The splash of cold pond water hit Jace's face—and suddenly, he lurched forward, coughing violently.
His body trembled. A strange flush spread across his skin. Steam rose off his chest like smoke from boiling water. For a moment, it looked like his very blood was overheating.
"Jace!" Ivan rushed over and grabbed his arm, eyes wide. "What's happening to your body?!"
Jace couldn't answer at first. He was too busy fighting the tremors.
After a moment, he steadied himself and slowly began unbuttoning his shirt. The group gasped.
His chest was a mess of crisscrossed surgical scars and crude stitches. Right above his heart, the skin was dark red, as if something underneath was burning through. Steam hissed off his skin, and the area around his heart glowed faintly like a sunburn turned inside out.
It almost looked like Luffy's Gear Second—veins popping, steam rising—but it wasn't that.
Not even close.
When Luffy used Gear Second, he moved like a god on a sugar rush—speed, strength, confidence. But this? This was the opposite.
Every time Jace's heart rate spiked or he pushed himself too hard, he crashed like a balloon with a hole in it. Weakness flooded his limbs. His vision blurred. It felt like he was overheating from the inside out.
Whatever this body had gone through before he arrived, it wasn't normal. The scars, the strange coat unlike the other slave uniforms—it all pointed to something… darker.
Great, Jace thought bitterly. No system, no power-up… and I get a built-in defect?
He let out a slow breath, trying to ignore the burn in his chest, and eased himself to the ground. Bear immediately sat up and offered his broad shoulder as a backrest.
Ginny knelt beside them and cupped water in her hands, lifting it carefully to Jace's lips.
"Easy," she whispered. "Drink slowly."
Despite the pain, a flicker of warmth touched Jace's heart. These three—Bear, Ivan, Ginny—they'd taken him in without hesitation. If not for them, he doubted he'd still be alive.
They weren't just his allies now. They were his only family.
Jace had one advantage in this world: knowledge. He'd read the One Piece manga. He knew the big events. The players. The powers.
But that knowledge wasn't enough—not here. Not when you didn't know where the Devil Fruits were buried. Not when every day was a fight to stay alive.
Still, there was one rule he hoped was true:
"The fruit chooses its user."
If that was real, then sticking close to Bear increased his chances of finding the fruit meant for him—the legendary Paw-Paw Fruit.
It wasn't the only Devil Fruit hidden on God Valley. The Celestial Dragons had turned the island into their personal playground—and their idea of a game was hunting slaves and offering up powerful Devil Fruits as prizes.
According to the manga, at least two fruits were confirmed here: the Paw-Paw Fruit, and the Azure Dragon Fruit—Kaido's Zoan. That alone said everything about the caliber of the rest.
Jace had his theories about the other fruits.
One of the remaining chests might've held the one that ended up with Shanks. Possibly the Phoenix or even the Buddha Fruit. Maybe even the Tremor-Tremor Fruit—if Whitebeard hadn't eaten it yet.
If any of those fruits were still on this island… then this was a goldmine.
Any one of them could change a life forever—assuming you didn't get killed trying to get it.
People liked to say "There are no useless Devil Fruits, only useless users."
Bullshit.
Sure, Luffy's Rubber Fruit turned out to be some secret god-tier awakening, but before that? Nobody thought bouncing around like a balloon was all that special.
Let's be real—no one's picking the Lawnmower Fruit over the Phoenix.
Lucci got far with the basic Leopard Fruit, but that was because Lucci is a monster on his own. If he'd eaten the Azure Dragon or the Buddha Fruit? He'd have leveled cities.
In this world, power is everything—and for someone like Jace, who had no Haki, no crew, no bloodline, no plot armor—a strong Devil Fruit was the only card he could play.
He glanced at Ginny, who was still hovering nearby.
"Ginny," he said, locking eyes with her. "Are you sure the message got out? About the Devil Fruits?"
Ginny perked up immediately, grinning with pride. "Of course! That's what I'm best at. I made sure every crew, every pirate, every information broker with a Den Den Mushi got the tip."
Jace exhaled, relieved.
That meant the pieces were falling into place.
If everything played out like it was supposed to, the Rocks Pirates and the Marines would arrive soon. When they clashed, chaos would erupt. And in that chaos—Jace and the others would finally have a shot at escaping this nightmare.
If the Rocks Pirates didn't show, and the Navy didn't come either…
Then this island remained a hunting ground. And they stayed the prey.
There was no way the four of them could take down a Celestial Dragon, let alone the guards, the Holy Knights, or whatever monsters were still on the island.
They needed that battle. They needed the mayhem.
Maybe it would start tomorrow.
Jace stared into the distance, silently reviewing the plan in his head.
The Paw-Paw Fruit was everything.
It wasn't just strong—it was strategic. A Superhuman-class fruit with absurd versatility. Force redirection. Pressure-based teleportation. Instant area ejection. It was their ticket out.
The Azure Dragon Fruit? Sure, it was flashy, powerful, and flight-capable. But Jace knew he wouldn't survive long with that. In a place crawling with top-tier monsters, flight wouldn't mean much if he got swatted out of the sky by a single Haki-infused punch.
And worst of all, he wasn't alone.
Jace looked over at Bear, who was still resting with the arrow in his back. Ivan and Ginny sat close, eyes alert, bodies still tense.
He could've eaten the Paw-Paw Fruit and left them behind. Escaped solo.
It would've been the smarter move.
But not the right one.
They'd saved him. Trusted him. Became his first real friends in this world.
You could be selfish in this life—but that didn't mean you had to be heartless.
Jace clenched his fists, eyes burning with quiet resolve.
No matter what… I'll find that fruit. And I'm not leaving this island alone.