One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 252: Overlapping Shadows, The Miracle Has Arrived!
"Eh?"
Looking at the illusory fruit emitting a faint glow in Star Lord's hand.
At this moment, Linlin widened her eyes with some curiosity.
"Is that... a Devil Fruit?"
And Baby 5, who was also an ability user, widened her eyes even more.
Yes.
Right now, no matter how she looked at it, the fruit in Star Lord's hand looked like a 'Devil Fruit'.
If there were any differences, the first was that the fruit in Star Lord's hand didn't look like it physically existed, but rather appeared semi-transparent.
The second was the markings on that fruit.
Having consumed the 'Arms-Arms Fruit', Baby 5 naturally knew that Devil Fruits should originally have spiral patterns on them.
But the fruit in Star Lord's hand displayed patterns that looked like stars.
But undoubtedly.
At this time, Baby 5 also finally understood what Collei meant just now when she said The Zodiac might distribute Devil Fruits in batches to the constellations under them.
It turned out that this Star Lord could truly create this legendary treasure of the sea out of thin air.
"Creating a Devil Fruit by relying on wishes... this..."
Is that Star Lord really not a deity?
Baby 5 was seriously pondering this question.
But right now, Roy clearly wasn't paying attention to her wild thoughts.
"As expected..."
He just looked at the 'Devil Fruit' in his hand—or to be more precise, the 'prototype of a Devil Fruit'.
He said inwardly, 'As expected'.
Relying on the wish power provided by the people present, he indeed created a Devil Fruit—its effect was consistent with the effect of the wish: to restore Bonney to health.
But the problem was...
"The number of people believing in this miracle is still not enough, and the wish power itself isn't strong enough. Therefore, the Devil Fruit created is just a one-time consumable and doesn't possess the 'Indestructibility' of a true Devil Fruit."
"To create the truly perfect Devil Fruit that grants an ability permanently and can reincarnate elsewhere in the world even after the user dies... I need a much larger number of people to have 'Cognition' of it. The wish power and Source Energy of Lineage Factor consumed would be immeasurable."
Roy pondered inwardly.
He had already understood the principle of Devil Fruits' 'Indestructibility'.
Devil Fruits naturally don't perish, because wishes don't perish.
As long as humans and creatures still exist, wishes will always exist.
For instance, the Sun God Nika—as long as there are enough people in this world who recognize the story of Nika's existence, as long as there are still people who truly believe in Nika's existence and desire the 'Freedom' that Nika represents.
Then the Nika Fruit naturally won't disappear; at most, it can only be bound.
This might even explain why the original story mentioned that the Nika Fruit was evading the World Government—'Freedom' naturally and instinctively evades 'Binding'.
However, realizing this, Roy wasn't in a hurry.
The Devil Fruits in this world were born under the power of the Pillar of the World in the distant past, after an unknown number of years of accumulation, an unknown number of years of deposited wishes.
But with the help of the Fruit Encyclopedia, he already had the means to bypass that vast amount of time.
So, he didn't need to be anxious.
"However, the spiral patterns on the Devil Fruits in this world probably represent the whirlpools on the sea—that is, the devil of the 'Abyss'."
"That should be the trace of Imu exerting influence."
Star Lord murmured inwardly, looking at the Devil Fruit engraved with star patterns in his hand: "So the Devil Fruits I create, strictly speaking, should be called 'Star Fruits'."
Amidst his thoughts, Star Lord didn't hesitate and tossed the fruit to Bartholomew Kuma.
"Give it to her to eat."
He said softly.
"..."
Kuma caught the fruit instinctively.
Looking at the star patterns on the fruit, he hesitated for a moment.
A Devil Fruit user cannot consume a second fruit—this was common knowledge on the sea.
But...
"Kuma, no matter what time it is, you must believe in miracles."
"A so-called miracle is something beyond common sense that only someone who transcends common sense can achieve!"
His father's words still echoed in his ears.
Thus, Kuma looked at Star Lord, and at Hitsuji (Sheep) beside Star Lord who was looking at him with a smile.
Yes.
Look at Neverland, look at Totto Land, look at this sea—The Zodiac are people who transcend common sense.
So...
Kuma's large hand held the miracle tightly to his chest as he turned around.
Then—he saw the other miracle bestowed upon him by this world, looking at him with wide open eyes.
"Father, if I eat this, will I get better?"
Bonney asked this.
"I think so."
Kuma sat down cross-legged and handed the fruit over.
As he offered the fruit, he reached out his large hand and rubbed Bonney's head.
It was also in this instant that he froze somewhat.
Because he realized.
Although the time was different, the era was different.
But his figure, at this moment, overlapped with his father's from back then.
"Father might not be able to stay with you all the time from now on."
"But... please believe and look forward to it—miracles will always come."
The face of that man who, even after becoming a slave and facing hardship, gritted his teeth, swallowed the pain, and revealed a smile to encourage his son, had never faded from Kuma's memory even after such long and dark years.
So...
"Bonney, eat it."
A hearty, gentle smile appeared on Kuma's face: "Please believe and witness—the miracle has arrived."
"I will always stay by your side."
Thus, the shadow overlapping upon him also seemed to reveal a smile in this instant.
"..."
Hearing this, Bonney was stunned.
Then, looking at her father's smile.
Holding the fruit, she nodded more vigorously than ever before: "Mm!"
She opened her mouth and bit into that fruit in one go.
"Wu... so sweet..."
The next moment, a refreshing taste spread across her mouth.
That was the taste of 'Hope'.
And a moment later.
Hope brought the miracle.
VMMM!
A faint sound came.
From Bonney's small body, an invisible power rippled outwards.
Then, everyone saw.
On Bonney's face, those hard, cold, curse-like crystals brought by the 'Sapphire Scales'.
At this moment, their surfaces glowed with a soft, moonlight-like radiance.
Beneath the radiance.
Fine cracks quietly spread out.
And from within those cracks, the brilliance of stars twinkled, as if something was awakening, struggling, and... being reborn beneath the things that had bound her for so many years!
The entirety of Neverland fell into a dead silence.
Crack!
Until the next moment, the sound of shattering broke the silence.
Everyone saw—the first piece of crystal fell off Bonney's face.
However, it didn't fall to the ground.
In the instant it left Bonney's skin, it shattered instantly, turning into wisps of azure dust.
Then...
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
A series of continuous sounds followed closely behind, like the sound of small creatures breaking out of their shells.
Every single Sapphire Scale faintly visible under Bonney's arms, neck, and even clothes peeled off and shattered into powder in this instant.
Countless specks of dust surrounded Bonney. Illuminated by the colorful radiance of Neverland, it was as if the hands of stars were lifting her up from the abyss.
The holiness of that scene was beyond words.
"Wow..."
"Bonney is so pretty."
Linlin and the bobbleheads even forgot to cheer at this moment.
Every one of them had their mouths wide open, their little faces filled with amazement.
Collei also covered her mouth, her eyes instantly filling with tears—as the person responsible for delivering the water from the Fountain of Youth to Bonney every day, no one knew better than her the pain brought by Bonney's illness.
And right now...
Hoo...
Bonney took a breath.
She could feel—at this moment, her body was lighter than ever before.
When she inhaled, her chest no longer felt constricted.
When she moved, her bones no longer ached with stabbing pain.
That was a feeling she had never experienced since birth.
"Father..."
She clenched her fists.
Looking at the fair skin completely free of any blemishes, tears flowed from her eyes: "I... I... I'm all better!"
She was certain of this, and then rushed straight into her father's embrace without hesitation.
And Kuma's arms, which could easily send an island flying, instinctively hugged his daughter tightly to his chest.
But in this moment.
He actually didn't cry.
He just looked somewhat blankly at the place where Bonney had originally stood.
There, the dust formed after the Sapphire Scales shattered was swirling around.
Hoo.
A gentle breeze blew past.
That dust turned into ribbons, scattering into the air.
Kuma seemed to see that figure.
"...Ginny."
He murmured her name.
In this instant, Kuma seemed to faintly hear a familiar, crisp laugh ringing in his ear.
In this moment, Kuma finally revealed a smile.
"Mm."
He hugged his greatest treasure tightly.
Tears finally fell.
"..."
Hitsuji smiled and sat down beside Star Lord.
"I said it long ago—I do not like tragedies."
As his words fell, Star Lord also let out a light chuckle.
The pain that lasted for days ends here.
Just as Kuma said.
The miracle has arrived.
"Yeah."
Star Lord softly murmured words that no one could hear clearly.
He seemed to be speaking to Hitsuji.
Or perhaps, he was speaking to himself.
"This is what I want to do."
"This is what I ought to do."
☆☆☆
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