A strange variety, somewhat like a dragon fruit with bat-like winged branches, rolled to a stop at Arceus's feet.
"This thing... is it a Devil Fruit?"
The bizarre patterns left Arceus bewildered. It was his first time truly seeing such a thing. By all accounts, it should be a Devil Fruit, but its sudden appearance was beyond comprehension.
Dubbed the secret treasure of The Sea, its market value is estimated to be at least over a hundred million Belly in the future, and even now it's an astronomical figure. If the abilities of this fruit are known, based on its power, it would only be more expensive.
Just a second ago, Kaidou was saying how rare this thing was, and in the next moment, one rolled over on its own. The scene was so surreal that he wasn't quite sure what to believe.
Beside the two, Queen looked at the fruit that rolled over with a face full of confusion. After being thoroughly crushed by Shaina, he was a little irritated but had nothing to say, so he took his anger out on things by the roadside.
Next to him was a box of neatly placed apples, and with one kick, the ordinary wooden box couldn't hold up, and an apple-like fruit rolled out.
Kaidou bent down to pick up the fruit. He felt he hadn't sobered up yet, and the fruit's entrance was indeed a bit fantastical. But it didn't matter; a Devil Fruit is something you never pass up once you find it.
As for why Arceus didn't pick it up, he currently didn't even have hands, nor could he use telekinesis. He refused to hold it with his mouth. According to his plans, once he gets a few more plates, he'll be able to solve this issue.
If that doesn't work, he'll have to find a way to get his hands on a Human-Human Fruit too.
"Hohohoho, what luck, speak of the devil, huh? But I don't know what type it is specifically."
"I've seen a Devil Fruit guide at the research institute, and these patterns... should be the Dragon-Dragon Fruit - Ancient - Pteranodon Form."
Queen recalled and then pulled out a copy of something for comparison. Devil Fruits don't have repeating abilities; only when the previous generation's user dies does a similar fruit randomly appear somewhere in the world.
Past abilities have been recorded in guides; among the things MADS researched were Devil Fruits. The members of MADS came from all over the world, and naturally, they had such a guide internally. This was a sketch Queen had made.
"It's an ancient type, and a flying one at that, quite rare. Mwahahaha, I kicked out a Devil Fruit; that's just like me."
The actual number of Devil Fruits is unknown, but the Zoan subtypes are the most numerous. Mythical types, said to be rarer than Logia-type, and the universally rare Ancient types, are seldom seen.
Among these fruits, those with flying abilities are even rarer. Not all strong individuals can fly, and even though there are special techniques like Rokushiki - Moonwalk, few can perform them.
This world is mostly The Sea, and mastering the ability to fly almost means having the upper hand. On The Sea, destroying your opponent's ship is enough to cause a headache for many ability users.
So in naval battles, the primary goal for some ability users is to protect their own ship.
Moments ago, Arceus mentioned needing a Devil Fruit, and now one has appeared. Kaidou looked over at Arceus beside him.
"Now that we have the fruit, what do you want to do?"
"Of course, transformation. An ancient type Pteranodon, is it? It's perfect for testing my ideas."
This time, not just one plate appeared, but two. Without using the powers of attributes, it was simply the generative power contained within the plates.
Shaina's Blaziken resulted from him choosing and controlling his power for evolution. Now he wants to try, if doing nothing to guide and infusing no attributes, and simply causing mutation, what would be the results.
In this fruit, he even sensed a unique will, but it quickly submitted in the face of Arceus's pressure. In Kaidou's view, the Devil Fruit in his hand indeed transformed, with a grayish-white color covering the original fruit.
[This is much less effort. Free-form mutations are indeed easier than stable transformations. However, the transformation seems to depend on the fruit's own type, and there are many parameters still to experiment with.]
Thinking so, he told Kaidou: "It's a success, but I still have some experiments to conduct, so one fruit is not enough. Abel, you eat this fruit."
Shaina already had her ability, Queen and Kaidou themselves were ability users. The altered Devil Fruit retains its original properties; you can only eat one. After consuming it, contact with seawater will render you powerless, becoming a total landlubber.
But for the flying Lunarians, whether they can swim is of little importance.
"Do you want to eat it? This thing is really hard to eat, oh. The taste will make you never forget it, more disgusting than feces."
Queen whispered into King's ear, thinking once King had eaten the fruit, he'd likely be able to fight him, so Queen could only settle for verbal jabs here. But Shaina didn't satisfy him with that.
"Is that so? So you've eaten feces before, huh?"
"Ah, what are you saying? I'm already an ability user, as you've seen, right?"
"No, I'm saying, you've eaten feces, so you know this is worse than feces?"
"...Legend! It's a legend upon The Sea! Don't you know anything, you bastard!" Queen had no idea who originally said it or how the comparison was made, but rumors about Devil Fruits have always been like this.
He couldn't let Shaina pin this on him.
"Mr. Kaidou is an ability user too; why hasn't he said such a thing? You must have tried it."
"....." Powerless rage perfectly described Queen's state at this moment; he couldn't argue back, nor could he outmatch her. Due to experiences at the research institute, Shaina harbored resentment towards all its members.
Such emotions can't be erased with just a beating, and Arceus couldn't determine whether Shaina always had this sharp tongue or if it was just targeted at Queen.
However, their confrontation didn't affect King's actions. He received the fruit and unhesitatingly ate it, consuming the whole thing.
"You truly are tough. Just a bite is enough. Only the first bite gives you power; the rest is just garbage."
King ignored Queen, but his form underwent a massive transformation. His skin turned grey-white, and his whole body became a giant Aerodactyl. Although still an Aerodactyl, Queen was sure this wasn't a Pteranodon, with its sharp teeth and skin with a stone-like texture, both different from a Pteranodon.
At this moment, King's ability was referred to as Aerodactyl.