After confirming that Wapol had indeed eaten the Munch-Munch Fruit, Kaito's expression remained unchanged. After all, this was exactly what he had expected.
"Can your Munch-Munch Fruit devour another ability user and grant you their Devil Fruit power?" Kaito continued to ask.
Wapol froze for a moment before cautiously answering, "My lord, I've never tried that before."
Kaito pointed toward Dalton beside him and said calmly, "Then try it now. He should be a Devil Fruit user too."
"Captain, he is indeed an ability user," Smoker said before Wapol could answer. Having personally fought Dalton during his capture, he already knew the answer. "His ability should be some kind of bovine Zoan."
Kaito nodded slightly before directly ordering Wapol, "Get started. Swallow him."
"Okay!"
Wapol nodded repeatedly.
Soon, Smoker stepped forward and removed the Seastone handcuffs restraining Dalton.
Wapol immediately activated the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit and swallowed Dalton whole.
Naturally, Dalton tried to resist.
However, he was already seriously injured. Even without the suppressive effects of Seastone, he could barely put up any meaningful resistance.
At the same time, everyone clearly saw the strange effects of Wapol's Devil Fruit.
The moment he activated the Munch-Munch Fruit, his mouth stretched open to an utterly unnatural degree. It expanded far beyond the limits of a normal human body, becoming even larger than Wapol himself.
With a single gulp, Dalton completely disappeared into Wapol's mouth.
"Well?" Kaito stared intently at Wapol. "Can you use his ability?"
"Yes, my lord!"
Wapol nodded repeatedly.
As he spoke, seemingly afraid that Kaito wouldn't believe him, Wapol immediately activated the newly acquired power.
His body rapidly transformed.
Just like a true Zoan ability user, Wapol's body quickly changed into that of a massive, powerfully built bison.
"It really can steal and use another person's ability..."
Robin, standing beside Kaito, stared at Wapol in astonishment.
"The Munch-Munch Fruit's power is far more outrageous than I imagined."
Law and Smoker were equally shocked.
Although the two of them had already guessed the possibility from Kaito's earlier questions, witnessing it with their own eyes was still completely different.
"Transform into your hybrid form," Kaito immediately ordered. "Let me see it."
The successful test had clearly excited him.
Naturally, Wapol didn't dare disobey.
He immediately activated the ability again, shifting from his full bison form into a human-beast hybrid form.
After confirming that the stolen Devil Fruit ability could be freely controlled and used in different forms, Kaito was thoroughly satisfied.
Still, to eliminate any possible uncertainty, he adjusted his talent attributes and activated the mind-reading aspect of his Observation Haki.
So I really can devour other people's abilities...
If I'd known about this earlier, I should've captured and eaten more ability users. Maybe then I would've been able to defeat these pirates.
Dalton's ability isn't completely useless either. My body becomes incredibly strong after transforming.
If these pirates refuse to let me go, maybe I can use Dalton's ability to escape when they aren't paying attention.
But who the hell are these pirates? Why are they so powerful? Even my entire army was defeated by them.
Strange... Why am I suddenly feeling tired?
It feels like I've been continuously using the Munch-Munch Fruit for a very long time...
With the mind-reading power of Observation Haki, every thought passing through Wapol's mind was exposed to Kaito.
Before long, Kaito found exactly the information he wanted among Wapol's chaotic thoughts.
So that's how it works.
I knew there was no way such an outrageous ability would have absolutely no drawbacks.
Using the abilities of people he's devoured consumes additional stamina.
Kaito fell into thought.
The importance of stamina in battle was unquestionable.
Whether using Devil Fruit abilities or Haki, physical stamina was required to sustain them.
This was especially true in battles between top-level powerhouses.
At that level, fighting continuously for several days and nights was perfectly normal.
Without tremendous stamina reserves, it was impossible to maintain peak combat effectiveness for such a long period.
Therefore, the additional stamina consumption caused by using abilities acquired through the Munch-Munch Fruit might not appear to be an enormous weakness at first glance, but it certainly wasn't a minor problem either.
Well...
At least, that was true for ordinary people.
If the only side effect is increased stamina consumption, then it barely affects me.
When I concentrate my talents into Constitution, my stamina reserves are so enormous that exhausting them is almost impossible.
Even my recovery speed is beyond normal comprehension.
After confirming that the primary drawback was simply increased physical consumption, Kaito relaxed.
Given his unique circumstances, it couldn't be said that the Munch-Munch Fruit's drawback was completely nonexistent.
However, the negative effect was undoubtedly reduced to an absolute minimum.
Compared to the ability to wield multiple Devil Fruit powers...
The trade-off was overwhelmingly in his favor.
It was practically a steal.
After thoroughly confirming the capabilities of the Munch-Munch Fruit, there was naturally no need to delay the next step.
The Devil's Coffin was prepared.
Wapol was beaten until he was on the verge of death and placed inside.
Fresh fruit was placed in the coffin alongside him.
Then the lid was closed.
When the Devil's Coffin was opened again, one of the fruits placed inside had completely transformed.
Using the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, Kaito carefully compared its appearance.
After confirming that the transformed fruit was indeed the reincarnated Munch-Munch Fruit, Kaito picked it up and returned to his captain's cabin alone.
Well...
The main reason was simple.
He didn't want anyone to see his expression while eating a Devil Fruit.
If he ended up making some ridiculous face because of the taste, it would be too embarrassing.
"...It really does taste horrible."
Unable to wait any longer, Kaito immediately bit into the fruit.
The moment the pulp touched his tongue, an indescribably disgusting flavor exploded across his taste buds.
Kaito's brows immediately furrowed.
Still, he endured the torturous taste and continued eating.
Bite after bite, he forced himself to consume the entire Devil Fruit.
There was no helping it.
He knew that a single bite should theoretically be enough to gain a Devil Fruit's power.
But what if eating only one bite somehow affected the strength or completeness of the ability?
Even if there was only the slightest possibility, Kaito didn't want to risk it.
If the Munch-Munch Fruit's power ended up weakened because he had been too lazy to finish eating it, he would probably die from regret.
After swallowing the final bite, Kaito immediately hurried toward the wine cabinet.
He pulled out a bottle of fine wine that had recently been added to his collection and quickly rinsed his mouth.
"Phew..."
"I finally got rid of that disgusting taste."
Once the lingering flavor of the Devil Fruit had been suppressed, Kaito's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.
Naturally, his attention immediately shifted toward the new power he had acquired.
The Munch-Munch Fruit.
His eyes filled with anticipation as he carefully began sensing the ability now residing within his body.
"The new ships have already been ordered!"
"That's right, Captain. Galley-La Company here in Water 7 has officially accepted our commission."
Several days later, Kaito stood on the deck of the No. 1 flagship.
He held a Den Den Mushi in one hand while listening to Lafayette's report from the other side.
"However, we've ordered a large number of ships, and the specifications you requested are extremely demanding."
Lafayette continued explaining the situation.
"Especially because you specifically requested that the ships be constructed using Treasure Tree Adam."
"Even though we paid half of the total cost in advance as a deposit, Iceburg, the president of Galley-La Company, still told us that completing the entire order would require approximately three months."
"Three months is acceptable," Kaito replied calmly.
"Once you've finished handling everything there, return immediately."
"We'll regroup in Alabasta."
"Understood."
Lafayette paused briefly.
"However, Captain..."
"I discovered something unusual while arranging the shipbuilding order."
Kaito's expression shifted slightly.
He looked at the Den Den Mushi in his hand with interest.
"Something unusual?"
"What did you find?"
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