When Blake returned to Mary Geoise, Shanks had already left, so the two had actually only met once in the East Blue.
However, he still knew something about Shanks' news.
Shanks' whereabouts were not a secret; Blake just didn't know the specific details.
He didn't intend to find out either.
Firstly, news related to the God's Knights was confidential, and ordinary people wouldn't know it. Deep investigation could easily arouse suspicion.
Secondly, this matter had little to do with Blake, and Shanks' future trajectory was still relatively clear.
However, he was very curious: what exactly was Garling contacting Shanks for?
Blake didn't believe he was just simply trying to connect emotionally.
Garling leaned back in his chair, his sunglasses reflecting golden light:
"A Devil Fruit has appeared. I need you to help me retrieve it."
Hearing this, Blake was slightly stunned. Was the Gum-Gum Fruit going to appear so early? But why would it end up in Shanks' hands?
He only heard Garling continue:
"I heard you've been wandering in the East Blue since you left Mary Geoise. Coincidentally, that Devil Fruit also appeared in the East Blue and has attracted the attention of others."
The Den Den Mushi mimicked Shanks' frowning expression:
"Do I need to do something like this too? Is the World Government out of people?"
"Originally, you didn't need to go personally."
Garling explained:
"But since you joined the God's Knights, you've never been on a mission, and have even stayed on the sea, never returning to Mary Geoise."
"Even if you are my son, it's a bit inappropriate."
"Heh..."
Shanks scoffed but didn't retort.
In his opinion, identity was not important at all; freedom was paramount.
Indeed, Garling's hard-won sugar-coated bullet plan began to crumble just a few days after Shanks returned to the sea.
Although life in Mary Geoise was extravagant, he still preferred the days of drinking and chatting with his crewmates.
Moreover, Shanks still vividly remembered the scene where Imu directly communicated with him through his soul.
For someone who grew up on the sea like him, having one's soul controlled was a terrifying and unfree thing.
However, he was currently still bearing the identity of a God's Knight, and had Imu's brand on his arm, so it wasn't easy to directly refuse Garling's mission.
Shanks exhaled slightly:
"Tell me, what kind of Devil Fruit is it? And where is it?"
"The sing-sing fruit."
Saint Garin's tone was flat:
"A very troublesome Paramecia Devil Fruit."
"It's currently near a small island in the East Blue called Seffield."
He paused briefly to let Shanks digest the news, then couldn't help but complain:
"Those CP intelligence agents are becoming increasingly unreliable, letting such an important item slip away right under their noses."
"By the name, it doesn't sound like a powerful fruit."
Shanks' voice sounded somewhat careless:
"Is it worth you contacting me specifically for it?"
"Of course it's worth it!"
Saint Garin's voice revealed a rare hint of seriousness:
"Because it appeared on the World Government's list."
His fingertip tapped lightly on the armrest:
"Go, get this done."
"After you finish, you will receive a reward from Lord Imu."
Shanks pouted; he didn't care about any reward.
However, he didn't flat-out refuse, but directly agreed:
"Alright! I'll go take a look."
"Then I wish you good luck."
Garling showed a rare smile on his face and hung up the phone.
In the distance, Blake, who had heard the entire process from beginning to end, looked surprised. He hadn't expected it to be the sing-sing fruit?!
To be honest, the Devil Fruit Uta ate in the original work did have some tricks to it.
Among the many Paramecia Devil Fruits with strange abilities, the sing-sing fruit could be considered an extremely bizarre one.
Firstly, its basic ability is to draw the consciousness of those who hear and become captivated by the song into the user's spiritual world through singing.
Those whose consciousness is drawn in fall into a deep sleep in the real world, and the user can, to some extent, control their physical actions at this time.
In the user's spiritual world, the user themselves is like the creator of that world, omnipotent.
Here, the user can create anything out of thin air, transform their singing into tangible note soldiers, and even break certain Devil Fruit abilities that are unbreakable in the real world. Others cannot even harm the user in the slightest.
The advanced ability is the "Forbidden Song."
Singing this song can unseal the Song Demon King in the real world, causing the Demon King to appear, and the user's spirit will be controlled by the Demon King.
In the movie, Uta directly kidnapped almost everyone in the entire sea through the sing-sing fruit, and ultimately required the Straw Hat Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates to team up to deal with her, making her a very powerful BOSS.
It must be said that this kind of Devil Fruit is very much in line with the style of the God's Knights, having a similar effect to Kilingom's Devil Fruit.
Blake stroked his chin, wondering if he could use this situation to his advantage.
After some thought, he decided against it.
The Ope-Ope no Mi incident had just passed, and the World Government would certainly not give him such a good opportunity again.
He didn't have a strong desire for the sing-sing fruit itself. This Devil Fruit was somewhat out of step with the mainstream Devil Fruits on the sea and was indeed quite difficult to develop. Blake also couldn't think of anyone around him who would be suitable for this Devil Fruit.
Moreover, even if he wanted to pull a switcheroo, it was too late to create a fake sing-sing fruit now.
However, what made Blake somewhat concerned was Garling's mention that perhaps others were also eyeing the sing-sing fruit.
Could there be more excitement involved?
When they met earlier, Shanks and Mandy had exchanged blows, and their strengths were quite similar.
Considering their age, they were certainly top-tier powerhouses, but they hadn't reached the level of peak powerhouses.
Among the older generation of powerhouses on the sea, there were plenty who were stronger than them.
However, these elders, either due to their stance or lack of need, should not be eyeing the sing-sing fruit.
But Garling knew Shanks' strength. If it was truly just small fry eyeing the sing-sing fruit, Garling wouldn't have needed to remind Shanks.
Then again, according to Garling, it seemed he didn't know who was eyeing the sing-sing fruit either.
"This is even more interesting..."
Blake's mind raced.
He thought he was already the most cunning schemer in this world, always hiding behind the scenes to secretly stir up trouble, but he hadn't expected there to be other experts?
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