Chapter 776: The Bandits Arrive! Luffy

The wooden box was no bigger than a palm, its entire surface a plain brown, just an ordinary wooden box with no distinguishing features.

But in Red-Hair's eyes,

the importance of this wooden box was paramount!

Inside this seemingly ordinary wooden box…

lay the future!

lay fate!

No one had anticipated it.

Inside this seemingly ordinary wooden box was an extremely precious item.

It was a Devil Fruit!

A Devil Fruit that appeared ordinary but was in truth immensely precious and powerful.

It was the Devil Fruit Red-Hair had seized from a "True Fighter" of the Beasts Pirates when he set sail from the New World back to the East Blue.

To Red-Hair,

this was the inevitable trend of fate!

This Devil Fruit would ultimately fall into his hands.

It was fate's design…

that had brought his Red-Hair Pirates into contact with a "True Fighter" of the Beasts Pirates, allowing them to meet this mysterious and powerful Devil Fruit.

In the end—

they overturned one of the Beasts Pirates' transport ships and successfully seized this Devil Fruit.

Yet, apart from Red-Hair,

every other crew member had no idea just how precious this Devil Fruit was.

Everyone unconsciously assumed,

that it was merely an ordinary Devil Fruit.

Only Red-Hair himself knew clearly,

that this was no ordinary Devil Fruit.

It was…

the very Devil Fruit he had been searching for all these years!

His former captain, Luo Jie, had once instructed him,

and warned him,

that this was a Devil Fruit arranged by fate!

A Devil Fruit capable of changing an era!

It would surely be claimed by the child of fate.

As is well known,

Devil Fruits possess no self-awareness.

But this Devil Fruit inside the wooden box before him possessed its own consciousness!

Yes!

It chose its own master according to its own will.

Perhaps it was fate…

perhaps destiny.

It had not appeared for hundreds of years.

Now,

it had finally reappeared!

This was destiny's arrangement and meeting.

If the outside world learned

that a Devil Fruit possessed self-awareness, it would cause a sensation throughout the entire sea.

Of course,

in this entire sea, only this one Devil Fruit was an exception.

Beyond this,

there was no second example.

Only this one Devil Fruit possessed self-awareness and chose its own master.

It was like a spirit of the ship, born with self-awareness over long ages.

By what seemed like fate's design…

it became the guide to changing an era.

"Even the World Government…"

"has been unable to lay hands on this Devil Fruit."

"They once went to great lengths, making a grand show of searching for this Devil Fruit."

"Yet no matter how many personnel the World Government sent, they could never find this Devil Fruit. It possessed its own consciousness and automatically evaded their searches."

"Even if the World Government's agents dug down three feet, they found not a trace of this Devil Fruit."

"Now, I have obtained it."

"This is destiny!"

Red-Hair's eyes flickered with sharp brilliance, his gaze carrying a degree of solemnity.

The World Government once expended countless efforts...

Yet could not even lay a shadow on this Devil Fruit.

Thus it is evident.

Only when it wishes to appear,

will it manifest upon this sea.

Now,

is the turning point of fate!

"Little Lufei..."

"Will it be you?"

Red-Haired gazed at Little Lufei beside him, lost in thought.

The vast tavern,

was filled with noise and revelry.

In the air, rich and fragrant wine aromas drifted freely.

Each member of the Red-Haired Pirates held a cup and drank heartily.

Red-Haired sank into thought,

while Little Lufei sipped juice, his big eyes brimming with longing for the sea.

Just then.

An accident arrived!

Creak!

Accompanied by a soft sound,

the door of the tavern was pushed open.

Then,

a middle-aged man, dressed in slightly tattered clothes, slowly stepped through the doorway into the tavern.

His eyes were shadowed, his expression blank, radiating a fearsome and menacing aura.

Tap-tap-tap—

His footsteps echoed loudly in all directions.

Soon after,

as the footsteps abruptly ceased,

the middle-aged man froze at the tavern's counter, looking down coldly at Machino behind the counter.

At this moment,

the tavern's atmosphere turned eerie.

Silence!

Not a sound!

The rowdy pirates all halted their conversations.

Immediately,

dozens of strange gazes converged simultaneously upon the middle-aged man.

No one dared speak.

Ben Beike Man bit a cigarette between his lips, his eyes filled with amusement and depth.

Ye Su Bu and Luo Qi Lu swallowed a sip of wine, glanced casually at the middle-aged man, and dismissed him.

For men like them, great pirates of the New World,

the middle-aged man before them radiated nothing but the aura of a weakling.

Naturally, they paid him no serious mind.

Someone like this weakling...

in the New World, he wouldn't survive three days!

At this moment,

the middle-aged man spoke: "Bring out every last drop of fine wine in this tavern! I want it all!"

His voice boomed,

echoing far and wide.

The atmosphere remained as silent as before.

After a long pause,

Machino quickly said with an apologetic tone: "I'm sorry, sir, all the fine wine today has been sold out. Please purchase elsewhere."

"Hm?"

The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow, his face showing displeasure and anger.

His gaze shifted,

and he casually scanned the tables around him, the wine on each one—then grinned savagely: "Sold to these worthless pirates?"

"What a waste of resources!"

"Hey, I'll give you three minutes to hand over every last drop of wine you have left!"

"Otherwise, I can't guarantee what fate awaits you."

"I'm a bandit! Over five hundred men are waiting outside for me to bring back wine! Don't you dare choose to refuse..."