Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17
Chapter 17
"I don’t need it," Kaya shook her head first. "I just want to focus on studying medicine and healing all of you from the back. I’m not good at fighting. Let Karina or Nami have it."
Rorschach nodded. "That’s fine. I’ll find a more suitable fruit for you later, Kaya. There’s no rush."
Nami and Karina looked at each other.
"Don’t look at me," Nami said immediately. "I’m a navigator. There’s no way I’m eating a Devil Fruit. I refuse to become a landlubber."
Karina gave Rorschach a resentful look. "Can’t we just sell it? This thing is worth hundreds of millions of berries! We could split a fortune."
"No," Rorschach replied firmly. "Money can always be earned again, but your lives are irreplaceable. I don’t want to see any of you get hurt."
Both Karina and Nami felt their hearts skip a beat.
No one had ever cared about their safety like this before. Karina had grown up in an orphanage and survived alone by stealing until she met Nami. Nami had lost her mother Bellemere and lived by robbing pirates after Arlong took over her village.
Hearing someone worry about them so genuinely moved them deeply.
"You’re trying to tie me down with these sappy feelings," Karina said with a tsundere huff. "Just so you know, if I run away later, you won’t get this fruit back."
"Hahaha! I’ll tie you to my ship so tightly you’ll never have the chance to run," Rorschach laughed proudly.
"Hmph. Since you’ve made so much money, I’ll stay on your ship for a while. I’ve been pretty tired lately anyway. Might as well enjoy life for now," Karina turned her head away, refusing to look at his smug face.
[Ding! Crew member Karina successfully recruited. Reward: Crew Training Room.]
Rorschach’s mouth curved into a satisfied smile as he glanced at the tsundere girl beside him.
Finally willing to admit you’re my crewmate, huh? Who would’ve thought the Barrier Fruit would completely win her over? What a pleasant surprise.
Once he calmed down, Rorschach said, "Go ahead and eat it. You’ll gain the Devil Fruit’s power once you do."
After some persuasion from the group, Karina finally picked up the fruit and took a small bite.
An indescribable, horrible taste exploded in her mouth. Her cute face instantly turned purple as she looked like she was about to throw up.
"Don’t spit it out! Eat the whole thing!" Rorschach stepped forward, shoved the rest of the fruit into her mouth, and covered it so she couldn’t spit it out.
Karina struggled wildly, slapping his shoulder.
Gulp.
She swallowed the entire fruit. Rorschach released her. A white, ghost-like vapor floated out of her mouth.
"Hey, snap out of it, Karina!" Nami worriedly shook her friend.
Karina swayed like a lifeless puppet for a few seconds.
"She’s fine," Rorschach reassured them. "She’s just digesting the fruit. She’ll wake up soon and be able to use the Barrier Fruit’s power."
Sure enough, Karina quickly recovered. She grabbed Rorschach by the collar and yelled, "You bastard! Were you trying to choke me to death?! And didn’t you say one bite was enough?! Why did you make me eat the whole disgusting thing?!"
Facing her anger, Rorschach put on a serious expression. "I heard that eating the entire Devil Fruit gives you much stronger powers than just taking one bite. Just to be safe, I made sure you ate it all."
"That’s obviously something you just made up! You just wanted me to suffer that horrible taste!" Karina kept shaking his collar.
Nami watched with a nervous sweat drop and quickly tried to calm her down. "Okay, okay, calm down, Karina. Maybe he’s telling the truth. Either way, no harm done, right?"
Karina immediately turned her fury on Nami.
"Next time we find a Devil Fruit, I’m shoving the whole thing down your throat so you can taste it too!"
"Ah... hahaha..." Nami laughed awkwardly.
"Alright, let’s see what your new power can do," Rorschach quickly changed the subject.
"Hmph! We’ll settle this later!" Karina snorted.
She then formed a finger frame with her hands like a camera.
"Barrier!"
A transparent, square-shaped protective shield appeared in front of her.
Rorschach drew his sword and slashed at it. The barrier didn’t even shake — it remained perfectly smooth.
"Impressive defense. I don’t think I could break it that easily," he said.
"Of course!" Karina declared proudly, hands on her hips. "From now on, don’t even think about bullying me, Nami, or little Kaya, or I’ll blast you away with my barrier!"
"Now! Pack up all the treasure and those bounty heads. We’re getting out of here before the kingdom’s guards show up!"
Karina stood tall like a bossy big sister and ordered Rorschach around.
"Yes, yes~" Rorschach shrugged with a helpless smile. Let her enjoy this for now. Once she’s properly on the ship, I’ll get my revenge.
He stored all the treasure and the two heads into his Storage Space.
After making sure nothing was left behind, he picked up the three girls and flew away using the Float-Float Fruit.
Only after their figures completely disappeared did a squad of Goa Kingdom soldiers finally arrive. They stared in shock at the sea of unconscious pirates and the garbage mountains that looked like they had been ravaged by a monster. Their jaws dropped and refused to close.
...
After collecting the bounties from the Marine base, the group returned to the hotel.
They began counting all the treasure and bounty money they had earned over the past few days.
"Nami! What are you doing? Come help us count!" Karina shouted from across the room.
This was unusual. Normally Nami was the first one to rush over and count every berry. Instead, she was sitting on the sofa, completely absorbed in reading a letter.
"Oh, sorry. I found something interesting," Nami replied.
"What is it?" Karina asked.
"It has something to do with Rorschach."
"Hm?" Rorschach looked confused as he took the letter from Nami. Karina and Kaya leaned in curiously to read it too.
After a while, Karina gasped.
"They’ve put a bounty on you in the black market!"
In just a few days, Rorschach had caused quite a stir in Goa Kingdom. Many well-known pirates had been captured and turned in for bounties. Not a single one had survived against him. The name "Dual Blade Swordsman" had begun spreading through the underworld.
Many weaker pirates were now terrified of this mysterious newcomer.
By hunting these pirates, Rorschach had also stepped on the toes of local criminal organizations. As a result, both gangs and pirates had jointly placed a bounty on his head.
His current black market bounty had reached 50 million berries — the highest in the entire East Blue. freēwēbnovel.com
Of course, some proud pirates like Ricky refused to participate in such "cowardly" methods. Ricky believed real pirates should settle things with strength, not money. But after learning about Rorschach’s growing reputation, even he had secretly started searching for the Dual Blade Swordsman.
Unfortunately for him, Rorschach found him first.
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