HST: Chapter 262/263

Chapter 262: Goro Goro no Mi

"This is, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!?"

Caelan recognized the fruit at a glance and was a little surprised.

After killing Enel, he had mobilized everyone on Sky Island to search for it, but they found nothing.

He didn't expect that Nami and the others would find it directly when they went there.

"Yes, that's the surprise I was talking about."

Nami said proudly, her hands on her hips.

"We discovered this fruit by accident when we were exploring the ruins of Shandia." Robin added with a smile. "We were all quite surprised when we saw it."

The fruit had been hidden very carefully. If it weren't for Olvia's passion for history and her thorough search through nearly all the Shandia ruins, they really wouldn't have been able to find it.

"That's right," Nami continued. "Although Devil Fruits will randomly regenerate on nearby fruits, Sky Island is so big. Finding it like this really is a coincidence!"

"It's a coincidence indeed, but getting this is truly a huge surprise."

Caelan held the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and couldn't put it down.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was considered one of the most powerful Logia-type Devil Fruits in the world.

It had both incredible speed and destructive power, with many abilities that could be developed.

As long as the person who ate it wasn't useless, they could become strong in a very short time.

The Enel he killed on Sky Island had already been comparable to a top-level Warlord. If Enel had trained in Haki for two years on the Grand Line, he would most likely have reached the level of admiral or even a Yonko.

After playing with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit for a while, Caelan put it back into the box and said to Nami and the others, "Let's go eat. I want to celebrate with my heroes."

"I need a good rest. Floating in the sky didn't feel safe at all."

Nami stretched, her graceful figure on display in front of Caelan.

Beside her, Robin and Nojiko were also showing themselves off, intentionally or unintentionally.

It seemed like they were out of energy and needed to replenish it.

"Well, I guess we'll have to hold a welcome party tonight."

Caelan thought to himself.

After dealing with Nami and Robin's return, Caelan took the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and went back to his room.

In his hands, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit could definitely create the fighting power of an admiral.

He only thought about it for a moment before deciding who should have it.

Soon, Gion was called over.

Caelan pushed the box containing the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in front of her and said, "This Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit is now yours."

Among them, Gion was the most suitable to eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Her basic strength was already solid enough to be considered admiral-level, and she could fully draw out the power of the fruit.

Moreover, since Gion and Zephyr were both Neo Navy admirals, and Zephyr had regained his peak admiral-level strength, Gion seemed slightly overshadowed.

Letting her eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit would promote her to a full admiral and allow her to better manage the Neo Navy.

"Thank you!"

Gion suddenly hugged Caelan and kissed him.

She had already heard from Nami and the others that they had accidentally found the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

She hadn't expected Caelan to give it to her that same afternoon. It was truly a surprise.

She had no intention of refusing. Given her relationship with Caelan, there was no need to be polite.

Besides, the fruits Nami, Vivi, and Tashigi had all come from Caelan.

Now that she had also been given a powerful Devil Fruit by him, she felt balanced.

"Eat quickly, we'll talk tonight if you have anything to say."

Caelan urged with a smile.

"Alright!" Gion was about to put the Devil Fruit into her mouth when she hesitated. "But Caelan, I am now a Heroic Spirit. Will eating a Devil Fruit have any effect?"

"It just adds one more weakness, fear of seawater and seastone. It won't affect anything else."

The Heroic Spirit body Caelan had given her was simply a reshaping of her physical body into a spirit body.

It could cure physical diseases or even regenerate severed limbs.

But it could not change the abilities and side effects brought by a Devil Fruit, which were at a deeper level.

"No other issues then."

Gion breathed a sigh of relief and took a bite of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

"Ugh~"

Her face twisted in pain immediately.

Fortunately, only one bite was necessary. Eating the whole fruit would have been unbearable.

Soon, her brows relaxed as golden arcs of electricity danced across her body.

In the next instant, she flashed and appeared behind Caelan almost instantly.

Gion hugged him tightly and said with excitement, "So this is the Rumble-Rumble Fruit! It truly deserves to be called the strongest Logia!"

"Thank you, Caelan!"

After eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, she instantly realized its overwhelming power.

Its speed was only slightly slower than the Glint-Glint Fruit, yet her speed had already increased greatly just after eating it.

She hadn't tested its destructive power yet, but it felt about the same as Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit.

Together, the two were the most powerful Logia fruits.

As long as she became familiar with its abilities, she could reach the peak admiral level in a short time.

"Could you hold back the current before you hug me? It feels strange right now."

Caelan felt small shocks hitting his body and spoke helplessly.

Enel's Divine Judgment would no longer harm him, and the current leaking from Gion was nothing compared to that.

But when it hit his body, it still felt strange, like eating peppercorns.

"Oh…"

Gion let go, embarrassed.

After suppressing her current completely, she hugged Caelan again, rubbing against him happily.

Feeling her voluptuous body pressed against him, Caelan couldn't restrain himself.

He picked her up and carried her toward the large bed.

"It's still daytime. How about we wait until evening?"

Gion squirmed shyly in his arms.

She didn't mind being intimate with him, but it was broad daylight and she was still at work. It didn't feel right.

"No, I have to welcome Nami, Robin, and the others tonight. I won't have time then."

Caelan refused without hesitation, then added, "Besides, the Neo Navy has so many admirals watching over it. It won't matter if you're away for an afternoon."

Hearing this, Gion stopped resisting and laid herself out on the bed.

Caelan bent down and got to work seriously.

He had to admit, this assignment was quite a difficult one.

It took him a full two hours to finally find the solution.

"I'm leaving. You'd better not pull something like this next time."

Gion put her uniform back on and left the room, her face still red.

Caelan watched her disappear, his expression full of lingering satisfaction.

"Tch, working with live wires really is a novel experience!"

He had also figured out how best to make use of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 263: Angry Kaido

The Land of Wano.

While Caelan was enjoying himself, Kaido was in a foul mood.

"Caesar, it's been a week, and the artificial Devil Fruit still hasn't produced any results?"

Kaido walked up to Caesar and asked angrily.

A week had already passed since he had captured Caesar.

This so-called great scientist, whose auction price was 7.7 billion Berries, hadn't made the slightest bit of progress.

"Kaido-sama, without the raw materials cultivated by the Tontatta Tribe, I really can't create an artificial Devil Fruit!"

Caesar knelt on the ground, trembling as he spoke.

He was helpless. Forget not having the materials, even if he had them, producing artificial Devil Fruits within a week was still impossible.

"You idiot, didn't you boast about being the second greatest scientist in the world? Why can't you improve the technology? Why can't you develop alternative raw materials?"

Kaido's breath blasted down, burning a deep hole several feet wide in front of Caesar.

Caesar felt like he was dealing with an unreasonable client who only made demands without considering reality.

Simply replacing the main material of an advanced technology was as difficult as creating an entirely new one.

Besides, if he could improve it so easily, why wouldn't he have done it already?

But facing Kaido, Caesar didn't dare to say such things.

His life and everything else were in Kaido's hands. He couldn't appear incompetent.

"Kaido-sama, of course these things can be improved." Caesar forced a smile. "But it will take time, probably one or two years."

For now, the most important thing was to stabilize Kaido. When the time came, he could figure something else out.

"Trash!" Kaido frowned and roared. "I don't have that much time to wait!"

"Yes, yes, I'm trash!"

Caesar knelt even straighter, practically ready to kiss Kaido's shoes.

"Kaido-sama, how about making a deal with Caelan and buying some raw materials from him?"

"With the raw materials, I can promise results quickly!"

Caesar suggested cautiously.

"I still have to buy raw materials from him? Isn't that the same as before?"

Kaido snorted heavily and rejected Caesar's idea outright.

In the past, he had been strangled by Doflamingo. Now, he was being strangled by Caelan. Wasn't Caesar's theft completely in vain?

"Don't worry about this anymore. I'll get the materials myself. If you still can't produce results then, you'll die!"

Kaido threw down his words and stormed off.

Inside the lab, Caesar wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered, "Are these two monsters really going to fight?"

He didn't know whether Kaido or Caelan would win. To be honest, he hoped Kaido would. After all, Caelan treated him with complete disdain.

…

Kaido returned to Onigashima, still seething.

At that time, the Three Calamities and the Tobiroppo were gathered in the main hall, discussing an attack on Whitebeard's territory.

"Forget Whitebeard. Let's fight Caelan!"

Kaido cut everyone off angrily.

He had originally wanted to seize Whitebeard's territory while Whitebeard was occupied with rescuing Ace.

But after what happened with Caesar, he no longer cared about territory. The artificial Devil Fruit was more important.

"Why suddenly fight Caelan?"

King asked, confused.

It was obvious that the Whitebeard Pirates were preparing to move out to rescue Ace. This was the best opportunity to seize land.

"That Caelan tricked us all! We need his raw materials for the artificial Devil Fruit technology he sold us!"

Kaido slammed the table in anger.

"There was actually a backdoor in the stuff he sold?"

"What a scammer!"

"He deserves to be beaten!"

Queen the Plague and Jack the Drought shouted in shock.

Doflamingo, who had traded with them before, had always been straightforward. How could Caelan, who supposedly had an even better reputation, be such a dishonest businessman?

As the two clamored for Caelan's blood, King frowned. This was not the right time to start a war with him.

"Abandon your plan to attack Whitebeard's territory and declare war on that profiteer instead!"

"If I'd known it would come to this, I should have just attacked him outright!"

Kaido slammed his mace down in frustration.

When he had stolen the artificial Devil Fruit technology before, he had considered fighting Caelan directly.

But in order to snatch Caesar without risk, he had hidden in Dressrosa for two days.

If he had known this would be the result, he would never have held back.

The thought of being unable to use something he had fought so hard to steal only enraged him further.

"Kaido-sama, should we reconsider?"

King said carefully. "Now is the critical moment, with the Navy about to execute the Pirate King's bloodline. We should conserve our strength."

The Navy's execution of Roger's son would shake the entire Great Pirate Era.

The Whitebeard Pirates, who were going to rescue him, had almost no chance of survival.

Starting a war with Caelan at this time was inappropriate.

If they suffered too much damage, they would inevitably become the Navy's next target.

"No need to say more. I just want to kill Caelan and take back the raw materials for the artificial Devil Fruits!"

Kaido brushed off King's concern. His decision was already made.

Caelan stood in his way of building a legion of Zoan users. He was also a powerful opponent Kaido longed to fight.

A battle with Caelan was inevitable.

"Yes, Kaido-sama."

Seeing Kaido's resolve, King had no choice but to obey.

It wasn't the worst timing. At least the Navy wouldn't intervene.

Although Caelan's rise had been recent, the power under his control was formidable. They could end up in real trouble.

"Hahaha! A God Slayer? Then kill me if you can!"

Kaido roared with laughter, his whole body shaking with excitement.

This monster that even two admirals and Garp couldn't defeat was finally an opponent worth anticipating.

…

The next morning, after replenishing Robin, Nami, and the others with magic, Caelan left the room and received the news.

"Kaido wants to go to war with me?"

(To be continued.)