C16

"Hey, Weiss! Guess what I got today?" Ace crouched on the ship's railing, holding a barrel of peaches in one hand. Deuce followed behind him, grinning.

Neither of them asked what happened to the pirates they'd just dealt with.

"What did you get that has you so excited?" Weiss already knew, but it was proper manners to ask.

"A Devil Fruit! Do you know about them? They're crazy powerful. I can turn into fire now!" Ace stood under the parasol, shaking the rain off his clothes. Karden and Deuce carried the peaches below deck—leave them in the rain too long and they'll rot.

"A Devil Fruit? You actually found one? That's a treasure of the sea worth at least 100 million Berries!" Weiss asked in mock surprise.

"What?! You're saying it's worth 100 million Berries? So I just ate 100 million?!" Ace's eyes widened, the shock settling in.

He suddenly felt the sting—he still owed Weiss 1.6 million. No, wait, after interest, it's 3.2 million now.

And who knows how long he'll be stuck on this ship… That debt's only going to get worse.

"That's just the low end. On the black market, 100 million Berries only gets you the crappiest Devil Fruit. Yours looks like a Logia-type—specifically the Flame-Flame Fruit. That kind goes for over a billion."

"..."

"..."

"What did you just say?!" Ace's heart, already aching, was now practically petrified.

Weiss looked at him, a bit confused. "Wait… don't tell me you didn't know how valuable Devil Fruits are?"

"Nope. I only heard of them 'cause my little brother ate one once, but I had no clue what they were worth." Under Weiss's judgmental glare, Ace took a large gulp of wine to calm himself down.

A billion Berries. On this vast sea, unless you're one of the top dogs, just hearing that number could give you a heart attack. With Ace's current situation, that felt like an impossible fortune.

"Let me break it down for you: Devil Fruits are called the Treasures of the Sea. In the East Blue, barely anyone's ever seen one, let alone knows their value. Most people think they're just legends."

"Some who encounter a Devil Fruit user for the first time think they've met a demon from myth."

"Now that you've left port, you need to learn this stuff. Otherwise, once you hit the Grand Line, you'll be like a clueless rookie. Devil Fruits are generally divided into three types: Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia."

"First thing—no matter what type, once you eat a Devil Fruit, the sea will hate you. If you fall into water and no one helps you, you'll drown. There's also something called Seastone—if you're shackled with it, your powers vanish and your body weakens."

"Each type has its own traits. Zoan Fruits grant animal transformations and strong regeneration, but unless it's a rare Ancient Zoan, most are pretty underwhelming."

"Then there are Mythical Zoans, based on legendary creatures—like dragons, phoenixes, or the Yamata-no-Orochi." Weiss took another sip of wine.

"What about the others?" Ace asked, listening carefully. At sea, what you don't know can kill you.

"Paramecia types vary wildly. Some are weak and useless, others can rewrite reality itself. There are categories like Control, Mutation, and Rule-type abilities."

"They can do things like resurrect the dead, stop time, become immortal, or even manipulate souls. If you can imagine it, there's probably a fruit that does it."

"If you ever meet a Paramecia user and don't know what they're capable of, your best bet is to take them out—fast." Weiss shook his head. Some of those powers were just too insane.

Ace was speechless, eyes wide. If these abilities existed, then the Grand Line was way more dangerous than he imagined. Maybe he got the short end of the stick with his fruit after all.

"But hey, don't worry too much. You might never even run into a fruit like that in your lifetime," Weiss added, sensing Ace's unease.

"What about Logia types?" Ace asked.

"Logias embody natural elements. Fire, like you. But also lightning, light, magma, ice, swamp… you name it."

"Right now, the Navy's three Admirals all have Logia powers. They're so strong, they can literally reshape the environment."

"Take Akainu, one of the Admirals—he has the Magma Fruit." Weiss glanced at Ace, but saw no reaction. He sighed silently. In the future, the Flame-Flame Fruit user dies to the Magma Fruit user…

"Ace, remember this: Everyone on the sea believes the Magma Fruit is the superior version of the Flame-Flame Fruit. Higher-grade fruits have a natural advantage over lower-grade ones."

"So be careful. And know this: mastering the Flame-Flame Fruit isn't just about expanding your range—it's about heat. You need to learn to compress your flames."

"I got it, Weiss. I'll work hard on mastering it," Ace replied, unsure why Weiss was suddenly being so serious, but taking the advice to heart.

In the original story, Ace focused on wide-area attacks—like the Great Flame Emperor, capable of incinerating an entire island. But in the end…

"And one more thing about Logias—you can become elemental, immune to physical attacks."

"Yeah, I figured that out already," Ace said, remembering the pirate he fought in the peach grove.

"But not all attacks can be dodged. There's no such thing as an invincible fruit. With Haki, someone can bypass your elemental form and hit your real body."

"What's Haki?" Ace asked.

"Stand up and go elemental."

Ace didn't hesitate—he transformed into a man of fire. Weiss raised his arm, coated it in Armament Haki, and reached out to grab him.

Ace thought he'd phase through it, but as soon as Weiss touched him, his body snapped back to normal.

"This is Armament Haki. It lets you hit any Logia user's real body. So don't think you're invincible just because you ate a Devil Fruit."

"Plenty of people who thought that way are now at the bottom of the sea."

Ace nodded. If Weiss hadn't explained this now, he might've learned the hard way later.

"There are three types of Haki: Armament, which I just showed you. Observation, which lets you sense attacks and presences. And Conqueror's Haki, which only those with the spirit of a king can use—maybe one in a million."

"Before you enter the New World, at least master the first two."

"Phew…" Ace exhaled deeply. There was so much he didn't know. The sea was far more exciting—and deadly—than he imagined.

"Well then, let's begin from the East Blue."

"One last piece of advice, Ace," Weiss said seriously. "No matter how powerful a fruit is, it all comes down to your body. If your body can't handle it, even the strongest Devil Fruit will be useless."

"In the New World, most top fighters rely on their physical strength and Haki."

"Your body is the foundation of everything."

Just like Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit—called the strongest Paramecia. But was it the fruit that made Whitebeard strong… or Whitebeard that made the fruit legendary? Only the strongest in the world truly know the answer.

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Currently at chapter 105 on Ko-Fi

https:// ko-fi.com/sami27