Soon, Caesar learned about Baby 5's abilities from her own mouth.
First, transforming into swords, guns, and cannons posed no difficulty for her. She could also turn into projectiles like shells and missiles, exploding without harming herself. The effectiveness of the explosion was related to her stamina.
However, she couldn't transform into warships or aircraft.
According to Baby 5, she could currently only transform into weapons with direct offensive capabilities.
Warships, which could also be classified as weapons, were beyond her reach. It was unclear whether this was due to a limitation in her stamina, but so far, she had never successfully transformed into one. At most, she could only turn into shipborne artillery.
Overall, her Devil Fruit ability was quite decent, though Baby 5's strength was somewhat average.
The girl's focus was entirely on weapons, and her skills in swordsmanship and marksmanship were fairly good.
As for Haki…
That would have to be taught slowly over time.
Caesar wasn't the type of man to say things like "I'll protect you." No one knew whether tomorrow or an accident would come first. Arming oneself was always the best way to avoid accidents, and this applied to everyone.
In the following days, Caesar took Baby 5 out for a stroll.
He wasn't satisfied with her outfit. It was supposed to be a maid's uniform, but it was just a short skirt with an apron, looking somewhat out of place.
In a fashion boutique, Caesar led Baby 5 through the aisles.
"This one, this one, and this one…"
"Are you taking these three, sir?"
"Not these three. I'll take one of everything else. Size for someone 180 cm tall. Don't get the size wrong."
"Huh?!"
The clerk was stunned. Who shops like this?
The trend of domineering CEO culture hadn't reached the pirate world, and this way of shopping truly shocked the clerk.
Baby 5 looked at Caesar with stars in her eyes, but after a brief moment of infatuation, she quickly came to her senses: "No, no, dear, I can't afford this…"
"I can."
Caesar waved to the clerk, casually signed a check, and handed it over. Then he turned to Baby 5: "By the way, I heard you have some debts?"
The girl pursed her lips: "It's not much. I'll pay it off soon, dear, you…"
"I'll take care of it for you."
Caesar raised his hand slightly, cutting her off. Then he turned slightly, his backlit smile seemingly shrouded in shadow.
"Could you introduce me to your creditors…?"
"Not good!"
In the castle, Doflamingo suddenly sat up: "Diamante! Go and settle Baby 5's debts… No, forget it, just deal with the creditors!"
Doflamingo wasn't worried about the lives of Baby 5's creditors. What he was worried about was Caesar taking action in the city!
One lacked love, the other lacked morals.
Doflamingo thought to himself, "Meeting you two in this lifetime is truly a curse!"
Soon, as the family's executives mobilized, by the time Caesar and Baby 5 arrived, most of Baby 5's creditors had already been dealt with.
"It seems there are no more debts!"
Baby 5 was puzzled, but regardless, the creditors being taken care of was a good thing.
She could vaguely sense Caesar's concern for her.
More than having her debts cleared, she enjoyed the feeling of being cared for by Caesar.
"Sigh… It's finally over."
Diamante returned to the castle and after reporting to Doflamingo, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh: "It's just a bit of debt, isn't it a bit too much trouble, Doffy?"
"With such people, you can never be too careful."
The deeper one is in the darkness, the more vigilant one must be. Doflamingo understood this principle well.
"This isn't bad either, at least it gives me a bit more understanding of this gentleman."
Protective!
Extremely protective!
He didn't think Caesar was looking for Baby 5's creditor to thank them.
But this was fine too. Although Baby 5's psychological issues gave him quite a headache, after all, he had raised the girl for over a decade and indeed regarded her as his own family, treating her equally with other members.
In a sense, this could be considered a marriage alliance between the Donquixote Family and Caesar.
If handled properly, he and Caesar might very well become 'one of us.'
But before that, their relationship still needed to be carefully maintained.
Especially what Caesar wanted had to be obtained as quickly as possible!
Among these, the fastest to obtain was the Artificial Fruit from Punk Hazard...
Perhaps because Caesar's pressure was too intense, Doflamingo acted swiftly.
Early the next morning, when Caesar woke up with Baby 5 in his arms, the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit he had been longing for had already been delivered to Dressrosa.
The shape of an apple, branches with an Arabesque pattern, and circular designs.
"Quite fast, huh? It arrived in just one night?"
Looking at the Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit placed before him, Caesar was somewhat surprised.
"The distance from here to Punk Hazard isn't far. Compared to transportation, getting it out of the lab was the hardest part."
Doflamingo said: "The place is guarded by the Navy and monitored by the World Government, but fortunately, I have a collaboration with one of the researchers, which is how I managed to get it. By the way, that guy's surname is the same as yours."
Caesar Clown, huh?
Caesar nodded: "Then let him change his surname."
"..."
Doflamingo was silent for a moment, suddenly feeling the urge to slap himself.
Why did he have to add that unnecessary comment?
Caesar picked up the Artificial Fruit from the tray and examined it carefully.
He still vividly remembered the feeling he had when he saw the Vampire Fruit, as if a demon was whispering in his ear, tempting him to eat it.
But this fruit didn't give him that feeling. It was just like an ordinary apple, with no allure or anything extraordinary about it.
Under the cover of blood, Caesar stored it in his system space.
[Collected Item: Artificial Devil Fruit (Zoan Type: Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Azure Dragon Form)]
[Rarity: SS]
[Collection Value: SS]
[Evaluation: Cannot awaken, but it's the only one!]
[SS Collection Reward: World Fragment *1]
[World Fragment: As the name suggests—a fragment of the world]
[Achievement Unlocked: Collected an Artificial Devil Fruit]
[Achievement Reward: Golden Duplicator *1]
[Golden Duplicator: Can duplicate any Devil Fruit, can be used on ability users, can be used on the Light Upgrade Fruit]
Caesar's eyes swept across the system panel, and when he noticed the last line of text, his breath hitched.
Holy crap!
The Replicator!
Big Nikko!
It's a gold pull!
For a moment, he was completely frozen, his brain seemingly overloaded as he frantically recalled the various fruits from the original storyline.
Which one to replicate?
Pika Pika? Goro Goro?
It definitely couldn't be the Flare-Flare Fruit…
If there were two fruits Caesar favored the most, it would be the Pika Pika and Goro Goro.
But the plundering ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit was also something he desperately coveted!