— — — — — — — —
"My condolences."
Rayleigh sighed and shook his head. "Regret won't change anything now."
"Since you were resurrected, that means Rouge can be revived too," he continued. "If you make enough contributions, I'm sure Kaito wouldn't mind helping you bring Rouge back."
"But as for Ace…" Rayleigh hesitated. "Because of his mother's death and his own identity, he harbors deep resentment toward you."
"So when you meet him, you'll need to find a way to resolve his hatred toward you."
Since resurrection was now a reality, Rouge's death was not necessarily an irreversible tragedy. There was no need for such sorrow.
"Huh?"
Roger was stunned for a moment before turning to look at Kaito.
Internally, he thought, "That's right! Since Kaito has the power to resurrect others, I can ask him to revive Rouge later."
''But Ace hates me?''
Thinking about it carefully, Roger realized why. He chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "It's only natural for him to hate me. Because of me, he was born with an unfortunate fate."
"I'll find a way to resolve his hatred in the future. We're father and son—there's always a way."
"As long as you understand," Rayleigh nodded, not saying much more on the subject.
Instead, he turned to Kaito and asked, "So, Kaito, you were in such a hurry to form a contract with me and Shakky. You must need our help with something, right?"
Otherwise, there was no reason to rush.
Kaito could've taken his time.
"That's right!" Kaito confirmed with a nod. "I need help collecting some rare materials and resources."
"Here's the list." He handed over several sheets filled with material names and illustrations. "Take a look and see if you can help gather as much as possible. These are things I'll need long-term."
Rayleigh took the papers and quickly flipped through them with Shakky.
Shakky couldn't help but exclaim, "These materials aren't easy to get!"
"Some are even banned by the World Government!"
"Many are rare resources unique to certain kingdoms and islands."
"No wonder you need us to collect them."
"Given your current level of influence, acquiring these materials would be extremely difficult," Shakky noted.
As someone with a vast intelligence network and strong underground connections, she immediately understood the challenge Kaito was facing.
"That's the situation. So, how feasible is it? How much can you gather per month?" Kaito asked.
"It's doable!" Shakky nodded. "Give me half a year, and I'll set up a proper supply chain for these materials."
"As for how much I can gather each month… Even I can't guarantee a specific amount just yet."
"I need to contact the right people before I can confirm."
"Can I ask what these materials are for?"
"Within my network, these are the same materials that the World Government has been heavily collecting," Shakky pointed out.
Her intelligence network had already picked up on this.
"It's nothing secret," Kaito shrugged. "These are primarily used to replicate Devil Fruits."
"Replicate Devil Fruits?!"
Shakky and the others widened their eyes in shock.
"That kind of technology… Isn't it mainly controlled by the World Government? Specifically, Dr. Vegapunk?" Shakky asked.
Hearing this, Kaito put a finger to his lips. "Shh! Keep it to yourself."
"When we successfully replicate them, you and Rayleigh will each get a share."
"So please do your best to collect these materials. The production of Devil Fruits depends on it."
"Huh?"
Shakky and Rayleigh were caught off guard.
Shakky shook her head. "I don't need a Devil Fruit. I have no intention of eating one."
"Same here," Rayleigh agreed. "A sword is all I need."
Despite the power they had gained from Kaito, they had no plans to change their primary fighting styles.
Rayleigh would remain a swordsman.
Shakky would continue focusing on physical combat and archery.
"No!"
Kaito firmly shook his head. "You do need one."
"Because the Devil Fruit we're replicating is special. It's the Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit."
"Huh?!"
Shakky and Rayleigh were baffled. "The Human-Human Fruit? That's a thing?!"
"If a human eats it, wouldn't they gain nothing? Wouldn't they just become a joke?"
A fruit with no benefits, but still cursed by the sea?
"It's probably not that simple, right? Otherwise, you guys wouldn't be putting so much effort into mass-producing it." Roger, who had been listening all along, muttered to himself.
"Exactly!" Kaito nodded in affirmation. "At first glance, this Devil Fruit seems completely ordinary, even useless to humans."
"But that's not the case!"
"In my view, this Devil Fruit should be classified as a Mythical Zoan-type, the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Human Form."
"Whoever eats this fruit will become an all-rounder, able to master any skill a human is capable of."
"Their comprehension ability will multiply, and their control over their body will reach extreme levels!"
"In short, anything a human can learn, the user of this Devil Fruit can master at an unparalleled level."
"What?!"
Shakky and the others were stunned.
"That's how it works?"
Rayleigh's eyes lit up. "Then this Devil Fruit is incredibly valuable!"
"It's something that anyone would dream of having, especially for those of us who focus purely on physical and swordsmanship training. The value of this is immeasurable!"
"I was too short-sighted before!"
He also recalled that Kaito had methods to eliminate the Devil Fruits' weaknesses—the curse of the sea and the restriction on consuming multiple fruits.
With that in mind, Rayleigh felt that this fruit was perfect for him.
He immediately turned to Shakky and said, "We need to prioritize the material collection. I'll do my best to support you."
"Got it!" Shakky nodded seriously, then turned to Kaito. "Leave the material collection to us!"
"However, if this is only for the short term, I can manage with my current funds."
"But if it's long-term, we might need financial support from you."
"After all, these things aren't cheap."
Kaito nodded. "Money won't be a problem!"
"I've recently acquired a massive fortune and have already transferred a portion into your storage space. You can check it now and use it as needed."
"If it's not enough, just let me know."
Apart from the wealth he had amassed through business ventures in the Ninja world and the mountains of gold he obtained from Skypiea, just the riches collected from annihilating countless pirate crews along the way amounted to over ten billion Berries—enough for Shakky to use for a long time.
As he spoke, Kaito activated his ability, directly transferring a hundred billion Berries from his storage space to Shakky's.
Shakky immediately received the notification. Upon checking, she couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
"Damn! I heard rumors that you guys wiped out countless pirate crews, but this proves it!"
"That's an insane amount of loot!"
Koshiro and the others chuckled knowingly.
Kaito shrugged. "We had no choice. Trouble kept finding us, plus the high bounty on our heads attracted all kinds of fools."
"Fortunately, they were all scum who deserved to die, so no regrets there."
At this point, he turned to Roger and said, "I have to say, you were too naive!"
"The Great Pirate Era that you started has brought endless suffering to the common people."
"It created too many evil pirates!"
"Saying you have a heavy burden of sin is an understatement."
Regardless of Roger's intentions, his actions caused irreparable harm.
A noble goal executed the wrong way is still evil.
"Uh…"
Roger scratched his head awkwardly and laughed. "Well, that couldn't be helped. I guess you just appeared too late!"
"If you had shown up earlier and shared your plan with me, maybe I wouldn't have done what I did!"
"Of course, I'm not blaming you for my actions. I just feel a bit of regret!"
If possible, he wouldn't have wanted to cause such a tragedy.
Kaito sighed. "What's done is done. The only thing you can do now is try to make up for it."
"Of course!"
Roger nodded firmly. "I will do everything I can to help you achieve your vision, to make this world truly different, truly better!"
This was his way of atonement.
With those words, his goodwill towards Kaito skyrocketed.
He was deeply grateful that Kaito had given him the chance to make up for his past mistakes and set things right.
At the same time, he admired Kaito's world-changing plan.
"I'll be watching with anticipation!"
Kaito nodded. "For now, stay with Rayleigh and help him out."
Since Roger wasn't under contract, staying with the Uchiha Pirates wasn't convenient.
"Got it!"
Roger had no objections.
.
.
.