"SMILE? What an indescribable irony. They are clearly nothing more than defective products," Queen said calmly, his eyes fixed on the crates.
Kaido didn't seem to mind the criticism at all. His expression remained stolid and unchanging. To him, these were merely tools to bolster the ranks of his subordinates. "It doesn't matter. Distribute them now and let's see what the final results look like."
Following his command, the group moved outside to a wide courtyard. Before long, 1,000 subordinates had been gathered, standing in neat rows and looking at their leaders with anticipation.
"Listen up! Here are 1,000 Devil Fruits. Eat them, and some among you will gain incredible abilities, becoming Zoan Type users!" Kaido declared with a grand, sweeping gesture. On his signal, the men brought the wooden crates forward and pried them open.
The subordinates leaned in, their eyes widening as they saw the peculiar, apple-like fruits piled inside. "Are those really Devil Fruits? There are so many of them!" The crowd erupted into astonished whispers.
"Eat up! I specifically acquired these for you!" Kaido shouted, his voice booming across the grounds.
Hearing Kaido's direct command, the pirates grew ecstatic. They rushed forward in a frenzy, each grabbing an artificial devil fruit and devouring it as quickly as possible. Kaido watched the chaotic scene and let out a deep, booming laugh of satisfaction.
"Whoa! My body... it's changing!" someone yelled out shortly after.
Among the 1,000 subordinates, a small portion began to undergo visible transformations. One after another, they started to change into bizarrely shaped creatures. However, they weren't the majestic transformations one would expect. Instead, they were grotesque fusions of human and animal, looking like neither person nor beast. Even the hybrid forms used by traditional Zoan Type users weren't nearly as strange as these.
As for the rest of the subordinates who didn't gain abilities, their bodies remained exactly the same, though their expressions began to shift.
"So these are the artificial devil fruits produced by Joker. They are practically defective goods. To think the ability users they create actually look like this," King remarked, his brow furrowed in a frown.
If he hadn't witnessed Yamato's transformation after she ate the fruit created by Vegapunk, he might have assumed this was a normal outcome for an artificial fruit. After all, these were man-made; no one truly knew what the effects would be. But now, King knew better. A truly successful artificial devil fruit wouldn't produce such monstrosities. It would grant the user normal, controllable abilities similar to the natural fruits found across the Grand Line.
"As expected, we really can't hold high expectations for Joker's work," Queen added, glancing at the bizarre ability users and shaking his head. After a brief pause, he shrugged. "However, as long as they gain power, I suppose that's enough for our purposes."
"While we knew there were risks, this is a bit too much," Sasaki and Who's-Who remarked, both looking on with strange expressions. They wondered if these men could even be called Zoan Type users anymore. To them, "fusion beasts" seemed like a much more fitting description.
"Oh my, they've turned into such unsightly forms," Maria said, her voice trailing off as she struggled to find the right words.
"To see something so ugly... I hope I don't have nightmares tonight," Ulti added, her face twisted in a look of pure disgust.
"The quality of Joker's fruits is just outrageously poor," Page One chimed in.
In their eyes, Yamato was a far superior example of an artificial user. In fact, they felt Yamato should be categorized with normal Devil Fruit users, kept entirely separate from these tragic experiments.
"Does this count as starting a zoo?" Yamato asked, crossing her arms as she watched the scene with a playful glint in her eyes. The others couldn't help but inwardly agree with her assessment.
"Even if they aren't pleasant to look at, they have still become Zoan Type users. The goal has been achieved," Haruko said quickly, hoping to smooth things over lest Yamato's comments displease Kaido.
"If you insist on thinking that way, fine," Yamato said, shooting a side-long glance at her old man.
Kaido stood there, silent and unmoving, acting as if he hadn't heard a word. He waited until the transformations had fully settled before speaking. "King, what's the final count?"
"Only 23 successfully transformed into ability users," King replied after scanning the area to confirm the numbers.
Out of 1,000 artificial devil fruits, only 23 users were born—a success rate of roughly one in fifty. The probability was staggeringly low. Based on these numbers, for the Beasts Pirates to amass even 100 ability users, they would need at least 5,000 fruits. Currently, the crew had over 10,000 members, meaning they could only hope to produce a little over 200 users in total unless they expanded their recruitment efforts significantly.
"The number is still too small. Tell Joker to hurry up and trade more fruits," Kaido commanded, clearly unsatisfied with the outcome. He didn't care about the strange appearances of his men; he only cared that they were stronger than they were before.
King nodded. "Rest assured, I will tell him. However, producing these takes time. It can't be rushed."
Based on his previous talks with Joker, the next official trade was scheduled for six months from now. That shipment would consist of 5,000 fruits, which should grant the crew approximately 100 new ability users.
"Then I'll leave the rest of the arrangements to you, King," Kaido said, losing interest instantly. He turned and began to walk away, his mind already shifting back to his sake.
"I'm returning to the Mining Camp at Udon as well. I'm off. Remember to assign a few of those new ability users to work for me," Queen called out as he also made his exit.
"Now, all of you who gained abilities, step forward! From this day on, you will be known as the Gifters," King announced, proceeding with the organization of the new unit in a methodical fashion. These individuals had undoubtedly grown stronger, even if they looked like circus attractions. As for the hundreds who didn't gain abilities, they were designated as the Pleasures—for from now on, laughter would be the only emotion they could ever express.
"What an extremely defective product. Joker really is an unscrupulous merchant. I wonder if we can return them or get a refund? It's a pity the concept of a 'warranty' doesn't exist out here," Yamato muttered, watching the new Gifters. To her, it really was like visiting an exceptionally ugly zoo. Even if admission were free, she doubted anyone would want to see this.
"Will our crew eventually turn into a 'Beasts Zoo' in every sense of the word?" Yamato suddenly remarked.
The high-ranking members present couldn't help but follow that line of thought, and several of them shuddered violently at the mental image.
"Alright, stop thinking about such unnecessary things. Come sit at my place for a while," Maria said, quickly pulling Yamato away before she could say anything else shocking.