Chapter 123: The Power Within: Awakening on the Pirate Ship

“Thank you, Captain Karl.”

“Ever since you brought us over from the North Blue, we haven’t really done anything useful.”

“While training here, I kept asking myself every day if I’d been abandoned by Captain Karl because I was too weak.”

“But I never expected, today… today…”

Jennifer’s eyes brimmed with tears, on the verge of spilling over.

“It’s okay, how could I ever forget any of you?”

“Each of you joined my crew one by one, and you’ll always be core members on this ship.”

“I would never abandon a single companion.”

If Karl ever wanted to ditch them for being weak, he wouldn’t have brought them into the crew back in the Four Seas.

There’s value in strength, but there are also perks to having those who aren’t as strong.

It’s never about keeping only the strong and getting rid of the weak.

“Then let me go first.”

As soon as Smith finished speaking, he shoved the Morph-Morph Fruit in his mouth.

“Ugh!!!”

He had never tasted anything so disgusting.

It was like a mix of food rotting for days blended with some slimy yellow gunk.

“Don’t spit it out! If you do, it won’t work anymore.”

“You have to finish the whole thing to awaken the Devil Fruit’s power.”

Karl couldn’t help being a little mischievous, though a tiny pang of guilt pricked at him.

Meanwhile, Jennifer fought back laughter by the side.

“I…ugh…eat…”

Smith’s eyes hardened with determination as he took a few massive bites and swallowed the rest of the Devil Fruit.

“Water! Quick, give me water!”

After swallowing it all, he frantically searched for something to drink.

Spotting a bucket nearby, he grabbed it and gulped it down.

“Wait, isn’t that seawater?”

Karl stood there, dumbfounded.

This was the Fishmen’s training area, and if Karl remembered right, the water buckets were all filled with seawater.

And Smith just ate a Devil Fruit… Oh boy…

“I can’t do this… I feel completely drained.”

“Thud!”

As expected, Smith collapsed limply to the ground like overcooked noodles, seawater dribbling from his mouth.

And, just as predicted, the bucket fell over onto the floor.

“Looks like he’ll need to rest for a bit.”

Karl turned his gaze to Jennifer.

He was clearly hoping she’d give the whole Devil Fruit experience a shot too.

“Captain Karl, I remember you only need to eat the first bite of a Devil Fruit, right?”

“Hmph, I’m not that easy to fool!”

Jennifer wasn’t about to fall for it.

She was probably the most well-read person on the ship—of course she knew it only took one bite of a Devil Fruit.

The reason she kept quiet was because she wanted to watch Smith’s reaction.

After all, she had never seen anyone actually eat a Devil Fruit and wondered what it tasted like.

“You two…”

Flat out on the ground, Smith barely managed to lift his right hand to point at them.

But he ran out of strength, and his arm flopped to the ground again—he’d definitely need to recover.

“Hehe!”

“Sorry about that, Smith.”

Jennifer stuck out her tongue, teasing.

“I think just this tiny piece should do it.”

Jennifer produced a scalpel from inside her shirt.

She sliced off a piece of the Devil Fruit barely the size of a fingernail.

Without hesitating, she tossed it straight into her mouth, not even letting her tongue register the flavor.

Then she closed her eyes, quietly sensing the power of the Draw-Draw Fruit.

“This power really is incredible.”

“Clang clang clang!”

A moment later, her eyes snapped open, excitement flashing across her face as a paintbrush materialized in her right hand.

She dropped to the ground and started sketching out a tiny bird.

Amazingly, as she drew eyes for the bird, it lifted right off the ground.

It transformed into a living creature made of pure ink and pigment.

“Chirp chirp chirp!!”

“Wow—it can even make sounds!”

Jennifer was stunned. Not only could her creation fly, it could even mimic an animal’s cry.

“That’s only the beginning. The real strength of the Draw-Draw Fruit hasn’t even shown yet.”

Karl wasn’t like the folks in the One Piece World who’d never seen anything wild.

He began suggesting new ways for Jennifer to develop her fruit’s abilities.

Things like making a storage scroll or a magical storehouse disguised as a book.

He explained how ancient mythical beasts looked, helping her sketch out the Four Divine Beasts of old China plus some legendary figures from myth.

“Still not working. Maybe I’m just not strong enough yet.”

No matter how many times Jennifer tried, she just couldn’t draw eyes on those mythical beasts and heavenly gods.

“Keep honing your Devil Fruit. There’s so much room for growth.”

“None of those figures are weak. Even if you can summon just one, you’ll be among the top in the New World.”

“Here, take this.”

Noticing how her skin had started to tan from too much sun,

Karl refused to let his only female crew member train under the harsh sun every day, so he handed her a Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill.

“Take this—you’ll feel a big difference soon.”

Jennifer was sensible enough not to ask any questions. She simply took the pill and swallowed it.

“Hiss!”

Jennifer sucked in a sharp breath.

Thankfully, she was already at the peak of Rear Admiral level.

That meant the Great Revitalizing Pill didn’t overwhelm her—she didn’t even need seawater to cool off.

Jennifer felt like she might be able to activate one of them now.

“I’m just a little monster, free as can be, no mercy for killing, saltless when I eat you…”

A tiny child, barely a meter tall, hands in his pockets, strode out from the drawing.

“Greetings, Great God Nezha.”

Karl couldn’t believe Jennifer had summoned this powerhouse.

Even if Kaido transformed into his azure dragon form, he might not be able to withstand an attack from Nezha.

“Where is this?”

“You know me?”

Nezha placed his hands behind his head, tilting it to one side.

“Great God, this is…”

Before Karl could finish, Nezha turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished.

I was hoping to ask about the Eight-Nine Mystical Arts…

At the very least, a cultivation manual would’ve been nice.

“Thud!”

Just as Karl was lamenting not having more time with Nezha,

Jennifer collapsed to the ground nearby.

“I did it! I summoned him for fifteen seconds.”

“You’ve got to push this ability further. I don’t want just fifteen seconds—I want a whole hour!”

Karl rushed over, grabbing Jennifer’s shoulders and giving her a shake.

If just a bit longer, maybe he could have scored some cultivation techniques or something—talk about rocketing up the ranks!

“Un…der…stood…”

“Can… you… let… go… now… please…”

“Alright, just remember—develop that power!”

Seeing this, Karl set Jennifer down on a nearby chair.

Most of all, Karl was shocked that she could summon a conscious warrior, not just a mindless puppet.

“If that’s the case…”

Karl stroked his chin, getting lost in thought.

“And you are…?”