Chapter 2: No One Knows Devil Fruits Better Than Me.
Chapter 2: No One Knows Devil Fruits Better Than Me.
Loy Amos, a Marine Headquarters Captain, and the commanding officer of warship "DT-31" of the Escort Unit.
It is said that he originated from the West Blue and joined the Marines at the age of twenty, eight years ago.
During his initial physical examination upon joining a Marine branch, his performance was ordinary. However, after participating in the capture of the West Blue ability user and Giant Whale Pirate Captain Toller, his strength began to rapidly advance. This was not uncommon; many Marine officers only started to truly show their edge after encountering a formidable enemy.
Afterward, he was specifically recruited into Marine Headquarters. Following the new recruit assessment at headquarters, he voluntarily applied to join the Escort Unit.
— The above is how the members of the Escort Unit knew Loy Amos.
But in reality, what no one knew was...
Loy Amos's true identity was actually that of a transmigrator from another world.
However, there was one thing the Marine members had indeed gotten right.
That was, Loy truly has his own justice.
"Ice Cola is justice!"
Loy sighed contentedly as he sent a slice of pizza and a gulp of iced cola into his stomach.
At this moment, he was simply looking at the hourglass on the desk in front of him.
Just then, the hourglass had completely emptied.
And by his ear...
"Paramecia Type - Strong-Strong Fruit has been added to the Fruit Encyclopedia, currently Level 1."
As this voice sounded, the illusory light screen in front of him also transformed.
It gradually transformed into an illusory book.
And at this moment, page after page of the book displayed various Devil Fruits of different shapes.
"Paramecia Type - Jianjian Fruit - LV1."
"Zoan Type - Bull-Bull Fruit, Giant Rhinoceros Form - LV1."
"Zoan Type - Dog-Dog Fruit, Spotted Dog Form - LV1."
"Logia Type - Smoke-Smoke Fruit - LV1."
"Logia Type - Mag-Mag Fruit - LV1."
"Logia Type - Ice-Ice Fruit - LV1."
And on the newest page of the book, "Paramecia Type - Strong-Strong Fruit - LV1" had just finished being recorded.
Thus, the pages of the book closed.
On the closed cover of the book, four characters were written: "Fruit Encyclopedia."
"Possessor: Loy Amos."
"Current Fruit Encyclopedia Species: 19 types (Paramecia Type - 7, Zoan Type - 7, Logia Type - 4, Special Paramecia Type - 0, Mythical Zoan Type - 1)."
"Number of Fruit Slots: 2."
"Currently Equipped: Bull-Bull Fruit: Giant Rhinoceros Form LV1, Human-Human Fruit: Daibutsu Form LV1."
"Current Beli: 41,130,000."
"Nineteen types of Devil Fruits have finally been collected. Only one more type of Devil Fruit is needed to unlock the third fruit slot, and this 'Strong-Strong Fruit' is quite practical!"
"This trip wasn't in vain."
At this moment, Loy's murmuring words could only be understood by himself.
Indeed.
As a transmigrator, Loy also possessed his own system.
That was the "Fruit Encyclopedia" he was currently seeing.
As the name suggests, this system was related to the pirate world's unique creation: "Devil Fruits."
The Fruit Encyclopedia itself encompassed two main functions.
The first function was recording and usage.
As long as he was near a Devil Fruit ability user and spent some time with them, he could record their Devil Fruit into the Fruit Encyclopedia.
When the ability user displayed their powers in front of him, the recording speed of the Devil Fruit would accelerate.
After obtaining an ability, he could use the corresponding Devil Fruit power through a fruit slot in the encyclopedia.
Initially, there was only one fruit slot. For every ten Devil Fruits collected, an additional slot could be unlocked.
Of course, if Loy directly acquired an actual Devil Fruit,
Then he could absorb the Devil Fruit and directly obtain the corresponding Devil Fruit's LV3 ability.
The second function of the encyclopedia was the strengthening of Devil Fruit abilities.
After a Devil Fruit was recorded into the Fruit Encyclopedia, its base ability level was LV1.
Subsequently, Loy could use sufficient Beli or equivalent treasures to strengthen and upgrade his Devil Fruit ability levels.
Additionally, Loy could also consume a smaller amount of treasure to temporarily unlock certain levels of Devil Fruit abilities. The required amount of treasure was roughly one-third of a normal unlock, but it only granted one hour of duration.
Furthermore, it seemed that because Loy hadn't actually eaten a Devil Fruit himself,
Therefore, the Devil Fruit abilities he acquired were not restricted by seawater or Seastone.
As for his own golden finger, Loy's evaluation was very simple.
"Monstrous!"
Indeed.
He knew very well that the Fruit Encyclopedia's effects were absolutely terrifying.
It allowed him to use numerous Devil Fruit abilities without fearing seawater or Seastone.
This was already a broad path leading straight to the very pinnacle of this world.
Don't look at Kaido saying something like "Haki surpasses all," but in reality, wasn't he himself a user of the legendary "Fish-Fish Fruit: Azure Dragon Form" Devil Fruit?
So, the problem arose.
On this vast sea, where could he most safely obtain a sufficient quantity of Devil Fruits?
For Loy, the answer was very simple — the Marines.
As the behemoth backed by the World Government, the Marines suppressed the Great Pirate Era, preventing it from spiraling completely out of control.
The number of ability users within the Marines, and the number of new abilities he could encounter, would undoubtedly be the greatest.
Therefore, Loy chose to join the Marines, and voluntarily opted for the not-so-liked "Escort Unit."
And the facts proved that his choice was the right one.
Over these eight years, through contact with ability users within the Marines and occasional escorting of Devil Fruit-wielding criminals, he had already acquired the abilities of nineteen Devil Fruits.
This even included the Logia-type Devil Fruit abilities of the current Three Admirals, and even the top-tier Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit ability of Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the "Human-Human Fruit: Daibutsu Form."
It could be said that in terms of Devil Fruit ability collection,
Loy had already established a sufficiently solid foundation.
So now, there was only one problem he faced.
And that was...
"I need to find a way to make money."
The Marine Captain thought to himself.
Yes.
As previously mentioned, his Devil Fruit abilities needed Beli for strengthening.
The specific prices varied greatly depending on the Devil Fruit type, but there was one consistent characteristic: the stronger the fruit, the more expensive it became.
According to Loy's current summary, strengthening ordinary Paramecia and Zoan-type Devil Fruits to LV2 required around 50 million Beli. LV3 required 200 to 300 million Beli, LV4 required 1 billion, and awakening an LV5 Devil Fruit generally cost over tens of billions of Beli.
And the Logia type was even more extravagant. An ordinary Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit required 300 million Beli to strengthen to LV2, LV3 directly required 1.5 billion Beli, LV4 required 5 billion, and awakening the fruit was an astronomical figure of over 10 billion Beli.
As for top-tier Logia-type Devil Fruits like the Mag-Mag Fruit and Ice-Ice Fruit, their strengthening prices were even higher.
By the way, Loy's monthly salary as a Marine Captain was around 300,000 Beli.
In these eight years in the Marines, even counting the Beli from escorting criminals and bounties, he had only managed to save over 40 million Beli.
"I don't smoke, I don't drink, my only hobby is drinking some cola. Even a model youth like me finds it this hard to save money!"
Loy yawned and sighed.
He was genuinely getting a headache over this.
"No money!"
Who would have thought that the problem he worried about before and after transmigration was actually the exact same one?
"If this truly doesn't work, I'll just have to leave the Marines after collecting 20 Devil Fruits. I could become a bounty hunter or something. Although it would mean wandering around, the speed of earning money would be much faster than in the Marines."
"And although all my Devil Fruit abilities are currently LV1, if I can unlock the third fruit slot, it will certainly be enough for at least the first half of the Grand Line."
Loy calculated in his heart.
But it was precisely at this moment—
"Rumble!"
The warship suddenly began to shake violently, and shouts of alarm could be heard from outside the cabin.
Loy quickly shielded his Ice Cola and shouted angrily, "What's going on? Who's at the helm?! — Hans! Are you tired of working?!"
Still shouting, he quickly finished all the cola in his hand, then opened the cabin door and walked out.
Then he saw a messy deck and Marines firing their weapons.
Their target was the sea.
Just then, under the moonlight piercing the dark night sky,
On the shimmering vast sea, a monstrous creature emerged from beneath the surface.
It had a lion's head, a fish's body, and a body length of several tens of meters.
Its pair of enormous eyes glowed in the gloom, like burning stars.
"Captain Loy, it's a sea beast! A large sea beast just attacked us!"
Sergeant Far rushed to Loy's side, reporting anxiously.
"A sea beast?"
Loy raised an eyebrow.
As a Marine unit long active in the Four Blues, the Escort Unit's warship hull naturally utilized Seastone technology.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, sea beasts and Sea Kings would not detect the warship's presence.
But occasionally, there would be exceptions—for instance, if a sea beast or a small Sea King swimming in shallow waters got too close to the surface, they might still detect this "iron lump."
"Yes! Our luck seems very bad."
Far looked as if he was on the verge of tears.
But...
"What bad luck? This is very good luck!"
Loy interrupted him. "I remember sea beast meat is quite valuable!"
"W-what?"
Far was a little slow to react.
But Loy did not answer him. "Everyone, stop firing! If you damage the best meat, you can all wait to die!"
"Huh?" *N
At this moment, all the Marines on the warship froze.
But as soldiers, they instinctively ceased their firing.
"Captain, but..."
But before they could finish speaking, they saw Loy's figure move.
"Rumble!"
He bent his knees and then suddenly leaped!
The enormous force even caused the entire warship to visibly tilt at that moment.
And under the gaze of all the Marines, Loy's figure rapidly flew towards the giant sea beast.
"Captain Loy!" *N
The Marines cried out in alarm.
But the next moment, their cries of alarm turned into terrified screams.
Because at this moment, the sea beast had clearly noticed Loy.
"Roar!"
Its gigantic head let out a low roar, and then, with immense force, it charged towards Loy.
"It's over!"
"If that blow connects, even the Captain..."
"Immediately prepare for a rescue! Prepare to rescue the Captain!"
The Marines were almost all in a panic at this moment.
But in just the next moment, the scene they witnessed made their eyeballs almost pop out of their sockets, and their jaws dropped to a nearly dislocated degree.
Because just then, under the moonlight,
The Marine Captain flew past, his greatcoat, emblazoned with the two characters "Justice," flapping fiercely in the wind.
He bent his knees, then clenched his fist!
Under the moonlight, all the Marines saw his burly arms, like they were forged from steel!
The muscles beneath those arms were densely packed, as if made of steel.
"Currently Equipped Devil Fruit - 1: Bull-Bull Fruit: Giant Rhinoceros Form LV1 - Weak Devil Fruit Ability, grants the body of a giant rhinoceros, physical strength and muscle density far exceeding ordinary humans."
"Currently Equipped Devil Fruit - 2: Strong-Strong Fruit LV1 - Weak Devil Fruit Ability, grants a 5x amplification of muscle strength."
Many people knew that Zoan-type Devil Fruit abilities almost always allowed users to gain powerful, beast-like bodies.
Aspert of the Escort Unit also knew that his Strong-Strong Fruit could greatly strengthen an ability user's muscles.
But what if one person simultaneously possessed the basic physical qualities provided by a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, along with the muscle amplification provided by the Strong-Strong Fruit? What would the effect be?
This was the answer to that question at this very moment.
"Bang!"
Loy threw a punch!
The immense force generated a wild gale, which even pressed a giant "gully" into the sea surface in front of him.
The next moment, his fist collided with the sea beast's head.
At that moment, all the Marines saw.
That gigantic, over hundred-meter-long sea beast was actually sent flying by Loy's single punch!
"Roar!"
It let out a pained roar and fell directly onto the sea surface, unconscious.
And Loy's figure, amidst the Marines' sounds of "Tsk tsk tsk tsk" and exclamations, landed on the sea beast's head.
Indeed.
This was the very reason why Loy wasn't in a hurry, even with all his Devil Fruits still at LV1.
Because...
"The interplay of Devil Fruits isn't as simple as one plus one. As long as one possesses a sufficient understanding of enough Devil Fruits, even LV1 Devil Fruits can unleash power beyond imagination!"
Loy murmured in his heart.
"And in this world, no one knows Devil Fruits better than me!"
(End of Chapter)