"You guys are seriously messed up. This is a Devil Fruit! Even the worst type of Zoan Fruit in its basic form is worth hundreds of millions of Berries!"
The others' reactions made Chronos feel quite confused. What was going on here? Could it be that everyone on this ship, except for him, was some rich second-generation? Like the kind who would finish being pirates and then go back to inherit their family fortune...
"Eh, what's the big deal? We don't want to be landlubbers!"
In the end, it was the cultured Rayleigh who answered Chronos' question. The people of the Roger Pirates longed for the sea and freedom. A Devil Fruit, something that would make you despised by the sea once you ate it, was just a useless item to them, except for selling it for money.
"Captain, you're my role model in life, my guiding light, and the most well-travelled person I know. Can you tell me, what kind of fruit is this?"
Chronos asked Roger. At first, he thought it might be Buggy Superhuman-type, the Chop-Chop Fruit, and even considered eating it before Baki did. After all, if that fruit was developed well, it could rival Whitebeard's Quake-Quake Fruit. But unfortunately, in the original story, Baki drifted around East Blue for years, and aside from the ability to chop his body, he never developed any other powers. Such a waste of a good fruit.
However, after seeing that this fruit looked like a banana, he was a bit disappointed. In his past life, he had at least checked out Oda's Devil Fruit encyclopedia multiple times. This fruit was clearly a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, but he didn't know what form it had. He could accept an Ancient-type, but a normal type? Not even a dog would eat it!
"Well, Rayleigh, what do you think?"
Chronos had shot himself in the foot by asking the wrong person. He was good with a sword, but when it came to culture, he was completely helpless. If he hadn't been bad at studying when he was young, he wouldn't have turned to piracy. Now, with no other choice, Roger turned to the most cultured member of the Roger Pirates, Silvers Rayleigh, for help.
"Uh… I've seen the Devil Fruit encyclopedia before, but Devil Fruits are so diverse, I'm not completely sure. But one thing I can confirm is that this is definitely a Zoan-type Devil Fruit!"
Rayleigh pushed up his glasses and said a bunch of things he thought sounded intellectual.
"That was basically useless..." Chronos sighed. He didn't expect Rayleigh to only say something so trivial. With such a large crew, was there seriously no one cultured besides him?
If he had known, he would have joined the Navy back in the day. Warlord Sengoku wore the same style of glasses as him, clearly a cultured man...
"However, judging by the intricate patterns on this fruit, it doesn't seem to be a normal Devil Fruit..."
"Is it an Ancient-type or a Mythical Zoan?"
Before Rayleigh could finish, Chronos eagerly interrupted. His eyes were sparkling with excitement. Captain Rayleigh, you're my god!
"I'm not its father, how would I know? Why don't you eat it and see for yourself?"
Rayleigh jokingly replied. He could tell that Chronos was the only one aboard the ship really interested in this fruit, desperately wanting to know what form it took, just looking for an excuse to eat it. As his vice-captain, of course, he supported him!
After all, with these old guys around, if Chronos really fell into the sea, they'd pull him back up.
Chronos cursed Rayleigh internally, thinking, "I'm eating this banana if it's a Superhuman-type! At least I could develop it to the level of Doflamingo's powers!"
But Zoan-type? He couldn't do much with that. If it was a stronger one, like a Saber-Tooth Tiger or Gorilla, he'd be fine, but he feared it might be some weird shape...
If it was a strange form, Chronos might not have any chance of survival other than to cut his throat.
Back when he watched the anime, he thought there were tons of Devil Fruits. After all, Luffy seemed to find one every few episodes. But after joining the Roger Pirates, he realized that while there were plenty of Devil Fruit users, the actual fruits were incredibly rare. Roger had been out on the seas for decades and still only encountered a handful of them. This made him realize just how hard they were to find...
If this was a Zoan-type Fish-Fish Fruit, Dragon form, Chronos would have shoved it into his mouth without hesitation. Even Kaido wouldn't be able to stop him. But now, this fruit wasn't listed in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, nor had it appeared in the original anime. Should he eat it or not? Chronos was in a dilemma.
"Hahaha! Chronos, I've always known you're brave. A man of the sea needs courage. If you don't even have the courage to take a gamble, how will you ever grow stronger in the future?"
Seeing Chronos hesitate, Roger, although he loved the sea and hated becoming a landlubber, would support his crew if they wanted to eat it. The Roger Pirates didn't have much money, but they certainly weren't short on a few hundred million Berries!
Don't ask, just ask if it's magnificent! Roger struck a confident pose.
"Damn it, I'm going for it! If I lose, I'll just go back to my village and fish. Last chance—anyone want this? If not, I'll eat it!"
Hearing Roger's challenge, Chronos immediately took the bait. Yeah, he could travel to the Pirate World, so what was there to fear? He was doing it!
But before he did, Chronos still wanted to ask the crew. After all, this fruit was their shared treasure, and he couldn't just take it for himself without consulting everyone.
"You eat it. I don't want to become a landlubber!"
"I'm not interested..."
"Chronos, you should eat it. Get stronger. You sprayed that guy, Skid, so much, if you don't have a way to protect yourself, next time we fight the Flying Sky Pirates, we might be eating your share."
"Shanks, do you want it?"
Since no one else seemed interested, Chronos handed the fruit to Shanks.
"Forget it. I don't eat Devil Fruits..."
"Why?"
"Well, if you fall into the sea, someone's got to fish you out!"
"Shanks~ Waaah~" Chronos thought, deeply moved.
"What about you, Buggy?"
Seeing Shanks refuse, Chronos handed the fruit to Baki.
The two exchanged glances:
Chronos: Buggy, you don't mind if I eat it, right?
Buggy: Next time, find me five treasure maps!
Chronos: Deal!
Buggy: OK~ Deal!!!