ACT II: Devil Fruit Hunters


The Establishment Of Greed

Once more, the Black Tail pulled into the docks of Corteano. Its chill wind had picked up during their time abroad. Winter was coming in the East Blue. Corteano was one of the islands most affected by it, because the giant metal structures absorbed the cold.

The crew came off the ship, one by one. Halcen brought along the box with the Devil Fruit he had acquired on Architao Island. He carried it tightly as they walked through the city towards Max's business front. They ducked through the darkened city corners and forgotten alleys until they reached the shop.

Halcen opened the doors with ease. He looked around to see a couple regular customers at the bar. And behind the bar was the large tan man, Pad. He usually used his height as a means of intimidation, seeing as he didn't talk all that much. But Halcen had never bought into it. Max hadn't hired Pad for his intelligence or fighting skills. He was just a façade, the same way the bar was a front for Max's true business.

Halcen walked up to the bar and sat down in the chair by himself, letting the rest of his crew wander the bar. They all found a table to sit down at.

"Do they have food in this bitch?" Fein asked. "I'm hungry."

"Same," Bo said.

"I don't think so," Kazuki said. "This isn't even a real bar. It's a front."

"Actually, it is a real bar," Jin said. "The bar runs the same way as any normal bar. They just use it as a cover for their real operations. They have alcohol, but they don't make food."

"What he said," Jory chimed in. Having previously worked for Max, he knew how the man operated.

"Jeez," Bo said. "That's lame."

"We were out for for-fucking-ever," Fein said. "We need some real food."

"Are you unhappy with my cooking?" Grey asked Fein.

"I… no, I just…" Fein got quiet, which was rare.

Everyone laughed.

"Nobody is displeased with your cooking, Grey," Kazuki said. "It's just that when we're out on the water, or at camp, we usually eat a lot of the same stuff over and over. It would nice for a change of pace."

"You know, the Roger pirates crossed the world with my cooking and not once did anyone complain. You young kids are so ungrateful."

"And you old farts really like letting us know about 'back in the day,'" Fein laughed.

"Yo, Pad," Halcen said, sitting down. He set the box on the bar.

"Hello, Halcen," the big man said with his thick voice. "I'm surprised to see you. Why have you come here? What's in the box?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? I need to talk to Max," he said. Then he looked around to make sure nobody could hear him, leaned in and whispered "It's business."

"Hmmm," Pad grumbled.

"Oh come on, just let me see the guy."

Pad sighed. "He's in his office."

"Thank you," Halcen said, tilting his head. Then he got up, picking up his box. He looked to Grey, gave him the okay, then walked back to Max's office. He knocked.

"Who the hell is there?" Max called.

Then Halcen opened the door "Guess who!"

Max was sitting at his desk in his office going over some papers. He was wearing an orange shirt. "Oh, what the fuck? PAD! God dammit you're supposed to filter people! Fucking idiot."

"Hey, it's not his fault you hired him," Halcen laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. So what the hell do you want? Last I heard you had headed to Loguetown, chasing Shanks. You were also pretty pissed with me for forcing you into a detour."

"I found Shanks."

"Aaaaand?"

"He's not gonna help. He's off doing bullshit while I'm over here trying to fix the world. I gotta take care of Whitebeard's traitorous ass by myself. That's actually why I came to you."

"What do you want from me?"

Halcen set the box on Max's desk.

Max looked over the box. "What is it?"

"I brought you a present."

"I swear to God, Halcen, if this is some prank…"

"Just open it."

Max opened the box and looked inside. His eyes sparked. "Ho-ho-ho-holy shit." He reached in and picked up the Devil Fruit, examining it. "This is…"

"Another Devil Fruit."

"And where did you get this?"

"The island I found Shanks. There were some bandits that had ravaged the island, gathering all its riches. This was found in their loot. I took it after we chased them off."

"And have you identified it?"

"I have." Halcen tossed the book on the table and opened it to the page where the Slime Fruit was displayed.

Max took a glance over it. "Ooooh. A logia. Very rare." Then he frowned. "And I suspect you want the full four hundred?"

"No," Halcen said.

"What's that?"

"I want to make a deal."

"Hmmm… I'm intrigued. I like deals, especially when it involved high beri items."

"Then you're gonna love this."

"Go ahead."

Halcen took a breath and began to explain. "I need a partner."

"A partner? For what?"

"I want to become a Devil Fruit Hunter. And I'm going to need you and your connections and resources to make it happen. Together, we can create a black market company that sells Devil Fruits. You know people that will buy Devil Fruits for high prices and I can supply you with them. I go out find them, I bring them back to you, and you find a buyer. I get the majority of the beri, but you take yourself a nice chunk of change and we both get outrageously rich. I won't take money up front, but the more you sell them for the richer we get."

"That's nice plan and all," Max said, "But just where do you expect to find the rest of these Devil Fruits? You came across two so far, which is excellent, but it's luck. How do you expect to come up with a steady supply like you're proposing?"

Halcen leaned forward in his seat. "Max, it wasn't luck, or coincidence. This is what I'm meant to do. I actually know someone with a lot of information about Devil Fruits, so they're going to be helping me set up my process. Plus, we already have a line on two more Devil Fruits."

"You do?" Max asked, clearly impressed.

"We're gonna retrace our footsteps a bit, and I should be coming back with two more Devil Fruits. And they'll make us even richer."

"And what exactly do you plan to do with all your riches?" Max asked.

"What I do with my wealth is my business," Halcen said.

"You're no fun," Max laughed.

"No, but I am intelligent, talented, and driven. So you got to ask yourself if you want part of this deal. I would prefer my partner to be you because we have an understanding. But if necessary, I will go out of my way to find someone else."

"I want forty percent."

"Twenty-five."

"You're the one that came to me with this. Not the other way around."

"No, but my part of the job actually involves danger. Your contribution has zero safety risks. I would actually be risking my life fighting and killing to get my hands on these fruits."

"Okay, that may be fair, but you wouldn't get the prices I could get with anyone else. Thirty-five."

"Deal."

Max and Halcen shook hands.

"I'm also gonna need some equipment," Halcen said. "I have a list. This is stuff that's gonna help us track the Devil Fruits." He handed the piece of paper.

"Well look at this," Max said in surprise. "You're really serious about this." He looked over the list. "I have a few of these on hand, but a lot of it will need to be custom ordered. This is some expensive stuff."

"I'm sure this will cover everything nicely," Halcen said motioning toward the Devil Fruit in front of him.

"Alright. I can make this happen. I'll sell this off and the equipment you need will come out of your cut."

"Sounds good to me."

Halcen went back out to the bar to collect his crew. "We're going."

"Bro, I'm fucking hungry. Can we get some food before we move on?"

"That sounds like a good idea."

The crew went out on the town. With their extra money in the bank, they were able to afford a nice lunch and took some to go. They got their fill, and then headed out.

The former pirates headed back into the waters and towards their next destination: Bear Island. There, they intended to reclaim the two Devil Fruits they believed had regrown after killing their users in their first trip to the island, where they had accidentally stumbled upon a cult following a "Bear God" they called Kumajin. Halcen and Grey had dispatched his right hand, a Devil Fruit user named Domian, and Halcen had taken down Kumajin in a brutal one on one fight after he had knocked out the rest of their crew.

They had a couple days to kill until they arrived at their destination. Halcen went to the kitchen where Jin was sitting with a steaming cup of tea. Halcen was impressed with Jin's knowledge on Devil Fruits and wanted to talk about it. He sat down at the table across from him. "So…"

"Yes?"

"I was just curious, where did you learn all that about Devil Fruits? I mean, after traveling the world under Whitebeard, I learned a decent amount about their uses and weaknesses, but what you know is really detailed. I know you're a scientist and all, but where did you learn all that? That's not something that's self taught. Someone taught you all that. I'm just wondering, who was it?"

Jin gulped. "Oh you know…" he said trying to shrug off the question.

"No, I don't know. In fact, I don't know all that much about you, or Fein for that matter. Where did you guys come from?"

Jin locked eyes with Halcen, but didn't say a thing.

"I mean clearly you were running from something right? You borrowed a shitton of money from Max to build a fantastic fortress, and then you holed up there fighting off anybody who tried to come after you… until me."

Jin sighed.

"Who were you running from?"

"I'm just here to make weapons," Jin said, trying to change the subject.

"And yet you haven't done anything but put together a few small bombs… I was beginning to wonder if you were worth me putting out my neck for you. Now Fein on the other hand, he's been worth it. His physical capabilities almost rival mine. He's strong and he has a well-trained wolf aid. He's got a penchant for violence and he's a little off, but he's a solid fighter. But not you…"

Jin's face twitched in anger. But he held his tongue. He knew better than to let himself be drawn in and pop off.

"I mean… what happened to the guy who threatened to kill all three of us with that experimental gun? That guy was a badass. I was looking forward to working with him. But after all this time… nothing. I'm just glad you're finally contributing, you know? I was beginning to wonder… are you not as intelligent as you made yourself out to be or are you just lazy? But if we're going to do this Devil Fruit thing, I can't have you slacking. This relies on you doing your part. I need you on it. I need you focused."

"I apologize…" Jin said low behind clenched teeth, "… if you feel like I haven't delivered up to this point. But I can assure you that that will no longer be the case."

Halcen nodded. "Good. Cause I think you're a good guy, but if you can't add anything to my crew, I don't really have any room for you in my crew."

"Noted."

Halcen nodded. "I'll be on my way. I've got some training with Fein and Jory. Some of us have already dedicated ourselves to getting better." Halcen stood up from his seat and walked out of the kitchen.

Jin sat with his hands on his cup on tea, seething. He waited for a moment to be sure there was no one else around. Then he threw the cup of hot liquid against the wall. The ceramic broke with a loud crack and the tea spilled all over the ground. Jin stormed out of the room without looking back.

They finally arrived at Bear Island after a couple days of sailing. Morkine drifted the Black Tail around the south where the docks sat before the town. They pulled up and roped the ship to the dock. They looked across the island. The sun was out, there were birds chirping and the island sounded of joy. After the catastrophe they had endured, the townspeople had begun to rebuild their island bit by bit. There were few people left alive of adult ages, but many children. What adults that were still there were out working hard along with the teenagers. The young kids had been exempt from work.

"Jeez, it feels so different," Grey said. His Observation Haki allowed him to pick up on the island's energy.

"It really does seem quite nice," Halcen said, looking upon the island with pride. Suddenly he remembered the reason for all their pain here: Valentina. She had been captured by Kumajin and his cult, and they had tried to force her into being his bride. After Halcen had rescued her, she had confessed to him that she wanted to be with him, and he had turned her down. Suddenly he felt a gaping hole of loneliness. "Let's get out of here as fast as we can." He looked back into the ship. "Jin, do you have your machine ready?"

"Yeah, I got it here." Jin climbed onto the docks with a device that sat clunkily in two hands. It was about the width of a cantaloupe but only about three inches thick. He got it turned on and they had to wait a few moments for it to boot up. Then it beeped and it began to do its job. "Okay, so no readings yet, which means we need to get closer to where the Devil Fruit itself actually is."

"So we should head to where their users died, right?"

"That's about it. Then it should point the direction of where exactly it'll be growing."

"Alright, let's get going. Road trip! Guys!"

Everyone funneled out of the ship onto the docks. They all began filing down the wood with their feet clapping. As they came out of the docks there were a bunch of kids in the street playing with a ball. One of them took notice of the group.

"Halcen?" he asked with his head cocked. Halcen recognized him. He was the one who had given him the candy. He ran in front of Halcen. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked, glancing over the crew. He didn't recognize several of them. "Who are these guys? Where's Valentina?"

Halcen choked. He knew the kids had liked her. "She's no longer part of the crew, neither are Bailu or Loyola. They went back to their other job. I got some replacements."

"There are no girls," he said, clearly disappointed.

"Nope, not yet."

"That's boring," he said sadly.

"What do you know about girls anyway? Aren't you too young to like girls?"

"I'm eleven. I'm mature."

Halcen began laughing.

The kid growled. "Did you see old lady Miriane yet?"

"We're not really here to visit," Halcen said.

"Then why are you here?"

"We're here to find something we left behind last time," Halcen said, trying not to draw attention the Devil Fruits.

He looked at Halcen almost like he didn't believe him. "Hmm… okay," he said, as if he was bored. "You should still go see the old lady. She'll be mad if she heard you were here and didn't visit."

"Okay, okay, okay. On our way out, we will." +

"You better." The kid ran off.

"Halcen, we gotta be going."

"Alright, let's head out."

"So where is the first closest one?" Jin asked.

"That would be Domian's. He died in his little shack by the cliff outside of town. So we gotta head up through the town first."

The crew members walked through the town, passing the small amount of people in the streets.

"Wow, there's like nobody here," Fein said.

"Yeah, the last time we were here, we kind of killed most of the population. Just the adults thought so there are mostly kids in the town," Halcen said, explaining the situation.

"Holy shit, how did that happen?"

"Well, Domian used his abilities to inject some kind of mind control serum into the townspeople and threw them our way in a crazed mob. They tried to kill us first."

"Damn, that's hardcore."

"You would think that."

"I'm not saying it's cool, but it's definitely intense."

Jory felt sick to his stomach. "It was horrible."

"Well considering what else we're probably going to have to do, we're no doubt going to be up against some other crazy shit too."

Jory gulped. "Yeah I suppose."

"Calm yourself Jory," Grey said. "We're only here today to pick up some Devil Fruit."

Jory nodded. "You're right." He looked around, and couldn't help but see all the blood and chaos that he had been part of. They had since cleaned it up, but it was still very uncomfortable to look around.

They headed up through the town and out to where the old shack had been. It didn't seem like it was touched. With all the construction of the rest of the town, Halcen figured they would have come to see Domian's lab. But to his relief it had been left alone. There was still the giant gaping hole where Kumajin's body had torn through the shack. But Domian's body was gone. It gave Halcen pause. If the body was gone, so too could the fruit.

"Alright, this is the place," Halcen told Jin. "Get your radar in gear."

Jin looked at the detector and was pleased to find a faint signal. "It's here."

"Where?"

Jin moved about, trying to accurately pinpoint its location. "Right here," he said in front of a bush." There were a bunch of berries loaded into the bush. They looked poisonous.

Halcen came to inspect the bush. He searched the thing until he found what he had come all this way for. There was a massive fruit hanging on the branches of the bush. It had a grayish-blue exterior, with green stripes going around it. It looked about the shape of an apple.

"That's it," Halcen said. He gently picked the fruit from the bush and looked at it in amazement. He looked to Jin. "You were right."

Jin nodded. "I usually am."

Halcen smiled and then chuckled. "Alright, let's see what the book says." He took out his Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and began perusing through it for the details on his new score. "Oh here it is. Paramecia type. The Chusha Chusha no Mi. The Inject Fruit. It allows one the ability to inject different chemicals into their opponents or allies at will."

"That was definitely Domian's power," Grey said.

"That stuff is crazy," Bo said. "It had Kazuki and I trying to kill each other."

"It's very powerful," Kazuki admitted.

"How much is it worth?"

"It's worth a two hundred fifty million."

"Oh shit," Jory said. "That's a lot."

"Yeah, we're gonna be raking it the big bucks," Fein said, rubbing his paws greedily.

"Indeed," Halcen said. He took the fruit and put it in a small bag he had brought for this reason. "So we should go and get the other one."

"Kumajin's," Grey said.

"So where's that gonna be at?" Jin asked.

"It's off in the middle of the forest. Kumajin led me on a journey to the heart of the island where he had Valentina hidden just before he died."

"And thank God too," Grey said. "We would not have been able to find her ourselves so easily. She could have died out there."

Halcen grumbled. "Kumajin was a monster. Let's not humanize him for doing something 'kind' in his last moments. He and his clan slaughtered hundreds, and forced us to kill the townspeople here. And God had nothing to do with it."

"Alright, Halcen. Let's just get moving."

Halcen led their way away from the cliffs across the island and through the forest, where he found the nook that Kumajin had led him to. Sudden flashbacks reminded him of seeing Valentina safe and alive with the Sleep Fruit sitting next to her, completely untouched. Halcen tried to breathe. I don't like being here, he swore to himself. "This is where he died," Halcen said, motioning to the general area.

There was no body or blood stains. The townspeople must have taken care of his body and the natural weather would have washed away any remnants.

Jin booted up his radar. He began wandering the area until he got a hit. It was somewhat further into the forest, but they followed him. "Here!" he called once he had found it.

Halcen caught up followed by the rest of the crew. The fruit was hanging in a tree of apples. The majority of the fruit was brown colored and had black spots. It had the shape of a pear. Halcen climbed the tree and gently snapped the twig it grew on. "Here we go," he said as he slowly got down without breaking it. He landed on the ground and took a good long look at the fruit. This was it. This was the source of all Kumajin's powers. He believed that he had ascended being a human and become a god with this fruit. He had even convinced the rest of the island and his best friend, Domian, as well. He thought that this gave him the excuse to take whatever he wanted, including people. This fruit was the cause of all the trouble we experienced here. All the blood, sweat, and tears we shed at Kumajin's hand…

"Halcen?" Grey asked worriedly.

Halcen looked up and stared at Grey. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

Halcen cleared his throat. "Uh… yeah. Why?"

"You're shaking."

Halcen looked at his hand and realized how bad of a condition he was in. The hardships he had experienced here in Bear Island had done something to him, and he had only just realized. "I'll be fine. Let's take a look at this thing." He once again pulled out the Devil Fruit book he had taken from Max. He flipped through it and found the page. "You gotta be fucking kidding me," he swore.

"What?"

"Zoan type, obviously. As we figured, right? The Kuma Kuma no Mi. The Bear Fruit. It's worth a hundred fifty fucking million."

"Well that's good," Jory said, "isn't it?"

"No, that's not. That's not even close to how much the Inject Fruit is worth. Why is it that the one who made the most trouble for us was the one with the weakest Devil Fruit?" he snapped.

"Well when you think about it, it makes sense," Kazuki said.

"How does that make sense?" Halcen asked.

"Well Domian was the one who made fighting Kumajin much more difficult. His abilities augmented Kumajin. That's why he turned into a giant, right? Because Domian gave him some kind of injection. And when we found him in the forest, you almost killed him but Domian interfered. Domian was the one making Kumajin dangerous. If not for Domian, Kumajin would have just been a run of the mill Zoan that was relatively easy to take out."

"Paramecia fruits do have a higher potential than Zoan's," Jin explained. "With Paramecias, really your only limit is your creativity. But as a Zoan, you get one major physical power up and unless you're like a prodigy who can awaken it, that's it."

"Awaken?" Halcen asked.

"It's this ability where Devil Fruit users from any branch can call upon the ultimate power of their fruit. It's usually some type of transformation. And from what it sounds like, this Kumajin wasn't able to do that by himself."

"Wait…" Halcen had a thought and began rummaging through the book again looking at different Zoan pages. "Fuck." He looked at another Zoan page. "Fuck." And he looked at another random Zoan page. "FUCK!"

"What?"

"You're right, Jin, Zoan's aren't worth shit! In fact most them seem to be worth less than the Bear Fruit. Zoan's are just fucking useless."

"I mean, I wouldn't call them useless. They still have their own use. They're just not as powerful as Paramecias or Logias."

Halcen shook with rage. "Jin?"

"Yes?"

"What would happen if one were to crush a Devil Fruit before it had been eaten? Would it still regrown or would it cease to exist altogether?"

"I'm… not sure. Why?"

Halcen squeezed his fist around the Bear Fruit and it popped, the juices spewing all over and leaving jellied nastiness in his hand.

Everyone jumped.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" Fein asked.

Halcen looked to Fein with wicked eyes. "You heard me. Zoans are garbage. We don't need to spend our time or resources trying to get ahold of them."

"But Halcen," Grey began.

"We take the Inject Fruit and go. We still have all the money we need and more. We can get plenty from Paramecias and Logias. End of discussion."

Grey looked into Halcen's eyes and saw pure rage, pure hatred. Halcen looked like a man possessed. It put Grey ill at ease, but he didn't know how to handle it. He gulped. "Okay, let's go."

The crew headed back to Corteano and Halcen went back to Max's office.

Halcen tossed the bag with the Inject Fruit in it onto his desk. "I'm back."

Max dug into the bag pulling out the Devil Fruit. "I thought you said you were bringing two back."

"I was, but I changed my mind."

"If you're holding out on me, this deal isn't going to work."

"No, I'm not holding out on you. I intentionally destroyed the other Devil Fruit."

"Why the fuck would you do that?"

"Because it's come to my attention that Zoan fruits are worth shit, and I don't want to deal with all the hassle for those low numbers. We're better off going after fruits that will make bank and attract wealthy customers. If the kind of people we sell to can only afford Zoans, we don't need them."

"Hmm… I'm not sure if I agree, but I like that you're thinking big." Max nodded. "So what's next?"

"There are a dozen islands in the East Blue. For now, I sweep through those for whatever fruits I can find."

"Good. In the meantime, I'll get to work on this Devil Fruit. I've already arranged for a buyer for the Slime Logia."

"Good," Halcen chuckled. "We're gonna be filthy fucking rich."