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"So, shopkeeper, when will the Door-Door Fruit be available?" Bruce Banner asked expectantly, swallowing nervously as he stared intently at Rosh.
"It's hard to say, but if you're really interested in the Door-Door Fruit, you can leave me your contact information," Rosh suggested with a smile. "When it becomes available, I'll be sure to let you know."
Bruce, however, hesitated, looking a bit troubled. He was constantly on the run from his father-in-law, General Ross, and had no stable means of communication. He was forced to frequently change his contact details—whether it was phone numbers, emails, or other communication methods.
"Shopkeeper, could I perhaps have your contact information instead? Due to some… unique circumstances, I don't have any reliable means of communication at the moment," Bruce said with a sheepish smile, clearly embarrassed by the unusual request. But Rosh wasn't bothered at all, as he completely understood Bruce's predicament.
"Of course, that's no problem," Rosh replied, providing Bruce with his contact information. Bruce didn't even bother writing it down. He simply repeated it to himself a few times in his mind—another testament to his brilliant memory, the kind of memory only an academic powerhouse with eight PhDs could possess.
"By the way, shopkeeper, how much does the Door-Door Fruit cost?" Bruce asked the most pressing question, his gaze focused on Rosh.
Rosh checked the system for pricing since the Door-Door Fruit wasn't currently available. "The current price is set at 80 million dollars. However, the shop will soon no longer accept dollars or USD and will instead switch to gold. So, it depends on the future situation."
'Eighty million dollars!' Bruce's pupils constricted. That was an astronomical sum. Even if he could gather that much money, he would have to exchange it for gold. But when he considered the potential of the Door-Door Fruit, Bruce realized it was worth every penny. In fact, he thought the price was more than reasonable.
Under normal circumstances, Bruce could have easily used his vast scientific knowledge to earn that amount. After all, he was a scientific genius with eight PhDs, and acquiring 80 million wouldn't have been too difficult. For someone of Bruce's caliber, knowledge was indeed wealth. A few patents or some scientific breakthroughs could easily earn him a fortune. But now, the problem was that Bruce Banner was a fugitive.
This made things a lot more complicated. He needed a solid plan.
"Shopkeeper, I understand! I'll be back!" Bruce declared, making his decision after a brief moment of contemplation.
"I look forward to that day," Rosh responded with a smile.
"Goodbye, shopkeeper!" Bruce waved as he turned to leave.
*Ding ding!*
Suddenly, two metal canisters were tossed into the shop, making a crisp sound as they landed on the floor.
Before Rosh could react, the canisters started spewing thick smoke.
'Gas grenades!' It didn't take long for Rosh to realize what was happening. 'This had to be General Ross's men, tracking Bruce Banner and attempting to capture him. Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that gas wouldn't work on Bruce. While Bruce could be knocked out, the Hulk definitely could not! If things went wrong, Bruce might transform into the Hulk right here in the shop. And with the Hulk's immense destructive power, the shop wouldn't survive the rampage.'
As these thoughts flashed through Rosh's mind, he wasted no time. With a swift motion, he fired two photon bullets, instantly shooting the gas canisters out of the shop before they could release much smoke.
"Shopkeeper, you…" Bruce was astonished, seeing Rosh fire photon bullets with his bare hands. But then it hit him—the shopkeeper was selling Devil Fruits, so it wasn't surprising that he had eaten one himself.
This confirmed it for Bruce: Devil Fruits were real!
First, Helen Cho had cured his nearsightedness instantly, and now Rosh was effortlessly shooting energy blasts. Bruce had no more doubts about the authenticity of the Devil Fruits.
"Mr. Banner, I believe you brought this trouble, right? Would you mind leaving quickly?" Rosh asked, wanting to avoid getting further involved.
Even though Rosh had the power to protect himself after reaching the level of Admiral Kizaru and wasn't afraid of his shop being exposed—something that would inevitably happen—he didn't want to get mixed up in Bruce's personal conflict with General Ross.
Bruce's ongoing feud with Ross was something they needed to settle themselves. Rosh had no intention of getting involved. That said, Rosh wasn't afraid of trouble either. That's why he had decisively shot the gas canisters out of the shop. After all, he couldn't just let the Hulk destroy his shop.
Truthfully, Rosh knew that even without this incident, the moment Bruce Banner stepped into his store, he had already caught General Ross's attention. There was no way Ross wouldn't investigate a store visited by a fugitive like Bruce.
Since that was inevitable, why even hesitate?
"I apologize, shopkeeper. I'll… cough, cough!" Bruce tried to excuse himself, but even the small amount of gas left in the shop made him cough, much to Rosh's annoyance.
'Please don't tell me the Hulk's still going to transform in my shop…' Luckily for Rosh, his fears didn't come true. Bruce covered his nose and mouth and quickly ran out of the store.
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Next Chapter: Light-Speed Kick
Next Next Chapter: The General Got Smashed
Next Next Next Chapter: Hulk vs. Beast
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