Chapter 8: A New Wave of Talented Individuals Emerges
After swallowing a piece of hydrous meat, he did not take flight again. Although the hydrous meat could replenish physical strength, relying on it continuously for recovery only accelerated fatigue. Moreover, mental exhaustion could not be restored this way.
Opening the map, he realized he needed to find a highway and hijack a vehicle. Once he had a clear direction, he transformed back into the Azure Dragon.
This time, after flying for just ten minutes, he spotted a highway below, crowded with countless speeding cars. Lowering his altitude, he searched for a sturdy off-road vehicle.
Many drivers noticed the Azure Dragon soaring overhead and quickly captured the scene on their phones, uploading the footage to the Divine Gift Network’s communication channel.
“Everyone! I just saw a dragon! A huge Azure Dragon, probably nearly a hundred meters long!”
Comments flooded in below the video.
“Azure Dragon? It must be Kaido’s Dragon Fruit! I wonder who’s lucky enough to have such a powerful mythical beast fruit!”
“So jealous! I wish I could get a Devil Fruit too.”
“I once got a Thunderclap Fruit, but I thought it was fake and sold it!”
A user named ‘Noble Mao’ sparked a flurry of attention with that comment.
“Are you an idiot? If you really had the Thunderclap Fruit, wouldn’t you have flown off by now?”
“Exactly! Since no one has awakened Armament Haki yet, Logia types are unbeatable! Incredible attack power, extreme speed, and elemental transformation that prevents harm! It’s crazy!”
“Damn it, I never got a Devil Fruit, but if I had, I’d never have sold it! You idiot actually sold it?”
In a nearby internet cafe restroom, a young man with yellow hair trembled with anger reading the mocking comments.
“Damn it, did you guys even know it was a real Devil Fruit?”
But he also deeply regretted his decision. Thinking back to the buyer’s urgent demeanor, maybe they knew it was genuine. A true Devil Fruit, and a rare Logia type at that—the Thunderclap Fruit! And he had sold it for just a thousand.
Now, he wanted to beat himself up.
Hearing knocking on the restroom door, fear overwhelmed him; survival was his immediate concern.
---
In Magic City, a beautiful young woman extended her hand, and a vine emerged from the ground, ensnaring a zombie. Above the vine, a massive flower bloomed wide, swallowing the zombie whole and chewing it carefully.
The girl was exhilarated. Though terrified when the zombie outbreak began, the sudden power within her brought immense comfort.
“Hehe! I knew that fruit had to be real! The fans didn't believe me.”
“Now, it’s time for me to save the world!”
She wore a backless dress, and on her pale, delicate back, a pair of translucent wings shimmered faintly with pink light.
---
Above her head, a beautiful floral crown appeared, framing her like a fairy. Small flower rings adorned her graceful wrists and ankles.
As she moved lightly, more vines sprouted from the ground, growing carnivorous flowers that devoured zombies.
Her smiling face and elegant demeanor starkly contrasted with the grim apocalypse around her.
From nearby skyscrapers, people filmed the scene and uploaded the videos to the Divine Gift Network, instantly drawing thousands of viewers.
“Wow! So beautiful! Must be a Devil Fruit ability!”
“Looks similar to the Forest Fruit, but different. Could it be a different kind of supernatural power?”
“No, I think it’s a completely new Devil Fruit ability, one never seen in One Piece! Just don’t know what type it belongs to.”
“Wait, isn’t that the streamer Yuzu? The Devil Fruit she ate before was real after all!”
“Oh! My goddess Yuzu! So beautiful even in the apocalypse! I’m falling for her all over again!”
---
In the west, in a small county, a thirteen-year-old boy held a gourd-shaped fruit, his heart pounding.
“A Devil Fruit, a real Devil Fruit!”
As a seasoned pirate fan, he recognized it: the Paramecia-type String-String Fruit!
The fruit of Donquixote Doflamingo!
With excitement, he bit into it. The disgusting taste spread through his mouth, but he endured it, swallowing the fruit and discarding the rest.
Only one bite was needed to gain the Devil Fruit’s power.
Moments later, he pointed his finger, and a thin, nearly invisible thread appeared before his eyes.
“Ahhh! I knew I was the protagonist of this world!”
Unrestrained with excitement, ignoring his parents’ pleas, he pushed open the door and rushed out.
He would kill zombies and rule the apocalypse!
“String shot!”
“Super whip!”
He shouted the names of Doflamingo’s techniques, hoping these moves would easily pierce zombies.
But the harsh reality shattered his hopes.
The threads he shot were soft and powerless.
Not only could they not pierce zombies, they couldn’t even break through their defenses.
Unwilling to give up, he continued attacking, while behind him his parents desperately tried to pull him back.
“Xiao He, it’s too dangerous outside! Come back with us!”
But the boy struggled, refusing to return.
The zombies showed no mercy. Seeing three humans rushing forward, several opened their foul mouths and lunged.
“Xiao He, watch out!”
His father swung a kitchen knife at a zombie, but it barely penetrated the flesh.
Before he could withdraw the knife, the zombie tackled him down and tore into him savagely.
“Dad!”
“Brother Xiong!”
The boy and a young woman screamed as the boy, named Xiao An, attempted to bind the zombie with threads.
But it only delayed the creature for a moment.
Wide-eyed with terror, he unwillingly had his neck bitten through.
Before dying, his mind screamed in anger:
“Why? Why, even after gaining a Devil Fruit power, must I still die in this apocalypse?”
No one answered. His consciousness slipped into eternal darkness.
Devil Fruits were not invincible.
Such tragedies occurred worldwide.
Many fruits required the user’s dedication to develop their power fully.
Take the String-String Fruit, for example. On its own, it was a useless fruit. It only appeared strong because of Doflamingo.
The true strength was always Doflamingo himself, not the fruit.
Even now, many still failed to understand this truth.
They believed that merely having a Devil Fruit would let them dominate.
In the end, they died miserably at the jaws of zombies.
---
Above the highway from Jizhou to Yuzhou, Ao Xin, transformed into the Azure Dragon, finally spotted a rugged off-road vehicle.
Just as he prepared to descend and hitch a ride, a faint glimmer caught his eye on a large tree by the roadside.
“What’s that?”
A pang of excitement stirred within him. As he neared the tree, his dragon eyes widened sharply:
“Heaven has helped me!”