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"Manager... this Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Eagle..."
Sam Wilson looked up from the digital catalog, his eyes locked onto Rosh. He was trying to act cool, but the absolute, electric excitement buzzing in his voice gave him away instantly.
"Would it be alright if I tested out the sample first?"
The pure anticipation on his face was impossible to miss. He looked like a guy standing right on the edge of a choice that was about to flip his entire life upside down.
Rosh wasn't surprised by Sam's pick at all. Honestly, it was a flawless match. Sam had spent years flying into danger under the call sign Falcon. Sure, a falcon and an eagle weren't technically the exact same bird, but the eagle was universally recognized as the undisputed ruler of the heavens, the ultimate symbol of raw power, freedom, and total aerial dominance.
If the Falcon was destined to evolve into something bigger, the Eagle model wasn't just a step up; it was the ultimate upgrade.
It made Rosh wonder if things like Luck and Destiny weren't just abstract concepts after all. In this rewritten timeline, it really felt as if an unseen force was quietly steering the right people toward the very powers they were always born to wield.
Rosh smiled, pushing himself up from his chair. "Of course, go right ahead. That's exactly what the testing room is for."
There was zero reason to play gatekeeper. Letting high-profile clients personally test-drive an ability before making a major purchase was one of the premium services the Home of the Devil Fruits proudly offered.
Rosh led the way to the reinforced testing arena, and Elizabeth didn't even need to be told what to do. With her usual perfect efficiency, she smoothly glided over to the secure vault, retrieved a live sample of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Eagle, and carefully placed it into Sam's waiting hands.
"Here you are, Mr. Wilson."
Sam cradled the swirling, strangely patterned fruit with both hands, his heart thumping against his ribs. "Thank you, Elizabeth." He then turned toward Rosh, a deeply sincere look in his eyes. "And thank you, Manager."
The raw excitement in his voice was vibrating through the room. After a lifetime of flying on borrowed tech, his real chance had finally arrived. He didn't hesitate for another second. He lifted the fruit and took a massive, aggressive bite.
*Crunch!*
Instantly, the legendary, universally hated taste of a Devil Fruit exploded across his tongue. It was every bit as foul, bitter, and completely rotten as the rumors claimed.
But Sam barely even registered the gross taste. Because the very next millisecond...
A violent surge of pure, primal energy detonated deep within his chest and rushed through every single drop of blood in his veins. His muscles tightened and expanded, his senses hyper-sharpened, and a wave of raw physical power flooded his limbs.
For a wild split second, Sam genuinely felt like he could headbutt a charging freight train and leave a dent in the steel.
But the massive stat boost wasn't even the craziest part. Deep within his brain, an entirely new instinct unlocked. It wasn't information he had to study or practice; it just existed inside his mind, as natural and effortless as drawing a breath of air.
Transformation. He instinctively knew exactly how to command his new anatomy. He could become an eagle whenever he wanted. Not just borrowing a bird's traits, but truly converting his body into an apex predator of the skies.
*Swish!*
With nothing more than a passing thought, the shift began. His fingers lengthened and compressed, his nails rapidly hardening into razor-sharp, steel-like talons capable of shredding through military-grade armor plate with a casual swipe. A dense wave of sleek, glossy feathers erupted across his forearms, shoulders, and chest. His facial structure subtly shifted, his jawline sharpening into distinct, fierce avian angles.
Then came the main event.
*Fwoosh!*
A magnificent, jaw-dropping pair of broad wings burst violently from his shoulder blades, unfolding with a majestic snap that sent a mini-gale cutting across the entire testing room.
In mere seconds, Sam stabilized in his Hybrid Form. Half man, half eagle. He looked fierce, imposing, and majestic.
At a quick glance, his new silhouette shared a lot of DNA with Clint Barton's Falcon form. Which made sense, considering falcons and eagles both belong to the same elite family of raptors. But the longer you looked at Sam, the more obvious the massive power gap became.
Sam's Eagle form was operating on an entirely different tier. His body was noticeably larger and his frame visibly thicker. His wings were significantly broader, engineered for supreme lift and high-altitude dominance, and every twitch of his body radiated explosive physical force.
Sam slowly looked over his newly transformed body, flexing his elongated fingers before tightening them into a heavy, armored fist. Every tiny movement felt incredibly powerful, yet unbelievably natural, as if this avian anatomy had been hardwired into his DNA since the day he was born.
"Whoa..." he muttered, his voice dropping to a stunned whisper. "This feels... completely wild."
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the unfamiliar pull of massive flight muscles stretching across his back. He spread his giant wings slightly, experimentally twitching the primary feathers.
"But I have to admit..." A massive, unstoppable grin broke across his face, his eyes flashing with excitement. "It feels absolutely amazing."
As he adjusted to the physical rush, his eyes wandered around the massive testing arena. He immediately noticed the deep, jagged claw marks, cratered dents, and scorch lines scattered across the reinforced walls and floor.
"Manager, these marks..." Sam asked, turning his sharp, hawk-like gaze toward Rosh. "Were they all left behind by other customers test-driving their Devil Fruits?"
Rosh nodded, a faint, knowing smile playing on his lips.
"That's right," Rosh replied. He could practically see the adrenaline bubbling inside Sam. It was the exact same starstruck reaction nearly every first-time Devil Fruit user had after getting a taste of such reality-breaking power.
"This entire room was engineered specifically to handle that kind of high-impact chaos," Rosh explained, gesturing toward the open space. "It's heavily reinforced to withstand serious supernatural punishment, so don't worry about holding back to save my walls. Go ahead, Sam. Let loose."
Sam's grin grew even wider, a dangerous spark entering his eyes. "Gladly."
The words had barely cleared his lips before raw animal instinct completely took over.
Without another second of hesitation, Sam spun on his heel and lunged toward the massive, ancient tree trunk standing in the center of the arena, the exact same giant tree Rosh had manually transplanted from the grounds of his previous storefront.
*Slash!*
His razor-sharp talons swept through the air in a blinding blur. Like hot knives slicing through room-temperature butter, the steel-hard claws carved deep, jagged grooves straight into the thick, protective bark. A violent explosion of wooden splinters showered the floor.
Sam blinked, staring at the damage. He hadn't even channeled twenty percent of his strength into that swipe, yet the localized destruction was already lightyears beyond what an ordinary human athlete could ever hope to achieve.
"Hah!"
Thoroughly hooked on the feeling, Sam planted one foot firmly onto the reinforced concrete, wound up his arm, and drove a heavy, piston-like punch straight into the center of the trunk.
*Boom!*
The colossal tree trunk shook violently from the impact. A massive shudder rippled up the wood, causing the leaves overhead to rustle and rain down in a frantic green shower.
In the final millisecond before impact, Sam's military discipline kicked in, and he instinctively pulled his punch, holding back the true depth of his explosive new muscle density. Even so, the leftover kinetic force he released was enough to make the centuries-old trunk sway noticeably on its roots.
If Sam hadn't consciously checked his own strength at the last possible second, that single casual punch would have snapped the massive, reinforced tree clean in half.
Sam slowly lowered his fist, staring at his clawed hand in absolute disbelief.
"So..." A breathless, ecstatic laugh escaped his throat. "So this is what it actually feels like to be a Devil Fruit user."
His heartbeat hammered against his ribs. An overwhelming, intoxicating wave of pure euphoria surged through his veins. It wasn't just because he had suddenly become a walking human cheat code; it was the mind-bending realization that he had just stepped across the threshold into an entirely new world, a world where ordinary people could wield unbelievable, godlike abilities that completely shattered common sense.
*Whoosh!*
With nothing more than a passing thought, Sam triggered the secondary layer of his transformation.
The remaining traces of his human silhouette dissolved instantly. Sleek, golden-brown feathers rapidly blanketed his skin as his limbs seamlessly compressed and reshaped themselves into perfect aerodynamic tools. Within the blink of an eye, the man standing before Rosh vanished entirely.
In his place stood a magnificent, colossal eagle.
Its piercing golden eyes were sharp, lethal, and commanding. Its massive, broad wings practically radiated raw physical power, and its heavy talons dug lightly into the floor, each curved claw fully capable of ripping through military titanium with a casual flex. There was absolutely no trace of the Falcon left. At this exact moment, he had become the literal king of the skies.
*Fwoosh!*
One powerful, authoritative flap of his enormous wings sent a violent gust of wind sweeping across the testing room, kicking up a storm of leaves and dust.
The giant eagle lifted effortlessly into the air, completely defying gravity. It began circling beneath the high, vaulted ceiling with breathtaking, graceful precision, banking smoothly through every tight turn as though it had spent its entire life flying in the wild.
The sheer, unadulterated joy on Sam's avian face was impossible to hide.
He had always been in love with the sky. As a former Air Force pararescueman and an elite aerial combat specialist, he had spent countless hours of his life soaring high above the clouds. But back then, his wings had just been corporate military equipment, cold, heavy, advanced technology strapped onto his spine. It was a brilliant invention, sure, but it was still just a machine.
And no matter how perfectly engineered a machine was, it could never compete with this.
These wings weren't mechanical. They weren't artificial. They were a living, breathing part of his own body. Every flap felt completely effortless, and every banking turn happened entirely by instinct. He didn't need automated flight computers, HUD readouts, or mechanical stabilizers to keep his balance in the air; his own biological reflexes handled the aerodynamics automatically.
For the first time in his entire life, Sam Wilson finally understood what it truly meant to fly.
*Whoosh!*
After pulling one final, spectacular lap around the vaulted ceiling, the giant eagle folded its wings and descended smoothly toward the center of the room. Its heavy talons touched down onto the floor with remarkable, feather-light grace.
The exact instant his momentum stopped, the feathers receded like a fading wave, the wings folded back into his spine, and the massive avian body rapidly shifted back into a human frame.
A second later, Sam Wilson stood before Rosh once again, completely human. His breathing was slightly uneven, his cheeks were heavily flushed with a massive adrenaline rush, and the wide, ecstatic grin on his face refused to fade. The sheer, electric exhilaration of that brief flight was still vibrating through every nerve in his body. It was an experience unlike anything he had ever felt in his life, and he knew there was no going back.
"Fantastic!" Sam couldn't wipe the massive, starstruck grin off his face if he tried. "This is absolutely incredible, man!"
He looked down at his ordinary human hands, instinctively flexing his fingers. Even though the temporary transformation had faded, he could still feel the phantom echo of that primal, reality-bending power vibrating through every muscle fiber in his body.
"I have seriously never experienced anything like that in my entire life," he breathed.
There was absolutely no need to sit around weighing the pros and cons anymore. The trial run had done its job flawlessly. He turned back to Rosh, his posture straight, his military discipline snapping back into place alongside a newfound confidence.
"Manager," Sam said, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. "I've made up my mind. I'll take the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Eagle."
Rosh allowed a satisfied, knowing smile to touch his lips. "As expected."
Without wasting another second of daylight, the two men walked out of the reinforced training arena and headed back to the sleek reception area to finalize the paperwork.
*Buzz!*
The second the high-tech terminal confirmed the transaction, the cosmic scales balanced themselves. Five hundred of Sam's hard-earned Luck Points were cleanly debited and transferred directly into Rosh's system account.
At that exact microsecond, a bizarre sensation rippled through Rosh's entire physical form.
It wasn't a violent jolt of electricity, nor was it a dramatic, flashy explosion of aura. Instead, it was something incredibly subtle, a quiet, almost imperceptible shift in the atmosphere around him. Even though this specific sale had only netted him a modest five hundred points worth of raw Destiny, he could distinctly feel the universe leaning just a millimeter closer to him. It was as if an invisible hand had stepped in to tighten and reinforce the golden threads tying his soul to the very fabric of this reality.
The shift was microscopic, but it was undeniably, factually real.
On the other side of the counter, Sam experienced the exact flip side of the coin.
His brow furrowed into a slight frown as a strange, hollow sensation briefly washed over his chest. It lasted for a mere fraction of a second before vanishing into thin air, leaving him feeling completely normal again.
"...So that was my luck, huh?" Sam muttered quietly to himself, staring blankly at his palms.
It was an entirely trippy experience. 'Luck' had always been one of those abstract things people casually joked about over a game of cards but could never actually see, touch, or measure. Yet today, he had physically felt a tiny, microscopic fragment of his own destiny being gently snipped away and pulled out of his timeline.
Thankfully, it didn't hurt. It wasn't a painful or draining sensation at all. It was... just gone.
With the payment officially cleared, Rosh gave Elizabeth a brief, approving nod. Understanding the silent cue instantly, she glided back into the secure master vault, returning a moment later carrying the genuine, live Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Eagle.
Unlike the temporary sample fruit Sam had eaten in the back room, this swirling, patterned beauty was the real deal.
Sam accepted the heavy fruit with both hands, taking a deep, grounding breath. "Alright. Here goes nothing."
*Crunch!*
Even though his brain was fully braced for the notorious, battery-acid-and-garbage flavor of a Devil Fruit, his face still twisted into a brief grimace. Still, being a hardened military vet, he didn't complain. He forced himself to chew, swallowing down every single bite until the fruit was completely gone.
Instantly, that familiar, tectonic surge of raw power detonated in his gut all over again.
But this time, there was a massive difference. The power didn't just flood his veins and fade away; it took deep root in his soul. The cellular blueprint of the apex avian predator permanently engraved itself into his anatomy, seamlessly merging with his very biology.
From this exact moment onward, Sam Wilson was no longer just a man with a jetpack. He was officially a permanent Devil Fruit user.
Savoring the incredible rush for a few more quiet moments, Sam finally snapped out of his trance and pushed himself up from the leather sofa. "Well, Manager," he said, a deeply grateful, down-to-earth smile breaking across his face. "I've taken up enough of your shift. I won't keep you any longer."
He extended his right hand across the desk. "Thanks for everything today. Seriously. You'll definitely see me back in this store down the line."
Rosh gripped his hand, returning the firm handshake with an easygoing smile. "I'll be looking forward to it, Mr. Wilson."
As Sam turned and headed toward the glass entrance, Rosh glanced over at Elizabeth. "Elizabeth."
She didn't need a full sentence. "I'll see Mr. Wilson out, Manager."
Adjusting her posture into her signature, warm and professional host mode, she politely guided Sam toward the automatic sliding doors. "Right this way, Mr. Wilson. Have a wonderful evening."
Once the glass doors slid shut and the shop fell back into its pristine, quiet rhythm, Rosh turned on his heel and walked back into his private executive office. He dropped into his comfortable leather chair, leaned back, and pulled up the neon-blue system interface.
The exact millisecond the holographic screen stabilized before his eyes...
*Ding!*
A crisp, incredibly satisfying notification chime echoed directly inside his brain. The final numbers had officially cleared the ledger. His long-standing corporate quota of selling exactly fifty Devil Fruits had just crossed the finish line.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully completed the milestone quota! Reward Granted: 30,000 Origin Points!]
[System Notification: A massive reserve of Origin Points has been detected in your balance. You may now choose to spend them directly to permanently strengthen your core baseline abilities, OR you may use them to draw random rewards from the Master Prize Pool. Would you like to proceed with Direct Enhancement or a Prize Pool Draw?]
Rosh quietly stared at the glowing text hovering in the dim light of his office. His fingers lightly, rhythmically tapped against the polished wood of his desk as his mind ran through the tactical options.
When it came to the concept of raw, direct power investment, there wasn't much to debate. Ever since his high-stakes tea meeting with the Ancient One in Kathmandu, a lingering, icy sense of caution had stayed firmly locked in the back of his mind.
Let's be real: even though his current physical and physical-light output was already completely broken, easily packing the raw combat power of four Admiral Kizarus combined, that bald mystic had still managed to exert an invisible, suffocating pressure on him without even casting a single aggressive spell. It wasn't fear, exactly. But it was a very stark, very real reminder that this crazy Marvel universe still contained ancient entities fully capable of flipping the script on him if he got sloppy.
Because of that cold reality, boosting his core baseline stats would always be his absolute highest priority. The stronger his physical form became, the fewer dangerous variables he would have to worry about when the major world-ending events inevitably kicked off.
And yet... Rosh's golden eyes slowly drifted down to the second glowing tab on the screen.
The Master Prize Pool.
A single pull on the gacha wheel only costs a flat one thousand Origin Points. Compared to the massive thirty thousand-point jackpot he had just secured in his wallet, a single thousand points was practically pocket change, nothing more than a minor transaction fee.
Which brought a highly addictive, dangerous question to the front of his mind...
Was it worth burning a few thousand points just to test his luck and see what kind of multiversal treasures the system was hiding in the pool? Or would every single drop of that pristine currency be better spent directly reinforcing his own god-tier power?
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Next Chapter: Rosh Sets His Sights on the Stars
Next Next Chapter: The Arrival of the Zombie Universe Crisis
Next Next Next Chapter: Another City-Wide Threat Looms Over New York
Visit my P@tr3on or K0‑fi ''Isopuff'' page and unlock +20 extra chapters and daily updates!