Riberra Sami and his group returned to the Flaming Fang at GR 43 with their newly acquired treasures, and the crew instantly swarmed around them.
"Captain, how was the auction?!"
"Did you get anything good?!"
"Captain, I heard Celestial Dragons showed up at the auction?!"
Riberra Sami smiled and nodded, raising a hand for silence before stepping slightly aside to reveal Kaihlo and Alberto behind him.
Understanding immediately, Kaihlo stepped forward and slowly removed the two newly acquired swords from his waist.
Alberto also raised the blade he had just obtained.
"These are the gains from our trip," Kaihlo said steadily. "Three Grade Skillful Blades."
He lifted one of them and drew it halfway from its sheath.
A cold blue-gray gleam, like autumn water, flowed from the blade, while layered wave-like patterns rippled across its edge.
"This sword is called Blue Wave."
He then raised the second blade.
Compared to the elegant, flowing chill of Blue Wave, this one was slightly shorter, straighter, and possessed an extremely simple guard design.
"This one is White Ripple."
Alberto also raised his own sword.
Kaihlo continued the introductions.
"And this one is called Rocksplitter."
Compared to Kaihlo's paired blades, Rocksplitter was noticeably broader and thicker.
Its entire blade carried a dull gray coloration, with wide, deep edge patterns.
Though it didn't appear especially sharp, it naturally exuded an overwhelming sense of weight and power.
"Whoa! Those are incredible swords!"
"Kaihlo's dual-sword style is gonna look even cooler now!"
"Alberto's blade… it feels like his techniques will hit way harder now!"
Amid the waves of amazement and discussion, Riberra Sami reached into his coat and took out the specially made lockbox.
After all, the real treasure should always be revealed last.
The lid opened.
Inside lay a strangely shaped blue fruit.
Its surface was covered in spiral patterns, while a wave-like natural marking divided it into upper and lower halves.
"A Devil Fruit?!"
The crew immediately cried out in shock.
Even the officers who had been crowding around the swords instantly gathered closer.
Aldo's eyes widened.
"Boss! I-Is it a Zoan-type?!"
Riberra Sami shook his head and looked directly at Henry.
"No. It's a Paramecia."
"A Paramecia?"
Aldo froze for a moment before bursting into loud laughter and shoving the still-dazed Henry toward Sami.
"Henry! You lucky bastard! Haven't you always wanted some weird, bizarre Paramecia?! Hurry up and take it!"
Riberra Sami placed the fruit into Henry's hands and spoke seriously.
"We have no idea what this fruit's actual ability is. The auction house claimed the markings resembled waves and guessed it might have something to do with water flow, but I don't believe that."
He paused, staring directly into Henry's eyes.
"In other words, this is a gamble."
"If you eat it, you might gain tremendous power… or you might get a useless ability. It could even come with drawbacks depending on the nature of the power itself."
"So?"
Riberra Sami asked calmly.
"Do you dare to gamble?"
Every gaze aboard the ship focused on Henry.
Looking at the fruit he had dreamed of obtaining for so long, Henry's heart pounded violently.
He had never imagined that what he desired would come so quickly.
Especially when the other officers still hadn't obtained Devil Fruits of their own, the captain had actually chosen to prioritize him.
A surge of hot blood rushed straight to his head.
Without another moment of hesitation, Henry raised the fruit and bit down hard.
The instant he did, his entire face twisted violently.
His eyes bulged wide open.
An indescribably horrific flavor exploded through his mouth and shot straight into his skull.
Henry felt as though every orifice in his body had been forcefully blasted open by the bizarre taste.
Riberra Sami reacted instantly and clamped a hand over Henry's mouth.
"Don't spit it out! Swallow!"
Under Sami's "encouragement," Henry tearfully forced the chunk of fruit down his throat.
Only then did Riberra Sami release him.
"Cough—cough cough… water! Somebody get me water!"
After a chaotic scramble, Henry finally managed to recover.
The others had already crowded around impatiently.
"Henry, how do you feel?!"
"Do you have any special abilities?! Hurry and try something!"
Henry panted a few times and wiped the corner of his mouth.
Then he looked blankly at his hands.
At first glance, nothing seemed to have changed.
But in the very next moment, almost instinctively, he lightly blew out a breath toward the side.
Fwoosh—
A fierce gust erupted from his mouth, causing the Flaming Fang itself to sway slightly upon the sea!
"Huh?!"
Everyone was stunned.
Even Henry himself froze.
He concentrated, recalling the sensation from earlier.
Then he puckered his lips and forcefully blew toward an exposed rocky patch onshore dozens of meters away.
Whoosh—BOOM!
An invisible blast of compressed air shot out instantly, striking the rocky ground with pinpoint precision and blowing open a crater the size of a washbasin!
"This is… explosions? But the fruit's appearance didn't look like that at all…"
Riberra Sami stared thoughtfully at the blasted crater.
Meanwhile, Henry carefully sensed the entirely new power surging through his body before lifting his head.
"I think I get it now…"
"I can blow out all kinds of different air currents!"
"Blow them out? Is it the Blow-Blow Fruit or something?" everyone muttered in confusion.
Unlike Zoans or Logias, Paramecia fruits like this required the user to explore and discover the ability themselves unless the fruit's exact name was already known.
That was precisely why Paramecia fruits possessed both extremely high ceilings and extremely low floors.
Everything depended entirely on the user's imagination and ability development.
Up until now, the Jellyfish Pirates' Devil Fruit users—Riberra Sami and Gad—were both Zoan types focused primarily on physical enhancement and transformation.
Henry's ability to create wind pressure attacks from thin air was an entirely new category to them, immediately igniting everyone's curiosity.
"Henry, try aiming over there! Let's see how powerful it can get!"
"Can you control the direction? Up, down, left, right?"
Under the barrage of suggestions from his crewmates, Henry continued testing the ability toward both the sea and the shoreline.
For a while, powerful winds roared around the Flaming Fang.
Ocean spray whipped into the air, while sand and stones scattered wildly everywhere.
Kaihlo walked over to Riberra Sami and quietly said,
"Boss… did we lose out this time?"
"One hundred forty million for a fruit like this…"
Riberra Sami smiled faintly.
"Lose out?"
"I actually think this fruit has incredible potential."
"One hundred forty million?!"
Hans, who had overheard clearly from nearby, immediately jumped in shock.
Then something suddenly occurred to him.
He spun around and sprinted into the helm room.
Moments later, he returned carrying several Wind Shells that had not yet finished recharging.
"Henry! Henry!"
He stuffed the Wind Shells into Henry's hands excitedly.
"These Wind Shells take forever to recharge with compressed air! From now on, this job's yours!"
Henry looked at the Wind Shells in his hands and could only reveal a helpless, bitter smile.
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