People are sailing and synthesize the devil fruit of phantom beast sp

An's entire body tensed up as fear overtook her.

She stared at the group of people in front of her, her expression filled with dread—

Especially when she saw Kairos Flint, her heart sank. She felt certain she wasn't walking away from this.

Why had a bounty hunter found her? Where did she go wrong?

"Why are you being so rough with my guest? Let her go," Kairos said casually.

Nami instantly loosened her grip, letting An drop to the floor.

She hit the deck hard and scrambled away, her whole body trembling.

"M-Master Kairos, I'm not a pirate! I don't have a bounty! Why are you after me? I'm just a no-name singer trying to get by!" An sobbed, curling up into a ball.

She was on the verge of tears, her face flushed with panic.

Robin glanced at her with a faint, helpless smile.

Kairos shot Nami a look, clearly annoyed.

"I told you to explain the situation to her. Didn't we agree that you'd brief her before bringing her here?"

Faced with the rebuke, Robin and Uta silently slipped away, arms loaded with shopping bags, and vanished into the ship's storage room.

That left only Nami, who tried to sneak off, but Kairos caught her before she could escape.

"Ack—uh… yeah, about that… she didn't agree," Nami stammered, trying to lie her way out of it.

But An cut in, still shaken: "Didn't agree? You didn't say a word to me before dragging me here!"

Kairos raised an eyebrow and stared at Nami, who quickly looked away.

Cornered, Nami sighed and muttered with a pout, "Okay, fine. We were in a rush, so we just… brought her. But it's fine now, right? She's here, and you can take it from here!"

Kairos twitched in irritation, ready to scold her—

But Nami dashed off like a rabbit before he could say another word.

"Hmph. I'll deal with you later… tonight," Kairos muttered to himself, turning his attention back to An.

She was visibly trembling. "W-what are you going to do with me? I already told you—I'm not a pirate. There's no point in kidnapping me…"

Her voice cracked, desperation dripping from every word. She had absolutely no idea why she was being targeted and could only hope to plead her way to freedom.

Kairos rubbed his temples and sighed. "Stop crying. I didn't bring you here to hurt you. I need a favor. There's no malice. Help me with one thing, and I'll pay you fifty million beli."

Fifty million?!

An, who had been mid-sob, froze. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open. She stared at Kairos like she had just misheard the entire sentence.

Vivi stood quietly nearby, smiling, but said nothing.

"That's right. I need your Devil Fruit ability. Yours lets you project and materialize things you touch, right? What's the cost for using it, and how long does it last?" Kairos asked, his tone businesslike.

In this world, Devil Fruits came in thousands of varieties—some bizarre, some powerful, others seemingly useless. But what really mattered was how well the user developed their powers.

An's fruit seemed trivial at first glance, just a projection-type ability with little combat value. But Kairos knew its true potential.

Devil Fruit powers could be classified by level—some mundane, some legendary.

Even a "low-tier" ability could become devastating if mastered.

Look at Luffy, for example—

His Gum-Gum Fruit once seemed basic, even underwhelming.

Yet he had taken it all the way from simple rubber attacks to awakening Gear Fifth, also known as the Nika Form—a transformation that, even now, Kairos wasn't sure was divine truth or just rumor.

Since Kairos had arrived in this world before the end of the One Piece storyline, he still didn't know if Nika's God-like power was fact or fiction.

But back to An—she blinked, finally realizing she wasn't in danger.

"Wait... you brought me here to help you with something? And you'll actually pay me fifty million beli?"

Her fear began to melt away, replaced by something else: hope.

She might've been a singer, but she was barely scraping by. Her total income over the years barely touched a few hundred thousand.

Fifty million? That would change her life. She could buy a place of her own, maybe even settle down on her dream island.

She looked at Kairos, now far more composed, and answered honestly, "My Devil Fruit projection lasts about seven to ten seconds."

"Seven to ten seconds, huh? Let's see it," Kairos replied.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old newspaper clipping—an image of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.

"Roger?" An asked, surprised as she took the photo.

She looked at Kairos's serious expression and nodded, activating her ability.

With a small wave of her hand, a faint shimmer filled the air—

And then, there it was: a life-sized projection of Pirate King Roger appeared in front of Kairos.

The image spoke with a charismatic grin:

"Kairos Flint, King of Bounties. Satisfied with how I look now?"

The projection was hazy, like a mirage. Even blurrier than a sea illusion—

Anyone could tell it wasn't the real Roger. But the illusion held for a solid seven seconds before vanishing.

An turned to him nervously. "Was that good enough, Lord Kairos?"

Kairos nodded slightly. "Fascinating ability… but—"

He paused, his eyes narrowing.

If someone tried to photograph that illusion, the image would be too fuzzy to fool anyone.

It wasn't convincing enough.

Kairos rubbed his chin in thought. Then he pulled something from his pocket—a refined-grade body crystal—and tossed it to An.

"So shiny!" she gasped, catching it with both hands, thinking it was a gemstone.

"Is this a deposit?" she asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Eat it," Kairos ordered.

"Wha… wait, EAT it?!" An asked, bewildered. "You mean this gem goes… in my stomach?!"