Noah was taken aback, seeing Qia in this state, then instinctively looked at Shano... In his Observation Haki perception, he completely couldn't grasp the depth of this guy, seeming indeed very strong, but appearing to have no malicious intent.
He took a deep breath, staring fixedly at Shano: "Sir, can you really save my grandfather?"
Shano still shook his head slightly: "I can't guarantee that, but I can come and see the situation first."
Noah was silent for a moment, finally making a certain decision, laying down his bow and arrows, and gesturing the warriors to clear the road:
"Please follow me."
...
The air was filled with the smell of herbs and incense mixed together.
Inside the wooden house, the light was dim, Qia and Noah's grandfather, also the old tribal leader of the Agatha tribe, was lying quietly on the bed, his eyes tightly closed.
Shano glanced around, this elder's age was even older than he thought, probably around a hundred years old.
A prolonged coma, difficulty in nutrition intake, made his already thin body more skeletal, with skin like dried bark tightly stuck to the bones.
"Grandfather! I'm back late..." Qia pounced at the bedside, started crying softly.
Shano turned his gaze to the center of the house, where two middle-aged warriors stood guard on either side of a wooden cabinet.
He approached the cabinet, the two warriors looked to Noah for confirmation, and upon nodding approval, they bowed slightly and stepped aside.
Shano opened the cabinet door, finally seeing the true face of the so-called "Holy Fruit".
This is...
——A Venus Flytrap??
He paused slightly, stared at the thing for a long time, almost thinking he was seeing wrong.
The plant before him, the green pitcher drooped slightly, its edges glistening with moisture, the inside slick, and its opening slightly ajar, the half-covered lid resembling a tilted hat, ready to close at any moment.
No doubt about it, isn't this a Venus Flytrap?
Back in Cocoyashi Village, some villagers had this plant in their homes, he even played with it out of curiosity when he was young.
The only difference,
was its size, many times bigger than any Venus Flytrap Shano has seen, with myriad indistinct dark red lines entwined around its pitcher, resembling dried blood vessels.
"Hiss..."
It seemed to sense Shano's presence, the Venus Flytrap's lid fully opened, its opening expanded, emitting a wisp of sweet-smelling mist.
For a moment, Shano's mind blurred, but just within a blink, it cleared again.
This was the "Brain Sealing Skill" he had cultivated previously at work.
Shano wasn't affected, but he sensed a familiar feeling from this encounter.
It's a Devil Fruit Ability User...
He looked at the Venus Flytrap before him, his expression becoming a bit strange, "Hey, you... could it be that a Devil Fruit fell accidentally back then, and you ate it?"
There's even a case of eating a Devil Fruit without becoming a Devil Fruit?
This sounds a bit convoluted.
But thinking about it, in this world, even swords and ships can become Fruit Ability Users, seems not so surprising...
The Venus Flytrap also tilted its "head" slightly, seeming puzzled, as if not having encountered someone immune to its mist for a long time.
After pondering, it extended a leaf, human-like, inviting Shano to place his hand upon it.
Shano was curious to see this thing's ability, without hesitating, he immediately extended his right hand, touching the Venus Flytrap's leaf.
Buzz!
In the next instant, everything around him blurred suddenly, and upon clearing, the surroundings had completely transformed into a different scene.
A bloody moon hung high, atop a cliff shrouded in dark night, a huge, imposing figure draped in a red cape seemed to sense the presence of a stranger, slowly turning around.
"Hmm? What's happening, who else dares to disturb my benefactor!"
This person grinned widely, revealing an exaggerated sinister smile, his gaze fell onto Shano, his two-colored long hair wildly dancing in the wind:
"You're quite young... so fearless, I say, have the young brats of the seas entirely forgotten who I am?!"
Buzz!
Upon his words falling, an extremely terrifying Supreme King Haki suddenly erupted from him, fiercely pressing down towards Shano!