One Piece: Heaven-Defying Talent

Ace rejected Cavendish's request.

The artificial Devil Fruit made by Chiba is so powerful that it is obvious to all.

Every crew member on Chiba's ship longs for a Chiba-made Devil Fruit. But there are more wolves than meat. For the sake of fairness and team harmony, the fruits can only be bid on as a team.

Under the auspices of Ace, more than a dozen people in the Chiba fleet participated in the auction, and finally, the Stone Fruit in its Stone Man form fell into the hands of Cavendish.

Cavendish hugged the fruit and laughed loudly, excitement written all over his face. Then, under the envious eyes of everyone, Cavendish ate the fruit in one gulp.

Almost immediately, Cavendish let out a miserable scream.

The Stone Fruit began to alter Cavendish's body structure.

His entire body and even his bones started to transform.

Cavendish screamed repeatedly, his cries unsettling everyone present.

"Didn't Master Chiba say that he would improve the painful side effects of man-made Devil Fruits? Why is Cavendish screaming so miserably?" someone asked nervously.

"Who knows? Maybe Master Chiba forgot," another crew member replied.

Vista chuckled. "You can gain great strength by enduring a little pain. What's the big deal?"

"In my opinion, this kind of pain shouldn't disappear—it should increase," Vista added.

Bartolomeo curled his lips. "You've already eaten the artificial Devil Fruit made by Master Chiba. You don't have to endure this kind of pain anymore. It's easy for you to talk big now."

"I just hope that the artificial Devil Fruit Chiba-sama makes next can eliminate this side effect," Bartolomeo muttered.

Watching Cavendish's distorted face, Bartolomeo felt as if he were experiencing the pain himself.

Cavendish struggled for half an hour before the pain subsided.

He was left severely dehydrated and completely exhausted, without an ounce of strength to spare.

Bartolomeo quickly stuffed an elixir into Cavendish's mouth and helped him swallow it with water.

Although Bartolomeo and Cavendish often bickered and fought, they were each other's most solid backing when it mattered.

Bartolomeo rubbed Cavendish's face vigorously while pouring water into his mouth. "Drink up, you idiot," he said as Cavendish, still conscious, glared at him.

"Are you trying to burst my stomach with water, you rooster-headed fool?" Cavendish croaked.

Bartolomeo ignored him and continued. "Shut up and recover. Without me, you'd still be on the ground!"

Finally, Cavendish regained some strength. "Enough! Stop watering me!" he rasped.

The true energy within Cavendish began to recover rapidly, and his aura grew stronger by the moment.

Bartolomeo smirked. "You owe me big time, show-off. Without me, you wouldn't have recovered this quickly. Now that you've eaten the Devil Fruit, don't forget to pay me back!"

Cavendish let out a low chuckle, which soon grew into a manic laugh. Fixing Bartolomeo with a sharp glare, he said, "Rooster-head, you're dead this time."

With those words, Cavendish suddenly slammed his fist into the ground. Stones from all directions gathered to his arm. Within seconds, his arm transformed into a massive, stone appendage over ten meters long. He raised it high and swung it down toward Bartolomeo.

Bartolomeo's eyes widened in shock. "Cavendish, you shameless bastard! I helped you, and this is how you repay me?"

He quickly activated his Barrier-Barrier Fruit, forming a giant barrier in front of him.

The enormous barrier—ten meters long, three meters wide, and half a meter thick—was strong and durable. Cavendish's stone fist slammed into it with a thunderous crash.

Although Bartolomeo's barrier held, it was pushed back by the sheer force of the blow.

Cavendish didn't relent. With his other hand, he slammed the ground, summoning another massive stone arm. The two gigantic stone arms now converged on Bartolomeo's barrier in a devastating strike.

This time, Bartolomeo's barrier shattered. The force sent Bartolomeo flying backward, crashing to the ground.

Groaning, Bartolomeo clutched his face, his expression livid. "Okay, okay! I get it! I won't call you a show-off anymore! Just stop hitting me!"

Cavendish sneered. "Rooster-head, you think you can beg your way out of this? After all the times you insulted me, you think I'll let it slide? Not a chance."

Fueled by his newfound strength, Cavendish continued to attack Bartolomeo relentlessly.

---

Meanwhile, Chiba, unfazed by the chaos, had already moved on to his next experiment, continuing his groundbreaking research.

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.