One Piece: Starting with God Valley, intercepting the Dark-Dark Fruit

Giger barely managed to support himself by pressing his hands against the wall. He nodded slightly and asked.

"Is this door made of sea stone?"

"That's right. It has a very high purity and is extremely effective against ability users. It can even cause ability users to lose their abilities without any contact. At the same time, it is also one of the hardest substances in the world."

Giger tried to activate his ability and found that, just as Garin had said, not a trace of black energy was generated on his body, so he could not use the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit at all.

Not only was he unable to use his abilities, but this also made Gigg's body even weaker, and he staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Garin had anticipated this situation and stepped forward to help Gig up. Gig was breathing heavily and said...

"I'm sorry, Uncle Garin, I really don't have the strength."

Garin chuckled softly, shook his head, and said...

"No need to apologize. You've done a great job. Back then, Gulando's performance was even worse than yours."

"Is he an ability user?"

"He wasn't like that before he came here. He took that Devil Fruit from inside the door. It's a Paramecia-type Blood-Blood Fruit."

Giger narrowed his eyes; this was an unfamiliar fruit to him.

But one thing he was very clear about was that since this fruit was taken from the secret chamber of the Figarando family, its power was definitely no less than that of the fruits from God Valley back then.

Garin's next words confirmed this.

“The previous head of the family, your grandfather, was a Blood-Blood Fruit user. After his death, the family went to great lengths to recover the fruit. Grando took a liking to the fruit, so I gave it to him.”

Giger had virtually no memory of his grandfather, as no one in his family had ever mentioned him since he could remember. He couldn't help but ask.

"This fruit must be very powerful, why didn't Uncle Karin try to eat it himself?"

Garin shook his head and said,

"I have no interest in Devil Fruits, and the power of this fruit is too evil. It corrupts the mind of the user. My father went completely insane just a few years after becoming a Devil Fruit user. If he hadn't regained some consciousness at the last moment, I wouldn't have had a chance at all..."

Garin stopped there, a look of pain on his face.

Although he didn't continue, Giger guessed the gist of it: Garin most likely killed his own father.

Thinking of this, Giger's expression became somewhat strange, because in the future, he would also kill his own father.

However, in the matter of patricide, Garin was forced, while he did it voluntarily.

At this moment, both Garin and Giger, uncle and nephew, fell into a state of silence. After a while, Giger took the initiative to speak.

"Since this fruit is so dangerous, why did you give it to him?"

Garin sighed and said,

“Grando has always held a grudge against me for taking over as the leader of the Knights of God. After I became the head of the family and had the right to control this secret room, he asked for this fruit. I originally disagreed.”

Giger pursed his lips, thinking to himself, "So you still gave him the fruit?"

Thinking that Gulando's strength would increase again, Gigg felt a little annoyed and casually asked,

"What? Did he kneel down for you?"

Garin was taken aback by these words. He glared angrily at Giger and said,

"Given his personality, how could he possibly kneel down to me? He assured me that as long as I gave him the fruit, he would no longer interfere with you, and I also wanted to ease the tension between us, so I finally agreed."

Garin's voice sounded calm and collected, yet it caused Giger's body to tremble almost imperceptibly.

He finally understood why, despite all these years he had been away, Gulando had never laid a hand on him.

Garin's words deeply moved Giger. Having lived two lives, this was the first time he had truly felt the existence of family affection.

Recalling Garin's quiet care and help over the years, Giger looked at Garin and said softly,

"Uncle Garin, thank you."

Galin was taken aback. Although this wasn't the first time Gig had called him "uncle," he could clearly sense that the emotions conveyed were completely different.

Because of his childhood experiences, Gigg not only hates Grando, but also harbors hostility towards the entire Figarando family. So even though Garin has been helping him, there is still an unavoidable barrier in his heart.

Now, having learned what Garin had done for him, the barrier in Giger's heart has completely disappeared.

Garin was still very happy, but he had always been a rather rigid person and rarely showed his true feelings.

Simply put, he is not good at expressing himself.

He turned his head away awkwardly, and finally only managed to utter three words.

"You're welcome."

Without waiting for Giger's response, he led him to the door, took out a gold key from his pocket, and inserted it into a hidden slot on the door.

Garin turned the key, and the door made a muffled thud. Then he placed his hand on the door and pushed it slightly, and the two heavy doors slowly opened.

Just from the sound, you could tell that the door was heavy. Giger couldn't help but think that even if he had the key, he probably wouldn't have the strength to push the door open.

What will happen when I become the head of the family? Will I have to bring Lucia with me every time I come?

Giger looked conflicted. Bringing Lucia along wasn't a problem, since Lucia was one of their own.

But what troubled him was that he would have to lean on Lucia's arms like a little girl, and then have Lucia open the door for him—that would be a little embarrassing...

Chapter 48 Demon Sword Muramasa

After the door opened, Garin continued to support Gig as they walked inside. Gig suddenly asked,

"Uncle Garin, has Grandpa never come here again after he became an ability user? Or does he always bring you with him to open the door for him?"

Garin paused for a moment, then quickly recovered, and the usually serious Garin couldn't help but smile, saying,

"You little brat, are you already thinking about the day you become the head of the family? You're thinking pretty far ahead, but I'm not dead yet!"

"Uh, that's not what I meant. Besides, it's not like I can only do this job if you're gone. Maybe you'll get tired of it and retire early?"

"Heh, you think the position of family head is the same as those positions in the navy? Retirement? Have you ever heard of a retired family head?"

"Well, that's true. I think it's better if I don't take the position of family head. I don't want Uncle Jialin to die."

This last sentence was definitely Giger's true feeling. After a few more playful exchanges, Garin gradually relaxed and became more talkative.

"At least you still have some conscience. Don't worry, the position of family head will be yours sooner or later. As for the problem you just mentioned, it's not unsolvable. It just depends on whether you're qualified to accept this gift I'm giving you."

Even if Garin hadn't mentioned it, Giger had almost forgotten about the gift. As the distance to the Seastone gate continued to increase, Giger gradually regained some mobility.

He freed himself from Garin, stretched his body slightly, and began to examine the secret room.

As a powerful family among the Celestial Dragons, the Figarand family naturally possesses countless treasures in their secret chamber. Gold and jewels are as common as cabbages, and describing them as mountains of gold would be an understatement.

This arrangement clearly shows that the Figarando family didn't take these things seriously at all.

The truly precious ones are the famous swords hanging on the wall, but not all swords are worthy of being hung on the wall.

Giger saw several knives casually placed in a corner, next to a sign that read "50 Good and Fast Knives".

There was a label on the handle, which should have been the name of the knife.

Those that qualify to be hung on the wall are the "Twenty-One Great Swords," and Giger counted them; there are five in total.

This number is already astonishing, considering that there are only twenty-one knives of this caliber in the world, and the Figarando family alone owns nearly a quarter of them. Such a foundation is absolutely terrifying.

Ironically, this was the first time that Giger, the heir to the family fortune, had ever witnessed the power of his own family.

Garin turned around and saw Giger's gaze lingering on those famous swords. A playful smile appeared on his lips as he asked,

"It seems you're quite interested in knives."

Giger withdrew his gaze and answered honestly.

"Those knives are indeed quite tempting, but my swordsmanship is really mediocre, so it would be a waste to give me such good knives."

"How dare you say that? Do you know that our family's greatest skill is swordsmanship? Swordsmanship is the foundation of our family's existence."

Giger shook his head helplessly and said,

"There's nothing I can do. There are people in the navy who know how to use swords, but there aren't any who are truly skilled. I've only learned the basics."

Garin nodded with a disdainful expression and said,

"You're right, those so-called swordsmen in the navy are all half-baked and not worth mentioning at all."

"So, Uncle Galin, are you bringing this up with me because the gift you mentioned is a knife?"

“Indeed, as a member of the Figarando family, how can one not have one's own sword?”

"The knife on the wall..."

Garin looked at Gige with a hint of disappointment, and he scolded him.

"Is that all you've got? The Twenty-One Swordsmanship is good, but as the family heir, using that kind of sword is simply disgracing the family!"

"Uh......"

Giger fell silent. He glanced at the sword that Garin had on his waist. According to Garin, this sword must be one of the legendary Supreme Grade Swords.

This is a limited edition of only twelve pieces worldwide, and Giger certainly wouldn't believe that Garin was planning to give away his knife; that would be ridiculous.

Since he said that, it means that the Figarand family possesses more than one Supreme Grade Sword!

With such depth of knowledge, Giger could only exclaim "Wow!" in his heart, and at the same time, he became even more excited.