Chapter 71: Devil Fruit, Not Even Dogs Eat It

One hour later.

Everyone stood at the bow, staring blankly up at the strangely shaped island before them.

They had been swept here by the current; it seemed this island was the very center of the whirlpool.

The island's perimeter held nothing special, just lush vegetation with scattered coconut trees.

But at the island's center, a massive stone mountain rose from the ground, resembling the trunk of an ancient tree or a stacked anthill, its base ringed with countless diamond-shaped entrances.

The whole structure stood hundreds of meters tall, piercing the clouds, a magnificent sight.

"Where the hell did you bring us?" Siano asked in confusion. "Is this still the East Blue?"

"Even I have never heard of such a place in the East Blue."

Zeff shook his head with a sigh. "But it's normal; the sea is vast, and aside from heavily trafficked routes, there are countless such little-known deserted islands everywhere."

"Anyway, let's go ashore and explore first!"

Nojiko, however, was brimming with excitement, spreading her arms to embrace the sea breeze. "Let's go, Brother! In a place like this, there might be treasure buried hundreds of years ago!"

Siano nodded; he shared the same curiosity about this island, especially since the bright spot on his radar had shifted from green to yellow upon approaching it.

This meant his luck was good; that Devil Fruit wasn't floating somewhere on the sea surface—it was highly likely right here on this island...

"I still need to figure out how to escape this whirlpool current; I have to find the pattern before we can leave..."

Sister Sister Guyina made a bitter face, flipping through a pile of thick books stacked before her. "Why don't you guys go? I'll stay here and guard the ship."

"Oh, come on, we have plenty of food; we won't miss the time you take."

Nojiko forcibly dragged her up, linking arms with her cheerfully. "Let's go, let's go! Exploring together is much more fun. As for guarding the ship, do we really need you for that? Right, Ah Gin?"

Ah Gin was lying on the figurehead, secretly gnawing on the statue's wings with his teeth; hearing this, he was overjoyed, quickly turning his head to block the view of the damage behind him with his body while sticking out his tongue and nodding vigorously.

"But..." Sister Sister Guyina cast a pleading look toward Siano, who merely smiled, pursed his lips, and signaled for Nojiko to pull harder.

He understood Sister Sister Guyina's mind clearly; she was obviously full of curiosity and wanted to wander around the island too.

It was just that the swordswoman maiden was too honest, always feeling responsible for steering the ship off course; her inner guilt was driving her to seek some way to make amends.

In situations like this, one must not let her stay here alone, continuing to drain herself with internal conflict.

"Reluctantly" dragged ashore by Nojiko, Sister Sister Guyina followed as Siano tossed a parting remark to Ah Gin—"If I come back and see those wings missing, I'll stick them into your body"—before disembarking himself, leading the group toward the anthill-like entrance at the island's center.

He consciously took the lead to clear the path.

The thorn-covered jungle was treated as nonexistent; sharp spikes scratching against his skin felt like a tickle, allowing him to simply trample a path straight through.

About half an hour later, the group successfully entered the interior of the anthill-shaped stone mountain.

The space inside was vaster than expected; it seemed the entire stone mountain had been hollowed out. They hadn't walked far when sunlight poured down, revealing a massive ship hundreds of meters long, appearing suddenly before their eyes and astonishing everyone.

A ship inside this stone mountain? And such a huge one?

No one knew how long this ship had been stranded here; its masts were broken, leaving only the stumps, and the wooden hull was so rotted that a single strong breath seemed enough to scatter it to the winds.

"I'll go up and take a look."

With a *whoosh*, Siano stepped onto the dragon-shaped figurehead using Moon Walk, scanning the surroundings to discover several other similarly sized giant ships in the distance, all severely damaged, as if they had all endured a fierce battle.

Standing amidst them, he felt as tiny as an ant.

"Hmm?"

He suddenly noticed a rusted, shattered giant sword stuck beneath the figurehead; it was twenty to thirty meters long, and even with his physique, it took a bit of effort to pull it out with one hand.

"Ships like this don't look like they were sailed by humans; they seem more like they belong to the Giant Tribe."

The others climbed aboard as well; Sister Sister Guyina looked up at the giant sword in Siano's hand, recalling the past. "I saw a record in one of my father's collected books: many years ago, the Giant Warrior Pirates from Elbaf once rampaged through the Grand Line, their fame spreading far and wide."

"Rumor has it their ships were exactly like this, extremely huge, but later, for some unknown reason, they suddenly vanished without a trace..."

"That was mainly because the two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates started fighting each other for no reason, and they've been at it for over a hundred years."

Siano shook his head somewhat speechlessly, casually sticking the giant sword back in. "They're still fighting now, on an island in the Grand Line called Little Garden."

"Little Garden?"

Zeff was stunned. "I heard that name back when I was roaming the Grand Line, but I was told that goldfish as large as islands lurked there, swallowing passing ships, so I deliberately chose other routes to avoid it. So, there are still giants from a hundred years ago on that island?"

"Should we change course this time and go take a look?"

Nojiko's eyes lit up. "I've never seen a living giant before. Don't you want to see one with your own eyes, Uncle Zeff?"

"Of course I do; otherwise, what's the point of sailing the same route again?"

Zeff grinned broadly.

His current strength surpassed even his peak from back then, and with a complete monster like Siano serving as captain, what was there to fear from big goldfish or giants?

"Then let's go!"

Siano made the decision immediately; he was purely curious about how much the oversized wool from those two legendary giants might be worth.

"But let's deal with the present first; everyone scatter and check around. In such a magical place, there might really be treasure from a hundred years ago."

"Yes, Captain!"

The group began to act separately.

Unknowingly, several hours passed; these giant ships were indeed far too large for humans, making the search quite time-consuming and laborious.

However, one by one, they each found some gains.

Zeff headed straight for the galley, finding some well-sealed strong liquor with surprise and delight;

Sister Sister Guyina unearthed many strange and quirky books, carefully tying them into bundles;

Meanwhile, Siano was the busiest; moving through crew cabin after cabin, while searching for a Devil Fruit, he tested every item he encountered along the way—

This one can't be sacrificed, this one can't either... so annoying; this ship is really disappointing; couldn't it have been Loki's mount or something like that...

On the other side.

"Phew!"

Nojiko hoisted a treasure chest onto one shoulder, gripped the edge of the hole with her left hand, climbed from the hold back onto the deck, and tossed the chest to the ground.

"Now there's plenty of light."

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Hidden so deep—I nearly missed it. Looks like what's inside is quite valuable!"

Screech!

An ugly, monstrous bird with a wingspan of four or five meters flew in from who-knows-where, opened its huge beak, and actually tried to swallow the treasure chest whole.

"Scram, you ugly bird!" Nojiko raised her fist menacingly. "I found this first!"

The monstrous bird remained unmoved and continued flying toward her, but halfway there it suddenly seemed to notice something; its eyes filled with terror, it turned and flapped away in flight.

"That's more like it."

Nojiko, thinking she had scared it off herself, smiled and watched the monstrous bird fly into the distance.

Then she donned metal gauntlets, swung her arm back, and with a booming punch easily knocked the bronze lock off the treasure chest.

She lifted the lid, but to her disappointment, there were no glittering Jin Guang treasures inside—only a fruit of somewhat unique appearance.

Its shape resembled a pineapple, yet it was orange-red, covered with various spiral patterns resembling flames...

"What is this?"

Nojiko held it up before her eyes; the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed.

She immediately turned her head and shouted, "Brother! Where are you! Come check this out—is this really a Devil Fruit?!!!"

"Devil Fruit?"

Siano's surprised voice came from afar. "Is it with you? Stay put; I'll come over and take a look right away!"

"Mm!"

Nojiko, well aware of the Devil Fruit's preciousness, sat obediently where she was, cradling the fruit as she waited.

The next second, her ears twitched; she faintly heard the sound of wind being cut coming from far behind her to the right, yet Siano's reply just now had not come from that direction...

Someone else is here?

Nojiko instantly grew alert; she immediately stood up and turned to look, only to see a huge silver wolf happily pouncing toward this side—

"Stop, Ah Yin!" She hurriedly shifted the fruit behind her back. "You can't just eat this thing!"

"Awooo!"

Ah Yin glanced at the fruit, disdainfully turned its head away—it wasn't a strawberry, so it had no interest in such a thing!

Only then did Nojiko realize she had misunderstood Ah Yin's intentions; in that case, why was this fellow so excited?

"So that monstrous bird from earlier was scared off by you! But Ah Yin, why didn't you stay at the shore to guard the ship? What did you run over here for? Do you have some good news to tell me?"

She looked curiously at Ah Yin before her.

"Ao!"

Ah Yin nodded vigorously, grinned happily, and jerked its muzzle toward the space behind Nojiko.

Behind me?

Nojiko turned her head in confusion, yet she saw not a second figure anywhere.

Completely unaware, a slender figure with orange hair had, at some unknown moment, crept stealthily to her feet, slipped into her blind spot, and now triumphantly reached out a devilish hand toward the Devil Fruit in her grasp...

Thanks to 08a, Wu Cai Wu Cai, and Bu Ru Dao for their donations; I worked overtime last night and typed a bit longer, so today I'm posting two chapters together—humbly requesting monthly tickets~





(End of Chapter)