"Blegh…"
"That tastes awful. It's a flavor I can't even describe."
After Beidou took one bite of the Devil Fruit, she nearly threw up her lunch. The indescribably disgusting taste shot straight up to the top of her skull. It simply was not something a human being should eat.
She felt as if she had lost her sense of taste altogether.
Beidou could not even describe that flavor. It was like every disgusting taste in the world had been mixed together. After taking one bite of this Devil Fruit, all the other terrible things she had eaten before suddenly seemed like nothing.
Koji removed the side effects for her, so even if she came into contact with the seastone factor, she would not suffer from a collapse of vitality.
"How does it taste?" Ningguang teased with a smile.
Judging from Beidou's expression, it was definitely horrendous. This was also the first time Ningguang had seen Beidou make such a hilarious face. It was actually rather interesting.
"Try it yourself and you'll know," Beidou said, rolling her eyes.
Even eating raw sea fish would taste better than this Devil Fruit.
If she had known Devil Fruits tasted like this, she definitely would never have wanted to eat it.
"Beidou, actually, one bite is enough. You don't need to take a second one," Koji said.
"Huh?"
"Why didn't you say that earlier?"
Beidou's face turned green, because she had already eaten several bites. She hurriedly threw the remaining part into the sea.
Just thinking that she had eaten several extra bites of that deadly awful thing made her whole body feel wrong.
"Why didn't you say so sooner? You were deliberately watching me make a fool of myself, weren't you?" Beidou said fiercely.
"I forgot."
Koji told the truth. He really had forgotten about that.
"Forget it."
Crackle, crackle!
"The Devil Fruit is pretty decent, but I already have Electro power. If I'd known, I would have saved it for one of the crew," Beidou said after sensing it for a bit.
Electric currents darted across her skin. It did strengthen her somewhat.
"Boss, we don't need that kind of thing."
The crew did not have that idea at all. There was only one of this thing, while there were so many of them. No matter who it was given to, the others would definitely have some thoughts about it. But if their boss ate it, then there was no problem.
Beidou shook her head and laughed. Of course she understood what her crew meant.
That was right. If the distribution was uneven, they might not say anything in front of her, but they would definitely feel uncomfortable inside.
"Koji, Devil Fruits aren't exactly rare in this world, right?" Beidou suddenly asked.
Koji understood what Beidou was thinking. He nodded and said, "They really aren't rare, as long as you have the channels to obtain them."
Aside from some rare Logia-type fruits or Mythical Zoan-type fruits, other Devil Fruits could be obtained through certain channels, such as auction houses.
"If there's a Devil Fruit you like, I can extract the Devil Fruit from its possessor."
After all, killing pirates would not cause him any psychological burden. If this were placed in a cultivation world, each pirate killed would count as a bundle of merit.
"Haha, then I'll leave it to you when the time comes," Beidou said with a hearty laugh.
"Everyone gets one, boys!"
The crew cheered.
Although ordinary Devil Fruits would not improve Vision holders by much, they were still supernatural powers. Of course they would be tempted.
There were only so many Vision holders. Not everyone could obtain a Vision so casually.
"Interesting. Are there any Devil Fruits you would recommend for me?" Ningguang asked.
"That depends on what kind you want. If you want better skin, the Slip-Slip Fruit would work. I also think the Gold-Gold Fruit, which is related to gold, suits you very well," Koji said after thinking for a moment.
"Oh?"
"The Gold-Gold Fruit. Just hearing the name makes it sound very interesting," Ningguang said, her interest piqued.
"The Gold-Gold Fruit doesn't produce gold. Instead, it can sense the location of gold. In this world, the person who has the Gold-Gold Fruit used that fruit to control twenty percent of the world's wealth," Koji said.
Money could make even ghosts grind a millstone, especially in this age of pirates. Weren't most pirates' burning, killing, and looting done for treasure? That kind of greed was something that could be put to very good use.
"There's a lot of room to operate with it."
Ningguang calculated inwardly. If she had the Gold-Gold Fruit, what would she use it for? This was a Devil Fruit capable of moving the world.
"If possible, I'll take that one."
Koji nodded. In any case, Tesoro would be pulled down from his throne by Straw Hat in the future. If Koji dealt with Tesoro ahead of time, he would simply be giving him his ending early.
When Koji extracted a Devil Fruit from an ability user's body, he did not need to kill the ability user first. He could directly use the Blessing of Extraction to take the Devil Fruit out of a living body.
"Koji, is there any good one you'd recommend for me?" Kaeya asked.
"For you? Find me a Zoan-type Salted Fish Fruit," Koji joked with a laugh.
"Then forget it."
The moment Kaeya heard that name, he shook his head. Although he was a bit of a slacker, he had no desire to turn into an actual salted fish.
He was just saying it casually. He did not truly want a Devil Fruit.
…
The Alcor's performance was top-tier, and Beidou and her crew also had extremely rich sailing experience.
"A desert. Alabasta."
"Dear, is Old Croc actually a woman?" Lumine asked curiously.
"I don't know. We'll just ask him when the time comes. We can ask whether he made a deal with Ivankov and used hormones to turn into a man," Koji said with a shrug.
"A woman becoming a man?" Ningguang and the others were somewhat surprised.
"Your Rex Lapis once wandered the mortal world in countless forms, and there were times when he took on a female form. What's so strange about that?" Koji said with a smile.
Although he had never seen it himself, Zhongli's foundation was excellent. Even if he took on a feminine appearance, he would definitely be a beauty capable of toppling nations and cities.
"…"
Ningguang could not refute it. According to records, there did indeed seem to be cases where Rex Lapis had taken on a female form. However, she could not look directly at such a version of Rex Lapis.
In the eyes of most Liyue people, Rex Lapis had the image of a majestic man.
She knew Zhongli was Rex Lapis, Morax. Zhongli's appearance was already among the finest handsome men in Liyue, with a very refined charm. If she imagined his female form…
It was not as though she could not look at it. It definitely would not be ugly. It was just difficult for her to accept mentally.
"Demon gods shouldn't have genders, right?" Kaeya asked.
"Not necessarily. Morax and Sumeru's Dendro Archon were female for a period of time," Koji said.
"Of course, if they wanted to, they could definitely change their gender. But most of them have already grown used to a certain gender and won't change it again."
If Zhongli were asked to become a woman, he definitely would not be willing.
(End of Chapter)
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