Chapter 23: Losing Devil Fruit

"Oi, oi, isn't that a devil fruit?" Sanji's eyes narrowed when he saw the fruit in Liam's hand.

"Hehe….. Hah…. It seems like a devil fruit user died here and its power got transferred to the only fruit inside this plant. It looks like paramecia." Liam heavily breathed and spoke.

"By the way, what's happening with you? Why do you sound so weak?" Zoro looked at him with surprise and asked.

"Hah… hah….  This plant was sucking my energy while I was inside it." Liam answered.

"Anyway, let's return back to the ship. You should take a bath while I will cook something for you." Sanji said while looking at Luffy.

But, Luffy was simply staring at the devil fruit thinking about whether he could eat it or not.

"Hu…. You can't eat it, Luffy. Eating two devil fruits will kill you." Liam shook his head as he immediately understood Luffy's intention/

"Alright, let's leave!" When Luffy got the mark that he can't eat it, his mind instantly processed what Sanji told him as he turned around. He stretched his hand and caught the top of the pit.

Zoro and Sanji looked at Liam and sighed.

"It seems like all of us are going to take a bath."

Although disgusted, they still held Liam and then grabbed Luffy's body.

Whoosh!

Luffy used his Gomu-Gomu No- Rocket and flew them out of there but now, there was a problem with landing.

Bang! Crash! Crash! Crash!

Four of them fell down the hill and crashed a few times. Nami and Usopp hurriedly went down as well. Because they were literally on their path to the bottom, they didn't stop so on the way, Usopp and Nami lifted those arms and legs weights and threw them down as well.

Although they were going down, they couldn't lift those weights for long. So, they simply threw them and continued throwing them until they reached the bottom.

"Liam!" Nami screamed when she saw Liam and others on the ground with stars moving around their heads. But when she reached near him, she got disgusted by the liquid covering Liam.

'Nami, calm down!' She forcefully calmed herself and wait for the boys to recover. It took them a while. Normally, they would get angry at Luffy but since this time it was necessary, they didn't argue with Luffy but instead helped Liam stand.

Because of a lack of energy, Liam was having a hard time standing. But, after they reached the seashore, he eventually recovered a little. They helped him get on the ship.

"By the way, Liam, are you going to eat this devil fruit?" Sanji asked as they reached on the deck.

"I am not sure. I don't even know what devil fruit this is?" Liam shrugged his shoulders.

"I have read Devil Fruit Encyclopedia once and I was able to learn that there was a devil fruit that makes a person almost unkillable. This fruit looks exactly the same. I have the feeling that this fruit will suit your fighting style." Sanji spoke with a slight surprise on his face.

"Really? What's its name?" Liam asked.

"Roots-Roots Fruit. It allows user to absorb water or any other nutrient liquid and used it for healing, regrowing body parts, and even manipulating the liquid it has absorbed."

"The reason it caught my eyes was that this was the only fruit that could still work in water. I mean you would still suffer from the curse of not being able to swim in the water but at the same time, it can absorb the sea water."

"I don't know how that is possible but this fruit will be really useful to you." Sanji said.

Hearing his words, Liam's eyes widened. He didn't expect such fruit to exist. He didn't eat it immediately though. He thought for a moment and said "Let's put on the cabin for now."

"I will take a proper bath and eat something before eating that or else, it will harm my taste bud for the entire day."

Sanji nodded his head as they went inside the cabin. Liam put it on the table and went to take a bath. Sanji helped him by heating up some water which he mixed with cold water and took a nice bath.

After cleaning himself, he finally wore new clothes. He liked wearing full black. He wore a black t-shirt and black pants like Sanji. He walked out of the bathing room and entered the cabin where Sanji had cooked a lot of food.

Nami was forcefully stopping Luffy from eating anything but when he arrived, she finally let Luffy go. But, Liam wasn't going down that easily.

He immediately grabbed chunks of meat and started eating faster than others but still slower than Luffy.

Bam! Bam!

"Can't you two eat slowly and let others have some as well?" Nami punched both of their heads and spoke.

"Sorry!" Liam and Luffy begged for forgiveness but they still didn't stop eating.

Splash! Splash!

Suddenly, the ship started moving on its own. The sea waves started striking the ship and shaking it.

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"What's going on?" Liam hurriedly took a few pieces of meat in his hand and rushed out of the cabin. Luffy did the same while others simply went out empty-handed.

They saw the island getting farther and farther.

"Woah! That island can move?" Luffy shouted.

Bam!

"Idiot, we are getting pushed by the waves. It happens a few times a year. Many sailors said that this island doesn't let anyone approach it that easily. Although it was certainly mysterious, I still don't understand what made those animals so afraid that they were basically running to the edge of the island."

"Could it be that plant?" Nami asked.

"I also think it was because of that plant. After all, it was sucking my energy which means it could also suck other animals' energy." Liam nodded his head and explained.

"Woahhhhhh!" Suddenly, the front of the ship lifted up almost sixty degrees by the waves which made them cling to the different parts of the ship.

"Zoro, Liam, unfold the sails. Sanji, Usopp turn the ship around. We need to get out before these waves completely overturn our ship." Nami saw the potential danger immediately and commanded them.

Liam and Zoro rushed toward the top of the main mast while Sanji and Usopp started turning the ship. Due to the waves, it was getting harder to move the rudder.

Fortunately, Sanji was strong enough and with Usopp's help, it didn't take long. The ship turned around and with the sails unfolded, they finally set away from that island.

"Liam, we got a problem."

Suddenly, Sanji shouted from the cabin which surprised Zoro and Liam. Both of them rushed inside as they see Sanji standing in front of the table.

"What happened?" Liam asked as he walked toward Sanji.

"The devil fruit... it's gone." Sanji pointed at the table and spoke.

"What? Damn it, sea waves must have thrown it around. Let's search for it. We must find it." Liam's eyes widened hearing that. His face turned ugly as he started looking around the sea. They searched the entire cabin but didn't find a single clue to where the fruit went.

"It must have fallen to sea." Liam ran out of the cabin and just when he was about to jump, Zoro and Sanji caught him.

"Idiot, look in front of you!"

Both of them shouted at his face. They pointed their hands at the sea. There was a massive sea tornado behind. Liam was also shocked when he saw the sea tornado and finally understood why Nami suddenly gave the order to go away as soon as possible.

"That devil fruit might be amazing but it isn't worth the risk. And, it has already gone under the sea. How can you expect to find it?" Zoro spoke.

"Besides, even without devil fruit, we can still get strong, can't we?" Sanji asked.

Liam took a deep breath and nodded his head "Thanks for reminding me. I almost lose my coolness."

"When did you become cool? You look like a sickly moron." Sanji rolled his eyes and spoke.

"Ahh meat!" Liam suddenly slapped his cheeks and rushed inside the cabin.

Zoro and Sanji shook their heads and entered the cabin as well.

"Luffy, that belongs to me." Seeing the last chunk of meat in front of Luffy, Liam roared.

"But, I got it first." Luffy giggled as he held the meat. But before, he put it in his mouth, Liam threw the sandal between his mouth and the meat. When Luffy opened his mouth, instead of eating meat, the sandal entered his mouth.

"Argh!"

Luffy realized that he had eaten something that is not food and immediately tried to spit it out. While he was doing that, Liam caught the meat away from his hand and ran away.

But, Luffy didn't give up. He realized that by the time he spits sandal, Liam would finish the meat. So, he simply swallowed the sandal and chased Liam.

"You guys!" Nami shouted seeing their actions but soon, the entire crew burst into laughter.

At this moment, there was a barrel at the corner of the ship. Under that barrel, there was a medium-sized hole. There were a few rays of light inside the ship from that hole and some other holes.

And, the light was shining on a small fist-sized weirdly shaped fruit.

Roots-Roots Fruit was inside the ship

But, none of the straw hats were aware of that at least, none of the current straw hats.

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