Two Months Later...
God's Shrine, Upper Yard, Skypiea
"How's Laboon?" Nojiko immediately asked when Sin and Nami landed next to them, and her little sister informed her how happy the Island Whale that they had come to see him.
"I want to see him too!" Vivi pouted, and Sin smiled as he gently caressed her head.
"Next time I will take you with me."
"Thank you!" The Princess was happy with his promise and then listened to everything that Nami had to say.
"Sin left me to play with him for an hour when he went to fetch these Devil Fruits." The Oranghead told them and grinned when they all curiously looked at the chest Sin was carrying in his arms. "Not yours!"
Both Nojiko and Pascia felt a little embarrassed when she called them out, and the rest of the Crew smiled at their reaction.
They still had not unlocked their Haki, and now they only had a few months left in the time limit that Sin had assigned to them.
However, they were no longer panicking like before as they were working their hardest every day, and this gave them great confidence to pass this trial.
"Who are these for, Captain?" Bepo curiously asked. "Sky Guardians?" He guessed.
"Yes." Sin nodded and then looked at Vigaro. "And for Vigaro, if he wants it."
Those words surprised most of them as they were not present there last night when Sin had asked Vigaro if he would like to become his Royal Protector, same as Augur, and the young man had agreed to it.
"Which one?!" Yamato excitedly asked, and Sin chuckled as he opened the chest and picked the red Devil Fruit that was sitting on top of the rest.
"This." He showed them the plum-shaped Devil Fruit with scales on it, and those who knew about it were surprised.
"The Wyvern Fruit!" Nami exclaimed. "Vigaro agreed to become your Protector?"
"Yes." He smiled and then met Bart's eyes, who felt a little at loss. "Your turn will come, Bart. Don't worry."
"Aye, Captain!" The man respectfully nodded, feeling warm in his heart that his Captain had not forgotten about him.
"Wyvern?" Lily closely looked at the Fruit. "The Dragons who can't breathe fire?"
"Yes." Robin nodded to her. "They are very fast, have extremely high resistance to fire, possess very high endurance, also have incredibly sharp senses, especially their senses of sight and smell. Not to mention, they are very large creatures. I would list this Devil Fruit as one of the Ultimate Class Ancient Zoan Fruits. Just like the one our young Grount has."
The red-haired boy blushed at her compliment, and Hiyori gently patted his head.
"Robin, are you really going to create your own Devil Fruit Encyclopedia?" Nojiko curiously asked, and the Younger Black, who had shared this idea with them last month, nodded to her.
"Yes. I feel that there is a lot more to the Devil Fruits which are listed in the Encyclopedia. Some names might not be the right names for them, and there are other discrepancies as well, which I will fix. Not to mention, I know a lot more Devil Fruits than the ones listed in the Encyclopedia." She smiled.
"Wow."
"Will you make it public?" Vivi curiously asked.
"I might create a Public Version, but it won't contain some special Devil Fruits." She nodded her head and then looked at the blue-haired man, who now held the Devil Fruit in his hand and was staring at it. "Only eat it if you want this power. We will find you something you desire if you feel that this isn't the one for you."
"I want it, Ma'am," Vigaro replied and then took a deep breath as he raised it to his mouth and took a big bite.
Even though he had seen Nami consume her Devil Fruit two months ago, he was still not prepared for how tasteless the fruit was. It was almost as if he was eating ash.
However, he managed to not give a big reaction as he proceeded to eat the entire Devil Fruit.
"Nice!" Bepo complimented him for eating it whole like a champ, and Vigaro smiled as he felt the new strength now coursing through his veins.
The feeling was simply exhilarating for him, and as he tightly clenched his fists, he felt a pair of wings sprout from his back.
"Wow!" Everyone looked at the webbed and scaly wings in awe, which were dark red, and then they watched Vigaro flap them and shoot up into the sky, simply out of instinct.
A loud Draconic Roar sounded out in the clouds above Skypiea, frightening some people, but the members of the Blackstar Crew were holding grins on their faces as they looked at the massive Wyvern flying in the sky, whose size was one-third of the Black Pearl, just around 30 metres in length.
"I will go race him!" Nami declared and she sprouted her own beautiful wings and shot up into the sky, chasing the Wyvern.
"I am jealous!" Bepo honestly said, and his sentiment was shared by a lot of them, who enviously looked at their two friends freely flying around.
"Which other Devil Fruits are in there?" Nojiko curiously asked, and her question successfully distracted them from their thoughts.
"I will reveal that once the Sky Guardians have assembled." He said and then raised his hand, creating Lighting that spread into eight directions at the same time, a signal for the Sky Guardians, who had to assemble at the God's Shrine as soon as possible.
90 minutes later, all seven of the Sky Guardians, as well as the Captain of the Divine Squad, McKinley, had gathered before him, keeping their heads lowered and kneeling on the ground.
"I have a few Devil Fruits with me today, and I have decided to bestow them to you if you wish to have those powers to protect this country better." He said to them, much to their surprise. "It is fine if you don't want to eat one. I am not going to force you. Now, those who wish to consume a Devil Fruit, stand up."
One by one, all of them, except for Gan Fall, stood up on their feet.
"Gan Fall?"
"I am too old, My Lord."
"Stand." He ordered, and the Old Knight stood up on his feet.
Sin then opened the chest that Vigaro was carrying, and picked out a Devil Fruit before throwing it to Gedatsu.
"Tokage Tokage no Mi, Model: Chameleon." He said. "Turns the user into a Chameleon hybrid, giving them all the perks of a Chameleon, including the ability to change the colour of their body to blend in with the surroundings."
Next, he threw a Devil Fruit to Shura, who expertly caught it.
"Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Vulture." He smiled when he saw the glint in Shura's eyes.
He had ovheard the conversation where Shura was discussing with Gedatsu what his ideal Devil Fruit would be, and Sin granted him exactly that.
A Bird Fruit which would grant him the ability to fly and see extremely far.
"Thank you, My Lord."
Sin nodded to him and then picked up another Devil Fruit and threw it to Satori.
"Haneru Haneru no Mi." He said. "A Paramecia Devil Fruit that turns the User into a bouncing man. Pretty much leaves you immune to all physical damage, blunt attacks, which can all be bounced off, but you will be weak to cutting and sharp weapons and attacks."
Satori laughed when he heard which Devil Fruit he was granted because it was such a fun ability that he could refuse.
"Thank you, My Lord."
"You are welcome." He smiled before picking up a Devil Fruit and looking at the Captain of the Divine Squad, McKinley. "Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Alsatian."
McKinley caught the Devil Fruit and curiously looked at it.
"Turns the user into an Alsatian Dog Hybrid, granting all the perks of an Alsatian Dog." He said and then smiled.
"Thank you, My Lord!" McKinley gratefully accepted the Devil Fruit and bowed to him, understanding how useful this ability would prove to protect the people of Skypiea.
"Genbo." He called out the fat Shandian, who immediately stepped forward. "Kuma Kuma no Mi, Model, Grizzly."
The Shandian thanked him, and then curiously inspected the Devil Fruit.
"Warashi."
"My Lord." The second Shandian stepped forward and caught the Devil Fruit.
"Neko Neko no Mi: Model, Cheetah."
"Thank you, My Lord." The tall man knelt to him and accepted his reward.
Now, only Gan Fall and Braham remained, and inside the Chest, there were three Devil Fruits.
"Braham."
The last Shandian Sky Guardian stepped forward and then caught the Devil Fruit that was sent his way.
"Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Direwolf."
As the Shandian knelt to thank him, the members of the Blackstar Crew, especially those who were aware of the Fruit's potential, surprisedly looked at Sin's back.
Though Ancient Zoans were not necessarily superior to all the Zoan Devil Fruits, the Direwolf Fruit was certainly superior to almost all the Normal Dog Zoans out there.
It was a precious Devil Fruit.
"As for you Gan Fall, I have a Devil Fruit in mind, but the choice is still yours."
"My heart would remain unsettled if I take a power which could go to someone younger and more worthy than I."
"Very well." He nodded and then glanced at the Sky Guardians and the Captain of the Divine Squad. "If you want the power in your hands, eat the Devil Fruit. In case you are not content with it, you can refuse. There will be no blame on you."
As soon as he gave them permission, all of them consumed the Devil Fruits without any hesitation.
Even Gedatsu, who seemed as clueless as ever, consumed it right away, and for the next few minutes, all of them familiarised themselves with their new senses and powers before he asked them to leave and return to their posts.
"Is Braham special?"
Nojiko was the first one to raise the question after everyone left, and Sin nodded his head to her.
"He is the most talented of them all, and his heart is at peace. A man like him would never betray you once he submits himself to you." He smiled. "Besides, it's a long tradition in all Kingdoms to grant their Guardians Zoan-Type Devil Fruits. I am not going to be stingy to my servants and limit their potential by granting them something ordinary when I could have granted them something worthy of their potential."
"What are those two Devil Fruits?" Nami curiously asked as she looked at the two remaining Devil Fruits in the chest.
"The silver one is Armour Armour Devil Fruit. It grants the user the ability to create Armours on their body. If Gan Fall had not refused to take a Devil Fruit, I would have given it to him. His loss." He shrugged.
"He wouldn't need to wear that armour all the time!" Vivi said and then laughed at the loss of the old man.
"The second one is a Zoan. Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Viper."
"Oh." The Princess suddenly started giggling and they all curiously looked at her.
"What?"
"Don't you think it would be fitting if that Shandian called Wyper eats it?" She said.
"Yup!" Nami immediately agreed with her words, and before her mind could conjure up any silly ideas, Sin tapped on it.
"Don't do anything stupid." He warned her. "That guy may be a bit rude, but he genuinely cares about his people."
"Hey, I was so not thinking about sneakily making him eat it!" She stuck her tongue at him and then started laughing at her own words together with everyone else.
"Who do you want to give it to?" Nojiko asked, looking at the black Devil Fruit.
"Kamakiri."
"The Shandian Warrior?" She surprisedly looked at him. "Why though?"
"Either he or Wyper are going to become the next Shandian Chief, and the other would likely join the Sky Guardians." He said. "That Fruit is useless to us, so, I would rather give it away as a sign of goodwill."
"And it has nothing to do with the fact that Shandians revere snakes and hold them in high regard?" Robin smiled. "Their Ancestors, Shandorians, even worshipped Snakes."
"Seems like you are conspiring to make Kamakiri the next Chief." Bonney grinned, and everyone curiously looked at him as he shrugged.
"You want Wyper to become a Sky Guardian and take Gan Fall's position in the future." Yamato suddenly said, and everyone surprisedly looked at her. "And you want to make Braham a Royal Protector since he is absolutely Loyal."
"Heh... aren't you the smart one." He smiled and then planted a kiss on her cheek. "You're right." He said, and the Oni-Girl grinned at him.