The sudden cry of "Mama" caught Sunny completely off guard.
It wasn't the word itself that shocked her but the fact that Bailey had spoken it.
"A Devil Fruit user?"
That was Sunny's immediate thought.
Realizing that Bailey might have consumed a Devil Fruit, her emotions became a whirlwind of complexity.
The Devil Fruit she had always dreamed of had been eaten... by a skunk?
Maude, however, didn't seem as affected as Sunny. He refrained from jumping to conclusions.
An animal speaking human words didn't necessarily mean it had eaten a Devil Fruit.
Sol, meanwhile, gazed blankly at Bailey, who was trembling with desperation to survive. Slowly, he retracted his hand and turned to the two standing by the bathroom door.
"Whose idea was it to bring this little thing here?"
Sunny immediately raised her hand and pointed at Maude.
Maude: "…"
Ten minutes later, everyone was seated at the dining table.
Bailey, tied up like a stuffed dumpling, lay sprawled on the floor beside the table.
In front of him were two pieces of steak and a pile of vegetables.
The semblance of a proper dinner for a human offered Bailey a faint sense of comfort for his wounded pride.
Sol stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed. His eyes wandered to Bailey, who was gnawing at a steak.
"This little thing hid his cards well."
Sol had recognized Bailey immediately as one of the auction house's goods.
Earlier, he had nearly crushed Bailey's head because he sensed a faint hostility from the creature.
Sol had always been highly sensitive to malice, and his reaction was practically instinctive.
Had Bailey not spoken at the last moment, Sol would have followed through.
Luckily for Bailey, Sol was a seasoned martial artist, adept at both striking and withdrawing with precision. If not for that, Bailey would already be a headless corpse.
"Bailey hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit, so why can he talk?"
Sunny stared at Bailey in confusion.
Earlier, Sol had resolved the Devil Fruit question with the help of an extremely rare Seastone bullet.
But that only raised another question.
Maude suppressed the urge to voice his thoughts and silently focused on his meal.
Given his current role, it wasn't appropriate to educate Sunny in this setting.
Sol, however, knew the answer and explained,
"In the Grand Line, there's an isolated race known as the Mink Tribe. This little thing is likely connected to them, but it's clear that the bloodline he inherited is far from pure—extremely diluted, even. That's why he turned out this way."
"The Mink Tribe? What kind of race is that?"
Sunny's interest was piqued.
At the same time, Bailey slowed his chewing, his ears perking up as he listened intently to Sol's explanation.
Born different from others, Bailey had left his kin early in life.
He had long been troubled by his unique traits. In his quest for answers, he even risked interacting with human society.
That same curiosity had ultimately led to his capture by humans.
Sol, however, wasn't inclined to elaborate. He waved it off, saying,
"Think of the Mink Tribe as humans who've eaten Zoan-type Devil Fruits."
Maude nearly choked on his food at that remark.
But on further thought, it wasn't entirely wrong.
Sunny, meanwhile, nodded in sudden understanding, her imagination conjuring vivid images of the Mink Tribe.
After a few more bites of meat, Sol added,
"Maude, you've stumbled upon a treasure. A creature like this, with such a diluted Mink Tribe lineage, is extremely rare. In all my years, I've only come across a handful. If the auction house had known his true heritage, there's no way they'd have put him up for sale like this."
"He's not that special—just worth a bit of money," Maude replied.
He didn't see Bailey as a treasure.
Of course, if Sol were willing to trade Chidori for Bailey, Maude might reconsider.
"Whether he's a treasure depends on how you use him."
Sol took a deep swig of alcohol, his eyes glinting with intrigue.
"Decades ago, on the Grand Line, there was a rising star among pirates. By his side was a sleek black hunting cat, much like this little one—another creature with a diluted Mink Tribe lineage."
"Though the cat appeared no different from an ordinary animal, it was intelligent, capable of speech, and had eaten a Devil Fruit."
"Those unfamiliar with the cat assumed it had gained its ability to speak by eating a Human-Human Fruit or something language-related. But they were wrong. That cat had eaten a Weapon-Weapon Fruit."
"Thanks to that Devil Fruit, many seasoned pirates fell victim to the newcomer. I was young and brash back then and almost became one of his casualties."
"To this day, I'm grateful for the lesson he taught me."
Speaking in a tone laced with nostalgia, Sol raised his glass and took another hearty gulp.
Listening to Sol's story, Maude's mind conjured the image of a wily schemer. He glanced at Bailey.
He knew there was a technique to allow weapons to consume Zoan-type Devil Fruits, but the idea of an animal eating a Weapon-Weapon Fruit had never occurred to him.
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. But animals were still animals, and the drawbacks were obvious.
That said, someone like Bailey, with his diluted Mink bloodline, was practically no different from a human when it came to consuming Devil Fruits. With the right Fruit, he could become quite versatile—almost like having two abilities in one.
Still, whether it was worth investing a Devil Fruit in a pet was another matter entirely.
Even so, Maude couldn't help but see Bailey as a diamond in the rough.
With that thought, Maude picked up a chicken leg and held it out to Bailey.
Bailey: "…"
Sunny, too, was looking at Bailey, but her thoughts took a different direction.
Her mind returned to its original conclusion.
"What a waste."
Sunny shook her head.
If it were up to her, she'd never let a pet eat a Devil Fruit.
After all, those weren't exactly commonplace items—encountering just one in a lifetime was rare enough.
This difference in perspective came down to experience.
To ordinary people, Devil Fruits were indeed rare treasures.
But Maude understood that for pirates like Doflamingo or the Yonko, Devil Fruits were commonplace among their officers. Some even squandered them carelessly.
In the end, with enough power, treasures that seemed rare to most became nothing more than commodities.
"So, we should sell Bailey," Sunny concluded.
From her point of view, wasting a Devil Fruit on Bailey was unthinkable. She naturally leaned toward selling him for a profit.
"But Bailey called you Mama. Selling him doesn't feel right, does it?"
Having already classified Bailey as a potential asset, Maude had no intention of letting him go.
No sooner had he spoken than a chicken bone flew his way, followed by Sunny's icy glare.
That unexpected "Mama" had left her utterly bewildered.
Little did she know, Bailey had only called her that because she had given him a name.
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