Hearing Gray's question, Rowan shook his head.
"No. The ability I used to freeze you comes from a strange fruit called the Ice-Ice Fruit. Anyone who eats it can transform into ice, generate freezing air, freeze volcanoes, and even permanently alter the climate of an entire region."
"More importantly, this ability doesn't consume magic power. It only requires physical stamina."
"Unfortunately, only one of these fruits currently exists. Otherwise, I could sell one to you."
Although Vegapunk had already uncovered the secrets of Paramecia- and Zoan-type Devil Fruits, he had yet to solve the mysteries of Logia-types.
Therefore, Logia Devil Fruits could not currently be mass-produced.
The real Ice-Ice Fruit had already been eaten by Kuzan, so Rowan could not obtain a second one.
As for Rowan's Ice-Ice Fruit ability, it had actually come from the Copy-Copy Fruit.
Rowan's explanation greatly broadened Gray's horizons. Simply eating a fruit could grant someone the power to create freezing air. It was truly fascinating.
"As expected, the world is enormous. There are so many things I know nothing about."
Mirajane, listening from the side, felt somewhat speechless.
When she first heard Rowan talk about Devil Fruits, she had thought something similar—that the world was vast and contained many treasures she had never known or even heard of.
But after learning Rowan's true origins, she suspected that Devil Fruits were not products of this world at all.
Seeing yet another person fall for the misunderstanding, she gave Rowan a coquettish glare.
Lucy asked curiously, "Since there's a fruit that creates freezing air, is there also one that creates flames?"
Rowan smiled faintly.
"As expected of you. You're quite clever. There really is a fruit that produces flames. It's called the Flame-Flame Fruit. After eating it, the user can transform into fire, become immune to physical attacks, and create enormous quantities of flames."
At that moment, a blue cat walked over.
"Ohhh, Natsu! That fruit would be perfect for you!"
Fire Dragon Slayer Magic allowed its user to continuously replenish magic power by eating flames.
Meanwhile, the Flame-Flame Fruit could create fire using physical stamina.
If Natsu used his stamina to produce flames and then ate them, he could continuously generate magic power. He could even use that magic power to reinforce his physical stamina.
It would be a completely self-sustaining cycle.
Lucy stared at the blue cat in disbelief.
"Happy, could it be that you're actually a genius?"
"That's right. I'm a genius."
Happy placed his paws on his hips and spoke proudly.
After being reminded of this, Natsu looked at Rowan with shining eyes, his mind filled with nothing but desire.
No one could refuse the chance to become a perpetual-motion machine.
And no one could refuse the chance to become stronger.
Rowan spread his hands helplessly.
"Unfortunately, someone has already eaten the Flame-Flame Fruit, and there isn't a second one. But if you want, I can sell you a different fruit."
Natsu was disappointed at first, but when he heard there was another option, his eyes lit up again.
Lucy asked curiously, "What fruit?"
"The Heat-Heat Fruit."
Rowan pulled over a chair, sat down, and slowly explained, "This fruit allows its user to transfer heat into anything they touch, instantly raising its temperature. The user can also heat their own body and burn anyone who comes into contact with them. They can even spread enough heat across a large section of the sea to make the water boil."
"This fruit would also suit Natsu very well. He could raise the temperature of his flames to an even more astonishing level."
"If used properly, he could turn the earth into scorched wasteland and melt reinforced steel into molten iron."
More importantly, the Heat-Heat Fruit was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, so Rowan already had one available.
"Ohhh!"
After hearing Rowan's explanation, Natsu immediately became fired up.
His Fire Dragon Slayer Magic already specialised in flames. If he could increase their temperature several times over—
the resulting power would be unimaginable.
"How much does that fruit cost?" Happy asked curiously.
Rowan raised one finger.
"Since we're guildmates, ten million J. What do you think?"
"That's so expensive!"
Lucy could not help exclaiming.
Ten million J was no small sum.
Even when she had still been a wealthy young lady, ten million J would have been an enormous amount of money. She had never received that much as pocket money.
Now that she had run away from home, she was practically an impoverished heiress.
Ten million J was an astronomical sum.
"That's so expensive!"
In fact, it was not only Lucy. Even Natsu thought the price was absurdly high.
Rowan shrugged.
"If you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it. Of course, you could also wait. Perhaps it won't be long before I can obtain another Flame-Flame Fruit."
Vegapunk was currently researching the secrets of Logia Devil Fruits. Perhaps one day, he would succeed in mass-producing them.
Hearing this, Natsu fell into thought.
Compared with the Heat-Heat Fruit, he felt the Flame-Flame Fruit suited him better.
Lucy's eyes shifted as she said, "You don't have ten million J right now anyway. Why not wait? Perhaps by the time you've saved ten million, the Flame-Flame Fruit will be available."
Natsu listened and nodded.
Oh, that made sense.
He might as well wait.
Gray became anxious upon hearing this.
At present, he and Natsu were roughly evenly matched. But if Natsu obtained the Flame-Flame Fruit one day and suddenly soared in strength, wouldn't Gray lose to him forever?
No.
Absolutely not.
He also needed to save money and buy an Ice-Ice Fruit from Rowan.
He could not allow Natsu to be the only one who suddenly became overwhelmingly stronger.
As for the other guild members who had shown some interest in Devil Fruits, they all gave up after hearing the price.
Ten million J was simply too expensive.
They could not possibly afford it.
…
That afternoon, Rowan grew bored while sitting around the guild and decided to take a walk.
He had arrived in Magnolia but had yet to properly explore this city filled with the atmosphere of another world.
Today was the perfect opportunity.
More importantly, Cana had told him about an excellent ice-cream shop nearby.
Its ice cream was supposedly delicious.
So Rowan decided to try it. When it came to food, he had never treated himself poorly.
What Rowan did not expect was to encounter Lucy outside the ice-cream shop.
"Huh? Rowan? Why are you here?"
Lucy seemed surprised to see him.
Rowan pointed at the ice-cream shop behind her.
"I came to buy ice cream. Are you here for the same reason?"
Lucy shook her head.
"No. I'm waiting for a landlord."
"A landlord?"
Lucy nodded.
"I found a house I like and want to rent it. I arranged to meet the landlord here."
Rowan suddenly understood.
"Then keep waiting. I'll go buy some ice cream first."
With that, Rowan left the speechless Lucy behind and entered the shop.
When he came back out, he was holding two ice creams. He handed one to Lucy.
"Here."
"Huh? This is for me?"
Lucy was somewhat surprised.
When Rowan had abruptly left her earlier, she had thought he was a dense, unromantic blockhead. She had not expected such a reversal.
"You're the only person I know here. Who else would I give it to?"
"Then… thank you."
Lucy accepted the ice cream and took a lick. Her eyes immediately lit up.
"It's delicious."
"It really is. Cana recommended this place. She didn't lie to me."
Hearing this, Lucy's gaze flickered.
"Rowan, you really are incredible. We both joined the guild recently, but you've already become so close with everyone."
She still had not fully integrated into the guild herself.
"Everyone has good personalities. They aren't bad people, nor are they particularly troublesome, so you'll fit in soon enough," Rowan said calmly.
Lucy chuckled and took another lick of her ice cream.
"I hope you're right."
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something.
"Speaking of which, I heard that the boys in the guild fight so often that the men's dormitory can't be used properly. Everyone rents houses elsewhere. You do too, right? How is your rented place? How much does it cost?"
Rowan shook his head.
"I didn't rent a house."
Lucy let out a confused "Huh?" and looked at him.
"If you didn't rent one, then where are you living?"
Surely he was not sleeping on the street. He did not look like it.
Could he be sharing a house with someone?
While Lucy continued guessing, she suddenly heard Rowan say,
"I bought a house in this city."
Lucy: "???"
The next second, she remembered that Rowan possessed mysterious fruits capable of granting unimaginable powers, each of which sold for ten million J.
"Could it be… Rowan, are you actually rich?"
Rowan nodded.
Back in the world of One Piece, after defeating the World Government, he had taken many valuable objects and vast quantities of gold and jewels.
He could definitely be considered wealthy.
After all, those treasures represented eight hundred years of accumulation by the Celestial Dragons.
Although Rowan had only taken a tiny fraction of their total wealth, it had still made him extraordinarily rich.
Therefore, faced with Lucy's question, Rowan admitted it without hesitation.
"I suppose I'm extremely wealthy."
"Extremely wealthy?"
Lucy froze and instinctively asked, "How extremely?"
Rowan thought for a moment.
"Richer than your family. Probably equivalent to several hundred families like yours."
"Huh? My family?"
"The Heartfilia family, the railway tycoons. I'm not wrong, am I?"
Lucy was suddenly startled.
"Y-You knew?"
Rowan smiled faintly.
"Perhaps everyone knows. They simply don't care. What matters to them isn't your identity, but who you are as a person."
"Is that really true?"
Rowan could tell that Lucy did not entirely believe him, but he did not care too much.
In time, she would naturally understand that he had been telling the truth.
At that moment, the landlord Lucy had been waiting for finally arrived and took her to view the house.
Rowan turned away and continued wandering through the city.
~~~
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