One Piece Quest Fruit - Chapter 47
As Eust and his crew left the cave, preparing to search for the ghost ship, they noticed two boats near their own vessel upon returning.
One was their small sailboat, unmistakable with its familiar sail. The other, a smaller boat, looked like a fishing boat.
What’s going on? The restaurant owner had said there were no boats on this island, as Old John and his apprentice were still building new ones. How could there be a boat here already?
Realizing something, Eust looked at Lyra, who was already looking at him.
They exchanged glances, both suspecting the same thing: could this be the so-called “ghost ship”?
Eust was surprised not that the ghost ship appeared in broad daylight (he knew it could), but that it showed up near their boat. It felt like a gift from above.
To check if he was dreaming, Eust pinched his arm—not too hard since he hated pain.
“Ow, it actually hurts. I guess I’m not dreaming.”
“You jerk, Eust! How dare you pinch me! That hurt!” Lyra punched him.
“Wait, Lyra, I thought I was dreaming and wanted to joke around. See how close I feel to you in my dream? Forgive me!”
“Jerk!”
Eust took a few more punches, though he had only expected one. He didn’t dare complain, knowing it was his fault. As a great captain, he shouldn’t test dreams on his crew, not even Lyra.
“Meow, more humans. They always crowd around boats. Don’t they care about the boat’s feelings? Annoying humans.”
“Huh? Sunny, what are you saying?”
“Meow, I’m translating what that boat said. Uh, wait, who said that? Weird, meow!”
All three were puzzled.
“Meow, the boat fruit is talking. How can this cat understand my language?”
“Sunny, what’s going on?”
“Meow, I don’t know. I just heard a voice and instinctively translated it into human language.”
Eust and Lyra remained confused.
“Meow, the boat fruit says it’s a ship that ate the boat-boat fruit. How can this cat understand my language?”
Eust connected some dots and realized Sunny might have a special ability similar to Chopper’s ability to communicate with other animals.
After eating the Human-Human Fruit, Chopper could take on human form and speak human languages and various animal languages. He often served as the Straw Hat Crew’s animal translator.
Chopper was cute and an excellent doctor. Eust wished he had a Chopper. Should he intercept Luffy’s crew? Maybe later. Back to Sunny.
Sunny was already special as part of the strategist cat clan, which could speak human languages upon maturity. Sunny’s ability to communicate with special Devil Fruit users seemed plausible after eating the unique mission fruit.
The information indicated the boat wasn’t human or animal but had unique abilities due to eating a Devil Fruit, giving rise to the ghost ship legend.
Eust’s thoughts raced in just a couple of seconds. He told Lyra not to worry and still puzzled, they approached the “ghost ship” by the shore.
As they walked, Eust explained his theory about the ghost ship to Lyra and Sunny.
Upon reaching the ghost ship, Eust had Sunny act as the translator while Lyra took a moment to process the information.
“Meow, boat fruit, don’t worry. We won’t harm you. I, Eust, and Lyra are friendly and won’t hurt anyone without reason.”
“Meow, the boat fruit says it’s not worried about humans. They’re weak, and it can self-repair.”
“Sunny, ask it how it got the Devil Fruit.”
“Meow, the boat fruit says it won’t share its secrets with humans and wants us to leave.”
“Sunny, tell it about the human threats, like cannon fire destroying boats, swordsmen’s slashes, and people burning it with fuel.”
“Meow, the boat fruit doesn’t believe in such powerful humans. It fears fire but won’t sit still to be burned.”
“Good, it’s scared. Sunny, tell it to behave, or we’ll burn it. Lyra, don’t look at me like that. I’m just threatening it. I want it to join us.”
“Just imagine, a Devil Fruit user in ship form, sailing without sinking. Amazing.”
“Meow, I understand. I’ll scare the boat fruit.”
…
The boat fruit quickly moved away. Eust wouldn’t let it escape and followed closely.
After a chase, Lyra couldn’t keep up, and the boat fruit, realizing Eust’s incredible stamina, was also dismayed.
What kind of person is this, faster and with better stamina than any human who’s chased me before? I don’t want to be burned. I want to go home to my mom.
Eventually, Eust caught up with the exhausted boat fruit.
The boat fruit, naive and only moving along the coast, hadn’t thought to flee into the deep sea, where Eust couldn’t follow. Eust wasn’t a Fish-Man, and his sea speed couldn’t match his land speed.
Standing on the ghost ship, Eust told Sunny, “Sunny, tell the boat fruit that if it behaves, it won’t be burned. We’re really nice and won’t harm anyone without reason.”
“Meow, the boat fruit says it’s too tired to run and will do whatever we want, just don’t burn it. You didn’t really plan to burn me? Just scare me? You nearly scared me to death. What’s a heart and liver anyway? The Devil Fruit gave me weird knowledge, and sometimes my mind gets jumbled.”
“Let’s have the boat fruit move back and meet up with Lyra. I need a break. The boat fruit’s speed is impressive but not enduring. I can maintain high speed for double the time, but it can’t.”
“Meow, okay, Eust.”
“Meow, the boat fruit says it’s too tired to move quickly and wants to lie down like a salted fish. Please spare it.”
“Slow movement is fine, as long as we meet Lyra sooner. Does the boat fruit want to be a roasted salted fish or a moving salted fish?”
Unwilling to be roasted, the boat fruit obediently carried Eust and Sunny back slowly.
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