246. Fruits

Leo once again checked the entire structure and made sure he missed nothing.

He patted Tama's head and said with a smile, "When the water is completely purified you can turn that lever."

He pointed to a lever at the bottom of the reservoir.

"What does it do?"

Tama asked.

Leo smiled and replied, "You'll see."

Time slowly passed. Hiyori purified the water once again after some time. This continued for several times before she stopped.

Wiping the sweat on her forehead she smiled, "It's done. The water is completely purified."

Leo nodded. His spiritual sense was picking up a lot of vibrant energy from the reservoir.

When Hiyori got down Leo led Tama to the lever.

"Go ahead."

He made a gesture and moved a bit back.

Tama walked to the lever and turned it. It was slightly straining on her but not by a large margin.

When she turned it for the third time all of them heard water running through the pipe from the reservoir to the structure Leo built.

Sizzle...

Water poured out from the holes on the pipes above the plot of land Leo loosened up. It hit the narrow piece of wood fixed an inch beneath the pipes, scattering the water into fine droplets.

"Uwaa...

Tama stared at the mist falling down on the plot of land.

Hitetsu commented, "Impressive. It's a simple design, but it's very effective in our situation. Periodically watering in droplets would allow the soil to slowly absorb the life energy. I am guessing it wouldn't even take a day for this small plot of land to be completely free of poison."

Leo nodded and said, "If pour out everything in one go a lot of vitality would be lost. And since we are planning to plant here that method would be counterproductive."

Hiyori had a moment of realisation, "I see. You want to plant the seeds and have them absorb the vitality from the soil. Once it is watered again the soil will have the ability to retain more vitality since it would have already been purified once. That way not much of vitality will be wasted, and the process would be much more efficient."

Leo smiled, "That's the jist of it."

He looked at Tama and said, "Do you want to plant the seeds?"

"Yes!"

Leo and Tama started to plant the seeds. Dig a small pit, put the seed in, cover it with soil, done.

He taught Tama to plant each seed a distance away from one another. In no time the small plot was planted with seeds.

Tama once again ran to the lever and turned it.

A second later mist fell down on the planted seeds. However unlike before the seeds didn't immediately grow out.

But Leo could see the seeds shaking. It was absorbing whatever it needed to grow out of it's shell.

"Hm, it will take three to five minutes for the seeds to completely absorb the vitality in the soil."

Leo said after calculating.

Hitetsu commented, "It needs to be watered every five minutes."

"I'll do it."

Right after Hitetsu spoke Tama raised her hand.

Hitetsu laughed lightly, "Sure."

None of them had anything important to do so they all just lazed around. Only Tama was busy. She would turn the lever every five minutes.

Leo looked at her busy with work and chuckled.

"You really dote on her."

Leo didn't turn back to see who it was as he already knew it was Hiyori.

She sat down next to him and looked at Tama. A lot of thoughts ran through her mind. She shook off her thoughts and asked.

"Why do you care so much for a girl you barely know? The fact that you decided to go against Kaido for her means you care for her deeply. Why?"

Hearing her question Leo didn't immediately answer. He looked at Tama for a while, his eyes were filled with care and protection as he looked at her.

"I don't know. Maybe... I see myself having a daughter someday. And... I don't want my daughter to be sad. I want her to smile every waking moment. I want to have everything she hopes for. I want her to have friends and be surrounded by good people. I want her to eat her fill and sleep comfortably. I want her to chase her dreams and not be tied down by anything."

"I want her to live in content."

Hiyori was stunned when she heard his answer. She failed to respond for while.

"You'll make a great father one day."

Leo chuckled, "I really hope so."

Time slowly passed. The sun took a big step and was almost reaching the end of the horizon.

By now the small plot of land was now filled with small trees slightly bigger than Leo. They had lush green leaves and plump fruits hanging from their branches.

"It's faster than I thought. I calculated the fruits to be ripe by tomorrow morning."

Leo commented.

He picked an apple which had water droplets all over it's skin. The apple in his hand was filled with vitality.

Leo handed it to Tama, "You planted it, you watered it, so you should have the first bite."

Tama had a wide smile on her face as she took the apple. She bit into it's flesh and chewed happily.

"So sweet...

After gulping down a mouthful she said happily.

Everyone smiled and took one for themselves.

"It really is sweet. Is this the power of the devil fruit?"

Hitetsu asked.

Leo shook his head, "The soil and the water is filled with abundant vitality. The trees grew up feeding on it, so of course it would taste great."

Hitetsu nodded. He ate the rest of the apple and grabbed a bunch.

Their dinner was some roasted meat and fruits they grew themselves. It was really delicious.

A tasty meal and a good sleep. That's something everyone wished for.

Tama was sleeping soundly. She had a light smile on her face, a bit of drool dripped from her mouth.

Leo saw this and chuckled. He wiped her mouth and covered her with a blanket.

"Sweet dreams, Tama."