits were placed in front of someone at the same time, even an idiot would choose the latter.
(If I run out of money, I can earn more. I can personally go to several Sky Islands in this world. But if I don't buy it now, there's no guarantee it'll be available next time.)
Buy.
[Adventure Coins]: 17,105 → 7,305
At once, Luffy spent almost ten thousand coins and received four items:
1 Ship Spirit Fruit, 5 Life Extension Fruits, 10 Growth Improvement Fruits, and 1 Akuma no Mi.
Luffy took the 10 Growth Fruits and ate them all at once.
In the next moment, his body began to change.
His height increased from 1.74 meters to 1.84 meters in a short span of time.
(It seems like more than just a change in height...)
Luffy clenched his fist and thought to himself, (My strength has increased a bit too. It's like compressing several years of growth into a few seconds.)
His physique had grown stronger.
It was as if two or three years had passed in an instant. As his body grew taller, his physical strength also increased.
(The Life Extension Fruit doesn't have this effect. It only slightly increases vitality.)
In contemplation, he took a Life Extension Fruit and ate it.
[]: 73–74
(Indeed, it only increases vitality.)
As for the remaining four Life Extension Fruits, he decided to leave them alone for the time being. Until he actively removed them, the system would continue to preserve them.
But once withdrawn, they could not be stored again.
Now, as for the Ship Spirit Fruit and the Akuma no Mi...
A flash of white light, and the two fruits appeared in his hands simultaneously.
The Akuma no Mi had a round shape, covered in spiral patterns. It didn't look much different from a regular Devil Fruit.
The Ship Spirit Fruit was white, round, and looked very delicious.
(How do I make a ship eat this thing?)
Luffy was completely confused, unable to figure out how to make a ship "eat" a small fruit.
There is a technique in this world to make inanimate objects "eat" Devil Fruits, but he wasn't sure how to do it exactly.
With that in mind, Luffy looked into the distance.
About a kilometer away was a beach, where the Sunny and two other ships were docked on the coast.
Luffy saw Nami and the others and immediately flew toward them.
"Luffy!"
The Straw Hat crew, who had been playing on the beach, noticed Luffy's arrival one after another and sighed in relief.
"Luffy!"
Nami's face lit up with joy as she ran to him, hugging Luffy tightly and pressing his head into her chest.
"You really worried me, idiot!"
"Ugh?! Too tight! Are you trying to suffocate me?!"
"Ah, sorry."
Nami smiled and let go of the hug, a strange look on her face. "You're taller, aren't you?"
Saying that, she raised her hand to gesture, only to find it now fell short of his height.
The others gathered around, their faces full of astonishment.
"Men can change a lot in a short time," Luffy said casually.
All: "Didn't we just separate a little while ago?"
Robin asked softly, "Are you alright, Luffy?"
"What could be wrong? Aokiji was just fulfilling his promise. He didn't plan to take you back."
Luffy shook his head. "If he really wanted to capture us, you wouldn't have been able to escape back then."
With his freezing ability, he could instantly freeze the ocean currents.
Want to leave?
That would mean underestimating an Admiral.
In the original story, when the Straw Hats first encountered Aokiji, he froze the entire sea between two islands.
For ordinary people to travel from one island to another, it takes several days.
"Anyway, as long as you're in my crew, no one can take you away."
After calming Robin a bit, Luffy turned his head and saw Bellamy and his group not far away.
"Ah, you really made it," he greeted them.
"Luffy-senpai!"
Bellamy led part of his crew to approach.
There were about twenty people—roughly half of the previous number.
He stepped forward and bowed.
"Thank you very much! I was truly ignorant before, thinking Skypiea didn't exist."
"Although we lost many comrades this time, we also gained something!"
"Next, we're ready to explore Skypiea. Bellamy's Pirates will never forget your kindness. Whenever you need us—at any time—we'll be there!"
Bellamy said this solemnly.
He straightened up and handed over a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Usopp asked, taking it.
"This is my contact number. Well then, we'll part ways here!"
Bellamy smiled and left the beach with the rest of his crew.
"That was... unexpected," Sanji muttered, shaking his head.
"Luffy, what should we do with this?" Usopp asked.
"Keep it."
Although he didn't expect any favors in return—it was their own decision to move forward—it was still a kind gesture. It wouldn't feel right to just throw it away.
Suddenly, Luffy remembered something and asked:
"Did you all pay to get in?"
"Yes, each of us had to pay 1 billion Extols! At first, it was shocking, but then I realized that's equivalent to 100,000 Berries," Vivi nodded.
Luffy looked at Nami, incredulous.
(Is this girl really willing to spend money?)
"What? Why are you looking at me like that..." Nami blushed under his stare. "Without you around, we didn't feel safe. To avoid any unnecessary trouble, we decided to pay."
After a short pause, she added angrily, "But it was really expensive—it cost us over 2 million Berries!"
Luffy couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, there's a lot of gold on this island."
As he spoke, he walked toward the grassy area near the beach.
There were three reclining chairs made of island clouds under a pavilion. He lay down comfortably on one of them.
As soon as she heard the word "gold," Nami's eyes turned into Berries symbols. She quickly ran to his side and, in a sweet voice that sent chills down his spine, asked:
"Luffy ~ what was that you just said ~ ?"
(You also heard the story Montblanc Cricket told, remember?)
(End of Chapter)
Give me some power stones there you go~😉