Chapter 65: Speculations on Devil Fruits

“But how do you inherit a Devil Fruit?”

As he pondered, Zhang Jie of Yitian frowned, raising a difficult question.

It is well known that after a Devil Fruit user dies, the fruit randomly rebirths somewhere in the ocean.

Searching for a specific Devil Fruit across the vast ocean is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Although, like the Nika Fruit, it possesses self-awareness and can evade the search of the greatest pirate factions,

there may be only one such Devil Fruit capable of hiding from the World Government’s agents.

Even though the Surgery Fruit—capable of granting immortality—is only second in importance to the Nika Fruit,

it must be traded with a corrupt Marine faction rather than retrieved by professional agents like CP0 or CP9, proving just how hard it is to find a specific fruit.

“What if we use Blackbeard’s method?”

Zhang Jie of Tianlong thought of how Blackbeard obtained the Gura Gura no Mi and spoke up.

During the Battle of Marineford, after Whitebeard died, Blackbeard first covered Whitebeard’s corpse with black cloth,

then made a speech about “the moment of miracle” and similar nonsense before rushing into the cloth.

When he emerged, he had acquired Whitebeard’s Gura Gura no Mi ability,

becoming the only person in One Piece to possess two Devil Fruit powers.

“Perhaps Blackbeard exploited the rule that after a user dies, the Devil Fruit’s power randomly attaches to nearby fruit,” said Zhang Jie of the Pirates, stroking his chin.

“But the manga never mentioned Blackbeard bringing any fruit along!”

“At the time, it was pure black-box operation—we knew nothing!”

Zhang Jie of Yitian spotted a flaw.

Thus, he successfully obtained the Gura Gura no Mi," speculated Pirate Zhang Jie, stroking his chin.

Zhang Jie of Tianlong and Zhang Jie of the Pirates fell into thought.

Devil Fruit rebirth does not seem to follow a proximity rule.

Otherwise, why would the World Government keep prisoners like Shiki the Golden Lion or Alber the Tyrant?

The main reason the World Government keeps them is

to prevent their Devil Fruit powers from rebirthing into the hands of others,

creating powerful, uncontrollable users who could threaten World Government rule.

If proximity were a rule, wouldn’t most Devil Fruits already be in the World Government’s possession?

As for the Devil Fruit’s tendency to choose specific fruits—bananas, kiwis—this is no issue:

With the World Government’s resources, what kind of fruit could they not find?

Zhang Jie of Tianlong and the others had to admit:

They could accuse the World Government and Tianlong of being evil,

but they could not call the top-tier Tianlong like the Five Elders incompetent.

After all, true fools cannot rule the world for eight hundred years.

“Perhaps swallowing the heart of a Devil Fruit user allows one to inherit the fruit’s power.

This is just my guess—Big Mom swallowed a nun alive and inherited the Soru Soru no Mi.

Blackbeard probably ate Whitebeard’s heart beneath the cloth and inherited the Gura Gura no Mi.

But I think there must be a time limit—it only works if you eat the heart while the user is still alive or dying,

when the Devil is still inside the heart.”

As Zhang Jie of Yitian and the others were at a loss,

Zhang Jie of Water Margin slowly spoke, offering his analysis.

“That actually makes some sense.”

Zhang Jie of the Pirates and the others considered it briefly and found it plausible.

“But… isn’t that just disgusting?”

Zhang Jie of Tianlong said with a look of revulsion.

Though he had already planned to absorb Duan Yanqing’s inner power with the Northern Dark Divine Art,

facing such blatant cannibalism still made him uneasy.

“Not necessarily,” said Zhang Jie of Water Margin. “It’s said the Yami Yami no Mi can generate gravity nearly like a black hole.

Perhaps after Whitebeard died, he used the Yami Yami no Mi’s gravity

to capture the Gura Gura no Mi before it fully rebirthed, thus acquiring its power.”

Zhang Jie of Water Margin proposed another possibility.

“Let’s leave that for later.

Maybe one day someone who can catch stars and pluck moons will appear in our shared space,

and then all problems in the Pirate World will vanish.”

Zhang Jie of Yitian, who also felt both the cannibalism theory and the Yami Yami no Mi theory were overreaching, added.

“Alright.”

The four Zhang Jies exchanged glances and unanimously decided to set aside this question for now—it had no clear answer.

“Brother, why are you so weak?

You don’t even match Big Mom’s monstrous talent—couldn’t you at least reach a Colonel’s level?”

Zhang Jie of Yitian patted the sleek, muscular arm of Zhang Jie of the Pirates.

Before entering the shared space, Zhang Jie of the Pirates might have passed as a second- or third-rate external martial artist in the Yitian world,

but in the Pirate World, where Colonels are worthless, Vice Admirals barely matter, and Admirals strut around like kings, he’s utterly inadequate.

In 21st-century terms, he’s just a street thug.

Hearing this, Zhang Jie of the Pirates grimaced helplessly.

“Big brother, don’t compare me to Kizaru, Akainu, or Aokiji—they blow up islands and shatter mountains!

But there are still countless ordinary people in the Pirate World!

Comparing me to Big Mom? You’re vastly overestimating me.

How many monsters like Big Mom, Kizaru, or Kaido are there in the entire Pirate World?”

“Yitian, don’t pressure the Pirate,” said Zhang Jie of Water Margin, coming to his defense.

Honestly, Zhang Jie of the Pirates’s strength and talent were exactly as expected:

In the Pirate World, only Big Mom has risen to the top through sheer talent, with her nearly indestructible steel-balloon body.

Everyone else is roughly at the level of Kuina—someone who dies from falling off the second or third floor.

“Uh, I just hoped a monster would show up and carry us along!”

Zhang Jie of Yitian scratched his head awkwardly.

“Younger brother, you wanted a powerful Devil Fruit, right?

Big brother can point you to a clear path.”

Zhang Jie of Tianlong stepped beside Zhang Jie of the Pirates and spoke in a mysterious tone.

“Damn, Tianlong’s about to scam someone again.”

Zhang Jie of Water Margin quietly shifted his seat away from Tianlong Zhang Jie.

His years as a beggar had left some marks on Tianlong Zhang Jie.

It wasn’t that he’d developed weird hobbies like begging or singing lotus ballads,

but he’d become deeply mischievous—he loved pranking the other Zhang Jies.

“I’m all ears!”

Zhang Jie of the Pirates, eager and emotional, exclaimed.

“Heh, isn’t Big Mom a collector of races, taking in those persecuted by the World Government?”

Zhang Jie of Tianlong teased.

“True,” said Zhang Jie of the Pirates, nodding.

Big Mom’s Whole Cake Island holds nearly every race in the Pirate World, except Giants.

Rare races are collected by Big Mom like stamps.

“You think… we transmigrators aren’t a rare race?”

Seeing Zhang Jie of the Pirates take the bait, Zhang Jie of Tianlong revealed his true intent.

But he became highly mischievous, enjoying teasing other Zhang Jies.

"I'd be glad to hear the details!"

The pirate Zhang Jie, overcome with concern, exclaimed excitedly.

"Hehe, isn't Big Mom a collector of races, taking in those persecuted by the World Government?"

The Celestial Zhang Jie teased with a pause.

"Indeed."

The pirate Zhang Jie nodded.

Big Mom’s Thousand Nations encompass nearly all races of the pirate world, except for the Giants.

Extremely rare races are all collected by Big Mom like stamps.

"You think, aren't we transmigrators a rare race?"

Seeing the pirate Zhang Jie take the bait, the Celestial Zhang Jie revealed his true intent.

“Mmm~”

Pirate Zhang Jie pondered for a moment,

“Transmigrators aren’t rare across the myriad worlds,

given that nowadays you can transmigrate just by falling asleep, getting electrocuted, answering questions, or saving someone.

We were transmigrated by the legendary Transmigration Device called Da Yun Song.

But if we’re talking specifically about the Pirate World, we’re probably still quite rare.

After all, I’m likely the only one right now.”

At that moment, he suddenly realized, eyes widening:

“You don’t mean I should go join Big Mom, do you?”

“Exactly.

With our internal energy, faking a rare race would be easy.

Once you win Big Mom’s favor, a Devil Fruit? Easy as pie.

Devil Fruits are scarce and precious elsewhere, but Big Mom surely has a collection.

All of Charlotte’s children are ability users without exception.”

Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie wore an expression of “this student is teachable.”

“Too rare, and they get collected; ultra-rare, and Big Mom will cuddle you to sleep herself...”

Pirate Zhang Jie pictured Big Mom’s face and instantly felt sick.

He still couldn’t fathom how Bree and the others’ father could bear to sleep with her.

Even if he turned off the lights and refused to gaze upon Big Mom’s face, which could stop children from crying at night,

just her bloated body—like a stack of several Da Weidai Liangzi—was enough to make him recoil!

“Though my stomach is weak and my doctor told me to eat soft food,

I simply cannot swallow Big Mom’s version of soft food.

I’ll just lie low and develop for a while in Whole Cake Island.”

Pirate Zhang Jie unhesitatingly rejected the “shortcut” suggested by Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie.

“Hahaha!”

Seeing Pirate Zhang Jie’s expression as if he’d eaten shit, Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie burst into laughter.

“Alright, stop fooling around.”

This time, it was Sword Realm Zhang Jie who stepped forward.

“Tch!”

Pirate Zhang Jie spat out a stream of curses at Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie.

“Still, Oda-sensei is incredibly cruel to elderly women.”

Water Margin Zhang Jie mused, stroking his chin.

“Indeed, who could imagine that Big Mom, in her current state,

was once a stunning beauty with a curvaceous figure—full bust, round hips, perfectly proportioned?

Back then, even Kaido was smitten with her!”

Sword Realm Zhang Jie sighed deeply.

“And there’s Gloriosa, Granny Cocomo, and others.

They say time is a butcher’s knife, but in Oda-sensei’s hands, it’s especially brutal.”

Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie complained.

“Do you think Nami, Robin, and the others will end up like this when they grow old?”

Water Margin Zhang Jie speculated.

It’s very likely—after all, fate cannot be defied!

“Damn it!”

The moment Pirate Zhang Jie imagined Nami and Robin turning into Big Mom

or Granny Cocomo, he shuddered involuntarily.

How could this even be bearable?

“Heavenly Dragon, please—hurry up and get the ‘Eight Wildernesses, Six Directions, Only I Am Supreme’ technique from the Eighteen-Love Maiden.”

For the sake of his future happiness, Pirate Zhang Jie instantly forgot his earlier disgust,

clasped his hands together, and begged Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie.

With the ‘Eight Wildernesses, Six Directions, Only I Am Supreme’ technique—which restores youth and keeps one youthful even at eighty—

Nami, Robin, and the others won’t end up like Big Mom, right?

Even Water Margin Zhang Jie and Sword Realm Zhang Jie fixed their gazes on Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie.

Among the four worlds so far revealed, the only technique capable of preserving youth with repeatability

was the ‘Eight Wildernesses, Six Directions, Only I Am Supreme’ held by the Eighteen-Love Maiden in the Heavenly Dragon World.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry—we’re one and the same. I’ll handle it soon.”

Heavenly Dragon Zhang Jie gave him a reassuring look.

Zhang Jies are all one person; the wives of Water Margin Zhang Jie and Pirate Zhang Jie are his wives too.

For his own future happiness, he must make the journey to the Spirit Vulture Palace.

“Brothers, see you tomorrow.”

With matters settled and complaints aired, the Zhang Jies bid each other farewell and returned to their respective worlds.