[Pickable items detected, do you want to pick them up?]
"Pick up."
[Ding! Successfully picked up: 33 ordinary body crystals, 4 excellent body crystals, 30 ordinary soul crystals, 3 excellent soul crystals, 38 ordinary talent crystals, 8 excellent talent crystals, 2 rare talent crystals, 29 ordinary taijutsu crystals, 3 excellent taijutsu crystals, 31 ordinary kendo crystals, 6 excellent kendo crystals, and 1 legendary superhuman combat fruit crystal. All items have been stored in the portable space.]
After taking down the pirates, Kairos Flint collected the loot scattered on the battlefield.
The quality of these pirates was subpar, and the ability crystals they dropped weren't impressive. Then again, the Battle Pirates were never considered a high-ranking pirate crew. Kairos wasn't surprised.
He understood that, aside from talent, the quality of ability crystals was tied directly to the strength of the person they came from. The stronger the person, the better the crystal—and the reverse held true as well.
What truly caught his attention, however, was the Devil Fruit crystal he obtained from the pirate captain. It started at the legendary level.
Whether it was the Devil Fruit he picked up last time or the one from this batch, Kairos began to piece things together. These Devil Fruits were inherently high-level.
The issue? Side effects.
That's why he hadn't eaten any of them.
He took out the legendary superhuman combat fruit crystal and examined the text displayed on it:
[Legendary Superhuman Combat Fruit Crystal]: A superhuman-type Devil Fruit that grants immense combat power upon consumption. Original side effects have been removed. Can be synthesized.
Kairos's pupils contracted sharply.
Was he seeing this right?
He rubbed his eyes to double-check. Once confirmed, his emotions were all over the place.
The side effects were gone.
This changed everything.
No more being unable to swim. No more vulnerability to seastone. The value of this crystal skyrocketed.
Devil Fruits without side effects were a completely different league. With the side effects, users were easy targets for sea-based weapons and seastone projectiles that specifically suppressed Devil Fruit users.
Even a powerful Esper could be incapacitated by a seastone bullet. In the New World, these tools were everywhere.
This was exactly why Kairos had resisted eating a Devil Fruit until now.
But this?
This was different.
He began to form a hypothesis.
"Is it because of the golden finger?"
He theorized that maybe his mysterious ability—the golden finger—removed the side effects when condensing the Devil Fruit into crystal form.
There was no confirmation. The golden finger remained silent.
Still, he was fairly certain his theory was correct. The golden finger was the only unique factor.
"I still have an uncrystallized Devil Fruit. Let's put it to the test," Kairos thought.
He rushed into the nearby forest.
"Kairos, where are you going?" Nami called out, confused.
"Running a quick experiment. Wait here. I'll be back soon," he replied, disappearing into the trees.
In the jungle, Kairos scanned the area for an animal.
Soon, he pinned down a wild boar, immobilizing it.
"You're perfect for this test," he muttered, patting the boar on the head.
He pulled out the Devil Fruit he had retrieved earlier from the sea: a Dragon Fruit, specifically the ancient Tyrannosaurus Rex type—a rare and valuable animal-type Devil Fruit.
"Lucky you," he smirked, then forced the Devil Fruit into the boar's mouth.
The boar struggled but reflexively chewed and swallowed the fruit pulp.
It immediately looked disgusted, even retching. Not surprising. Even animals found Devil Fruits revolting.
Kairos had no interest in eating one himself, regardless of its effects.
Soon, the boar began to transform.
Its body expanded, morphing into the towering shape of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
It worked.
The boar had become a Devil Fruit user.
Kairos's experiment had officially begun. Now he had to see if a side-effect-free crystal would result from killing the transformed boar.
He drew the Sandaime Kitetsu blade.
With one swift strike, infused with ghostly energy, he slashed through the boar.
Blood splattered. The massive creature was cleaved cleanly in two.
Even with an animal-type Devil Fruit's regenerative abilities, there was no coming back from that.
He wasn't interested in recovery.
[Pickable items detected, do you want to pick them up?]
"Pick up."
[Ding! Successfully picked up: Legendary Dragon Fruit – Ancient Tyrannosaurus Rex Form Crystal*1. Stored in the portable space.]
He quickly examined the newly acquired crystal:
[Legendary Dragon Fruit – Ancient Species Tyrannosaurus Rex Form Crystal]: A rare, ancient animal-type Devil Fruit. Grants transformation into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Original side effects have been eliminated. Can be synthesized.
"Just as I thought," Kairos whispered.
The Devil Fruit, once crystallized by his golden finger, had its side effects removed.
This confirmed his theory.
"I had no idea my golden finger could do this," he mused.
The revelation opened new doors.
If he could consume Devil Fruit abilities without side effects, he could dramatically increase his power.
Shock Fruit. Light Fruit. Azure Dragon Fruit...
He was interested in all of them.
But then came the question: who else should use these fruits?
He wasn't hoarding them just for himself. Some fruits could enhance his teammates.
Nami, for example, could gain immense power. If he gathered enough legendary or epic crystals, she could rival even a general or emperor-class fighter.
With no side effects, she'd have a massive advantage.
A powerful woman with Devil Fruit abilities under his command? That would make his bounty hunter crew a force to be reckoned with.
"If I train a few trusted lieutenants to that level, even the Navy and the World Government will think twice before messing with us," he said to himself.
But to do that, he would have to travel to the New World and take down stronger pirate crews to obtain high-grade crystals.
Even then, the best crystals should go to him first. Only the excess would go to Nami or other companions.
Suddenly, an idea struck him.
"Wait a second. My golden finger allows synthesis. The Devil Fruit description says it can be synthesized... What if I merge two Devil Fruit crystals?"
His heart raced.
What kind of power would that create?
Kairos was never one to hesitate.
He immediately pulled out two legendary crystals: the Battle Fruit and the Tyrannosaurus Rex Fruit.
One was a superhuman type, the other an animal type. Both were top-tier.
Could he synthesize them into something even greater?
He activated the synthesis process.
Black light surrounded the crystals, fusing them.
Suddenly, his face changed. His physical strength was being drained rapidly.
"Right. High-grade synthesis burns through stamina fast. I need body crystals."
He quickly swallowed a perfect body crystal to restore energy, but the process was still draining him fast.
After a minute and a half, with energy running low, he used another perfect crystal.
Finally, as his strength dropped to one-third, the synthesis completed.
A golden crystal emerged in his palm.
It shimmered brightly, proof that this was now an epic-level Devil Fruit crystal.
He was ecstatic.
He looked at the text glowing on its surface:
[Epic Dragon Fruit – Phantom Beast BattleGreymon Form Crystal]: An extremely rare mythical beast-type Devil Fruit. Grants transformation into the ultimate Digimon BattleGreymon. Original side effects eliminated. Can be synthesized.
Kairos stared in disbelief.
His mind flooded with questions.
"Did I just create a Digimon Devil Fruit...?"
He was stunned.
And then he laughed.
This was just the beginning.