On the other side of the battlefield, without Miss Valentine causing chaos from above, Sanji instantly gained the upper hand against Mr. 5.
Even though his opponent's entire body could explode on command, Sanji's kicking speed was simply too fast. By the time any explosion went off, Mr. 5 had already been launched away and embedded into the nearest wall like a human-shaped crater.
Marcus watched the one-sided beatdown and couldn't help but shake his head. Both of these Baroque Works agents were Devil Fruit users, but they were pathetically weak.
Which was frustrating, because he knew these two fruits were actually pretty damn powerful when used properly.
The Bomb-Bomb Fruit was no joke, if developed correctly, the user could become a walking nuclear weapon. Of course, that required training and creativity, not just using it to pick your nose and flick boogers at people.
Then there was Miss Valentine's Kilo-Kilo Fruit. Sure, it was technically an inferior version of the Ton-Ton Fruit, the anime version maxed out at around ten tons while the superior fruit could reach ten thousand tons. That seemed like a huge gap.
But he recognized a key difference between the two abilities that made them more comparable than they appeared.
The Ton-Ton Fruit could only increase weight. The Kilo-Kilo Fruit could also make the body lighter.
That difference was massive in combat applications.
After all, making your body lighter, especially when combined with techniques like Kami-e, would make you nearly untouchable. Even if someone managed to land a hit, most of the damage wouldn't be fully absorbed by your body since you could disperse the impact.
And during attacks, you could instantly adjust your body weight for devastating effect. Imagine throwing a kick while suddenly making yourself heavier at the moment of impact, turning your leg into a whip-like weapon. The stated ten-ton limit was just surface-level, the actual force delivered would depend entirely on the user's skill and timing.
If the fruit ever awakened, whether it expanded to affect the surrounding environment or worked like Kid's power by manipulating the weight of other objects, either case would be extremely dangerous.
Lost in thought about Devil Fruit potential, Marcus walked over to where Mr. 5 lay unconscious against the shattered wall.
He placed a hand on the man's body, focusing on his Transmutation Tablet interface.
"Figured as much. Doesn't work."
He had wanted to test whether his system could directly extract and sell a Devil Fruit ability while it was still inside someone's body. But he'd already known the answer before trying.
His Transmutation Tablet could only process Minecraft-ified items. Regular objects couldn't be sold through it, let alone a Devil Fruit power that was still integrated with a living person.
Still, he wasn't ready to give up entirely. He kept trying different approaches, seeing if there was some workaround he'd missed.
But the result was the same: complete failure.
Looking around, he noticed that Luffy and the others had already gone off to find Vivi and get the full story. He could hear their voices in the distance, mixed with Igaram's explanations about Baroque Works and Arabasta.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out various fruits from his inventory and placed them on the ground near Mr. 5's unconscious form.
"You know, I've never actually killed anyone before."
The words came out more casually than he'd expected. There should have been more weight to them, more hesitation.
Instead, he summoned an iron sword and drove it through the man's neck in one smooth motion.
He watched as Mr. 5's eyes went wide for just a moment before the light faded from them completely. His heartbeat sped up slightly as he processed what he'd just done, but after a few seconds, he felt surprisingly calm.
The guilt he'd expected, the horror, the regret, the moral crisis... none of it came. Maybe it was because this was a world where violence was commonplace, or maybe it was because he'd seen Mr. 5 as more of a video game enemy than a real person. Either way, he felt... fine.
That's when Mr. 5's body burst into experience orbs, just like a Minecraft mob. The golden particles flowed into Marcus, instantly boosting him from Level 36 to Level 38.
And at the exact moment the man's life disappeared, the apple Marcus had placed nearby began to change.
Its red color shifted to deep black, spiral patterns appeared across its surface in layers, and even the stem transformed into something that looked remarkably like a fuse cord.
At first glance, it looked like a cartoon bomb ready to be lit.
"Just as I thought."
He quickly dug two dirt blocks out of the ground, creating a grave. He rolled Mr. 5's body into the hole and covered it with rubble from the damaged buildings. It wasn't much of a burial, but it would have to do.
Then he picked up the newly formed Devil Fruit.
He tried placing it in his selling interface first.
"Cannot be sold," flashed on the screen.
Then he moved it to the transmutation slot.
The required price made him wince: 80 million EMC.
"Holy shit!"
But the fact that it could be converted meant something important, after transmutation, it could probably be sold. The question was, what would the selling and buying prices be?
Before transmutation, those prices remained hidden. But they were probably just as ridiculous. If he wanted to buy a converted Devil Fruit, it might cost him 100 million EMC or more.
Just thinking about it... Damn.
His current daily income was decent thanks to the fishing trips with Luffy and Usopp. They pulled in about 3,000 EMC per day on average.
Most of that came from the random junk that he and Luffy managed to fish up. Usopp had incredible luck, he almost always caught fish and rarely pulled up anything valuable for the Transmutation Tablet.
Strangely enough, none of them had ever fished up any treasure-type items. Just fish and garbage.
At this rate, it would take him over two years of constant fishing just to afford converting this one Devil Fruit.
"Guess I'll have to find better ways to make money," he muttered, storing the Bomb-Bomb Fruit in his inventory for later.
He made his way back to where the Straw Hats were gathered around Vivi and Igaram, arriving just as the conversation reached a crucial point.
"So you're saying Vivi is actually the princess of Arabasta?" Nami asked in surprise.
"That's right," Vivi confirmed.
"And the head of Baroque Works found out your identity and wants to control you because you discovered who he really is?"
"Rather than discovered, it's more like I figured it out through investigation. I... haven't actually seen him face to face, but I have a pretty good idea of who it is."
"Why would you join Baroque Works in the first place?" Marcus asked. It seemed odd for a princess to infiltrate a criminal organization, even for noble reasons.
Vivi fell silent for a moment, clearly struggling with how much to reveal.
That's when a weak voice interrupted the conversation.
"Let me explain this to everyone." It was Igaram, looking battered and bruised from the explosions.
Marcus immediately pulled out some milk and grilled fish from his inventory. "Eat this first, then talk. It'll help heal your injuries."
Igaram hesitated, but after seeing Vivi's encouraging nod, he consumed both items. Within moments, the pain from his wounds faded, and he could feel his injuries beginning to heal.
After a moment of amazement, he began his explanation.
"Baroque Works has something called the 'Operation Utopia.' Simply put, this so-called utopia is supposed to be a nation where no one starves and no one suffers injustice."
"That doesn't sound bad at all," Usopp commented.
"No, it doesn't," Igaram agreed grimly. "When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded wonderful too. But their target for this utopia is Arabasta. They plan to build their perfect nation on the corpse of our ancient kingdom. That's why the princess became curious about them and decided to infiltrate their organization."
Kira frowned. "From what you're describing, this organization doesn't sound completely evil."
"Exactly," Vivi nodded. "If this group truly held such ideals, I wouldn't have minded secretly helping them achieve their goals."
"Princess!" Igaram protested.
"Igaram, right now Arabasta is facing both internal rebellion and external threats. If the kingdom really can't be saved through conventional means, shouldn't we at least consider entrusting it to people who have noble ideals?"
Igaram shook his head helplessly. Vivi's idealistic thinking was dangerously naive.
"The truth is, after half a year of investigation, the princess and I discovered that Baroque Works has close ties to the rebel forces in Arabasta. Weapons and supplies seized from pirates, especially firearms and ammunition, have been flowing directly into the rebels' hands. And the identity of their leader makes it impossible for any so-called utopia to ever come true. Unfortunately, we lack crucial evidence. Even if we revealed everything we know right now, it would be useless. The people would just think we're trying to shift blame and avoid responsibility for our kingdom's problems."
He sighed deeply, the weight of his country's situation visible in his expression.
"So who is this leader? And why—" Kira started to ask curiously.
But Nami quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Knowing too much about this stuff isn't a good thing."
Vivi nodded in agreement, remaining silent about the leader's identity. After all, this matter had nothing to do with Luffy's crew. Telling them the secret would only drag them into a conflict that wasn't theirs to fight.
At that moment, Igaram spoke again, "I don't know what relationship you all have with Princess Vivi, but if it's possible, please take her with you for a while."
The crew looked at him in confusion.
"Now that our identities have been exposed and we're being hunted by agents, headquarters will inevitably send even more dangerous assassins when they realize we've gone silent. I'll sail directly toward Arabasta to draw their attention away from her. If you could... please take her along for some time."