January 12, 1503.
It had been four days since Noah last spoke with Morgans.
In that time, Noah and Vic had continued their deep-sea treasure hunt, scouring the ocean floor for sunken ships.
Over those four days, they'd explored 17 more wrecks, collecting a treasure trove worth more than 60 million in gold, silver, jewels, and a load of random odds and ends.
Items like compass needles, swords, parchment maps, telescopes, tables made from Adam wood, stone tablets carved with strange, unknown symbols, and a few barely readable nautical logs made up the mix.
As their submarine drew closer to the Levi's Mountain Canal, the number of wrecks on the sea floor multiplied.
Of course, depth was an issue. Any shipwrecks deeper than 200 meters were beyond their reach for now. The submarine could only dive to around 100 meters, so Vic had to suit up and plunge the remaining 100 meters on his own, pushing his limits in the deep.
Without even realizing it, they found themselves in a relatively shallower part of the sea.
Suddenly, Noah's Observation Haki detected something—a massive shipwreck, but it was lying about 220 meters down.
After a quick discussion, Noah and Vic decided to give it a shot.
Vic suited up and dove in.
When he finally reached the wreck, Vic realized just how enormous this ship had been.
"Wait a second... why does that symbol look familiar? A lion's head... and three swords?"
After racking his brain for a few minutes, Vic finally remembered. This was the emblem of the Kingdom of Tris, located north of the Pole Star Archipelago.
As he ventured deeper into the wreck, Vic found many of the cabins filled with crates, and inside were piles of gold and jewels. Even for treasure hunters like them, the sheer amount was jaw-dropping.
After a moment to let the shock wear off, Vic continued his search.
It wasn't until he'd thoroughly checked all the crates and cabins that he returned to the submarine, lugging two small chests along with him.
Noah eyed the two new Devil Fruits Vic had found and, after listening to Vic's description of the ship, quickly pieced together the story from the intelligence he'd gathered from East Blue.
In 1422—81 years ago—a treasure ship from the Kingdom of Tris, on the way to deliver tribute to the World Government, had been lost near Loguetown during a sudden storm.
As for why the Kingdom of Tris never sent a recovery team? Simple. They couldn't.
Ships lost to storms were practically impossible to recover.
For one thing, the ocean was vast—it'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
For another, even if they pinpointed the location, they'd still need the technology and specialized equipment to retrieve it. And the waters near Loguetown were close to the Calm Belt, teeming with small Sea Kings. Without strong fighters to defend the operation, one run-in with a Sea King would mean total annihilation.
Even Noah, during their ventures these past few days, had already encountered two small Sea Kings, each over ten meters long. If not for his Conqueror's Haki, most would've ended up as fish food in such encounters.
For two full days, Noah and Vic worked tirelessly, looting the treasure from the wreck. By Noah's estimate, the haul was worth around 2 billion Berries.
Considering the starting threshold for the Heavenly Tribute was 10 billion Berries—or high-value items like gold, jewels, Devil Fruits, rare minerals, and other treasures—this was a massive find.
With this fortune in hand, Noah wouldn't have to worry about money for years.
After such a successful haul, the thrill of treasure hunting began to fade, and they set a course for Loguetown.
After a quiet, covert landing in Loguetown, Noah and Vic rested for the night. The next day, Noah received word from Morgans.
As usual, they met in that familiar basement.
After reviewing the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and the navigational data from the Grand Line, Noah finally shared some crucial information with Morgans about Kaido.
It was about Kaido's coup in Wano last year—how he'd seized control of the country and brutally wiped out the Kozuki family.
Morgans was well aware of Kozuki Oden's importance. If Wano hadn't been so isolated and Kaido hadn't tightly controlled the flow of information, even Morgans would have known little about what was happening inside the country.
Upon hearing the news, Morgans quickly realized that if this information leaked, it would spark a major conflict between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates.
After completing their trade, both Noah and Morgans left satisfied with their gains.
Once Noah had ended the call with the Den Den Mushi, he sealed away several hundred kilograms of books using his cards and swiftly exited the World Economic Journal's branch.
After several changes of disguise, he slipped back onto the submarine and returned to Seastar Island in the early hours of the morning.
By the time he arrived, it was already evening.
Noah immediately headed for the study in the orchard, where he took out the three Devil Fruits and the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia to appraise them.
The first Devil Fruit, shaped like a black honeydew, was quickly identified in the Encyclopedia.
Paramecia-type: Graphite Fruit.
The second Devil Fruit, a red, banana-shaped one with a scaly texture, was an Animal-type: Fish-Fish Fruit—Carp Model.
The third Devil Fruit, resembling a white peach with a fuzzy surface, was an Animal-type: Human-Human Fruit—Silverback Gorilla Model.
Aside from the Carp Fruit, which seemed more like a joke, the Graphite Fruit and the Silverback Gorilla Fruit were quite decent.
According to the brief descriptions in the Encyclopedia, the Graphite Fruit was focused on creation, without any superhuman or extraordinary abilities.
At dinnertime, Noah laid out the three Devil Fruits and explained their powers to the crew.
"Bro, this Carp Fruit's power is pretty trash!" Joshua couldn't help but complain.
"Yeah, let's forget about the Carp Fruit. As for the Graphite and Silverback Gorilla Fruits, does anyone want them?"
Everyone fell silent, lost in thought.
Vic was the first to speak up. "I'll pass. Right now, I want to focus on honing my martial arts and Haki. Maybe if I hit a wall later, I'll think about eating a Devil Fruit."
"I'm not interested either. These two fruits don't suit me," Lilith added with a shrug.
Lillian and Mary also turned down the offer—neither the Graphite nor the Gorilla abilities were appealing to them.
"Noah, do you think... I could have the Graphite Fruit?" Jay asked, a bit hesitantly.
Noah chuckled. "You're going to be our family's shipwright, so the Graphite Fruit's a perfect match for you. It's yours."
"Thanks, Noah!" Jay said excitedly as he grabbed the fruit and took a big bite.
The next moment, his face twisted in disgust, and he looked like he was about to be puke. But he powered through it, forcing himself to finish the fruit bite by bite.
Noah had given specific instructions: eat the entire Devil Fruit.
Though a single bite was enough to gain its power, there was a subtle difference between taking one bite and eating the whole thing.
It wasn't about the completeness of the ability, but more about boosting a person's spirit and willpower. Devil Fruits were somewhat linked to the user's mental state, and Haki was also deeply tied to one's will.
The resolve of someone who dared to eat the whole fruit was vastly different from someone who just took a nibble.