The fruit in his hand, originally a bunch of grapes, has undergone a transformation, becoming a fruit adorned with swirling patterns, and its color has shifted from the purple of grapes to a deeper black.
This style...
"Devil Fruit?"
Sage stared blankly at the fruit, somewhat caught off guard.
He had never seen a Devil Fruit...
While knowing ability users is one thing, he truly hadn't seen a Devil Fruit before.
Sage set sail fairly early; after the death of his adoptive father at fourteen, he spent two years trying various ventures and squandered his family's wealth, and at sixteen, he began his sea adventures, constantly trying out different industries.
Despite working various jobs, he had never encountered a Devil Fruit.
Though it's quite normal, as Devil Fruits are merely legends in the East Sea.
However, Sage believed his luck was such that he would likely never find a Devil Fruit.
Otherwise, after all those robberies, why hadn't he found even one fruit?
Devil Fruits were unlikely to come across his path.
If it were otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed when Teach proposed collaboration.
Being an ability user is a special experience at sea, and it's something one must try.
But still...
"Appearing with me?"
Sage grinned, "Is it because it chose me?"
He felt that, given his luck, ordinary people could find these fruits, whereas he would be barred from them; however, there was one possibility...
That the Devil Fruit had chosen him.
Sage's knowledge about Devil Fruits exceeded what was commonly spread across the sea.
Those who consume them are not gambling on abilities but are rather found by the 'devil' itself, leading them to be consumed.
Mysteriously, the devil selects its owner.
Moreover, given his unfortunate luck, he shouldn't have acquired a Devil Fruit, yet it transformed in his hand.
It actively chose Sage.
"Then let's eat you up!"
Sage wasn't bothered by what kind of power he'd receive; to him, true strength lay in his Haki and Body Techniques.
Since he couldn't dive into the sea anyway, eating the fruit wouldn't hurt.
"Let me see what kind of devil has chosen me!"
He hoisted the entire bunch of grape-like Devil Fruit high, opened his mouth, and swallowed the whole bunch. As it slid down his throat, it settled into his stomach.
Instantly, his expression turned rather unpleasant, his brow furrowed tightly, and he quickly poured liquor into his mouth until finished, discarding the empty bottle on the ground.
"Even after gulping it down raw, it still tastes terrible!"
He grabbed another piece of fruit to continue eating; mere liquor couldn't suppress the dreadful taste.
The bad taste was not just on his taste buds but from the depths of his heart, even his soul.
Thump thump...
After having a few pieces of fruits and vegetables, from his heart came a strange thumping sound.
Only he could hear the sound; for just a moment, Sage paused, his pupils shrinking inexplicably, but he soon relaxed completely.
"Ahh..."
Sage released a meaningful sound, "So it's you, Byrnndi World..."
After consuming a Devil Fruit, the ability user's powers become immediately apparent to them.
During the brief time of that unusual heartbeat, Sage understood his ability.
Simultaneously, he recalled.
That fellow who was similarly frozen and whom he beat to death, who was he really.
Footsteps echoed from the passage outside the doorway.
"A hole! A hole appeared!"
"Master Lightning, please, this hole mustn't be discovered!"
"We need to seal this whole section and cut off this entire passageway to avoid detection!"
The urgent voices outside, along with sounds like cutting something, were heard.
As these individuals moved further back, their awareness was finally evident.
"Huh? Is the food storage door open?"
A head peeked in through the doorway, just in time to see Sage eating.
"There, there, there's someone!"
That person exclaimed in shock, and instantly, a swarm of footsteps reawakened as a group of peculiar individuals appeared at the doorway.
A crowd wearing underwear, hairy legs donning stockings, bare-chested or donned in women's lingerie, peculiar individuals.
"Eek!"
Seeing them, Sage displayed an expression of disgust and disdain, "Are all the guards at Impel Down a bunch of perverts?"
"A newcomer?"
A pervert clad only in underwear walked in, "Hey! Newcomer, what are you doing here... you've eaten all of it!"
He quickly noticed the opened freezer and its empty contents.
"You, this guy, this is painstakingly gathered supplies!"
The man angrily approached Sage, attempting to grab him.
"Stop."
At that moment, a voice sounded from behind the door, and the man halted, turning his head.
There stood an individual holding a red wine glass, with hair half-yellow, half-white resembling clubs from playing cards, dressed in a similarly colored coat, sporting orange and blue glasses, fixing his gaze on Sage.
"Why are you here, Calamity..."
"What a question; obviously, it's a prison break."
Sage's hands kept busy, continuing to eat.
"A prison break, huh? Quite daring indeed, but since you're eating our food, don't you owe us an explanation?" That person spoke slowly.
"Explanation?"
Sage paused briefly, took two bites of an apple, and said, "I'm a pirate; is that explanation enough?"
"It's indeed..."
Lightning paused at that spot and added, "Regardless of how you managed to escape, having come here, you might as well get comfortable, as this place is..."
"The New Human Paradise! Boy!!"
From the doorway suddenly came a raspy voice, and the peculiar group of perverts all stood in two rows, gazing worshipfully at the entrance.
There appeared a figure towering over four meters...
A pervert.
Sporting a massive face, garish eye makeup, purple lipstick, light purple hair, the figure appeared enormous and bloated; more bizarre were his fishnet stockings and ultra-low-cut form-fitting outfit...
Obviously a man.
"Norton Sage, I know you, boy!"
Ivankov extends both arms wide, forming an 'X' shape, "Welcome to our New Human Paradise; now that you're here, stay with us and feel the achievement and delight that comes with being a new human! Hip-ha!!"
"Seems they aren't guards..."
Chewing ceased, Sage frowned at them, "Simply pure perverts... not only perverts but cross-dressing perverts, and they don't know I utterly despise cross-dressers?"
"Daring to call us cross-dressers, you haven't felt the new human sensation, boy; if you became a woman, you'd be gorgeous! Allow me to show you!"
Ivankov extended a hand, with spikes emerging from the fingertips.
Sage narrowed his eyes, cheeks puffing up, "Tenfold..."
"Core Scattershot!"
Poof!
Shooting out apple core fragments, immediately wrapped in black, speeding swiftly towards the four-meter-tall pervert.