"The Devil Fruits are unique Curios from a certain planet. Legend says they are the incarnations of the Sea Devils."
Seeing Jade's doubtful look, Shopkeeper Sylvester explained slowly: "Devil Fruits come in countless forms, each different. But one thing is certain—whoever eats one gains an ability. These abilities generally fall into three categories: Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia.
And the strength of these powers is not fixed. They grow alongside the user. Strictly speaking, there are no weak Devil Fruits, only weak users."
"What a peculiar fruit." Jade pinched her chin, her tone carrying faint admiration.
Abilities with growth potential weren't unheard of. The power of the Paths was a ready example.
But for something entirely external to grant such growth?
Unheard of.
A planet that produced such treasures should not be so obscure. It made no sense.
"What ability does this fruit grant?" she asked.
"The [Jiki Jiki no Mi]," Sylvester said offhandedly. "Its basic power is generating magnetic fields to magnetize metals. If the user is strong enough, they could even make entire fleets collide with each other."
"Make fleets crash into one another?!"
Though Sylvester spoke lightly, Jade was shaken to her core.
She immediately understood the significance.
He was right—if the eater were powerful enough, winning a galactic war would be effortless.
If you could annihilate an enemy fleet in an instant, how could you possibly lose?
Even if the eater weren't so strong, damaging or disrupting the opponent's electronics should still be feasible.
And when that happened, a once-mighty fleet would become nothing but helpless coffins of steel.
Destroying fleets was nothing unusual in the cosmos. But wiping one out without suffering a single loss? That was almost unimaginable.
In war, harming the enemy for a thousand while hurting oneself for eight hundred was the rule.
But with this fruit, even the most formidable Pathstriders—perhaps even Emanators—would have to think twice before daring to war with the Interastral Peace Corporation.
For even they could not abandon their ships and travel freely through the void. Even the strongest needed rest. To cross the sea of stars with nothing but flesh and willpower? For the defender, that would be as though heaven itself had delivered them a gift.
This fruit might not defeat such titans outright, but it would certainly make striking at the Interastral Peace Corporation far more difficult.
And against the Intellitrons? It would be nothing short of a catastrophe.
Even Jade, with all her experience, trembled faintly.
She drew in a deep breath, forced her excitement down, and carefully stowed the fruit away.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester's Curios truly are extraordinary. This fruit, if traded freely on the open market, would trigger a storm of blood."
"It's just a purple-rarity Curio. Nothing remarkable." Sylvester smiled, taking it lightly.
"Though… there is a side effect you should be aware of."
"Side effect?" Jade's joy dimmed, a chill spreading through her chest.
From her experience, anything this powerful carried heavy costs. Perhaps it drained vitality, demanded blood, or consumed the soul.
That would make sense. A pact with a devil was never without price.
She braced herself, ready to watch her glorious vision collapse.
To her, great cost for great reward was only natural. It matched her instinct for pawnbroking perfectly.
Tell me. What is the price?
"The side effect is… you lose the ability to swim. You'll be a land-dweller for life."
"…"
Jade stared at him for a long moment before finally murmuring, "Mm… that's all?"
Just—just not being able to swim?
Compared to the gain, that was almost laughably trivial.
Could this even be called a price?
For the first time in her life, Jade felt her creed waver.
"Well, maybe not even that." Sylvester rubbed his nose. "Some say the weakness only exists on that planet, because its water is… unusual."
Even that small cost may not apply?
Jade felt her thoughts spiral.
Beneath her wide-brimmed hat, her poised and elegant face cracked for an instant, leaving her dazed.
It was a long time before she finally breathed out, "I see."
Relief washed over her, tangled with a contradictory, exhausting joy.
She trembled, yet had no desire to smile. This was joy so intense it hollowed her.
Not even when she crushed a rival titan in negotiation, not even when her carefully honed protégés ascended into giants, had she felt this way.
The Devil Fruit's value was beyond reckoning.
A million credits? Worthless in comparison.
Even with the bystander hush money, she had spent thirty million today. Barely enough for a single warship. To some within the IPC, a trifling sum—pocket change for their daughters' allowance.
But who among them could claim to hold a Devil Fruit?
The gulf was staggering.
And intelligence could not measure this kind of difference.
Even knowing of golden Curios, to stand here, holding one with her own trembling hands, feeling her heartbeat thunder in her chest—only then could she grasp the strangeness of it.
She longed to ask one question.
A question beneath her station. A question with almost no hope of a true answer. A question that made her want to strap Sylvester to the [Truth Chair] before speaking it aloud.
That question was, Sylvester… why?
The trade was not equal. It shattered the foundations of her worldview.
And yet, the question consumed her.