In this world, every Devil Fruit possessed a unique power.
Some abilities might appear similar in nature or classification, but there were always clear distinctions between superior and inferior versions. Two completely identical Devil Fruit abilities could never exist at the same time.
The only exception was when one Devil Fruit possessed the ability to replicate or imitate another.
Additionally, only one bite of a Devil Fruit was required to obtain its power. After that, the remaining fruit would instantly become an ordinary fruit—albeit one with an extremely unpleasant taste.
This meant that even if the rest of the Devil Fruit were shared with others, only the first person to take a bite would gain the ability.
Once a Devil Fruit user died, their Devil Fruit would disappear and reincarnate somewhere in the vast sea, awaiting its next destined owner.
These were the immutable rules of the world.
And yet—
Carina's Devil Fruit ability had broken one of those rules.
She had bypassed the natural reincarnation process entirely and captured the Devil Fruit directly at the moment of death.
There was no doubt about it.
The scene Robin had just witnessed completely shattered her understanding of the world—and bound her irrevocably to this crew.
The method for capturing a Devil Fruit, no matter which faction possessed it, would be considered the ultimate secret, guarded even more closely than a trump card.
And now—
She knew it.
If she could not stay with them in the future, then she could not leave.
There was only one ending for someone who knew too much.
Death.
Yet strangely enough, amidst the shock and helplessness, a faint ripple stirred within Robin's heart.
El's crew had revealed their greatest secret to her—a woman who had only just joined them.
That act alone represented absolute trust.
Robin asked herself honestly—
If she possessed such an ability, could she reveal it so openly to a "new companion" she had only just met?
The answer was no.
Not even she could do that.
"Hehehe, Sister Robin—are you shocked?"
Carina looked at Robin's complicated expression and asked with a mischievous grin.
Robin quickly recovered, her expression returning to calm. Subconsciously, she wore her familiar gentle smile—the mask she had perfected over the years—and nodded lightly.
"I was… truly shocked."
"That's amazing. I didn't expect you to accept it so quickly."
Carina gave a thumbs-up with both hands, her face full of admiration.
"Perona never actually saw me capture a Devil Fruit. I only told her about it once while we were chatting, and she was so shocked her jaw nearly hit the floor."
"Bullshit… when did that ever happen?"
Perona, who had been quiet until now, immediately protested in dissatisfaction.
"I can testify—it was even more embarrassing than Carina described."
Nami showed no mercy as she exposed Perona's dark history, sneering as she spoke.
"I don't know who it was, but someone fainted three years ago when Sister Kuina merely raised her sword hilt. She thought she was about to get sliced in half."
"Shut up!"
Perona's face flushed red as she glared fiercely at Nami.
If it weren't for the fact that she had previously been completely defeated—her Negative Hollows detected by Nami's Observation Haki before Nami rushed in with Rokushiki and instantly crushed her—
Perona would have already retaliated on the spot.
"Hahaha!"
Seeing Perona's murderous glare, Nami only became more smug and stuck out her tongue.
"Nami, I'm going to kill you!"
Perona finally snapped and lunged forward.
Unfortunately, nothing particularly eye-catching bounced as the two girls began chasing each other around the castle—one fleeing, the other pursuing.
Watching the scene unfold, Robin couldn't help but smile more genuinely than she had in years.
Perhaps…
Being completely bound to this ship wasn't such a bad thing after all.
"Alright, stop messing around. Let's collect their treasure."
El laughed as he watched the chaos.
The moment the word treasure was spoken, Nami froze.
Perona instantly caught up and pinched Nami's cheeks with both hands.
Yet Nami didn't even resist.
Her eyes had already transformed into glittering Belly symbols, shining like pure gold.
Even though the Pegasus's two cargo holds were already stuffed with wealth, Nami still looked like a starving wolf staring at prey.
Carina—another unabashed money lover—finally stepped in to separate them.
Soon after, the group entered the treasure vault hidden beneath Capone Bege's castle.
As the godfather who ruled half of the West Blue's underworld, Capone Bege's accumulated wealth was staggering.
Mountains of gold and silver filled the room, along with countless jewels and several massive safes.
Unfortunately, as a Castle-Castle Fruit user, Capone Bege also possessed numerous internal independent spaces within his body—many of which stored weapons and additional treasure.
When he died, those internal spaces did not release their contents back into the real world.
Once the Castle-Castle Fruit is eaten, the user's body continuously develops new internal spaces.
In other words—
Everything stored inside his body was swallowed along with him.
Still, what remained was more than enough.
The gold, jewels, and massive sums of Belly in the vault were worth several billion Belly at minimum.
Arms dealing truly was the most profitable business.
With this realization, El made a decision.
Once he reached the New World and established his foothold, he would also step into the arms trade.
By reading Capone Bege's memories, El already understood the structure of his organization—including the location of his weapons development facilities.
After clearing out the treasure vault and storing everything inside Carina's Munch-Munch Space, El led the group to Capone Bege's arms production base.
Using Conqueror's Haki, El stunned everyone inside.
Then, one by one, he read the memories of the engineers and scientists, extracting every piece of knowledge they possessed.
Finally, he dismantled the machinery itself—throwing entire production lines into the Munch-Munch Space.
Once everything was finished, El and the five girls departed the island aboard the Pegasus.
This journey had yielded immense gains.
He had successfully recruited Nico Robin, the key to unlocking the world's buried truths.
He had obtained the Castle-Castle Fruit.
He had seized Capone Bege's accumulated wealth.
And most importantly—
He had secured access to the most profitable industry of all.
The arms trade.
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