Chapter 97

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Chapter 97: Golden Age

321 North Blue Marine Branch.

Military hospital.

The ashes of the cigar fell lightly to the ground. Darren exhaled a stream of smoke and winked at the nurse who was changing his needle, causing her ears to turn slightly red.

"How did the thing I asked you to do go?"

Flying Squirrel glanced at the nurse, then said slowly after careful consideration, "According to your arrangement, a lot of fruits of various types were piled in the cabins of the fleet warships performing the mission. But no special changes were found."

Darren frowned. "Where is the target island? Has it been searched?"

Flying Squirrel nodded cautiously, "We have been searching in all directions for the past two days and found nothing. The desert island has a cold zone climate. It is covered by wind and snow all year round. Only a very few cold-resistant plants can grow. It is completely unsuitable for human habitation. There are almost no fruit plants."

When the shy young nurse walked out of the ward, he carefully lowered his voice and said, "When Admiral Sengoku's warship was supplying the 321st branch, I also boarded the ship to look for it, but I didn't find what you wanted. I have seen the logbook on the warship and the consumption record of supplies on their warship. Three days before the mission was officially carried out, the fruit inventory on their warship was exhausted."

Hearing Flying Squirrel's words, Darren let out a breath of turbid air. After a moment of silence, he suddenly burst into laughter, "Sure enough, it's not that easy..."

Flying Squirrel muttered, "Are you sure your idea is right? When the Devil fruit user dies, the Devil Fruit will be reborn on the fruit closest to the person with the ability. This kind of thing is unheard of in this ocean."

Darren shook his head, "No, this is just my speculation, not certain. Having you prep the fruit ahead of time and doing a wide-ranging search of the island in the post-war cleanup is just a small experiment. Now it seems that this speculation is not true."

He naturally believed in Flying Squirrel's ability to work. After working together for many years, Darren is very clear about his abilities and responsibilities. As long as it is his own order, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, he will execute it meticulously in the end. Since he said he couldn't find it, it means he couldn't find it.

In this way, the inference that "Devil Fruit will be reborn on nearby fruits after the death of the capable person" is overturned. This is understandable.

As a time traveler, Darren still has some understanding of the plot of the pirates. Regarding the rebirth of Devil Fruit, it appeared three times in the original plot. The first time was when Whitebeard died in the Summit War. Blackbeard used some special method, most likely Dark Fruit's ability, to plunder his Shock Fruit.

The second time was Fire Fist Ace. Two years after the Summit War, his Mera-mera Fruit fell into the hands of Doflamingo, who put it in the Doflamingo Arena as bait.

Also, in the plot of Punk Hazard Island, the slime, a killing weapon created by the "evil scientist" Caesar Clown, used scientific means to make the poisonous gas eat the Devil Fruit and turn into the form of a salamander fruit. After the slime ate the candy and died, one of the apples in a basket not far away changed strangely and gradually turned into a Devil Fruit. 

And it is this scene that makes many pirate fans think that this is the rebirth mechanism of Devil Fruit.

In his crusade against Byrnndi Waldo, Darren adopted a proactive attitude and asked the North Blue fleet to bring a lot of fresh fruits. After all, Byrnndi Valdo's Momo Fruit is indeed very powerful. Even if Darren couldn't use it himself, it would be useful for his subordinates, helping him to form his own core team. 

However, the rebirth mechanism of Devil Fruit seems to be much more complicated than Darren had imagined. This complexity is understandable. If the rebirth mechanism of Devil Fruit were simple, the World Government and Marine would have discovered it long ago. 

Many criminals imprisoned in Impel Down possess Devil Fruit powers. Throughout Impel Down's long history, prisoners have died due to torture, disease, evil, heat, cold, or even natural aging. According to Darren's knowledge, special transport ships regularly deliver food supplies to Impel Down, including fruits. 

Impel Down's unique geographical environment, surrounded by the sea and the Calm Belt, raises questions. If a Devil Fruit user dies there and fruits are present, the Devil Fruit they possessed should theoretically rebirth in Impel Down. Yet, with countless prisoners dying over the years, no Devil Fruits have ever been reported found in Impel Down.

"So... Devil Fruit's rebirth... Maybe there is no pattern; is it absolutely random?" Darren murmured to himself.

"Should I continue the search? Maybe the rebirth of Devil Fruit takes more time?" Flying Squirrel asked.

"Well, some people can be left on the target island to continue the search," Darren replied. Although the chances are slim, Darren would not miss any opportunity.

"No problem," Flying Squirrel nodded.

"By the way, there's one more thing. The Marineford headquarters sent a message that the third officer training camp will officially open in 10 days."

Darren's eyes lit up, and he smiled. "Is it finally about to start?"

Flying Squirrel pulled a document from the folder behind him and handed it to Darren. "This is the list of personnel for the third officer training camp."

Darren took the file and opened it. The first line of the list was his name: "North Blue Admiral, Naval Headquarters Commodore, Rogers Darren."

Darren laughed. "It seems that the reward for the Shields St. incident has passed the headquarters' review. I have been promoted." The corner of Flying Squirrel's mouth twitched.

Darren continued to read the file. "Lieutenant Colonel Marine, Kuzan, from South Blue." "Colonel Marine, Dauberman, from West Blue." "Lieutenant Colonel Marine, Huoshaoshan, from South Blue." "Lieutenant Colonel Marine, Ghost Spider, from West Blue." He saw many familiar names.

"The golden generation...the stars are really shining." Darren looked at the names on the list, knowing they would resound in the sea and write countless stories in the Marine camp, with a smile of anticipation. The waves of the times are about to set off. This is a star-studded mighty era! 

Some Vice Admirals' origins and the time of joining the training camp are unknown. There may be discrepancies, but it does not affect the plot.