Splash! Water hit Riven's face, and suddenly he started coughing violently. An unnatural flush spread across his skin, and faint steam seemed to rise from him, like his blood was boiling.
Kuma and the others behind him rushed over. Ivankov caught Riven and said,
"Riven, are you alright? Your body…"
Riven paused, then unbuttoned his shirt, revealing jagged scars stitched together over his chest—right above his heart. The skin around the scars was bright red, steaming even, as if a crimson sun had been branded on him.
From his appearance, Riven looked a bit like Luffy in Gear Second—but only on the surface. Luffy's Gear Second pumped him full of energy like a stimulant, but Riven's state drained him completely, leaving him weak and deflated.
This happened whenever he got emotionally agitated or pushed himself too hard. It was a flaw of the original body he now possessed. Judging from the scars and the unusual clothes he wore—very different from other slaves—something terrible had happened to the original owner.
But Riven had no memories from that life and no clue why he suffered this condition.
"Damn it... no cheat code, and I've got a built-in debuff too!" he cursed silently.
Enduring the burning discomfort, Riven sank slowly to the ground. Kuma sat upright immediately, letting Riven lean against him. Ginny cupped some water in her small hands and gently brought it to his lips.
Their concern warmed Riven's cold heart. Meeting these three had been a blessing—without them, survival would've been impossible. He might have already forgotten his goal to escape the Valley of Gods.
Riven's only advantage was that he'd read the One Piece manga before coming here and knew some key information. But the manga didn't say exactly where the six Devil Fruits hidden by the Celestial Dragons in the Valley of Gods were located.
There was a mysterious saying: "Fruits choose their owners." If he followed Kuma, the chance of finding the Paw-Paw Fruit was high.
Of the six confirmed fruits, the Paw-Paw Fruit and the Fish-Fish Fruit were the cream of the crop—top-tier in the superhuman and beast categories. Since the Celestial Dragons used these as prizes, the other fruits couldn't be weak either.
Riven knew that among the other four fruit boxes was one likely connected to Red-Haired Shanks. To be exact, there were five fruits currently on the island.
He guessed the others included a Phoenix fruit and a Human-Human fruit. He wasn't sure about the last one—maybe Whitebeard had eaten it, or maybe not. If not, it was probably the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
No matter which of these fruits you ate, if you weren't completely useless, it meant a giant leap towards success and limitless potential.
Forget that nonsense, "There are no useless abilities, only useless users." Anyone with a bit of common sense knew that was rubbish.
Look at Luffy's rubber powers and how they evolved into Nika. After all, rubber isn't the flashiest ability.
Can an ordinary bird match a mythical phoenix? No way.
Some say Lucci is strong because he ate the Leopard fruit and fought Nika, but that's because Lucci's basic skills and strength are top-notch.
Imagine if he'd eaten the Fish-Fish Fruit or the Human-Human fruit—his power boost would've been just as impressive.
Since they were in the pirate world, devil fruits were a must. For Riven, without a golden finger, finding a powerful devil fruit was essential to surviving.
Thinking this through, Riven looked seriously at Ginny.
Ginny caught his gaze and sat up straight, asking softly,
"What's wrong, Riven?"
"Ginny, are you sure the news about these top-grade Devil Fruits has spread?"
Ginny's smudged face lit up with confidence. She patted her chest.
"Don't worry! That's my specialty. Everyone who can receive the signal has already heard!"
Relieved, Riven let out a breath. What he feared was that his arrival would cause some butterfly effect and prevent the Rocks Pirates and Navy from coming to the Valley of Gods.
If those two forces didn't show up, the valley would remain just a hunting ground, and they'd be nothing but easy prey. Except for Kuma, Riven and the others couldn't take down a normal adult.
To get the fruits, they had to cause chaos first. That would give them a chance.
Since Ginny spread the word, the Rocks Pirates should be arriving soon. The number of slaves had dropped sharply—if Rocks didn't come, Riven would be too late to score.
Maybe the brawl would start tomorrow.
Riven narrowed his eyes and reviewed the plan.
The Paw-PawFruit was the absolute core of it. Its power was their ticket out of the Valley of Gods.
This fruit was god-level superhuman. If he found it, Riven would eat it without hesitation.
He'd spent days imagining how to develop the Paw-Paw Fruit's powers in his mind.
The Fish-Fish Fruit was great too, but Riven felt it was a step below the conceptual Paw-Paw Fruit.
Although the Fish-Fish Fruit allowed flight, it wasn't enough in the fierce battles of the Valley of Gods. With his current state, his flying speed wouldn't be fast enough—he'd get knocked out before takeoff.
Plus, he had to think about Kuma, Ginny, and Ivankov. Even though they'd only known each other briefly, desperate times had forged strong bonds.
Although escaping alone after eating the Fish-Fish Fruit was the best option, Riven looked at the arrow still stuck in Kuma's back and shook his head.
People could be selfish—but never cruel beasts.