Chapter 89: Fubuki, Get Daze!
Seeing that Fubuki's attention had been completely captured by the Devil Fruit, Bane quickly spoke up: "Hey, hey, keep your eyes on the road while driving! I don't want to die in a car accident!"
"Is there anyone in this car who could actually die in a car accident?" Fubuki quickly turned her gaze back to the road ahead, but couldn't help complaining.
In the back seat, King, who was playing cards and about to win, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. However, since Bane had activated the soundproofing between the front and back seats as soon as he got in the car (finding their card game too noisy), King hadn't heard the conversation between Bane and Fubuki and had no idea what was happening.
"What's wrong?" Saitama asked with some confusion.
Only then did King snap back to reality, a smile spreading across his face: "Nothing, I won!"
In the front seats, although Fubuki was no longer staring at the Devil Fruit, she was still discussing it with Bane.
"Just by eating this fruit, one can master such powerful abilities like yours? It feels somewhat unreal to me. Gaining power—shouldn't there be a price to pay?" Fubuki asked with confusion.
Even she understood clearly that to gain power, one must always pay a price!
"I've already paid the price," Bane said cryptically.
Only by traveling between worlds could he avoid being affected by the Devil Fruit's side effects, and traveling between worlds consumed his energy—wasn't that a price?
However, when Fubuki heard this, she completely misunderstood Bane's meaning.
A blush appeared on her pretty face, and she stammered: "So... so to gain this kind of power, I need to pay you a sufficient price, right?"
"Ah, that's about right," Bane replied casually while looking out the window at the scenery, not noticing the change in Fubuki's expression.
This wasn't a joke—although he greatly appreciated Fubuki and their relationship was currently going well, he definitely couldn't just casually give her the Sand-Sand Fruit. That would be ridiculous! The Sand-Sand Fruit wasn't some street vendor's goods; it was an incredibly powerful Logia-type Devil Fruit, capable of creating a true powerhouse.
Back on Sky Island, Bane had even considered giving the Sand-Sand Fruit to Wiper. But thinking about it now, Wiper probably wouldn't want to eat such an ability. Someone like him, if willing to become an ability user, would definitely prefer a fierce and brutally simple Devil Fruit power, given his warlike personality and savage fighting style.
So if Fubuki truly wanted to obtain this power, Bane would certainly set appropriate conditions for her.
Sneakily glancing at Bane from the corner of her eye and finding that he was looking at the scenery without paying attention to her, Fubuki breathed a slight sigh of relief, suppressing her previously shy feelings.
After driving for a while longer, Fubuki finally asked with feigned nonchalance: "So if I really wanted to gain this power, what kind of price would I need to pay you?"
Bane, who had been looking out the window, immediately became interested upon hearing this. He turned his head and looked at Fubuki with a smile: "I don't lack money, so it definitely wouldn't be something vulgar like cash. And considering the assets you currently possess... there really isn't anything that particularly moves me as bargaining chips. So, if you really want to gain this power..."
Bane paused here, his tone taking on a somewhat seductive quality as he tempted: "The only price you can pay is yourself, Fubuki."
"M-myself?" Fubuki's face turned bright red, and she said in a flustered manner: "I knew you had ulterior motives toward me!"
"What do you mean ulterior motives?" Bane quickly retorted: "I mean you'd have to come with me—come home with Zoro and me!"
"You're still saying you don't have ulterior motives? You definitely want to trick me into going to your hometown and then do this and that to me... I saw right through you, you bastard!" Fubuki said in panic and embarrassment.
Getting emotional like this, she even started swerving the car all over the road. Fortunately, there weren't many people on the street, so no trouble was caused.
After about ten minutes, Fubuki finally calmed down.
Meanwhile, Bane was explaining about himself and Zoro.
"Basically, on the other side of the sea, Zoro and I still have many things to do and will encounter many powerful enemies. So I need to assemble a team I can trust to become my support, and you—I think you're quite suitable. Therefore, you can consider this an invitation. If you're willing to join us and fight for me, then I can give you this power. At the same time, you'll gain much more. Perhaps when you return, you'll finally be qualified to stand beside your sister." Bane lit a cigarette and spoke softly.
As the leader of the Fubuki Group, Fubuki naturally understood what Bane meant.
However, she was somewhat puzzled. After hesitating for a while, she couldn't help but say: "I've been to the other side of the sea before—I never heard of many ability users like you there."
"Hahaha..." Bane laughed heartily twice, then looked at Fubuki seriously: "I'm talking about the sea of stars."
"The sea of stars?" Fubuki was stunned for a moment, then seemed to realize something and asked in surprise: "Are you an alien too?"
Just today in A-City, a bunch of aliens had appeared and been defeated, and now there's another one right beside me?
"No, no, no, it's completely different—we're pure humans, okay?" Bane quickly waved his hands.
Actually, having gotten to this point in the conversation, Bane saw no need to hide much more. Being able to travel between worlds was extremely dangerous in the Empire, but in this world, thinking about it carefully, there wasn't much threat. This world was busy dealing with monsters—who had time to target him?
Not to mention that Bane felt that even if Fubuki knew some things, she probably wouldn't spread them around. And even if word did get out, so what? Whether others would believe it was uncertain, and even if it did cause some waves... there weren't many beings in this world who could threaten him, and even if he encountered them, he was Saitama's good friend—what was there to fear?
So after considering it, Bane explained: "Besides this dark power, I am indeed a natural ability user."
"You just said you weren't!" Fubuki mocked.
But in her heart, she felt somewhat pleased—indeed, this guy is the same type as me.
"What I meant was, my abilities are different from what you understand. Put it this way—I can travel between worlds," Bane said simply and bluntly.
"Huh?" Fubuki was dumbfounded, completely unable to understand what this meant.
"Actually, neither Zoro nor I are from this world. We come from..." Bane quickly began explaining these matters to Fubuki.
Fubuki listened to this fantastical and somewhat absurd story while driving. Several times she wanted to interrupt Bane and tell him to stop making things up, but seeing his serious expression, she wavered internally and couldn't help but wonder—could this actually be true?
"So, how should I put it? If you're willing to join under my command, then at least from my perspective, this might be the greatest opportunity you could encounter in your lifetime. How high your future growth could reach is beyond imagination. Your vision of surpassing Tornado might gradually be realized during this wonderful journey," Bane concluded.
"Traveling through countless worlds, seeking the power of each world to strengthen oneself... walking the broader path of the strong?" Fubuki murmured softly.
Tornado's image flashed through her mind. If... if this was all true, then indeed, as Bane said, this might be the greatest opportunity she'd ever encounter!
"Why me?" Fubuki suddenly thought of a question and couldn't help asking: "Bang-sensei sitting in the back, and King, and Saitama—they're all stronger than me, right? If, as you say, you want to assemble a powerful team, why choose me instead of them?"
Bane was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his chin and carefully examined Fubuki's looks and figure. After a moment, he said seriously: "Because you're a beautiful woman, and they're all rough guys. Is that reason enough?"
Fubuki: ???
After a moment, Fubuki couldn't help but laugh and said with satisfaction: "At least you have good taste."
"So you're agreeing?" Bane chuckled.
"Your story is too absurd—I can't bring myself to believe it's real right now," Fubuki first responded like this, then after a slight pause, continued: "But if it is real, then I'm willing."
For Bane, as long as Fubuki agreed, he could give her complete trust. It wasn't because he was enchanted by her beauty, but because once Fubuki followed him to the pirate world, she would truly be alone. The only person she could trust would be Bane, and if she wanted to return and compete with Tornado, she could only rely on Bane.
So the possibility of her betrayal was low, and she had no reason to betray him.
Therefore, Bane smiled and tossed the Sand-Sand Fruit in his hand onto Fubuki's black stocking-clad thighs, saying: "Then I'll give you this power."
"Hmm?" Fubuki looked down at the strange fruit, then said: "Aren't you afraid I'll get this power and then change my mind?"
"Even if you change your mind, I can take this power back," Bane said casually.
The Dark-Dark Fruit—that's how confident it made him!
***
30+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces