On Island 23 of the Sabaody Archipelago, under the slightly dim streetlights, Safiros had a cigar between his lips and was holding a book titled "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia" in his hands.
He was walking on the road while absentmindedly flipping through the book with his hand.
After wandering around for more than an hour, he finally spent fifty thousand berries in a large bookstore to buy a book that claimed to have the most comprehensive collection of devil fruit illustrations.
When Safiros was buying it, he casually flipped through a few pages according to the book's table of contents. After finding that the fruit illustrations recorded in it were very similar to the appearance of the fruits in his past - life memory, he decided to buy it.
However, most of the devil fruits in the encyclopedia only had names and abilities, and only a small number of fruit appearances were recorded.
He flipped from the Logia type all the way to the Zoan type but didn't find the illustration of the green gourd - shaped devil fruit. He didn't even see the Vampire Fruit that he had eaten...
However...
When he had flipped through nearly half of the Paramecia - type devil fruit illustrations, he finally saw a fruit shape that was green and gourd - shaped, covered with black spiral patterns... the Door - Door Fruit of the Paramecia type!
"Whoa!"
After clearly reading the introduction, the silver - haired teenager took in a sharp breath. His heart was quickly filled with both joy and hesitation.
The Door - Door Fruit, as one of the rare Spatial - type fruits, was undoubtedly powerful. It had first - class survival ability. No matter where the user was, they could open a door and run away. As long as the user didn't act recklessly, basically no one could kill them.
It was just that in the original story, Bruno's intelligence was reduced. Instead of using the circumventing tactic, he insisted on using the most powerful defensive technique in the Six Powers, Iron Block, to withstand all of Luffy's attacks.
Throughout the world of One Piece, every single person who dared to use Iron Block for defense ended up defeated!
Anyway, when Safiros started learning the Six Powers, he secretly made a decision that Iron Block and such were attack skills, and he would never use them for defense!
"Bring the wine of Bink's sake to your side.
Day after day.
In the dreamy evening twilight, the figure waving goodbye is no longer seen.
Why look so glum? The moonlight will be just as bright tomorrow night!
Bring the wine of Bink's sake to your side.
Let's sing a song!
A song of the sea.
No matter who it is, they'll turn to dust in the end.
Endlessly, it's just a laughing matter..."
On the quiet street, in front of the iron bars of the window of a human trafficking shop, a beautiful woman with long, beautiful golden hair and a slave collar around her neck looked at the green - haired young man outside the window and said with a smile:
"Tezzolo, your singing is really nice! I feel like I'll never get tired of listening to it."
"Stella, just give me a little more time. I've already saved up half of the money. Then I'll be able to redeem you."
The young man speaking was wearing a suit and had gray - green hair.
Although his body was very tired, there was still a gentle smile on his face, and his eyes looking at the woman were full of love.
His name is Gilder Tezzolo, and he loves singing deeply, dreaming from the bottom of his heart of becoming a big star.
However, he was born into a poverty - stricken family.
Because of his poverty, he was ostracized by his friends. Moreover, his father was a gambler and died of illness one day. Then, he was left to live only with his mother, who beat and scolded him every day.
But whenever he sang out of sadness or joy, his mother would beat him and bluntly say that she hated his singing.
Finally, one day, he couldn't bear his mother's abuse anymore and ran away from home, becoming a street hooligan living off theft. Occasionally, he would sing in bars for money and made some 'friends' with the money he earned.
However...
This situation persisted until the day when he suffered a huge loss in the casino. All those friends he trusted ran away and abandoned him.
Helplessly, after being beaten by the casino staff, he managed to escape desperately, avoiding the fate of becoming a slave.
On that day, he met the blond woman named Stella right in front of him. He was covered in wounds and exhausted, sitting slumped against the shop window, singing sadly.
The two didn't know each other before, but Stella sincerely praised his singing.
In the lowest point of his life, Tezzolo finally met someone who appreciated him.
As they got in touch more frequently and talked more amicably, his heart was quickly filled with a feeling called love.
Tezzolo fell in love!
He fell deeply in love with Stella. For her sake, he turned over a new leaf and stopped doing bad things. He worked hard every day to earn money, all for the sake of redeeming Stella!
Unfortunately, the price for Stella was too high. After more than a year of hard work, he only managed to earn half of it.
At this rate, he still had to wait for more than a year to earn enough money.
This time span was too long, and there were many uncertainties during this period. Stella might be bought by someone at any time, but he didn't want to give up, so he could only continue to work desperately.
Just when the two were chatting very happily, a silver - haired young man walked over. He leaned against the iron railing of the shop window and looked at Tezzolo.
"Yo! Buddy, let's get to know each other. My name is Karl D. Sephiroth."
The young man with gray - green hair was a bit taken aback at first, but he still politely replied:
"Hello, my name is Tezzolo... May I ask what you want from me?"
"Your singing is really nice!
I heard it accidentally when I passed by just now." Sephiroth said with a smile.
Receiving praise from others, Tezzolo scratched his head shyly and smiled:
"Thanks for the compliment!"
"I also heard just now that you want to redeem this beautiful lady. Is that right?"
"Yes... Yes."
Hearing this, the young man with green hair suddenly felt uneasy, and a look of restlessness flashed across his face. He was very afraid that the silver - haired young man in the blue suit in front of him would take the lead and buy Stella in advance.
"How about making a deal?"
"What kind of deal?"
"I'll give you money to redeem Miss Stella. But in return... you'll become my subordinate and work for me in the future. How about it?"
Hearing this, both Tesoro and Stella got excited, yet they looked at the silver - haired teenager in disbelief.
"Why are you helping me like this?"
*Because you're the future Golden Emperor, the richest man in the world and a combatant at the vice - captain level among emperors. If it were someone else, I might not be so kind as to make an investment! If I can get your loyalty, Tesoro, it'll be much easier for me to build my own forces...*
Although Sephiroth thought like this, what he said was another story:
"I've witnessed a terrible thing today where the Celestial Dragons trampled on lives. So I want to see a happy ending where lovers finally get together. And I think you're worth investing in, so I want to give you a hand... Of course, the final decision is up to you. If you're not willing, I won't force you. You..."
"I'm willing! As long as you give me the money to redeem Stella, I, Gild Tesoro, am willing to pledge my loyalty to you!"
A man in love is always hot - blooded and reckless. Tesoro didn't think twice and directly agreed to Sephiroth without even asking about his occupation.
In the pirate world, pirates generally have a low level of education. They also have a strong sense of Jianghu (martial world) loyalty, which emphasizes loyalty and a sense of chivalry in the pirate world.
Therefore, many times, there are not a few people who, in order to repay someone's kindness, whole - heartedly pledge their lives to that person with a hot - blooded heart.
For example, Gin, Bellamy, and Tea Beard... These people aren't even considered good people, but they're very persistent about loyalty and friendship.
So, Sephiroth is gambling now. He's gambling that Tesoro will sincerely pledge his loyalty to him after getting his help.
After all, Tesoro is still young and hasn't experienced the most complete despair and darkness. And Stella makes him have a beautiful yearning for life.
Even if he loses this bet, he'll choose to cut his losses in time and find a chance to kill Tesoro...
"Okay! ... How much money is needed to redeem her?"
"Redeeming Stella costs 38 million berries. I've already saved 19.3 million berries..."
"38 million berries, right? Sure, I'll pay it all. But you'll have to wait for me for an hour or two. I need to go back and get the money."
Sephiroth pretended to agree very readily, but he was cursing in his heart.
"Is this woman inlaid with gold or diamonds or what? Damn! It's freaking expensive!"
The average price of an ordinary human is only about one million berries. Without any added value, the price can't possibly exceed ten million berries...
While muttering in his heart, Sephiroth transformed into a vampire. With a "swish", he spread his black wings.
"What is this...?"
Tezolo looked at the suddenly transformed silver-haired boy before him and was momentarily stunned.
"I'm a Devil Fruit user. You wait here. I'll go get the money right now."
As he spoke, Sephiroth flapped his black fleshy wings and shot straight into the air. In a few moments, he disappeared into the night.
"Great! Stella, you can finally redeem yourself."
Tezolo flashed a bright smile as he looked at the blonde woman in the window.
Stella reached out her right hand and grabbed the iron railing. With a worried look on her face, she said,
"But... Tezolo, is it really okay for you to recognize a guy of unknown origin as your boss for my sake?"
The young man with greyish-green hair covered the blonde woman's hand with his own. Speaking sincerely, he said,
"Everything is worth it for you!"
"Tezolo..."
Stella looked at the young man outside the window. Her whole heart melted, and she felt incredibly happy.
Even if the other person asked her to die in the future, she would be willing. The young girl secretly made up her mind...