One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 250: The Pain Should End!

Chapter 250: The Pain Should End!

Loguetown. Roy began his specialized training in Conqueror’s Haki under Garp.

On the sea, the aftermath of the Dressrosa incident continued to ripple.

The entire world was shrouded in treacherous clouds.

But clearly, for Neverland—currently cruising slowly under the moonlight high above the sky—the situation on the sea had no impact whatsoever.

In fact, at this moment, a lively banquet was taking place on Neverland.

"Awoo! Awoo!"

A lion radiating lightning all over its body was howling.

"What are you making a racket for? The meat isn’t even roasted yet!"

In front of it, Baby 5, wearing a maid outfit and turning her hand into a giant flamethrower to roast meat, rolled her eyes at it. "Keep making a racket and you’ll have this old lady to deal with!"

Lion: "Awoo."

"Ha? Are you saying I can’t beat you? That was only because of the Sea Prism Stone handcuffs before—if you don’t believe me, just try me..."

Baby 5’s eyes widened.

So the lion decided not to argue with the tigress, sitting down quietly, wagging its tail, and began to wait.

A short while later, the meat was roasted. As the aroma filled the air, the beasts on the island cheered.

"Here, take it—don’t touch the ones over there, those are ours!"

Baby 5 distributed the roasted meat to the happily approaching beasts, then picked up a few pieces and walked to the side.

"Bonney, this skewer is yours."

"Linlin, these five skewers are yours... the meat is a dream creation, so soul bodies can eat it too."

"Thank you, Big Sister Baby 5!" (xN)

A group of bobbleheads rushed over all at once, scrambling for the roasted meat.

Watching this scene, the corners of Baby 5’s mouth curled up into a smile.

"It’s still so lively today."

At this moment, a familiar voice reached her ears.

She turned her head and saw Collei walking over with a beaming smile.

"It’s alright... The meat hunted from the ’Gourmet Dream’ today isn’t that much, so a few of the little ones didn’t come over."

Baby 5 replied: "What about you—finally done with work?"

As she spoke, she handed Collei a skewer of roasted meat and a glass of juice.

"Mm, I went to check on the things currently being cultivated in the Jade Greenhouse, and also took the opportunity to lift a portion of the ’Curtain’ at the edge of the island."

"Mr. Tei is coming back."

Collei took the roasted meat and juice, casually explaining while enjoying the food.

"Bartholomew Kuma, huh..."

As her words fell, Baby 5 naturally understood what she meant.

Mainly because on the entire island, whether it was Hitsuji, Collei, or the bobbleheads, they had never intentionally hidden Kuma’s identity.

So Baby 5 had long known that the constellation ’Tei’ of The Zodiac was none other than Bartholomew Kuma—once nominated as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and also the father of little Bonney, who suffered from Sapphire Scales disease.

To be honest, when she first learned this, Baby 5 was genuinely speechless.

After all, the young master she had once served was nothing more than a Warlord himself. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

And an existence at the Warlord level couldn’t even secure a position as a top executive in The Zodiac. This naturally left her feeling conflicted.

Not long ago, Kuma had seemingly received some order from Hitsuji and temporarily left Neverland.

From Collei’s words, it wasn’t hard to deduce that he would be back shortly.

"Tsk tsk... I really don’t know what kind of... cough cough, I mean, what kind of big event our Zodiac has pulled off this time."

Baby 5 couldn’t help but sigh.

"I don’t think it was any big event—I heard he left this time because of news from another constellation."

"Another constellation?"

"Mm, it seems to be related to a major matter within the organization... I didn’t ask much."

While saying this, Collei felt a twinge of envy.

She also very much hoped to take on important missions like that.

But...

"After all, even if I asked, I wouldn’t be able to help—the things I can do are only what I’m doing now."

Her self-awareness was quite clear.

She considered herself a determined person, and after joining The Zodiac, she had trained hard.

But on this sea, hard work doesn’t always guarantee results.

She wasn’t a natural-born powerhouse, and she had started her training far too late.

So up until now, although she was one of the ’Constellations’, all she could contribute was logistical work on Neverland.

Although she didn’t hate these tasks...

"As expected, I’m still not strong enough."

She murmured.

"Hey hey, don’t make that face."

Seeing Collei’s smile that clearly carried a hint of sorrow, Baby 5 hurriedly comforted her.

"Besides, if you became stronger, wouldn’t this old lady end up getting kicked off the island?"

She pointed at herself: "After all, Lord Hitsuji only let me stay by making me the island’s ’Guard’."

That was exactly the role she was playing on the island right now.

Yes—ever since being saved by Nezumi in Dressrosa, she had naturally and decisively chosen to return to Neverland.

But due to her former identity, it was naturally impossible for Hitsuji to directly grant her the duties of a constellation.

So her current role was as the ’Guard’ of Neverland, specifically responsible for protecting Collei and the children.

"That’s only temporary."

Hearing this, Collei smiled: "Baby 5, you are very strong. Sooner or later, you’ll become a ’Constellation’ and take charge of things yourself."

"Ah, that’s not necessary."

However, Baby 5 clearly had no such ambitions.

"I think things are just fine the way they are now."

When she was previously an executive of the Donquixote Family, she had been the same way—status and power had never mattered to her.

She just wanted to stay by her family’s side.

And undoubtedly, Neverland was her new home now.

The girl in front of her, along with those children and phantom beasts, were the new family she had finally found after so many years.

So...

"Just like this is fine."

She smiled and bit off a piece of meat, eating with relish: "As long as I can protect you all, that’s enough."

"I won’t always need protecting, you know!"

But hearing this, Collei seemed to feel she was being looked down upon.

"Lord Hitsuji has already said that soon, the organization might distribute Devil Fruits in batches to the constellations under the top executives."

Speaking of this, she looked forward to it somewhat: "When the time comes, if I can get a powerful fruit, I’ll actually be able to help Lord Hitsuji and Alan..."

"...Ha?"

Hearing this, Baby 5 raised an eyebrow, seemingly doubting her own ears.

With The Zodiac’s strength, obtaining Devil Fruits was entirely plausible.

But distributing them in batches? Were Devil Fruits some kind of buy-one-get-one-free commodity?

But just as the two were muttering to themselves.

"Actually, you are already helping me a great deal right now, Miss Collei."

Accompanied by a crisp snap in the air and a gentle voice, Kuma’s tall figure appeared beside the two of them.

"Ku—Mr. Kuma!?"

Collei and Baby 5 were both startled, but then they recovered: "I didn’t receive any signal from the dream creatures at all... how did you get here?"

"Oh, I’m sorry."

Kuma apologized somewhat sheepishly: "Previously, in order to infiltrate the island and meet Heki, I ’Repelled’ the light and aura reflected around me."

"It wasn’t until I returned to the island that I remembered to deactivate it."

As he said this, Baby 5 and Collei noticed—even now, Kuma’s legs were faintly semi-transparent, slowly returning to normal.

Their expressions became complicated.

They weren’t surprised by Kuma’s ability—after all, he had never hidden his strength while on Neverland, and they both knew this constellation was exceptionally powerful.

But the problem was Kuma’s demeanor.

"Is there urgent intelligence?"

They immediately sensed something was off.

Kuma had always been a calm, methodical person.

But this time, he had let his composure slip—something that rarely happened.

The implication was clear.

"Mm... it’s fairly important intelligence."

Kuma didn’t hide it: "I need to meet Lord Hitsuji immediately."

"Lord Hitsuji is in the cultivation room of the Jade Greenhouse, you can go directly."

Collei said quickly.

But exactly at this moment...

"Father!"

A cheerful cry rang out.

The three turned their heads and saw Bonney bounding towards them on her short little legs.

"Father, you’re back... cough cough..."

She had barely said two words before she started coughing.

Kuma hurriedly bent down and picked up his daughter, looking at her with concern: "Bonney, how are you feeling?"

"I’m fine, I just ran too fast..."

Bonney giggled, unbothered: "Father, try this—Big Sister Baby 5’s cooking is really good!"

She held out a piece of roasted meat to Kuma.

And as Kuma ate it, he watched his daughter.

She had clearly become so much more cheerful.

That was inevitable—since boarding Neverland, the life the father and daughter had lived was one they hadn’t even dared to dream of for decades.

Being able to laugh freely, not needing to hide in dark corners... it was a life that had only ever existed in dreams.

But although she had grown more cheerful on the surface, the crystal-like Sapphire Scales still marked Bonney’s face—the sword of Damocles that Kuma never allowed himself to forget.

He knew it all too well.

Even with the Fountain of Youth on Neverland keeping Bonney’s vitality in a stable state, the Sapphire Scales would still continuously wear away at her body. The pain she suffered had never gone away.

She had simply grown used to enduring it—had even learned to ignore its existence.

So...

"Dad needs to see Lord Hitsuji for a bit. I’ll come play with you after."

Kuma gently patted his daughter’s head and smiled.

"Mm!"

Bonney nodded eagerly.

Watching this, Baby 5 and Collei fell quiet.

Baby 5 in particular—she had always felt that her own childhood had been painful enough.

But after meeting Kuma and Bonney, she realized... people like herself were not rare in this world. If anything, there were far too many of them.

But exactly at this moment...

"Oh, Kuma, you’re back?"

An eye opened on the ground, and Hitsuji’s voice emerged.

"Mm."

Kuma nodded: "Lord Hitsuji, Heki has important intelligence and asked me to convey it to you."

He said in a low voice.

But then Hitsuji spoke words he hadn’t expected.

"Mm, I heard everything—but there’s no rush for that right now."

"Before we discuss the matter concerning Heki, come to the Jade Greenhouse first."

"And bring Bonney and the other children along too."

"...Bonney? And the other children?"

Kuma, Baby 5, and Collei all went still.

"Mm."

Then they heard Hitsuji’s next words.

"The Boss is here—He asked me to pass on a message to you... that promise He made to you back then, it’s time to fulfill it."

Hitsuji said with a smile.

"Bonney’s pain should end."