"Is it a legend, or reality?", Rosse slightly squinted his eyes, his gaze stopping on a series of mural paintings.
In the first mural, a king wearing a crown knelt before an altar, on which a blue fruit with a peculiar spiral pattern was offered.
In the second mural, the king ate the fruit, with waves surging around his body.
In the third mural, the king floated above the altar, with waves surging around the island's perimeter.
These three murals were easy to understand, describing just the family secret sigils he already knew.
Then the question arose.
If the water flow protection circle spanning several hundred meters was the power of the fruit, then why did the powerful ancestors of the Jaygarcia not eat the fruit, instead using it like a nuclear weapon?
The origin of Devil Fruits could not be verified, but since so many had appeared in this world, some of their traits had been summarized.
Each Devil Fruit only appeared once at a time. Only after the previous user died would the fruit be reborn.
As for where it would be reborn, that remained an unsolved mystery.
Sometimes it would appear on the nearest fruit, sometimes in fixed places, there was no consistent rule.
Considering the fact that family crises were often resolved by similar events, it showed that the fruit, upon rebirth, would always appear within the family's sphere of influence.
But then why did those kings who ate the fruit never leave the place of sacrifice? That was a thought-provoking question.
Indeed, quite a few fruits had strong side effects. Like the Venom-Venom Fruit causing diarrhea, or Zoan Fruits causing users to become beasts upon failed awakening, and so on.
But to have a fruit that could only be used once, with the user dying immediately after? This was a first.
With a certain expectation in his heart, Rosse continued forward.
About five minutes later, after passing through a long and dark corridor, Rosse finally stepped into a suddenly wide-open space.
Though the space was inside the mountain, it strangely exuded a sense of peace and solemnity, as if cut off from the world, enjoying a serenity beyond the mortal realm.
In the center, an ancient and massive altar stood tall and firm.
Above the altar, a beam of faint light filtered down through a crack in the ceiling, like a guiding light from the heavens, softly illuminating the sacred object at the center of the altar.
A strange fruit with blue spiral patterns.
Rosse recognized it at once. This was the fruit depicted in the mural. It was just unclear what ability it had.
Enduring his curiosity, Rosse examined the surroundings of the altar.
As he slowly approached, he could see that around the altar's base were names carved in ancient script.
"Jaygarcia Saren..."
"Jaygarcia Frick..."
"Jaygarcia Tovan..."
"..."
Rosse softly recited the names carved in ancient script. Each one was the name of an ancestor of the Jaygarcia.
He had to admit, the ability to read ancient script obtained from Ohara was still quite useful today.
After glancing over them, Rosse withdrew his gaze.
They were all skeletons dead for who knows how many years. Not much point in remembering them.
Aside from historians and a few of their own kin who knew, the rest had not been passed down. Maybe not even as many as those who remembered Joy Boy.
Rosse didn't look at the fruit first. Instead, his gaze turned to the right side of the altar.
On the right side of the altar stood a huge stone stele, densely engraved with ancient script.
"There really is a historical text? Well, not exactly a historical text, more like a family record stele."
Rosse chuckled and walked toward the stone.
Eight hundred years ago, the World Government was established. To cover up a period of history, they changed all written language to modern script, that is, the script used today.
Records in ancient script had been nearly wiped out by the World Government. Only a few forgotten steles still retained records in ancient script.
These stone steles inscribed with ancient writing were the historical texts sought by the historians of Ohara.
Standing in front of the stele, Rosse scanned the lines of ancient writing, softly reading aloud, "Jaygarcia... forged a contract with the demon... fed it with the blood of descendants... to command the mighty power of the sea... awaiting the one who would master the demon."
"The demon is named: Watatsumi...?"
Upon reading this, Rosse raised his brow, a strange look appearing on his face.
'Watatsumi?'
This name shared the same origin as Nika.
Nika meant the spirit of a rubber tree, interpreted as the Sun God.
Watatsumi, in ancient language, had an even more direct translation: God of the Sea.
If Rosse remembered correctly, there was a fish-man in the Sun Pirates named Daifugo Wadatsumi. That name carried the weight of two deities.
His Daifugo form was also a Mythical Zoan-type fruit. The current user was in Wano.
Rosse never would have thought that the fruit passed down in the Jaygarcia family would be related to the sea god.
Everyone knew that Devil Fruits had only two weaknesses: seastone and the sea.
Those who ate Devil Fruits instantly became landlubbers who couldn't swim.
'So what is the deal with this Watatsumi Fruit?'
'It's already the god of the sea, surely it won't still be unable to enter the sea? That'll be way too lame.'
Rosse gazed at the blue fruit atop the altar, eyes flickering with eagerness.
Based on current naming conventions, and the stele's information, this fruit's name should be:
Hito Hito no Mi, Mythical Zoan, Model: Watatsumi.
In terms of prestige, it should be on the same level as the Nika Fruit. Only difference was that the Nika Fruit only takes over after awakening, while this one might be fatal upon consumption.
Thinking of this, Rosse gave a meaningful smile.
Then, he thoroughly explored the sacrificial site, making sure there were no omissions or hidden surprises.
After checking everything, Rosse turned around without hesitation and strode out. He didn't even glance at the fruit on the altar again.
What a joke. He had worked so hard to transmigrate into a Celestial Dragon, there's no way he'd risk his life after just glancing at a stone stele.
Not to mention the long line of 'try and die' ancestors as cautionary examples.
But that didn't mean Rosse would give up on this fruit.
Knowing that this fruit would always respawn on Jaygarcia Island, that piece of information was key.
Since the fruit couldn't run away, what remained was to test it again and again.
Once confirmed safe, it wouldn't be too late to eat it.
If he still wasn't confident in the end, choosing the fruit in the Holy Land wasn't a bad option either.
Even without a fruit, Rosse believed he wouldn't be too weak relying on the system. He'd just be missing one powerful ability.
Though strong people in this world didn't necessarily rely on fruits, both martial arts and swordsmanship had their limits.
Those powerful fruits were the real tools for clearing mobs and changing terrain. Compared to them, human power had a much smaller destructive range.
Besides, even Monkey D. Luffy had a fruit, proving that fruit-based paths were the royal road.
And when it came to all kinds of special abilities, Rosse still felt a bit envious.
As for the drawbacks of the sea and seastone, that was secondary.
From what he remembered, there really weren't any strong people who lost their lives just by touching the sea or seastone.
Now it was just a question of which fruit fate had in store for him.
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