"Hehe~!" Hearing Ida's gentle voice, Rune wore a sweet, beaming smile.
"It would be wonderful if I could meet a woman as gentle as you in the future!"
"You definitely will, Rune. After all, you're quite likable!"
Ida poured wine for Rune, speaking to him with a beaming smile.
She didn't need to be exceptionally beautiful or stunning; just being as gentle and virtuous as Ida would be enough.
"Is that so?" Rune felt very pleased by the praise and laughed continuously.
Seeing Rune's optimism, Harald asked the members of the Roger Pirates:
"Is he always this composed and joyful?"
"He is our first mate, after all. Without him, we probably would have died many times over!"
"Sometimes he's like an idiot, but at critical moments... he commands respect!"
"Handsome, powerful, full of responsibility and a sense of security—even you would fall in love with Vice-Captain Lu En!"
"If I were a woman, I'd marry him right then and there!"
Rune felt more and more uncomfortable as he listened. While drinking, visible veins popped on his forehead, and he roared at the crowd:
"Watch out, or I'll beat you all to death!!"
"He's just a bit reckless, but he really is reliable when problems arise." Jabba approached Rune with a wine glass and clinked it against his.
"Right, Rune?"
"He's just an idiot." Rayleigh snorted; he knew Rune all too well.
"You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish? You don't understand my happiness." Rune closed his eyes and ignored them. As one of the first mates, weren't those things a matter of course?
Rayleigh handled the internal affairs of the pirate crew, so dealing with powerful enemies naturally fell to him.
This world was a world of will; if he were too cautious, he probably wouldn't have been able to awaken Conqueror's Haki by age 37, nor would he be this powerful.
The atmosphere of the Roger Pirates was exceptionally joyful as everyone teased Rune. Harald watched, somewhat stunned.
Compared to the Rocks Pirates, the difference in the scene before him was truly immense.
The group before him seemed like a band of like-minded companions.
The Rocks Pirates were entirely a group of monsters gathered together for the sake of profit.
Not long after, Roger got quite drunk. He picked up his straw hat and placed it on Rune's head, then began singing "Binks' Sake" with everyone.
Taking the straw hat off his head, Rune held it in his hands and gazed at it, his mind filled with a thousand thoughts.
In the near future, this hat would be passed down to Shanks, and decades later, it would be passed to Luffy.
A hat of extraordinary significance, yet it looked quite ordinary.
"Harald, I heard there's a super rare Devil Fruit in your country?" Rune asked Harald while everyone was feeling the effects of the alcohol.
He knew that in the Kingdom of Elbaf, there was a very rare Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit ability.
"Hmm? Where did you hear that?" Harald's expression instantly became solemn. That was a secret of Elbaf; how could an outsider like Rune know such a thing?
"I heard rumors, of course." Rune began to explain to Harald, "We've been adventuring for so many years and have met many giants overseas. When they get drunk, they talk about things from their home in Elbaf. I happened to overhear it once."
Harald's expression was serious; Rune's explanation was quite persuasive.
After all, there were other giants outside of Elbaf, so it wasn't surprising that such things were known.
"Then why are you asking about that fruit? It's a national treasure; I can't reveal too much to you." Harald stated his stance to Rune. Since the other party was asking about it, it meant he had intentions toward the national treasure.
"I want to know what kind of fruit it is and why no one has been able to eat it for hundreds of years." Rune's gaze sharpened; he was looking for a Devil Fruit worthy of him.
Even if the Devil Fruit made him lose the ability to swim, he could evolve gills deep in the ocean to allow him to breathe underwater.
In short, such a curse wasn't a big deal to him. The number of people in this world who could knock him into the water was few and far between.
Harald was silent for a while, his eyes fixed on Rune again. "Sorry, Rune, I can't reveal too much to you."
Seeing Harald's refusal to disclose anything, the desire in Rune's heart grew even stronger.
He had been a pirate for over ten years; if it weren't for the fact that the other party had some friendship with them, Rune might have simply resorted to plundering.
"Alright." Rune shrugged, setting aside his greed and smiling again. "I was just asking; I didn't mean any offense, Harald."
"I know, Rune." Harald looked puzzled. "I find it strange. You're already powerful enough; why would you choose to eat a Devil Fruit?"
"Powerful enough?" Those words made Rune feel a bit ashamed.
He didn't feel he was powerful enough. He knew how insignificant he was in this world. If he were truly strong enough, he wouldn't face battles where he nearly died.
The two times he had been injured made him realize that while his constitution could stand alongside monsters, he couldn't surpass them yet.
Rune smiled, put down his wine glass, and clenched his fist, staring at it. "Perhaps. But if I can become even stronger, why wouldn't I give it a try? Wouldn't you agree, Harald?"
"You'll have a weakness after eating a Devil Fruit. Do you really want to lose the ability to swim because of it?"
"I can breathe underwater. I'm saying what if... what if I can adapt to the curse? If I can adapt to the curse, wouldn't the side effects of the Devil Fruit vanish entirely?"
Harald was shocked to hear this. Even for him, hearing the words "adapt to the curse" made his heart tremble.
If what Rune said came true, then the rules of this world would be completely broken.
Even a Fishman would become a Hammer after eating a Devil Fruit. Rune's words were simply inconceivable.
Rune withdrew his sharp gaze and laughed, jokingly saying to Harald, "If you let me eat that national treasure, maybe I can help you fulfill your wish of connecting Elbaf with the rest of the world in the future."
Hearing this again, Harald began to consider the potential benefits.
If Rune could truly do it, the value of that national treasure would be well worth it.
But right now, he was just a pirate. Saying such things had no persuasive power; people all over the world were terrified of him.
The only ones Harald could trust were the Marines and the World Government.
"Hahaha! If the world listened to a pirate like you, then this world would probably be doomed, Rune!" Harald laughed. He appreciated the sentiment, but unfortunately, the other party was a pirate and had no authority.
"I'm just joking with you, Harald, hahaha." Although Rune said this, in his heart, he desperately wanted that Devil Fruit.