The fact that a Devil Fruit existed in this world capable of fulfilling literally any wish—reality-warping power that could reshape causality itself, grant impossible desires through mere spoken words, bypass all natural laws and limitations—proved sufficient to completely shatter certain people's worldviews.
The revelation made some extraordinarily powerful individuals unable to resist being moved emotionally, their minds immediately racing toward possibilities. They found themselves wondering desperately if any limit existed to Charlotte Alluka's abilities—or more accurately, to the demonic entity called Nanica that wore the child's body.
Could the Wish-Wish Fruit truly grant ANY desire? the question haunted ambitious minds worldwide. Resurrection of the dead? Elimination of entire populations? Fundamental alterations to reality itself? Where did the boundaries lie? What costs would such miracles demand?
The philosophical and strategic implications proved staggering. A single five-year-old child—or rather, the consciousness possessing that child—potentially held power exceeding all Four Emperors combined, all Marine Admirals united, perhaps even the Five Elders themselves.
Lucci and his two companions proved extraordinarily lucky in their current predicament. The three CP9 agents trapped aboard their cramped surveillance vessel, monitoring one of the world's most dangerous individuals from insufficient distance, faced potential annihilation at any moment.
But Kaido possessed zero interest in dealing with insignificant minor characters at this particular time. The King of Beasts had far more pressing philosophical concerns occupying his attention—questions about Devil Fruit consciousness, the relationship between natural power and supernatural abilities, and the fundamental nature of strength itself.
At this moment, Kaido was engaged in heated discussion with Gecko Moria about precisely these topics—specifically, whether Devil Fruits represented tools to be mastered or parasites gradually consuming their hosts. The Devil's Triangle provided suitably isolated location for such debates, far from eavesdropping subordinates who might misinterpret their captain's rare moments of genuine intellectual engagement.
Both sides insisted stubbornly on their own opinions—Kaido advocating for Haki supremacy and personal strength, Gecko Moria defending Devil Fruit reliance as practical survival strategy—and neither could convince the other despite increasingly heated exchanges.
"You're claiming that as long as the price paid is sufficiently high," Kaido roared with voice mixing genuine incredulity and building rage, "Charlotte Alluka could kill me instantly?! What absolute joke! Have I practiced my Haki training in complete vain all these decades?!"
The question emerged as bellow that shook the entire floating fortress, making structural timbers groan under acoustic pressure alone.
As the most loyal and vocal supporter of the three-color Haki system—Armament, Observation, and Conqueror's combined—Kaido had begun practicing systematically long before he'd ever obtained his Devil Fruit. The Azure Dragon abilities represented enhancement to already-formidable foundation, not the source of his strength.
The physique and raw power he'd cultivated—the nearly-indestructible body that survived falls from sky islands, the tremendous physical force that could shatter mountains, the combat endurance allowing battles lasting days—reflected tremendous effort and sweat this man had invested across decades of brutal training.
Every scar told story of lesson learned through pain. Every broken bone that had healed stronger represented evolution through suffering. Every opponent who'd pushed him to his limits had contributed to the monster he'd become.
I built this strength myself, Kaido's pride roared internally. Through blood, sweat, tears, and endless combat. Through discipline and determination. Through refusing to accept any limitation as permanent. This power belongs to ME—not to some fruit I consumed, not to supernatural gift, but to decades of work that would have killed weaker men.
And now the Sky Screen told him that regardless of his tremendous efforts, regardless of decades perfecting his Haki and tempering his body, he could not possibly restrain a truly powerful Devil Fruit's reality-warping capabilities. That Haki had already become outdated version—prejudice left over from the old era rather than genuine path to supreme strength.
The implication infuriated him beyond rational response. Everything I've built... rendered obsolete by children with convenient fruits? Unacceptable!
Gecko Moria found himself grabbed by the collar by his new boss—massive hands lifting his considerable weight effortlessly despite the fat man's bulk. His head was being shaken constantly like rag doll, the violent motion making his vision blur and stomach contents threaten revolt.
The smell of alcohol and murderous intent radiating from Kaido made the fat man sweat coldly despite the Devil's Triangle's perpetual chill. He felt genuinely afraid that the other party would kill him with casual stick strike—bash his skull in during fit of drunken rage over philosophical disagreement.
This is how I die, Gecko Moria's panicked thoughts concluded. Not in glorious battle, not defending my territory, but because I made stupid joke about wish-granting fruit...
"I take back what I said just now!" Gecko Moria begged desperately, words tumbling out in frantic rush. "Can't I admit that I was completely wrong?! I was just talking nonsense—meaningless speculation without basis! Please forgive my stupidity!"
The former Shichibukai had thought he could safely mock Kaido through referencing Charlotte Alluka's Wish-Wish Fruit's capabilities—making theoretical argument about reality-warping powers potentially threatening even the King of Beasts. Seemed like harmless philosophical debate at the time.
But he hadn't expected this moody tyrant would actually get carried away and take the theoretical issue so seriously—transforming casual conversation into matter of personal pride and fundamental worldview. And the only one suffering from this miscalculation was Gecko Moria himself, currently being strangled while apologizing profusely.
Finally releasing Gecko Moria—dropping him unceremoniously to the deck where the fat man collapsed gasping—Kaido delivered his fundamental philosophy with absolute conviction:
"Even if endless varieties of rare Devil Fruits exist scattered across these seas," the King of Beasts declared while looming over his subordinate, "you must remember this crucial truth: Haki is everything. Domineering represents the foundation of genuine strength."
"Without mastering Haki, you will never become truly powerful combatant—no matter how many Devil Fruits you consume, no matter how convenient their abilities seem. Relying on supernatural powers alone creates fundamental weakness that stronger opponents will exploit mercilessly."
Through his violent actions and forceful words, Kaido was warning Gecko Moria about the path forward—instructing his newest subordinate about expectations and required development trajectory.
The fat man absolutely must not continue wasting his time relying on Shadow-Shadow Fruit's zombie army while neglecting personal combat capabilities. From this moment forward, he would be urged to lose weight systematically—forced exercise regimens, controlled diet, brutal training sessions designed to burn away accumulated fat.
After reducing body fat percentage significantly, Gecko Moria would become capable of withstanding far more fatal injuries when fighting enemies directly. His current condition proved too embarrassing—getting knocked unconscious by single punch from genuinely strong opponents repeatedly demonstrated pathetic inadequacy.
If he's going to serve under me, Kaido's assessment concluded grimly, he needs becoming actual combatant rather than corpse-animating coward hiding behind zombie meat shields. I'll beat proper warrior mentality into him if necessary.
As for the theory of King versus Mount that Dr. Vegapunk had proposed—the framework suggesting Devil Fruits possessed consciousness that eventually dominated their hosts—Kaido felt absolutely confident in his own situation.
He was already definitively superior to the mythical beast-type Devil Fruit residing in his body. The Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryū (Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Model) had firmly become his mount—tool serving his will, power source he controlled completely, enhancement he'd integrated into his combat style without surrendering autonomy.
He remained the king. The fruit served as loyal steed carrying him to greater heights, not parasite gradually consuming his consciousness.
On the other hand, Gecko Moria represented vivid negative example of the opposite trajectory. After losing his strong heart—after suffering catastrophic defeat that shattered his warrior spirit—the former Shichibukai had become vassal to his Devil Fruit rather than its master.
He'd allowed the Kage Kage no Mi (Shadow-Shadow Fruit) to metaphorically seize the throne and become the king, while he himself became increasingly decadent—devolving into professional corpse digger who avoided direct combat entirely. The zombie army he'd painstakingly assembled across years proved utterly vulnerable when facing genuinely powerful opponents, as Admiral Kisame had demonstrated conclusively.
Mount that thinks itself king, Kaido's contemptuous assessment concluded. Pathetic. But I'll fix that. Force him back into warrior's mindset or kill him trying. Either outcome acceptable.
"There's nothing inherently wrong with being used as mount by Devil Fruit," Gecko Moria defended weakly while still catching his breath from the strangling. "I'm not like you monsters who can dominate mythical beast-type consciousnesses through pure willpower. For normal people like me, being used as tool proves far better than being completely possessed and erased."
The fat man's logic contained certain pragmatic honesty: he possessed some degree of paranoia about Devil Fruit consciousness that Kaido lacked entirely.
Will there eventually come a day, Gecko Moria's anxious thoughts spiraled, when the Shadow-Shadow Fruit decides its current user is too pathetically weak? When this Paramecia-type fruit develops genuine consciousness and concludes I'm inadequate vessel? What happens then?
Would the fruit's consciousness develop the idea of replacing its master entirely—erasing Gecko Moria's personality and assuming complete control? Losing control of his own body would prove more painful than simply being killed outright. At least death represented ending. Possession meant living death, consciousness trapped while something else puppeteered your flesh.
Charlotte Alluka and Nanica demonstrated that such relationships could function somewhat harmoniously—the two consciousnesses switching back and forth between dominance, neither completely erasing the other. Young Alluka retained some agency despite Nanica's terrifying power.
But if you wanted replicating that delicate balance with other Devil Fruit users, you'd need thinking very carefully about whether the fruit's consciousness would inevitably erase the primary human consciousness—completely transforming the original owner into empty shell, mere puppet wearing familiar face while all accumulated training and experience became gifts transferred to something else entirely.
Everything I've worked for, Moria's paranoid fear whispered, could be stolen by the very power I rely upon. My techniques, my knowledge, my strategic thinking—all consumed by the fruit's consciousness and repurposed for its own unknowable goals.
"That's precisely why I won't permit you relying too heavily on Devil Fruit power," Kaido stated with finality that brooked no argument. "Strength that doesn't genuinely belong to you will become hindrance sooner or later—crutch that weakens rather than supports, dependency that creates vulnerability."
The King of Beasts possessed zero concern about potential rebellion from the mythical beast Devil Fruit residing in his body. Even if he somehow sensed its consciousness stirring—even if the Azure Dragon's demonic awareness attempted asserting independence—he would definitely employ every method available to suppress it completely.
Tools must accept the fate of tools, Kaido's philosophy operated with brutal simplicity. If you want turning tables and becoming the master—if you dare rebelling against the natural order—that represents rebellion against Heaven itself! Such insolence demands harshest response!
The fruit would be beaten back into submission through pure force of will, dominated through superior mental strength, crushed beneath the weight of Kaido's tremendous Conqueror's Haki until it surrendered completely or destroyed itself trying to resist.
I am the king. You are the mount. That hierarchy remains eternally fixed.
King (also known by his Lunarian name Alber) observed the two captains arguing intensely with each other from respectful distance. The All-Star of the Beasts Pirates maintained professional silence while his superiors debated philosophical matters.
Gecko Moria couldn't possibly win verbal argument with Kaido—the fat man lacked both rhetorical skill and the conviction needed to truly defend his position against someone as forceful as the King of Beasts. Moreover, Moria remained afraid that Kaido would resort to his kanabo if the debate excited him excessively—transitioning from intellectual disagreement to physical violence as the drunken Yonko often did.
So Gecko Moria spoke with extreme caution after his initial strangling—measuring every word, avoiding provocative statements, never again mentioning the Wish-Wish Fruit or Charlotte Alluka despite their obvious relevance to the consciousness debate.
Meanwhile, King's own thoughts turned toward darker contemplations—strategic calculations about what the Nega Nega no Mi's reality-warping capabilities might accomplish if deployed without ethical constraints.
If the Wish-Wish Fruit's power truly possessed no upper limit, King's analytical mind assessed coldly, then this world would transform fundamentally. The existing power structure would collapse. Current limitations on ambition would evaporate completely.
Many wishes explicitly going against Heaven's will—desires that violated natural law, demands that rewrote causality itself—would definitely be concocted by the endlessly greedy human race. Humanity's capacity for wanting what they shouldn't possess knew no boundaries.
The wish for mere financial freedom seemed pathetically small compared to what truly ambitious individuals might demand. Such pedestrian desires—wealth, comfort, luxury—represented thinking far too limited.
Resurrecting deceased relatives—bringing back loved ones from death's absolute dominion, reversing the one truly irreversible consequence. Making certain populations disappear completely—genocidal wishes eliminating entire ethnic groups, nations, organizations through spoken words. Rewriting history itself. Altering fundamental physical laws.
If someone opened their imagination completely, a single person could potentially conceive ten thousand distinct wishes—each more catastrophic than the last, each demanding terrible prices through equivalent exchange.
The first wish King himself wanted making was brutally straightforward: Make the Celestial Dragons and all their lackeys disappear completely from existence—erase the World Nobles, eliminate every CP agent, destroy every collaborating kingdom, wipe the slate clean of 800 years of tyranny.
Then immediately follow with second wish: Allow his boss Kaido ascending to the supreme throne—install the King of Beasts as absolute ruler, Pirate King elevated to genuine sovereignty over all seas.
The title of Pirate King still possessed certain appeal to one of the current Four Emperors, despite Kaido's public dismissals of such ambitions. The man craved genuine power, legitimate authority that transcended mere criminal dominance.
But such tremendously strong desires to fundamentally tamper with reality would demand unknown prices of unimaginable magnitude. The wisher's life alone might prove completely insufficient payment—individual existence representing trivial cost compared to reshaping world order.
Such wishes did not conform remotely to the principle of equal exchange that governed most Devil Fruit abilities and natural transactions.
If one genuinely wanted completely ending the God Clan—the Celestial Dragons who'd ruled for eight hundred years through combination of violence, propaganda, and institutional momentum—the price might require the entire Beasts Pirates' collective sacrifice. Every crew member, every subordinate, every ally—all consumed as payment.
Or perhaps even half this planet's total population—billions of lives extinguished to fuel reality alteration of sufficient scope. Mass extinction as currency purchasing the World Nobles' erasure.
The more King contemplated the implications, the more profoundly he felt the Wish-Wish Fruit's horror—not merely its power, but the moral calculations it forced upon anyone considering its use. How many lives am I willing to sacrifice? Where do I draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable costs? Would I trade half of humanity for the Celestial Dragons' destruction? Could I live with myself afterward?
This extraordinarily uncontrollable Devil Fruit would actually appear on Cake Island in the future timeline—residing in five-year-old child's body, accessible to Big Mom Pirates, potentially deployable by anyone desperate or ambitious enough to pay its terrible prices.
King genuinely didn't know whether this development represented blessing or curse for the world. Perhaps both simultaneously—divine gift and apocalyptic threat merged into single reality-warping package.
Such power shouldn't exist, his final assessment concluded grimly. But since it does, we must prepare for the chaos its revelation will inevitably trigger.
The main members of the Big Mom Pirates gathered on Cake Island had maintained tense silence throughout the Sky Screen's broadcast—holding their breath collectively while watching the Wish-Wish Fruit's spectacular performance. The reality-warping miracles, the black aura manifestation, the complete healing of catastrophic injuries...
Some of the weaker siblings didn't even dare breathing normally—afraid that any sound, any movement, any distraction might somehow affect the outcome despite watching recorded future events they couldn't possibly influence.
The tension persisted until Charlotte Katakuri was resurrected—until their strongest brother emerged completely restored and made his shining appearance before assembled family members. Only then did Big Mom's countless children finally calm down somewhat, collective anxiety transforming into relieved celebration.
He's alive, the thought echoed through dozens of minds simultaneously. Healed completely. Our pillar remains standing. The family survives.
"Hikaru and Alluka—the twin boy and girl born to our mother—are truly more freakish than each other!" Charlotte Cracker exclaimed with voice mixing awe and profound inadequacy. The revelation of his younger siblings' apocalyptic capabilities forced uncomfortable self-assessment.
As one of Charlotte Linlin's proud sons—Sweet Commander, Minister of Biscuit, combatant with bounty approaching significant threshold—Charlotte Cracker's natural arrogance had been systematically suppressed through Sky Screen content across recent days.
He'd originally believed that his bounty nearing 10 billion Beli represented sufficient achievement for standing independently at sea, for being recognized as genuinely powerful individual rather than merely "Big Mom's son."
But unexpectedly, the past proved to be the past and the present remained the present. Simple temporal progression didn't automatically translate to proportional strength increase.
Charlotte Cracker's abilities had not regressed after 5 years—his Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit remained functional, his puppet-based combat style still worked technically. But he also had not improved meaningfully beyond his current level. He'd completely failed keeping up with the future version's power scaling.
His Devil Fruit ability remained unimpressive compared to reality-warpers like Alluka or overwhelming powerhouses like Admiral Kisame. His Haki hadn't developed particularly beyond competent-but-unremarkable levels. Instead of growing into formidable combatant, he'd become one of the stepping stones for Hoshigaki Kisame's demonstration of water-style supremacy.
I'm a footnote, the bitter recognition stung. A minor obstacle the Admiral defeats casually while barely trying. My biscuit soldiers dissolved instantly. I was overwhelmed without meaningful resistance. That's my contribution to history—being crushed to show how strong the real players are.
Meanwhile, the younger brothers and sisters born after him had already surpassed their older siblings in virtually every measurable aspect—Charlotte Hikaru with her Mangekyō Sharingan and reality-bending techniques, Charlotte Alluka with the Wish-Wish Fruit's godlike power, even Charlotte Pudding's recruitment of Tien Shinhan demonstrated superior strategic thinking.
If it weren't for Hikaru and Charlotte Katakuri supporting the family in the future—if those two pillars didn't maintain organizational cohesion and combat capability—it seemed very likely that the Big Mom Pirates' extensive family would have been completely wiped out by the New Marine, exiting history's stage just like the Red-Haired Shanks Pirates apparently had.
We're obsolete, Charlotte Cracker's thoughts concluded grimly. The older generation failing to keep pace. Our younger siblings carry the family now while we become increasingly irrelevant background characters.
"Tien Shinhan looks extraordinarily powerful!" Charlotte Katakuri stated with genuine admiration coloring his normally-stoic tone. The Sweet Commander who rarely offered compliments found himself genuinely impressed by his sister's recruitment achievement.
"I genuinely didn't expect that Pudding would successfully recruit such tremendous master for our family," Katakuri continued while turning his gaze toward the younger sister beside him. "You will definitely do very well in the future—your strategic contributions already proving invaluable."
The compliment couldn't help emerging from someone who valued competence above all else. Tien Shinhan's combat capabilities, his professional demeanor, his clear loyalty to Charlotte Pudding specifically rather than the organization generally—all these factors suggested excellent long-term asset.
Moreover, even Charlotte Pudding's hidden third eye—the feature that had previously generated mockery and cruel teasing from siblings and outsiders alike—found its perception gradually improving among family members because of the Sky Screen's revelations.
The strange appearance that had once marked her as "freak" or "monster" now seemed merely distinctive rather than repulsive—especially given that the Three-Eyed Tribe's Poneglyph-reading capabilities represented tremendously valuable strategic asset if properly cultivated.
Perhaps I was too quick judging her defective, several siblings' thoughts revised. Maybe that third eye represents advantage rather than deformity.
However, despite the momentary relief from Charlotte Katakuri's complete healing and the family's improved cohesion, the invasion by Blackbeard Pirates shown in the future broadcast had already made everyone on Cake Island start worrying intensely again.
There would be no end to these catastrophic waves of threats, would there? One crisis barely resolved before another emerged. Admiral Kisame's assault. Nanica's possession. And now Chrollo Lucilfer and Van Augur infiltrating to steal Charlotte Alluka's abilities.
Would Totto Land's territory in the future really be so easy to bully?! The question burned with mixture of shame and determination—pride demanding they prove capable of defending their mother's kingdom, reality suggesting they might not possess sufficient strength to prevent powerful adversaries from doing whatever they pleased.
We need becoming stronger, the collective resolve crystallized. All of us. Not just relying on Katakuri and Hikaru and Alluka and Pudding's recruits. Every sibling must improve, must train harder, must prepare for the battles the Sky Screen shows are coming.
Otherwise we'll be exactly what Charlotte Cracker fears—obsolete remnants swept aside by history's advancing tide.