Slippery Fruit. Slippery Fruit (Attached duplicate). Fish-Fish Fruit (Azure Dragon Form – Attached).
After materializing the three final fruits from his system space, Elric slowly swept his gaze across the assembled hall, making deliberate eye contact with each woman before speaking calmly.
"I still have three fruits remaining for distribution."
"However, the effects of these three are... unique. I need to explain them properly first before any decisions are made."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the entire hall fell into expectant silence. Every woman leaned forward slightly, attention completely focused.
Elric raised the two pale-white fruits first, holding them up for everyone to see clearly.
"These two are called Slippery Fruits," he announced. "If you consume them, you won't gain much direct combat power. No offensive abilities, no defensive techniques."
He paused deliberately, letting disappointment begin to form on their faces.
"But—"
The entire atmosphere shifted.
"They will make your skin extremely smooth, flawless, and tender. More importantly, your overall appearance will be greatly improved—potentially dramatically so, depending on your baseline."
"What?!"
The reaction was instantaneous and explosive.
Every single woman in the hall snapped her head up simultaneously, their eyes locking onto the fruits in Elric's hands as if they were staring at divine artifacts fallen from heaven.
"Improve... appearance?" someone whispered in disbelief.
"For real? Actually improve appearance? Not just cosmetics?"
"How much improvement are we talking about?"
The excitement this time was even stronger, more visceral, than when combat-oriented Devil Fruits had been distributed earlier.
Because while power was undeniably important in the apocalypse—critical for survival, even—beauty held a different kind of value entirely.
Beauty was eternal. Beauty was currency. Beauty meant favor.
Every woman present was already considered stunning by normal pre-apocalypse standards—that was precisely why Elric had selected them in the first place.
But who didn't want to be even more beautiful? Who didn't want that extra edge?
Especially in this specific situation. Especially when the man they all served and depended on clearly, obviously preferred beautiful women above all other qualities.
At that moment, even Natasha—who had remained completely composed during the earlier distributions—stepped forward from her position.
Originally, she had already consumed two Devil Fruits and hadn't intended to compete for a third, believing she had enough power already.
But this situation was fundamentally different.
With more and more beautiful women continuously joining Elric's collection, the physical beauty she had once taken such pride in was no longer absolute or guaranteed.
Compared to Elizabeth's intellectual elegance, Elsa's perfect proportions, or even Grace's cold refinement, Natasha understood with brutal clarity—
She was no longer irreplaceable based on appearance alone.
Her power secured her position for now. But what about later?
If she gradually lost her physical edge, if younger and more beautiful women kept arriving...
Would she eventually fall out of favor? Would she be relegated to a background role?
The thought was intolerable.
Natasha took a careful breath and spoke softly, her tone unusually gentle and almost vulnerable—a calculated shift from her normal ice-cold authority.
"may I compete for one of these two fruits?"
Her question seemed to break an invisible dam.
Almost instantly—
"me too!"
"I desperately want one!"
"Can I trade my Slow Slow Fruit for a Slippery Fruit? Please?"
"Is it really guaranteed to improve appearance, or just maybe?"
The hall erupted into barely controlled chaos.
Grace, Jenna, even the usually dignified Elsa—all stood up simultaneously, voices overlapping in their eagerness.
Their eyes burned with desire so intense it was almost frightening.
Even the five maids standing at attention along the walls couldn't help trembling with suppressed hope.
Their relatively ordinary appearances were precisely the reason they had been assigned as maids. They understood that reality with painful clarity.
But what if... what if they could fundamentally change that?
What if they could transform into beauties who met Elric's standards?
The possibility was intoxicating.
Elric raised his hand in a commanding gesture.
"Don't rush forward. Control yourselves."
The authority in his voice cut through the excitement.
"Let me introduce the final fruit first before you make any premature decisions."
Only then did the noise gradually die down, though tension remained palpable.
Elric lifted the last fruit with both hands, presenting it ceremonially.
The cyan surface shimmered with an almost liquid quality, dragon-like patterns seeming to move and writhe beneath its skin as if alive.
"This fruit..." Elric's voice dropped lower, more serious.
"Is completely, fundamentally different from anything you've seen before."
He paused for emphasis.
"If consumed properly, it can instantly increase the user's combat power by literally thousands of times their baseline."
The women froze.
Shocked silence filled the hall.
"...Thousands?" someone finally whispered.
"That's impossible. It has to be exaggeration."
"Isn't that completely absurd? How could—"
Seeing genuine doubt and disbelief in their eyes, Elric didn't bother explaining further with words.
Instead—
"Come outside. I'll demonstrate."
He raised his hand, and space rippled.
The world shifted in a dizzying instant.
Everyone suddenly stood on the open observation platform of the Sky Base Island, wind whipping around them, clouds rolling beneath their feet.
Elric stepped forward to the edge, his back to the assembled women.
Then—
"Beastification."
A deafening roar shook the entire sky, vibrating through everyone's bones.
Dragon scales erupted across Elric's body in cascading waves of cyan light. Massive claws tore through the air itself. His body elongated, expanded, transformed.
In mere seconds, Elric had transformed into an absolutely enormous Azure Dragon—nearly a thousand meters long from head to tail—coiling through the clouds like a living mountain range.
The sheer pressure radiating from his presence alone made several women's legs buckle. Some fell to their knees involuntarily, unable to stand against the overwhelming aura.
The dragon soared higher, movements impossibly graceful for something so massive.
Then—
Its chest expanded dramatically, ribs visible beneath shimmering scales.
Flames gathered deep in its throat, glowing brighter and brighter until the light was almost blinding.
A terrifying dragon breath erupted forth.
WHOOOOSH!
A colossal beam of concentrated fire—easily a hundred meters wide—slammed into a distant mountain peak on the horizon.
The mountain didn't just burn.
It melted. Vaporized. Reduced to molten slag in seconds.
The entire peak collapsed in eerie silence—too far away for sound to reach immediately, but the visual devastation was unmistakable.
The air itself trembled and distorted from the residual heat, creating visible shockwaves.
Elric's voice echoed across the sky, resonant and absolute, carrying effortlessly despite the distance.
"This—"
"Is the power of that fruit."
"There are many more techniques beyond simple breath attacks," Elric continued, his dragon form undulating through clouds. "Once consumed, the user will instinctively understand them. Flight, elemental control, enhanced durability, regeneration."
"In summary—whoever consumes this fruit will instantly become a true powerhouse capable of battlefield dominance."
The colossal Azure Dragon form began dissolving into streams of cyan light, dispersing like mist.
In the next moment, Elric landed lightly back on the floating island platform, returning to perfectly normal human form as if nothing extraordinary had just occurred.
Complete silence greeted him.
Absolute, stunned silence.
Every woman present stared at him as if her entire worldview had just been violently shattered and rebuilt.
A dragon measuring a thousand meters in length. A single breath attack capable of erasing mountains. Power that transcended anything they'd conceived as possible.
This wasn't just a superpower anymore—not like the abilities they'd seen from other awakened people.
This was the power to fundamentally rewrite the environment. To destroy cities with casual gestures. To dominate the entire world.
"I won't give these three fruits to anyone right now," Elric said evenly, breaking the silence.
The women snapped back to attention, hope and fear mixing in their expressions.
"Instead, I'll reward them based on merit and contribution."
"Whoever contributes the most will receive priority selection."
He looked around slowly, his gaze passing over every face deliberately—making sure each woman understood she was being evaluated.
"You all know exactly what I mean by contribution in this context."
"Providing accurate information about beautiful women in the surrounding territories."
"Successfully locating and recruiting beautiful women who meet my standards."
"According to contribution ranking, the top three contributors will receive these fruits as rewards."
He paused meaningfully.
"This competition applies to everyone present without exception."
His eyes swept specifically toward the maids.
"Including all of you."
The hall seemed to collectively inhale.
"Yes, Husband!"
"Yes, Master!"
"We'll work extremely hard!"
"Thank you for this opportunity!"
Especially the maids—their breathing quickened audibly, hands trembling with emotion.
Hope, something they hadn't dared to imagine before today, suddenly ignited in their hearts like wildfire.
A path upward. A chance to transform. A possibility of becoming irreplaceable.
Elric nodded, satisfied with the response and the hunger he'd successfully cultivated.
"Alright. Disperse now. Go do your assigned work."
He glanced specifically at one woman.
"Elizabeth, you stay behind."
"I'm going to the laboratory with you. I have something important to ask about."
Everyone else left quickly, minds already racing with strategies and plans. Conversations started immediately in hushed, excited tones as groups formed.
Soon, only Elric and Elizabeth remained on the platform.
Laboratory – Sky Base Island
The two arrived at Elizabeth's laboratory within minutes.
Elric immediately reached into his system space and withdrew two white, perfectly round beads, each one faintly glowing with internal light. He handed them carefully to the scientist.
"These mysterious objects," he explained, "dropped from two different high-level mutated creatures I killed recently."
"I still don't know what they actually do or what properties they possess."
"Test them thoroughly. Find out everything."
Elizabeth's eyes lit up with scientific curiosity—the expression she only showed when presented with interesting research material.
"Understood completely."
She accepted the beads reverently, as if handling precious artifacts, and immediately placed them into a sealed analysis chamber equipped with various scanning instruments.
While the sophisticated machines hummed to life, beginning their multi-spectrum analysis, Elric took the opportunity to walk through Elizabeth's expanded laboratory space.
The upgraded lab now spanned nearly a thousand square meters—absolutely massive compared to its original modest size.
Advanced instruments lined every wall—electron microscopes, gene sequencers, chemical analyzers, and equipment that looked far beyond even pre-apocalypse cutting-edge technology. Most of it had come directly from system rewards.
On the open experimental balcony section, bathed in carefully controlled sunlight, were two distinct cultivation zones.
The first held a young ability tree, standing just over a meter tall, its leaves still tender and delicate.
Elizabeth had painstakingly cultivated it using genetic remnants salvaged from the destroyed ability tree, the one that had been burned down.
According to her projections, once this tree reached full maturity in several months, it would produce more than ten ability fruits per day sustainably.
It only needed time and proper care.
Next to the young tree was the ability vine that had been carefully transplanted from Custard's former villa.
Seven new ability fruits were already forming visibly among the thick, blue-tinged vines, though none had ripened to harvestable maturity yet.
Once both plants reached full productive capacity—
Elric would have access to over twenty ability fruits per day. Every single day. Indefinitely.
Enough surplus to continuously upgrade his Devil Fruits to higher levels.
Enough to arm every loyal woman with enhanced abilities.
Enough to create an army of empowered individuals under his absolute control.
Enough to dominate.
Behind him, the analysis machine emitted a completion beep.
Elizabeth carefully removed the beads from the sealed chamber and turned to face him, tablet in hand displaying results.
"I've finished the preliminary analysis," she announced professionally.
Elric stopped his inspection and looked at her expectantly.
"These beads contain an extremely high concentration of specialized neural compounds," Elizabeth explained, reading from her data. "Based on their molecular structure and energy signature..."
"My conclusion is this—"
"Consuming them will significantly enhance the user's nervous system capacity and efficiency."
She looked up from the tablet.
"In simpler terms that aren't technical jargon..."
"They directly increase mental strength, cognitive processing speed, and psychic potential."
Elric's eyes narrowed slightly with interest.
"Mental strength..."
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