Epic Dragon-Dragon Fruit: Mythical Beast—BattleGreymon Form Crystal?! Seriously?
After reading the description, Kairos Flint looked like a tired office worker riding the subway home.
What the hell?
This is the world of pirates, not the digital world. How can something from the Digital World be synthesized here?
Is my golden finger (cheat ability) just completely illogical?
It was absurd—utterly absurd.
But… he liked it.
The fusion of two different legendary-grade Devil Fruit crystals had somehow produced an epic-grade ability.
That meant just by continuing to develop his Devil Fruit powers, it wouldn't be hard to reach terrifying levels of strength. Of course...
That didn't mean a legendary-grade Devil Fruit alone couldn't reach an emperor level of power.
It's just that for some Devil Fruits, to reach that emperor level, you also needed the right physical conditioning and a mastery of Haki. Combining those would get you there.
There were two routes:
Constantly developing your Devil Fruit powers until you break through to the emperor level.
Or combining Devil Fruit mastery with physical strength and advanced Haki.
And the gap between these two approaches was huge.
"BattleGreymon… a perfect childhood memory."
Kairos was overcome with emotion.
Because it came from his childhood, he was quite familiar with the abilities of this new synthesized Devil Fruit.
But that's why he hesitated.
The Epic-grade Mythical Zoan Dragon-Dragon Fruit: BattleGreymon Form crystal had incredible abilities—but if he ate it, he wouldn't be able to consume a second Devil Fruit. Ever.
That would be a huge loss.
So now he was stuck in that classic dilemma:
To eat, or not to eat?
Yes, epic-level power was impressive, and this fruit could let him surge in strength very quickly.
But... above epic was god-level.
And that was what made him pause.
He was a transmigrator.
A time-traveler with cheat abilities.
How could he afford to limit his potential by eating a Devil Fruit that, while strong, wasn't the strongest?
"Forget it. I won't eat you."
He resisted the temptation to grow stronger quickly and stored the BattleGreymon crystal in his personal storage space.
If he only focused on immediate gains and ignored the future, he'd never reach his full potential.
He had to think long-term.
After stashing away the crystal, he took a break, recovering the physical strength consumed during the synthesis. Then, he stepped out of the jungle and returned to the beach.
There, he spotted Nami and Uta sitting together, chatting away happily.
He wasn't sure what he'd missed, but whatever it was, it must've gone well.
Uta had already joined his bounty hunter team. If she and Nami couldn't get along, he'd be the one with a headache.
Seeing the two getting along so well, he was relieved.
"Nami, I'm back," Kairos said with a smile as he walked up to her.
"Mm."
Nami barely acknowledged him, then turned back to continue chatting with Uta about fashion magazines and clothes.
They were deep into conversation, laughing and bonding, completely ignoring Kairos.
He stood there, dumbfounded.
How long has it been since Nami ignored me like this?
Isn't this going too far?
I'm handsome, you know. If I get mad, even you can't coax me back.
But Nami and Uta continued happily chatting away.
Kairos, completely ignored, could only sigh.
When girls get to gossiping, it's like a black hole. You can't interrupt even if you try.
"No more love left in the world…"
He shook his head and walked away, a bit disheartened.
He walked over to the body of Berutus, the captain of the Fighting Pirates, and placed it into his portable space.
Now that Nami knew everything about him, including their "zero-distance" relationship, there was no need to hide anything.
And by storing the corpse, he could prevent it from rotting.
Yeah.
That portable space?
Absolutely essential for looting and clean-up.
And it wasn't just for bodies. He could store food and all kinds of supplies in there without worrying about spoilage.
Time froze inside the space unless the item was taken out. Perfect.
"Let's talk," Gordon said as he approached.
"Sure," Kairos nodded.
After all, Gordon was Uta's adoptive father. He'd essentially "taken" his daughter away—if Gordon didn't have something to say about that, Kairos would've been surprised.
The two walked a little away from the beach.
When they were far enough from Uta, Gordon stopped.
"Since Uta has chosen to leave with you, I won't stop her. I've kept the truth about the fall of Elegia buried in my heart for years, never daring to speak of it. But now, after what you revealed today… it feels like a weight has finally been lifted."
"Kairos, thank you."
"For the past ten years, Uta has lived in pain. You've helped resolve her inner torment. I truly appreciate that."
"I'm not a pirate. I don't have the strength of Shanks or his crew. But as Uta's father, I only ask one thing—"
"Please, protect her. Take care of her."
Gordon spoke with deep sincerity.
Some secrets weigh too heavily when buried for years. Finally speaking it aloud gave him peace.
And though he wouldn't hold Uta back from chasing her future, he could only ask Kairos for one thing: to protect her.
"I promise," Kairos said immediately.
After all, Uta was now part of his team.
Protecting each other was natural.
If he couldn't protect his own teammates, that would be pathetic.
And besides… let's not forget the Red-Haired Pirates.
Uta wasn't just anyone. If something ever happened to her, that crew would show up in full force.
Even Whitebeard would think twice before crossing that line.
Only the World Government would be dumb enough to try something like that.
Their brain-dead decisions were legendary.
Technically, Kairos thought, I just helped Red-Hair and Uta reconcile.
That guy owes me one now. At the very least, I should get a "thank you" punch… or maybe…
Red-Hair could round up a dozen notorious pirates and deliver them straight to me. That would be nice.
Having Uta on his team was a total win-win.
She brought fame, power, and connections.
And with her here, he could send a polite little message to the Red-Haired Pirates—Thanks for your daughter. Now please bring a dozen high-bounty pirates to show your gratitude.
Genius. Absolute genius.
He even started admiring his own brilliance.
Soon, he and Gordon returned, chatting mostly about Uta.
Kairos had to admit—Gordon had been a solid father.
Over the next few days, they stayed in Elegia for a while, giving Uta time to say proper goodbyes to her loved ones.
After all, the journey ahead would be long.
Very long.
Even if she wanted to return, it wouldn't be easy. This wasn't a casual trip to the Grand Line.
Kairos planned to go straight to the New World, cut a path through it, power up, and then… maybe explore the rest of the world leisurely.
He also synthesized the ships from the Fighting Pirates and the Dragon Pirates.
His flagship now needed exactly 3.09 experience points to upgrade from Excellent grade.
And yeah, the ".09" was because the Fighting Pirates' ship was total junk and only gave 0.01 XP.
He was honestly a little offended.
With everything sorted, the group finally set off toward Loguetown.
Along the way, they didn't run into any pirates.
Which annoyed Kairos.
It felt like he'd lost out on a hundred million beli.
He suspected it was partly his fault. After all, he'd gotten way too famous recently.
The newspapers from Newsbird were buzzing with headlines:
"Demon Blade Hunter!"
He'd taken out the Krieg Pirates, the Black Cat Pirates, the Dragon Pirates—basically all the most infamous crews in the East Blue.
And he did it all in under two months.
Even Morgans had taken notice.
He had a whole section of the paper dedicated just to Kairos, showering him with praise.
Kairos didn't care much.
Fame was just a side effect of what he was doing.
Loguetown.
They hadn't been here in a while, and Kairos was starting to miss the sweet joy of collecting bounties.
So, he went back to the naval base and made a nice little fortune.
"Is this what being a bounty hunter feels like?"
Uta watched in awe as Kairos and Nami split up millions of beli.
She was envious—really envious.
Sure, Gordon had always taken care of her, but now that she was out in the world, especially after hearing Nami's stories, she understood: money mattered.
That realization hit even harder after Nami dragged her around the town shopping.
They'd hit one-third of Loguetown's clothing and cosmetic stores before Kairos told them to stop.
Nami had paid for everything, and she was super generous.
Naturally, she bought everything in twos so Uta wouldn't feel left out.
And that kindness… it made their relationship blossom fast.
Kairos, on the other hand, had been sleeping alone ever since.
He was furious.
He was trembling.
He was cold.
He'd invited Uta onto the team—and yet here he was, suffering!
Alas, the two girls were inseparable, even sharing a bed. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure.
Uta, however, was still embarrassed about letting Nami pay for everything.
Watching Kairos and Nami casually earn millions of beli only confirmed it—money is freedom.
"Don't worry," Kairos said, patting her on the shoulder. "A few million beli is nothing. You'll be the world's top singer soon. You'll earn that in one concert."
Yep. He was selling a dream.
But it wasn't a lie.
In the movie timeline, Uta's singing conquered half the world.
Money? That wouldn't be an issue.
As they prepared to leave Loguetown, Smoker suddenly asked:
"Are you really going to the Grand Line?"
"Of course," Kairos replied. "What, Smoker? Gonna miss me? Once I'm gone, pirates will come crawling out of hiding again."
He grinned as he said it.
And it was true.
After his rampage through the East Blue, many pirate crews had gone into hiding to avoid the wrath of the Demon Blade Hunter.
Only the hard-headed ones still roamed around.
Unfortunately, he hadn't run into any of them.
If he had, he'd be richer by now.
"The Grand Line is dangerous," Smoker said. "Even swordmasters die there every day."
Kairos picked up on the subtle threat behind his words.
Hmph. Too bad this guy's not a pirate. What a waste.
"The East Blue is too small for me. If the Grand Line is as full of monsters as they say, then I'm all the more excited."
"Taking down pirates with nine-figure bounties sounds way more fun than fighting guys like Krieg or Arlong."
He waved with a grin and walked away.
"What a frustrating guy," said Tashigi, who had been standing nearby. "Colonel Smoker warned him out of kindness, and he just brushed it off like that!"
"No, Tashigi," Smoker said quietly.
"You're wrong."
"If a guy like him doesn't die young… he's going to become something big."