Rocks Band: I have 48 Imperial Arms.

Esdeath frowned slightly, her face thoughtful, as if she had thought of something.

"That's right!"

"It's all about time!"

The reason we can't pick them is simply because the time isn't right yet!

Najendan didn't keep you in suspense.

He spoke frankly and directly, spilling out everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube:

"Since the spacetime tower outside is a mirage projection of some kind of special building, then the Devil Fruits on these tree canopies are very likely to be the same or similar!"

"However, compared to mere projections or illusions, they should contain some kind of reality."

"For example...summoning?"

"Your Highness, didn't you say that the characteristic of Devil Fruits is that after the user dies, the fruit will reappear around the place where the user died, transforming the ordinary fruit into a Devil Fruit, and as long as you eat this Fruit 303, you can have the same power?"

"The fruits are scattered all over the place. Is it possible that there is something that can freely select these reborn Devil Fruits? The reason they are still illusory is that these fruits have already been used, or have been hidden away or possessed by someone..."

"This tree can only summon unclaimed fruits, or fruits that haven't been eaten, but it takes time. Only fruits that have accumulated enough time will completely materialize and appear on the tree canopy; otherwise, the others are just phantoms...?"

Just as Najenda's voice faded.

On the tree canopy.

The fruit that Locke had touched and which had burst open like a soap bubble reappeared on the treetop after a change of light and shadow, but its shape seemed much more solid than before.

After Najenda exposed her.

Locke immediately realized that the tree canopy was densely covered with hundreds and thousands of Devil Fruits. Although they seemed to be similar, they were actually quite different in essence, with some being real and some being fake.

Some look blurry and indistinct, like dreamlike bubbles, with even their shapes not being very clear.

Some, however, are crystal clear, no different from the fruits in one's hand, as if they are only one step away from reality, with only a slight sense of incongruity remaining. If this incongruity is erased, they can be completely transformed into reality.

Chapter 149: Devil Fruits? The World Government's Backyard!

"Floating Fruit-"

"Tremor-Tremor Fruit -"

Locke murmured to himself.

If we're talking about the most eye-catching and most familiar fruits on the tree canopy, it has to be the few fruits at the very top.

Familiar patterns.

An intertwined mystery.

These were none other than Shiki's Float-Float Fruit and Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Both fruits were indeed top-tier Paramecia-type, located at the very top of the treetops, looking down on everything else.

but.

Locke could sense the ethereal aura within the two fruits, like moonlight in a dream, completely untouchable. Even the shape of the fruits was somewhat unstable, constantly shifting subtly.

but.

This perfectly matches Najenda's guess.

The fruits on the tree are merely illusions. Only by accumulating enough time or energy can the unused fruits be summoned from the darkness and appear on the tree canopy.

Golden Lion and Whitebeard are both alive and well.

Even in the original work, they were all old men who survived until after the main storyline began. The Devil Fruit users did not die, so of course the Devil Fruits could not be reset, let alone appear on the tree canopy to start the countdown to cooldown.

No wonder the world has been running for so long.

The number of Devil Fruits has not changed much, and there has been no news of a large number of fruits decreasing in number.

If Devil Fruits were truly left to their own devices, randomly resetting on surrounding fruits, not to mention the possibility of such reset Devil Fruits falling into water or the ocean, they might simply reset on wild fruits by the roadside, be discarded by unsuspecting people, or be deliberately hidden for future generations and accidentally lost...

With such a high degree of randomness, the probability of repeated accidents will inevitably become quite high.

Then add the time to accumulate and layer it.

The World Government has ruled for eight hundred years, a long period of time that is enough to generate many unexpected events. If the distribution were purely random, it would not be surprising if the number of Devil Fruits were less than half.

after all!

Humans love to hoard, accumulate, and store treasures. If they didn't have special means to retrieve them, they would have been buried deep in the treasures of great pirates long ago. That's why there are still so many Devil Fruit users.

"It turns out the World Government has been searching for the Nika Fruit, but this fruit seems to possess its own consciousness and has been evading the World Government, so they have been unable to obtain it. They even deliberately renamed it the Gum-Gum Fruit..."

"So that's what it meant from beginning to end!"

Locke suddenly realized.

The Nika Fruit, though gathered using the summoning power of the tree canopy, refused to be found by them due to its own will, which is why it has been hiding from their power.

If we were truly searching the vast ocean by manpower alone, even if the World Government had a hundred times more people than it does now, it still wouldn't be possible...

The very thought of searching should not even arise.

The ocean!

It's so big!

Even disregarding the vast ocean, the islands scattered across the sea like grains of sand in the Ganges are enough to inspire despair. A manpower search? That is absolutely, absolutely, absolutely impossible.

If someone were to hide on a random deserted island, even with world-destroying power, they wouldn't be able to find him in the vast ocean. Anyone who even thinks of such a thing is simply out of their mind. Yet, the World Government did just that. How could someone who controls the world and has suppressed heroes for centuries be a fool? It can only mean that they must have special methods.

This!

Right in front of you!

"No wonder those Celestial Dragons are so extravagant; they can even use Devil Fruits as rewards, or as props to make the show more interesting..."

Locke stared at the spectacle before him, speechless with awe.

feeling.

In other people's eyes, Devil Fruits are...

Just like real fruit, they grow from trees in batches, only with a longer 'ripening period'. But no matter how rare they are, to them, they are just fruit...

At least!

Those lower fruits at the bottom of the canopy, that must be it.

"That's really... a big spender..."

Locke sighed softly.

Even if the World Government's revealed capabilities are just the tip of the iceberg, they are still terrifying.

The exaggerated power is so terrifying that it makes people tremble. Not only is the power that is revealed on the outside irresistible, but the power that is buried deep inside is also vast and cannot be underestimated.

"Pity……"

Locke sighed softly.

During the time it took for Locke to figure things out, he didn't do nothing.

look up!

Observation!

The tree canopy appeared incredibly dense, layer upon layer, with hundreds or even thousands of Devil Fruits. In reality, more than half of them were completely ethereal, lacking any sense of reality. This was exactly the same feeling he got from the Float-Float Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit; they clearly had owners and had been consumed by someone.

The remaining half, while not a pure phantom, still gave off an inexplicable sense of etherealness, clearly still in cooldown and requiring more time or energy to be summoned from the shadows.

For Locke, it was no different from the former.

after all!

He couldn't stay here waiting indefinitely; in fact, he couldn't even wait a little longer. If he didn't get out of here quickly, once the chaos outside ended, he would be the one surrounded and trapped!

Catching a turtle in a urn!

There won't be any way to escape then!

Being attacked from both sides in such a place, even if the Imperial Arms under his command are powerful, they cannot withstand the World Government's relentless and overwhelming offensive. Even Captain Rocks would have to kneel down. Rocks would not be so arrogant as to be that overconfident.

Unless he can actually dig out hundreds of fruits from them, eat them all up to become a huge fat man, and bring along a bunch of Imperial Arms users who have been upgraded to their limits, he might actually be able to turn the tide, but that's obviously impossible.

The long cooldown time of a CD is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight. This is something that can be easily understood by thinking about it. There is no need to say more. Even the most brainless person would not have such a delusion.

"I knew it, it's not that easy to snag a pregnancy by chance."

Locke pursed his lips in displeasure.

It's really frustrating to just stand there and watch the trees laden with Devil Fruits.

This is like putting dried fish in a glass box in front of a cat to tempt it! And not just one or two, but piles and piles of them! What cat owner could resist such temptation?!

This is no way to test cadres!

leave!!!.

Chapter 150: Is Silver Axe About to Die in Battle?!

"never mind!"