Under Ash's sincere temptation, the Kirk siblings naturally chose to join.
The customer and the boss instantly became future partners. One had to admit, life's encounters were truly unpredictable.
At least for Kirk, life's trajectory had shifted too quickly. One moment, he was a young man consumed by hatred, only thinking about revenge. The next, he and his sister had joined a Pirate Hunter team led by someone whose name they didn't even know, and he had even eaten a Devil Fruit!
Yes, the young man before them had pulled out a Devil Fruit from who knew where and handed it over silently. And Kirk, momentarily dazed, had actually taken a bite. He hadn't even known the fruit's name, which was rather miraculous.
"Brother, does it really taste that bad?" Saff asked with some concern, seeing Kirk frozen in place.
She and her brother had always been sensitive to taste. Although they had long planned to consume a Devil Fruit to gain power for revenge, the thought of the legendary ability fruit tasting like something awful still made them tremble. Eating something that tasted terrible was one thing, but for people whose taste buds were far more sensitive than average, it could be one of the worst tortures imaginable.
"There's no strange taste at all, it's just like an ordinary fruit!" Kirk quickly said as he snapped out of it.
"Um… we still don't know your name," Kirk added quickly, regaining his composure. "And yet we've already become your partners and eaten one of your Devil Fruits… This is quite sudden."
Ash stood up with a smile and said, "Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Ash Thalos. I am thirteen years old this year, and I am a Pirate Hunter!"
"Thi… thirteen years old?!" Saff exclaimed.
"Thirteen years old with such a big build and that appetite… no wonder!" Kirk laughed.
Ash smirked, "Don't say your thoughts out loud, you scoundrel!"
Saff, somewhat surprised, said, "Two years younger than me? That's amazing! How did you get so many Devil Fruits?"
"Saff!" Kirk interrupted her question, realizing she had overstepped.
Saff stuck out her tongue and quickly brought over Ash's sashimi without lingering on the topic. Ash didn't mind at all: "There's nothing to hide about the origin of the fruits, but there's no rush now, you'll know later."
The Kirk siblings naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement.
Then Kirk asked, "What was the fruit I just ate?"
"Oh, the one you just ate was a Zoan type, Human‑Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Dijiang Form!"
[1. Name: Human‑Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Dijiang Form]
[2. Origin: Formed from the essence of Great God Pangu, ancestor of the Witch Tribe, one of the Twelve Primordial Demon Gods]
[3. Abilities: Can fly, can transform into Demon God form, controls spatial power, possesses extremely fast speed, extremely powerful physique, strong regeneration, and a sun‑attuned constitution]
Because Ash had designed this Dijiang fruit a few days ago, and although he ultimately abandoned the idea for various reasons, the concept had already been set, allowing him to produce the fruit instantly now.
Originally, each of the Twelve Ancestral Witches had a Demon God form, but because their true shapes were too inhuman, Ash had already separated the data into uniform entries simply labeled "Demon God form."
Additionally, because the Ancestral Witches' physical bodies were originally extremely powerful, Ash had attempted to design two extra abilities: immortality and regeneration from a drop of blood. As expected, the system rejected immortality as too overpowered.
After repeated revisions, since true immortality was impossible, Ash substituted a sun‑attuned constitution. Regeneration from a single drop of blood was moved to the Fruit's awakened state and could only be activated once per year.
Still, having it was better than not having it.
Furthermore, to balance the Ancestral Witches' overwhelming power in design, the "powerful physique" of the Ten Great Demon Gods became "extremely powerful physique" for the Mythical Zoan entry. The difference was significant: one added fifty physique points, the other added one hundred, and their future growth curves were different.
It made sense, after all. In almost every ancient myth, aside from Dijun and Taiyi, the Ancestral Witches could easily overpower the Demon Gods, so granting a stronger physique was reasonable.
Listening to Ash describe the abilities of the Mythical Zoan fruit Dijiang, Kirk felt like he was dreaming.
He had thought that after Ash's earlier comments about Zoan fruits, he might at most receive a Paramecia‑type fruit, or if lucky, a lower‑tier Logia‑type fruit. Kirk had considered himself incredibly lucky just for receiving any fruit at all.
But what actually happened? The other party pulled out a Mythical Zoan!
And not just any Mythical Zoan, but one with spatial abilities and incredible physical and regenerative strength — something Kirk had never heard of!
It was surreal. He had originally planned to warm up for the final day of the cooking competition by setting up his stall, but somehow he ended up joining a Pirate Hunter team and then, inexplicably, eating a Devil Fruit that sounded incredibly awesome.
Truly, like a pie falling from the sky!
A Devil Fruit pie…
Not only the Kirk siblings, even Captain Markel was a bit stunned.
A Mythical Zoan with spatial power, Dijiang Form?!
None of them had heard of it.
But now that Kirk had eaten the fruit, there was no deception involved. It was genuinely magical.
While the three were stunned, Ash had already stepped away and returned.
He had gone back to the hotel to retrieve his belongings.
Inside were rings and gourds he had purchased a few days ago when preparing to design a storage fruit.
One was made into a storage ring, the other into an infinitely spacious wine gourd — perfect!
That was why Ash was in such a hurry to give away the fruit. Not only did he genuinely admire the Kirk siblings' cooking skills, he still hoped to one day solve the storage item problem!
After explaining Ash's requirements for the ring and the wine gourd, Kirk no longer managed the stall. The group quickly packed up and returned to Captain Markel's house.
The Kirk siblings had been staying at Captain Markel's home for over a year.
On a sizable farm near the eastern outskirts of the city, this was the residence of Captain Markel and his wife, Marsha.
While Kirk began testing and understanding his new abilities, Ash flew off toward a region near the Calm Belt and hunted a small Sea King to bring back.
Since he knew the Kirk siblings were excellent cooks, how could Ash, a true foodie, resist the temptation?
"Ash, what do you think of this ring?" Kirk asked as Ash returned, tossing him a ring.
Ash took it, noticing it wasn't his original one, but it didn't matter. His consciousness immediately passed into the internal space of the ring.
!!!
The internal space was surprisingly large, exceeding Ash's expectations. After a brief scan, it could easily fit the small Sea King he had just brought back!
Kirk, however, seemed slightly dissatisfied.
"The ring's material affected the size of the internal space. The first ring you gave me accidentally burst when I tried to expand it. This ring's material is sturdier, but unfortunately it's still not very strong," Kirk explained.
"Haha, this is already very good!" Ash said, pleased.
"By the way, your wine gourd also burst," Kirk added. "With my current control over the fruit, it's difficult to expand ordinary gourds to very large spaces."
"However, Saff tried brushing preservative paint on the outside of the gourd, and its durability increased a bit. She just finished making two gourds, and Uncle Markel went with Saff to get some wine."
===
100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter
200 Powerstones = 3 Bonus Chapters
===
If you want to read more, check out my patreon.
Patreon.com/ _Zeph