[Bari-Bari no Mi:Grants the user the ability to create immensely powerful barriers that can serve both defensive and offensive purposes, though activation requires a specific hand gesture. After cosmic adaptation, if the user's strength reaches theEmanatorlevel, the barrier ascends to the height of absolute defense.]
…
"A Devil Fruit? Is it… strong?"
Now fully aware of Curio color rankings, Herta eyed the unremarkable fruit with clear distaste.
Even through her puppet body's advanced sensory filters, the stench hit her from meters away.
Taste and aroma meant little to her—food was merely a means of energy replenishment—but this stench... this was something else entirely.
It was nauseating, revolting, an assault on the senses so vile that even the most deranged gourmet would never find it appetizing.
Judging by the particles wafting through the air, she concluded that its flavor would easily surpass surströmming and every other culinary abomination in known space.
Even the boldest tongue in the galaxy would refuse such a thing.
With no choice, Herta manually dampened her olfactory sensors.
"Very strong," came Fu Xuan's composed reply—before Sylvester could even speak.
Thanks to her visit on the shop's opening day, she possessed information on nearly every Curio that had ever appeared here. Naturally, she understood the weight of this one.
The IPC had once obtained a similar fruit—one that granted control over magnetism. They hadn't even bothered to hide its existence. The testing site had been on a lifeless planet not far from the Xianzhou Luofu, and the incident it caused was impossible to ignore.
That planet had undergone violent tremors, its metallic elements drawn askew by sudden magnetic surges, slightly altering its planetary density—and even its rotational axis.
If the IPC had chosen to weaponize such a thing, they could have effortlessly crippled starship systems and won interstellar wars in an instant.
With such precedent, how could Fu Xuan not take this fruit seriously?
She took a deep breath. "Khh—"
The stench immediately invaded her lungs, making her cough. Turning her head away, the Diviner stretched her arm as far as it would go, holding the fruit at maximum distance while waving her other hand to disperse the air.
Herta nodded grimly, silently agreeing.
Indeed, very strong. So strong it's repelling two Emanators with just its smell. If someone actually eats it, they'd probably die from disgust before the power even activates.
Tsk. What an unsightly death that would be.
And judging from that smell… what, does it give you the power to emit toxic fumes?
Her brow twitched. No matter how "mystical" it might be, such a thing inspired zero academic interest in her.
Fu Xuan steadied herself, suppressing the urge to gag.
"Haa…" She exhaled slowly, then asked at last, "Sylvester, what exactly does this thing do?"
The shopkeeper's tone was calm as ever. "The Devil Fruits grant special abilities to whoever eats them. Evidence suggests they're just ordinary fruits that have mutated—but no one knows how or why that transformation occurs."
"What?" Herta interjected sharply, her composure cracking for the first time.
That single line upended all her expectations.
She had assumed, naturally, that such relics were akin to an Eidolon's divine gift—manifestations of a powerful being's essence in fruit form.
But according to Sylvester, they were natural phenomena? Spontaneous evolutions from normal fruits?
She wasn't a specialist in biosciences, but she knew enough to find the idea absurd. The genetic variance between two fruits of the same species could never be that extreme—one merely edible, the other capable of granting cosmic-tier powers?
That gulf in potential defied every known law of biology.
It was a slap in the face to common sense itself.
She wanted to mock Sylvester for peddling such superstitious nonsense—but as her fingers brushed against the [Iron Body of the Saint], she found her words dying in her throat.
Right. Maybe best not to tempt irony.
Herta fell silent, eyes narrowing as she listened.
"Of course," Sylvester continued smoothly, "there's nothing truly strange about it. As for this particular fruit—nothing too flashy. It's called the [Bari-Bari no Mi]. It grants its user the power to summon barriers."
Herta gave a small nod.
A powerful ability indeed—especially since its likely recipient was Fu Xuan, a newly ascended Emanator.
If Sylvester's earlier explanation held true—that the ability scaled with its user's strength—then in Fu Xuan's hands, the fruit could become extraordinary.
At peak potential, she might wield defense equal to that of the Preservation Path itself.
Combine that with her natural prowess as the Hunt's Emanator, and she would be a warrior without weakness.
Fu Xuan's expression softened into a satisfied smile. Her thoughts mirrored Herta's exactly.
Her mastery over protective formations was already formidable. With this fruit, that mastery would transcend limits.
She may have been the newest among the Emanators, but now—against veterans like Diamond—her chances of victory were higher than ever.
Seeing the two women's reactions, Sylvester's lips curved faintly.
And just as they thought the fruit's strength had peaked, his leisurely voice drifted in again—
"If the user is already at the level of an Emanator, their barrier attains the quality of absolute defense. Unless the user is exhausted, it cannot be broken."
"Absolute defense!"
Fu Xuan's composed mask finally cracked into sheer delight.
No further proof was needed—this fruit would absolutely allow her to surpass Diamond.
Absolute defense! Even the Emanator of Preservation couldn't boast something so extreme.
Herta, meanwhile, stood up so abruptly that her chair screeched. Her eyes were wide, voice trembling with disbelief.
"You mean… this fruit carries conceptual power?"
If that was true, she would—metaphorically—die of regret.
Just two cans short! Two!
Was she really so stingy that she balked at two million credits?
She had assumed concept-class Curios were a needle in a cosmic haystack—something she'd never realistically find. Yet now, it had been right there!
Her thoughts churned in chaos—half wishing she was wrong, half hoping she wasn't.
Finally, Sylvester spoke.
"The fruit itself doesn't," he said lightly, shaking his head. "But if the user is an Emanator, then yes—they can wield conceptual power through it."
"Of course!"
Herta felt her systems glitch for a moment.
What kind of useless clarification is that?! Take a guess, Sylvester—which one of the three people in this room isn't an Emanator?!
Go on. Guess.