Pirates: I Rely Only on Myself

As Jay finished the last bite of the Devil Fruit, everyone's attention shifted to the remaining Silverback Gorilla Fruit.

Anthony shook his head. "I want to be a swordsman. An Animal-type fruit would just be wasted on me."

Tommy, his curly hair bouncing, waved dismissively. "I'm going to inherit my father's business. An Animal-type... well, it's just not my style—way too... inelegant."

Ari chimed in, shaking his head. "Bro, as a sniper, I don't need an Animal-type fruit. It'd just get in my way."

Suddenly, Uncle Joseph, who had been quiet all this time, picked up the fruit with a grin. "Let your old uncle take this one, eh?" He glanced around at the others, smiling.

Noah caught the look in his uncle's eyes, a mix of determination and concern. Joseph had clearly sensed the dangers that lay ahead. He didn't want to become a weak point for Noah or Joshua, and the Silverback Gorilla Fruit offered him a way to keep up.

Joseph had been training alongside them, but at 33, he'd missed the prime years for physical development. Over the past year, he'd managed to increase his strength about four or five times, but his progress had slowed significantly over the past six months.

Four or five times stronger sounded impressive, but when compared to Noah, Joshua, or Vic, the difference was glaring. After a year and a half of intense training:

• Noah's strength had increased 83 times.

• Joshua's strength had increased 21 times.

• Vic had become 49 times stronger.

Even Mary, the youngest and smallest of the group, had boosted her strength eightfold.

Joseph had taken note of these differences, quietly watching. So when he saw the Silverback Gorilla Fruit, it sparked something in him.

Noah nodded. "Uncle, we're all family. Go ahead, the fruit's yours."

With a crunch, Joseph bit into the fruit. He'd heard how terrible Devil Fruits tasted, but actually eating one was a whole new level of awful. His face twisted in disgust—it felt like his tongue had been assaulted by every bad flavor at once. But with the thought of the dangers ahead, Joseph steeled his nerves and forced himself to swallow bite after bite.

By the time he finished, his face was the picture of regret, like he'd just reconsidered all his life choices.

Quickly, Lilith handed him a glass of grape juice, and Joseph gulped it down like his life depended on it.

Once he finished the juice, he let out a long breath. "That taste was... something else. But wow, this power is incredible!"

Just as he spoke, Joseph's body began to swell. His height shot up, growing past three meters, and his muscles bulged, expanding like they were filled with air, pulling his skin taut.

Ripppp...

His clothes tore apart, though luckily, his pants held together, thanks to their stretchiness.

"Heh... whoops," Uncle Joseph scratched his head, looking embarrassed. He quickly focused, trying to shift back to his human form.

After a moment, he successfully returned to normal. Without a word, he turned and hurried off to change into something that actually fit.

Noah chuckled and turned to Lilith. "Lilith, tomorrow, make sure to pick up some extra-large, stretchy clothes."

Lilith giggled. "Already on it!"

________________________________________

The Next Morning

The front page of the morning paper was all about the tragedy of Flevance, also known as the White City.

Noah skimmed through it, his expression unchanged. Even if he had revealed the truth about Flevance years in advance, the fate of the place probably wouldn't have changed much. As long as the World Government, the real villain, remained in power, Flevance's future had been sealed.

What did surprise Noah, though, was that Morgans had the guts to report the story.

Then, he remembered how just two days ago, after they had wrapped up their deal, the World Economic Journal's Loguetown branch had mysteriously emptied overnight. Clearly, Morgans had already anticipated what was coming next.

For now, Noah wasn't in a position to get involved in these larger political battles.

Using the knowledge from his previous life to earn his first fortune had been the best choice for a traveler like him. But easy opportunities like that—where you make a fortune without lifting a finger—were becoming scarce.

Noah folded the newspaper and set it aside. He activated the card embedded in the soles of his shoes.

Whoosh!

Two powerful jets of flame burst out from under his feet.

These flame jets worked by releasing stored hydrogen and oxygen from the card space, ignited by a spark in the shoes' modified soles. It was a custom propulsion system Noah had designed himself.

As for where the hydrogen and oxygen came from? The answer lay in the wind turbines on Seastar Island. Using the electricity generated by the turbines, Noah had set up an electrolysis system to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen.

For over a year, Noah's estate had been running on wind power. The surplus energy not only powered his home but was also used for steel refining, electroplating, and producing hydrogen and oxygen.

With flames propelling him upward, Noah soared into the sky, adjusting his body to control his direction.

In no time, he arrived above the training grounds in the northwest bay—a space he'd created specifically for honing his Conqueror's Haki.

Below, Jay was already testing out the powers of his newly acquired Graphite Fruit.

Noah descended and landed softly in the center of the training ground, catching Jay's attention.

"Hey, Noah, do you need the training grounds?" Jay asked.

Noah shook his head. "No, I'm just here to see how you're progressing with the fruit's abilities."

He had spent the previous night coming up with some initial ideas for how Jay could develop the power.

"Jay, try turning your shoes into graphite."

"Turning my shoes into graphite? Okay, let me try…" Jay concentrated, and in a flash, the soles of his shoes turned a deep black, transforming into graphite.

"Good. Now deactivate it."

Jay blinked in confusion but followed the command, returning his shoes to normal.

"Now," Noah continued, "instead of turning the entire shoe into graphite, try creating just a thin layer of graphite on the soles."

"Got it, Noah. Done!"

"Great. Now, take a few steps."

As soon as Jay lifted his foot, he slipped backward, stumbling. Startled, he twisted his body to regain balance, but as his other foot touched the ground, it slid out from under him, and he crashed hard onto the stone floor.

"Don't use brute force," Noah advised. "Think of your shoes like ice skates. Glide across the surface."

With Noah's guidance, and after a dozen more tumbles, Jay finally managed to glide smoothly across the stone floor, using his "graphite skates."

"Haha! I did it, Noah!" Jay laughed, thrilled.

Noah chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't get too excited just yet. You're only sliding on stone or concrete. If you hit dirt or swamp, this move will be useless."

He continued, "The reason this works is because of graphite's natural lubricating properties. Keep that in mind as you work on developing your abilities further."

Jay's eyes sparkled with admiration. "Noah, you're amazing! How do you even know all this?"

Noah smiled. "That's why I keep telling you all to study more. Sometimes, knowledge really is power."

"Knowledge is power?" Jay repeated, clenching his fists with determination. "I've got to write that one down! You're the best, Noah!"

"Alright," Noah said with a smile, "next, let's test some of graphite's other properties."

He had Jay create a few graphite shields, then attacked them with his flame-based cards.

Just as he expected, regular flames had little effect on the shields. Even the hydrogen-oxygen flames from his jet shoes could only burn through about a centimeter of graphite at close range.

The reason lay in graphite's unique properties. Graphite doesn't ignite easily—it takes temperatures of about 850 to 1000 degrees Celsius to even start burning. On top of that, it conducts heat so well that most flames can't damage it quickly.

With a shield thicker than a centimeter, fire attacks would have a hard time breaking through in time, giving the user a valuable window to adapt or counterattack.

In addition to its heat resistance, graphite was an excellent conductor of electricity.

"If you ever face an opponent who uses electric powers," Noah explained, "you can use graphite to redirect the current into the ground."

Noah also pointed out that as a Paramecia-type creation ability, the Graphite Fruit had a common trait—shape manipulation. Just like the Biscuit Fruit, which could create an army of biscuit soldiers, the Graphite Fruit could allow Jay to shape graphite into various forms.

After explaining several strategies for developing the fruit's powers, Noah offered one last piece of advice:

"Jay, do you know what the foundation of any Devil Fruit user is?"

Jay paused, thinking hard.

"Your body," Noah said firmly. "The stronger your body, the easier it is to develop your abilities. The same goes for awakening Haki."

"Now that you've got this fruit's power, don't neglect your physical training. Understood?"

Jay nodded, absorbing the lesson. "I got it, Noah. I won't slack off."

Satisfied, Noah turned to leave the training grounds.

In truth, there was one more idea he had for developing the Graphite Fruit's potential, but given Jay's current abilities and physical condition, Noah decided not to overwhelm him with too much information at once. After all, there's no point in biting off more than you can chew.

Meanwhile...

Noah wasn't too worried about Uncle Joseph.

Developing a Zoan-type Devil Fruit like the Silverback Gorilla Fruit boiled down to two key factors. First, constant physical training. Second, building an iron will. Master those two, and the fruit's powers would eventually awaken.

However, both were equally important.

If you only trained your body, you might end up like the mindless Jailer Beasts in Impel Down after awakening. But if your body wasn't strong enough, the fruit wouldn't awaken at all.

Note: From now on I am going to release the 2 chapter weekly. 

So, support me in (https://ko-fi.com/sorkarnayeem).

There is a 15+ advanced chapter here in my ko-fi.

Happy reading, Thank you.