Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

Before becoming the boss of the Capone family, Bege had worked as an assassin—an extremely efficient one at that.

So with agility completely unbefitting his stocky build, he dodged Sherwin casual slash, pulled out a pistol, and fired three shots at Sherwin in quick succession.

As he fired, Bege lower body swiftly morphed into a tank tread, charging toward Sherwin. At the same time, his free hand pulled out a large machete, swinging it down at Sherwin head.

Sherwin easily blocked the incoming attacks and even had the leisure to complain, "Didn't you eat the Stronghold Fruit? What with the tank treads? What kind of castle sprouts wheels and runs away?!"

He'd wanted to rant about this ever since reading the manga.

Sure, in the world of pirates, mobile buildings weren't exactly rare, but most of those were products of technology. So how was Capone Bege, a guy with Devil Fruit powers, doing this?!

"Because I'm a mobile castle!" Bege shouted as he raised his gun and fired again at Sherwin, spewing words that made no logical sense. At the same time, a chill crept into his heart—

He never said what fruit he had eaten… yet Sherwin had recognized it instantly. That Colonel Cody really wasn't someone to be underestimated!

Sherwin, completely unaware that he had just added more lore to poor Uncle Cody backstory, continued dodging bullets while complaining,

"You say it a mobile castle so it is, huh? What if I call it a space fortress—would you take off and fly too?!"

As much as he mocked, Sherwin knew Bege was probably telling the truth. Devil Fruit powers were often wildly irrational—castle growing wheels didn't even crack the top ten weird uses.

…But still, he really wanted to complain!

"Space fortress?" Bege paused, stunned for a moment.

Because of Sherwin rant, he suddenly saw a whole new development path for his Devil Fruit.

Seizing that brief hesitation, Sherwin countered with a slash aimed directly at Bege.

Ka-chak.

The sound and feel of the impact were exactly like hitting solid stone...

Well, that because it was solid stone. Snapping back to his senses just in time, Bege had already transformed his body into a brick-and-stone structure once again.

"Heh… so this is what you rely on?"

Sherwin sneered and swung his oversized katana again.

Spirit Slash!

It was just stone—he didn't even need to use Armament Haki for that.

"Aaaagh! That hurts!"

Bege brick body was instantly slashed with a shallow cut. Though no blood came out, the pain had him howling in agony.

However, the damage from that strike quickly vanished as a ripple ran across the surface of Bege body...

This was why Devil Fruits made no sense. A castle made of rock could somehow become soft like dough, while an actual dough-man like Katakuri could develop his mochi to be hard as iron.

Disregarding awakenings, Paramecia-type Devil Fruits generally fell into three categories:

The first type: the body itself is the ability. For example, the pre-Mythical Zoan Rubber Fruit, Mr. 1 Dice-Dice Fruit, Alvida Slip-Slip Fruit, Buggy the Clown with his ridiculous luck and the Chop-Chop Fruit—all of these fit this type.

The second type: ability projection. The user body doesn't undergo special changes, but they can produce, manipulate, grant, or absorb a particular substance or effect.

Examples include Doflamingo String-String Fruit, his brother Rosinante Calm-Calm Fruit, Mr. 3 Wax-Wax Fruit, and Cracker, who can use biscuits to create clones.

The third type: a combination of both—the user body changes and they can produce or control the same substance.

This includes pseudo-Logia types like the Mochi-Mochi Fruit, the Flutter-Flutter Fruit that turns the user into a literal paper person, and Perona Hollow-Hollow Fruit, which allows her to create ghosts and have out-of-body experiences herself.

Of course, some Fruits fall into grey areas, but overall, they still follow this three-type structure.

Capone Bege Stronghold Fruit might look like the third type, but it actually the first. His "castle walls" seem like stone covering his body, but it really his skin transformed. A few stone chips flying off just meant he lost a little "skin." But if the slash went deep enough, it could still inflict real damage.

It just that in this state, Bege didn't bleed. He could even use his Devil Fruit ability to conceal his injuries, so to others, it looked like he wasn't hurt at all—just that Sherwin slash had stung a bit.

Although Sherwin knew that Capone Bege had eaten the Castle-Castle Fruit, he wasn't too familiar with its specific abilities. Like everyone else, he thought his earlier attack hadn't really done any damage. So...

He decided to hit a little harder this time.

But Capone Bege moved even faster. Several small doorways suddenly opened on his striped suit, firing out a barrage of bullets and a few cannonballs.

Sherwin finally understood why this guy liked to wear striped suits. Those doorways were hidden between the stripes—easy to miss if you weren't paying attention.

But for Sherwin, this level of sneak attack was nothing. He could dodge them easily, and if he really couldn't avoid them, he could block them with his Iai Slash.

The bystanding onlookers weren't so lucky, though. While many of them had guards, not all of those guards had the strength to block such an attack.

As a result, a few guards—and even some merchants—were hit. The cannonballs Sherwin dodged exploded nearby, leaving the crowd covered in soot and ash.

Tsk tsk tsk... Being a bad guy really is convenient...

Sherwin clicked his tongue in envy. He was busy worrying about how not to hurt any bystanders—and how to coax Klee Meow afterward—but Capone Bege didn't care at all about these "meal-ticket" civilians.

No wonder people in this world loved being pirates so much.

While ranting to himself inwardly, Sherwin raised his blade once more and slashed at Bege.

Clack!

Another metallic clash rang out, but this time, Capone Bege didn't let out a single cry of pain.

At this moment, he had transformed his entire body into a brick-and-stone structure. His size had also ballooned—he went from being under 1.7 meters tall to nearly the size of Gotti, that massive hulk, maybe even bigger—a walking fortress of a man.

Because of his increased size, his "castle walls" had thickened too. So Sherwin casual Air Blade Slash this time didn't deal any meaningful damage—at most, it chipped a bit of the surface.

This is... the mini version of "Big Father"?

Sherwin took a few steps back and examined him up and down.

Besides the size difference, Bege current appearance also lacked the complexity of his most powerful form in the manga. He didn't have as many armaments, and the castle form wasn't nearly as intricate as Sherwin remembered.

So not only was it a mini version, it was a bargain-bin knockoff too? Might as well call it "Little Father."

Sherwin swung his blade a few more times at Bege, but aside from shaving off some stone chips, it didn't seem to cause much harm. In this form, Bege had not only grown thicker skin, but also a boost in overall toughness.

"Hahahahaha!" Thinking the victory was in the bag, Bege burst into loud, arrogant laughter.

"See that? This is the true power of the Castle-Castle Fruit! Brat, if you surrender now, I might let bygones be bygones and welcome you into the Capone Family. No one will dare lay a hand on those two Mink Tribe Felynes of yours ever again."

Bege had taken a liking to the strength Sherwin and the Felynes had shown, and now he was openly trying to recruit him.

Because Klee Meow had been using "Fire Style" techniques all along, and because the little plush doll that couldn't throw bombs didn't show much aggression, Bege still hadn't realized that Klee Meow was actually a Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit user.

"So, this is your strongest form right now?" Sherwin curled his lip in disdain.

It had been a while since he fought a large-type enemy, and he originally wanted to test out Bege "Big Father" form. But judging by Bege appearance, this current form was already the upper limit of his Devil Fruit development…

Sherwin didn't believe for a second that Bege was deliberately holding back his size out of concern for being inside the palace of Geres.

This size—couldn't even match the smallest Arzuros.

Losing interest, Sherwin clicked his tongue and focused all the ki he had just gathered onto the tip of his blade, then—

Monster Hunter Style · Supercharged Thrust!