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At Madame Gao's secret base, she stood face-to-face with Murakami and Shin. The three of them shared the same dark expression, their mood heavy and grim.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
The Hand had sent two of its top leaders—Madame Gao and Murakami—along with Murakami's disciple, Nobu Yoshioka, also known as his fake identity, Shin, and more than fifty ninjas. Such a powerful lineup should have guaranteed success. Yet, not only had they failed to capture the Iron Fist, but they had also lost nearly half of their forces, with Murakami even "dying" in the process.
This was a devastating blow to their pride for both Murakami and Madame Gao. However, the most troubling part wasn't just their losses—it was that they might have been wrong all along.
"We may have made a mistake. Fisk isn't the Iron Fist," Madame Gao said, her voice low as she furrowed her brow deeply, her expression showing frustration.
"You're right. Fisk is definitely not the Iron Fist," Murakami echoed, nodding in agreement with certainty. As former members of K'un-Lun, both Murakami and Gao were well-acquainted with Iron Fist's abilities. After clashing with Fisk, they quickly realized that, despite his glowing fists, Fisk didn't possess the powers of the Iron Fist.
"But that's irrelevant now," Madame Gao said darkly. "We've reached the point of no return. It's a fight to the death between us and Kingpin."
Fisk had previously tried to kill Nobu, and in retaliation, the Hand had launched a full-scale ambush against him. After losing so many of their fighters, there was no way Fisk would let this go. Even if Madame Gao could overlook the loss of her ninjas, Fisk certainly wouldn't rest until one side was destroyed.
"I apologize. This is my fault for providing the wrong information," Nobu said, bowing his head deeply, acknowledging his mistake to both Murakami and Madame Gao.
"This isn't your fault," Madame Gao replied. "Who could have guessed that someone other than the Iron Fist could light up his fists like that?"
"If he's not Iron Fist, then how do you explain Fisk's fist?" Murakami asked, confusion etched on his face, voicing the question that was also troubling Madame Gao and Nobu. The three of them stood in silent contemplation, unable to figure out the mystery behind Fisk's abilities.
"Besides Fisk, that woman with him was also strange," Madame Gao added. "She was able to shoot water from her body to attack."
"And let's not forget the person who could turn their limbs into blades," Nobu chimed in, further adding to the growing list of oddities.
For a moment, silence reigned as all three members of the Hand were lost in thought, trying to make sense of the situation. Even with their vast experience and knowledge, they were baffled by what had transpired.
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Meanwhile, at the Devil Fruit Shop...
"Boss, do you think Wesley might be dead?" Deadpool asked lazily.
"Ever since he joined our chat group, he hasn't said a single word. I even checked—he's never been online! I messaged him, and he never replied. Dude's been offline forever. I'm telling you, he's gotta be dead!"
Rosh, the shopkeeper, shook his head, thoroughly unimpressed with Deadpool's usual antics. Sure, Wesley hadn't been active, but that didn't mean he was dead. He knew Wesley's identity well. He was helping Fisk run a massive underground empire, leaving him little time to hang out in chat rooms. Staying offline was the norm for someone like him.
Ignoring Deadpool's complaints, Rosh's thoughts wandered to something more interesting.
'It was widely known that in the world of One Piece, if a Devil Fruit user died, their fruit would respawn somewhere in the world. But what about here, in the Marvel universe? If a Devil Fruit user died, would their fruit also reappear?'
Rosh suspected there was a loophole here, but the system wouldn't allow such an easy exploit. If people figured it out, they could just start hunting Devil Fruit users for their powers instead of buying fruits from his shop.
Curious, Rosh asked the system: "System, what happens to the Devil Fruit when its user dies?"
[The Devil Fruit's powers will vanish permanently upon the user's death and will not reappear in any form.]
That was a relief. Rosh had been concerned about potential exploits, but it seemed the system had accounted for this.
He then asked, "Will the same Devil Fruit be restocked in the shop if the user dies?"
[Yes, once the shop's inventory is updated, the fruit will be available again.]
"When will the shop update?" Rosh asked again.
[The inventory updates after a certain number of sales have been made.]
"How many fruits need to be sold before the next update?"
[Next inventory update: after the sale of fifteen Devil Fruits.]
'Fifteen?' Rosh did a quick count in his head. So far, he had sold ten Devil Fruits. That meant he only needed to sell five more for the shop to refresh its inventory.
He couldn't help but feel excited at the thought. Currently, the available fruits are relatively low-tier. But after the next update, perhaps more powerful fruits would be available—maybe even the Door-Door Fruit that Bruce Banner had shown interest in, or perhaps more iconic ones like Nico Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit or Gecko Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit. Maybe even some Logia-type fruits?.
Whatever the case, Rosh was sure the next update would be exciting.
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A notification sound pulled him out of his thoughts. Deadpool had sent another barrage of messages, this time with some actual concern.
"Boss? Are you still there? Oh, by the way, I saw on the news that the big green guy showed up on your street. You okay? Wait, what am I saying—you're obviously fine. Otherwise, how would you be chatting with me right now?"
Rosh chuckled and typed back, "I'm fine."
Though Deadpool's concern was unwarranted, Rosh did find the situation odd. He had fully expected the military or S.H.I.E.L.D. to knock on his door after the recent chaos involving the Hulk, but no one had come. A whole week had passed without any visits, interrogations, or disruptions.
Even when the military had locked down the area and conducted door-to-door investigations, they had somehow skipped over Rosh entirely, as if he were invisible.
It was strange—too strange to be a coincidence.
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Next Chapter: A Visit from the Future Wasp
Next Next Chapter: The Liquid-Liquid Fruit and the Wasp Suit
Next Next Next Chapter: Hank Pym's Disbelief
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