By the time Luffy and Vivi made their way out, they were both covered in golden artifacts. Luffy had to stretch and enlarge his hands to manage carrying the entire haul outside.
Seeing Luffy covered head to toe in gold, Nami's eyes turned into Beli symbols. Overcome with excitement, she practically tackled him to the ground and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You're the best, Luffy!"
"...Don't get that excited." Luffy's body stiffened for a moment.
He suspected Nami was deliberately taking advantage of the situation, but he had no proof!
Vivi, standing nearby, had her suspicions too. But then Nami immediately started "swimming" through the pile of gold. Alright, that's just Nami being Nami.
As the historian, Robin casually picked up a teapot that was several hundred years old. Every artifact here was at least a few centuries in age.
Luffy randomly picked up a heavy golden longsword and swung it a few times. It had a surprisingly good feel. "Selling this thing should get us a fair bit of money."
Meanwhile, Vivi's attention was drawn to something in the corner.
It was a very ancient-looking wooden chest. Although the corners were a bit rotten, it was mostly intact.
She walked over and carefully opened the lid.
Inside, there was no gold, but a bed of soft velvet, now darkened with age. Resting on the velvet was a strange fruit covered in spiral patterns.
The fruit was a pale blue-green color, with swirling, milky-white patterns. Its overall shape resembled a miniature whirlwind that had been captured and solidified, giving off a feeling of lightness and agility.
"Luffy, look at this!"
Vivi carefully retrieved the fruit and called Luffy over.
Luffy walked over, took one look, and his eyes widened instantly!
"Luffy, is this... a Devil Fruit?" Vivi looked at the unfamiliar fruit in her hand, both curious and nervous.
The fruit looked incredibly fresh, as if just picked, yet the obvious age of the chest clearly indicated it had been there for a very long time.
"That's right, it is indeed a Devil Fruit!" Luffy nodded with certainty. While he didn't know every Devil Fruit, the unique appearance and aura were unmistakable.
He'd eaten one.
In one gulp.
"To think we'd find a Devil Fruit here. This thing is worth at least a hundred million Berries on the black market," Robin said, walking over.
"A hundred million Berries?!"
Nami, who had been rolling blissfully on a pile of gold, jerked her head up at the number, her eyes shining brighter than the surrounding gold. "Where? Where's the Devil Fruit?"
When she saw the peculiar fruit in Vivi's hand, she immediately rushed over, eyes gleaming. "It really is a Devil Fruit!"
"Should we... sell it?" Vivi couldn't help but ask.
"Sell it?!" Nami immediately retorted, grabbing Vivi's hand tightly, her tone excited yet serious. "This is a Devil Fruit. Eating it grants powerful abilities! Vivi, you should eat it!"
Luffy also grinned in agreement. "Yeah, Vivi! This Devil Fruit looks like it suits you."
In the back of his mind, fragments of information about this fruit seemed to flicker, but he didn't voice them. He just felt this fruit's aura matched Vivi well.
Vivi looked at the fruit in her hand, her heart pounding.
She was tempted.
On the Straw Hat crew, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy were the powerful fighters. Usopp was the sniper. Chopper was the doctor. Nami and Robin each had their own unique roles.
In comparison, she, the princess of Alabasta, didn't seem to have a particular specialty.
And she'd caused a lot of trouble.
If she could gain a Devil Fruit's power...
"But... isn't there someone more suitable on the ship? Like you, Nami?" Vivi hesitated, looking at Nami.
Nami understood Vivi's thoughts. She placed both hands on Vivi's shoulders, her expression utterly serious. "Vivi, you found it. No one is more suitable than you."
Robin also stepped closer, smiling. "A Devil Fruit chooses the master it deems suitable. Since you discovered it, Vivi, perhaps this is fate."
Looking into her friends' encouraging eyes, Vivi took a deep breath and made her decision.
"Alright! I'll eat it!"
She truly wanted to eat this Devil Fruit. Even if it turned out to be a Zoan-type, she'd accept it!
Vivi brought it to her nose and sniffed.
No smell.
That was just the nature of Devil Fruits. From the outside, they had no scent, neither fragrant nor foul.
But eating them was truly a nightmare.
Luffy remembered swallowing his whole. The taste was still fresh in his memory.
I was a real tough guy back then!
A Devil Fruit was something you could only eat once in a lifetime. If you ate a weak fruit, no matter how skilled the user or how creatively it was developed, it might never compare to the casual use of a powerful fruit eaten by someone else.
It was a gamble. But she was willing to trust her friends' judgment and her own luck.
So, under the curious gazes of everyone, Vivi closed her eyes, brought the pale blue-green fruit to her lips, and carefully took a bite.
The next second.
"Bleeech—!"
Vivi's entire face instantly scrunched up, her features twisting, her mouth twitching uncontrollably.
An indescribably disgusting taste exploded across her taste buds.
She ran to the side, leaning against the rock wall as she retched violently, tears forced from her eyes.
"It's so awful!" Vivi groaned in agony, feeling a churning wave of nausea from her stomach. It felt as if life itself was violently rejecting the integration of this utterly vile taste into her body. This wasn't purely a taste sensation; it felt more like a rejection originating from the very source of her life, her Lineage Factor.
"Hahaha, you'll get used to it!" Luffy laughed heartlessly as he comforted her. "I swallowed my Gum-Gum Fruit whole back then. I still remember that taste."
Robin also covered her mouth with a light chuckle, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. "I was so unbearably hungry at the time that when I saw a strange fruit, I just ate it in one bite. Thinking back now, under those circumstances, the taste wasn't as important."
Hearing their tragic experiences, Vivi felt the horrific taste in her mouth lessen slightly, and her heart felt a bit better.
Nami, however, couldn't wait any longer. She leaned in eagerly, her eyes shining as she looked at Vivi. "Vivi, quick! How do you feel? What ability is it? Do you feel any changes in your body?"
Vivi stood up straight, concentrating hard. A look of confusion appeared on her face. "I... don't really feel anything special?"
Just then, Luffy suddenly reached out and made a grab for Vivi's chest.
***
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