13 Devil fruits
...
"Ughhh..."
-Thud!-
Tsk, another normal pirate.
Seeing the guy in front of me fall unconscious to the ground, I couldn't help but curse in my mind and sigh in disappointment knowing that this guy was not who I was looking for.
"Hey Farid, Is it really okay to not pay attention to Pell's advice?" Vivi, who was looking around her with uncertainty, turned to look at me before she spoke to me in a worried tone.
It seemed that what that Pell guy had said really had affected her.
"No need, as I am right now, there's no one I can't take on a fight!" Smacking my chest in pride, I looked at Vivi and gave her a reassuring smile.
However, even with that, Vivi didn't seem completely convinced about it and still continued to look around her with cautiousness.
"If you say so... But I could prefer if we were more cautious... It is not normal for Pell to warn us about a pirate" Saying so, she started walking nearer me, as if scared of the surroundings.
-Sigh...-
As sister Elena always says when she looks at us: "Innocence is a bliss"
In fact, I haven't even used my full strength until now... Mostly because when I was still a newbie in controlling my new strength I ended up going a bit too far during one of my fights...
-Shiver...-
I still remember the horrible feeling of my punch breaking something inside the pirate when it hit him... Since then, I haven't used my real strength on any pirate I have met so far.
So it was left to say that, if the pirates I have met until now weren't even able to withstand a portion of my strength, would there really be someone able to endure it all?
Of course not!!
"Come on, as long as I can punch him, not even a Yonkō can survive my fists!!" Smacking my fist against my palm, I grinned confidently while looking at Vivi with a confident expression.
Seeing me like that, Vivi could only smile wryly.
I am Invincible, hahahahahaha!!!
-Tap-
-Tap-
-Tap-
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, as I was still laughing wickedly inside my heart, stepping sounds coming from outside the alleyway reached my ears and made me turn around with a raised eyebrow, snapping me out of my thoughts in the process.
"Who is coming towards here...?" Vivi, who also seemed to have heard the steps approaching our location, turned to look in that direction with a slightly cautious expression before she took a step back and unconsciously approached me.
Not bothered by this in the slightest, I clenched my fist tightly and readied my stance right away in order to pounce on this mysterious guy if the situation ever needed it.
'A bystander, or another pirate? Well, whatever the answer is... I am prepared to end the fight right away if this guy is a pirate, or else, he might try to take Vivi as a hostage...'
Some pirates had tried to do so in the past, but none of them were faster than me, so nothing bad had happened so far.
However, there was nothing bad in being a little bit cautious. Especially if this guy was the dangerous pirate that I have been looking for...
-Tap-
-Tap-
-Tap-
...
-Tap!-
"...What?"
With the stepping sounds coming to an end, soon, an enormous figure of a man emerged from the end of the alleyway and looked at us with an uninterested expression on his face. The man had the classic appearance of a pirate... you know, a bandana on top of his head, a vicious and intimidating smile, and of course, lots of tattoos over his body... However, unlike normal pirates, this one had not even one ounce of surprise or fear in his eyes while looking at me.
It was really strange for me...
He even appeared to be... Amused?
Seeing this, I couldn't help but be skeptical.
'What the... Is he not even surprised at the sight of two kids and one man lying on the floor unconscious in the middle of an alleyway?'
I guess he was not... Furthermore, there was even a sneer on his face, which was only making me even more confused.
'What is he laughing at?'
"Ah!"
Letting out a voice of surprise, I finally understood why he was acting like that... There was only one reason for someone like him to be acting so all high and mighty...
'This guy... must be strong!!'
Indeed, considering how domineering and arrogant this guy seemed, even after seeing me in front of an unconscious man... Either he was stupid, or powerful enough to not fear my almighty punches.
Hum... I see, then it was probable that he was the one that the Pell guy warned us about... The incredibly strong pirate with an ENORMOUS BOUNTY.
However, that also meant... That the guy in front of me... Is a living sack of money!!
I can already imagine myself swimming across millions of bellys after beating him up and claiming his bounty...
Will he be able to resist more than one punch though...? Besides, I have never seen his face on the bounty posters before... If he is strong, then shouldn't I have at least seen it once?
Suddenly, as I was still lost in my thoughts, the voice of the man reached my ears and snapped me out of my trance.
"So you are that famous midget bounty hunter I have been hearing so much about ever since I arrived in this city... I wonder if your strength is really that high, considering you are so small..."
The guy placed both of his hands on his waist before he started looking at me from head to toe with a mocking smile on his face.
"You..."
This guy's attitude and the fact that he was being so brazen were beginning to annoy me, even Vivi was frowning at his attitude. However, it also seemed that she was acting even more cautious than before.
She probably realized that this guy was probably who Pell was talking about, huh?
Well, it's good that she stays away from danger.
Suddenly, as I was looking at Vivi, who was already standing beside me, the man approached a little bit and started laughing like a dumbass.
"So, what are you, mister midget bounty hunter? A kid, or some kind of dwarf? Gahahaha, I bet you can't even reach the door's pommel due to how short you are!"
"...!"
It was left to say, something I certainly lacked... Was patience.
'I'll erase that stupid grin of yours from your face...!'
Jumping at him with no desire to continue listening to him, I launched my fist violently toward him and prepared myself to send him flying away.
I was already imagining his face twisting in pain after receiving my blow head-on without being able to do anything, pleading for mercy like all the others whenever they saw me.
'Let's see if you can laugh like that after this...!'
It was left to say, this guy had pissed me off like none of the other pirates had done before. Thus, probably because of that, I was acting a lot more violently than I used.
All that I wanted at that moment, was to see him fly away from my punch while showing on his face just how much regret he felt for insulting me.
However, my hopes were short-lived.
"...What?!"
For some reason, even though I didn't use my whole strength... My punch pierced his head and created an enormous hole in his forehead.
'I... I killed him?!!'
Frightened by the situation, I immediately moved my arm away from his pierced head, and took several steps back while looking terrorized at the scene in front of me.
"How... No, why is this happening...?"
I... never intended to kill him... The strength I used wasn't even that much either...!
Why is this happening?!!
Unable to understand, I looked back at my fist and trembled at the sight of a certain liquid covering it completely.
However, the shock I was feeling lasted for only a few seconds, as soon I noticed that the liquid in my hand was not blood... But something completely black...
"What in the world...?"
"Farid, watch out!!"
Suddenly, as I was still looking at the mysterious liquid in my hand, Vivi's voice reached my ears and made me snap out of my trance, making me notice in time the enormous figure standing now in front of me.
The man whom I had thought I had killed, was now for some reason standing in front of me completely healed and unaffected by my attack.
In fact, the enormous hole in his head had completely disappeared as if it had never existed in the first place.
"I guess you must be surprised... After all, until now you have only been dealing with small fries from this sea... It must be shocking for you to meet a real pirate...!"
A real pirate...? So this is a real pirate?
For the first time ever since I started working as a bounty hunter, I couldn't contain my shock, and involuntarily opened my mouth.
"You... Who are you?! How could you survive such an injury?!"
Did he have a screen like me?... If so... Just how advanced was his [Healing speed] stat for such an injury to heal so fast?!
"Judging for your voice... I guess you are really a kid? Gahahaha!! This is so amusing, alright, I'll tell you! I'm the great Osamu, also called Osamu of the untouchable body! Have you heard of the devil fruits before, kid?"
"Devil fruits? They are myths that-"
"Wrong, what you are facing right now... Is a real devil fruit user, brat! Men, surround them!"
Suddenly, as his voice rang aloud, twenty enormous men appeared at the end of the alleyway and started walking towards us with vicious smiles on their faces.
"This is the power of a real pirate, brat. Someone like you, who has only fought weaklings until now, can't possibly understand how big the world really is!"
Damnit... Things were getting really dangerous.
"What do we do Farid?"
Vivi, who was still standing next to me, whispered in a nervous manner before I turned to look at her with an equally nervous expression.
The men approaching us weren't a problem... But defeating that Osamu guy was something I couldn't figure out how to do.
Devil fruits were said to give people supernatural powers in exchange for taking their ability to swim, so, if what he said was true, then he probably had some kind of supernatural power which allowed him to not receive any damage from my punch...
Then, how was I supposed to defeat him? If my strength doesn't affect him... Then how was I supposed to win a fight like this?
Rapidly, my mind started considering all the possibilities, but no matter how hard I thought... I was still unable to determine a certain way to defeat him properly...
How can I defeat a guy that I can't even fight?
"...!"
Could it be...?
Suddenly, as if the Holy Cow was bestowing upon me its heavenly wisdom, the answer on how to solve the current problem suddenly appeared in my mind and made me open my eyes widely.
I see, so there was an answer like that!
Suddenly, as the pirates were still approaching us, I turned to look at the screen and gazed directly at my status window.
▽
『Name: Farid』
-Age: 8
-Species: Human
-〈STATUS〉-
『User characteristics:』
▸Strength: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Defense: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Stamina: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Internal Defense: [35]〈0/100〉[+]
▸Soul Power: [1]〈0/1000〉[+]
『Body abilities:』
▸Psychomotor ability: [Lvl 1/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Healing speed: [Lvl 1/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Cerebral power: [Lvl 50/1000]〈0/1000〉[+]
『Senses:』
▸Eyesight: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Hearing: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Touch: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Smell: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Taste: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
▸Gut's feeling: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/10,000〉[+]
『Special skills:』
▸Armament Haki: [Lvl 1]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Observation Haki: [Lvl 1]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Conqueror's Haki: [Lvl 1]〈0/1000〉[+]
▸Voice: [Lvl 0/100]〈0/100,000〉[+]
___________________
Status points remaining: [13,523.8]
△
"Heh..."
'It is enough... Let's see whether this Osamu guy will be able to cope with what's about to come...!'
Without hesitation, I moved my finger rapidly and started pressing the [+] button on the strength stat, increasing it at an incredible speed.
Everyone around me looked at me strangely after seeing that I was repeatedly tapping into the air at superhuman speed for no reason at all... However, seeing their clueless expressions only made me grin even further.
Poor fools...
"What are you doing Kid...? Have you really lost your mind?" The Osamu guy looked at me with a confused expression, before he let out a sneer as if he was watching something ridiculous.
"Farid, what are you doing?" Vivi also let out a startled voice from beside me, however, I paid no heed to her question, and just continued pressing like there was no tomorrow.
It took a few seconds for me to finish... But in the end, the deed was done.
▽
『User characteristics:』
▸Strength: [600]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Defense: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Stamina: [300]〈0/10〉[+]
▸Internal Defense: [35]〈0/100〉[+]
▸Soul Power: [1]〈0/1000〉[+]
___________________
Status points remaining: [10,523.8]
△
It will take me a little bit to adjust to this new strength... But, it can't be helped.
"Hya...?!"
Letting out a startled voice, Vivi looked at me confusedly as suddenly without warning my arm hugged her and pushed her against me.
"What are you-?" Vivi tried asking something while looking at me bewildered. However, she had no time to finish what she was about to say, as soon my words reached her ears and made her widen her eyes in shock.
"Brace yourself"
-Booom!!-
"Ahhhhhh!!"
In the blink of an eye, our whole surroundings changed, and a violent current of wind hit our faces because of the speed we reached for a brief second. Vivi seemed to have screamed a little bit during that brief moment, but I simply ignored it since I had to concentrate on other things.
We were not on the alleyway any longer... But on the rooftops of the buildings that stood next to the alleyway...
I increased my strength in order to be able to jump higher and reach somewhere else that wasn't that alleyway where we were being cornered without escape... And it seemed like I succeeded.
It caused me a bit of pain in the legs, but it wasn't something that I couldn't bear.
"What are you planning to do, kid?!"
Suddenly, that Osamu guy's voice reached my ears and made me grin victoriously, he was looking at me from down below inside the alleyway with an expression of bewilderment and anger.
It seemed like he didn't expect that we could escape so easily from his encirclement.
He also seemed to be confused about my plan in doing this... Heh.
Very well, since he told me about his identity and the origins of his powers so brazenly... I might as well tell him my plan!
"This is a new technique that I have just created!"
At my words, everyone looked astonished, and Osamu, who had his eyebrow twitching because of the annoyance, could only yell in confusion at my words.
"What do you mean with new technique?!"
Indeed... My new technique.
A special technique that allows me to solve any problem easily.
"Your tiny brain may not be able to comprehend the depths of this technique... But I will tell you its name!"
Strengthening my legs, I grabbed even more tightly Vivi, who was a bit dizzy because of the jump right now, and grinned even more widely than before while looking at the bewildered Osamu.
"I call it... Run away!"
Not saying anything else, I kicked the rooftop on where I was standing and jumped away at superhuman speed, leaving the speechless pirates behind, looking at the spot where I used to be with confused expressions.
...
-To be continued-
