Malphegor
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OP: AMP Ch. 37
🕑 Added 2025-08-22 01:12:05 +0000 UTCThe sudden feeling of freedom hit the strange man. He stood there stunned, looking down at his body in disbelief.
He tried to take a step forward but immediately stumbled, his legs buckling after years of being cramped in the same position.
But before anyone could help him, the smell hit them.
"Oh, what is that?!" Usopp jumped back, covering his nose.
Nami had already backed away several steps, looking like she might be sick.
"Whoa, you smell really weird!" Luffy said, tilting his head. "Is that what happens when you live in a box?"
"Twenty years without a bath," Zoro stated. "What did you expect?"
The freed man's face went bright red. After so long alone, he'd forgotten how his condition might affect other people. "I... I'm sorry, I know I must smell terrible..."
"Hey, not your fault," Marcus called out, though he was keeping his distance. "Anyone would be the same after that long."
He realized he should've thought this through. Twenty years of... well, everything that comes with being human in a confined space. But more pressing was watching the man struggle to stand. His legs were shaking, and he looked like he might collapse any second.
"Here, drink this first."
The man looked confused but accepted it gratefully, downing the entire bucket in one go. Almost immediately, some color returned to his cheeks and his legs seemed steadier.
"What… what was that?"
"First-generation milk." Marcus shrugged.
"Huh? Just milk?"
"Don’t ask. Trust me, it’s healthier for your sanity."
The man hesitated, then blinked, "Wait. What's wrong with the milk?"
"Nothing." Marcus clapped him on the shoulder. "Can you walk now?"
"I think so... yeah, much better actually."
Alvida pointed toward the shoreline. "There's plenty of seawater for washing, and I saw some soap plants growing near the beach earlier."
"Right!" Luffy's natural kindness won out over the smell. "Let's get you cleaned up first!"
The crew spent the next hour helping the man get properly washed. Marcus even scrounged up some spare clothes that sort of fit him.
Only after he'd scrubbed himself thoroughly in the ocean and changed into clean clothing did he seem like a real person again.
That's when the experience orbs burst from his body, easily as many as Marcus had gotten from Alvida back when he'd first changed her fate.
In an instant, he shot up to Level 17.
So that's how it works...
Watching the light show, he finally understood the pattern. The way he could gain massive amounts of experience was by changing the fate and life trajectory of characters from the original story.
If he kept interfering with the storyline, he could definitely rack up experience points, but he'd also have to deal with the unpredictable consequences of altering the future.
He filed that away for later consideration.
Meanwhile, the cleaned-up man was experiencing strange emotions. After surviving under the protection of that chest for so many years, suddenly gaining freedom felt almost overwhelming.
After a few minutes to collect himself, the group made their way to the spot where he had been living all these years.
"I really can't thank you enough. My name's Gaimon. Twenty years... I've been stuck inside that damn chest for twenty full years. Honestly, I started to think my body had actually fused with the thing, but now..."
He began telling his story.
Twenty years ago, he'd come to this island with his captain and crew, searching for treasure. When the captain found a chest but discovered it was empty, Gaimon wasn't ready to give up. He decided to check the one spot they hadn't explored yet. It was a bare, rocky hill that stood out from the rest of the lush island.
There, he'd seen several treasure chests sitting on top. But as he grabbed onto the rock to climb up, it had given way. He'd fallen down and, through sheer bad luck, gotten stuck headfirst inside one of the chests and knocked unconscious. When he finally woke up, his crewmates were long gone.
After hearing his story, Luffy and the others couldn't help but wonder whether the treasure was still up there. Urged on by their curiosity, they encouraged Gaimon to climb that rocky hill one more time.
Gaimon smiled and nodded readily. "You know, when you heard about treasure, your first instinct wasn't to claim it for yourselves, but to help me fulfill my dream. You're good people, that's rare on these seas."
The group made their way to the base of the rocky hill.
Even though his body had been trapped for twenty years, people in the One Piece world had ridiculous resilience. In the real world, his bones would've set permanently, making it impossible to stand upright. But here he was, walking around like nothing had happened.
After two decades, he climbed the same path he'd taken all those years ago.
The whole experience felt surreal to him. Each step up the rocky slope made him feel like his body was returning to its younger days.
When he reached the summit, he stared at the treasure chests sitting there.
Five of them, lined up neatly on the flat top of the hill.
He approached them with trembling hands, and touched one of the chests.
For so many years, he'd thought about this treasure constantly, imagining what might be inside. But now that he was actually here, he didn't feel the overwhelming joy he'd expected.
Click.
Down below, Luffy and the others waited, but they didn't hear any excited shouting.
This made them a little worried.
Just as they were considering whether to climb up and check on him, Gaimon appeared at the edge, carrying one of the chests with a blank expression on his face.
"How was it?" Luffy was the first to ask.
Instead of answering, Gaimon simply turned the chest upside down. Nothing fell out.
Alvida shook her head. "This is pretty normal. A lot of treasure maps that get passed around between pirates are like this. The treasure was probably discovered years ago, but greedy pirates keep selling the maps to make money. The suckers who buy them make up stories to add value to the maps just to cut their losses, until some poor bastard finds out the truth."
Gaimon sat down on the rocky hill, gazing out at the endless blue ocean.
Although he'd already suspected the treasure would be gone, the chest his captain had found back then was probably one of these, he wasn't as heartbroken as he'd imagined he'd be.
Twenty years of guarding an empty dream.
A strange sense of relief spread through his chest instead of disappointment.
But when Luffy's group saw his expression, they worried he might be about to do something drastic.
"Hey! Don't let it get to you!" Usopp called out. "Sure, this treasure's gone, but there are tons of others out there in the world!"
"Yeah!" Luffy added enthusiastically. "There's a lot of fun stuff out there on the sea!"
Gaimon just waved and smiled. "Thanks. You really are good people."
As they climbed down from the rocky hill, the group stopped talking about treasure.
Marcus kept staring at the hill, lost in thought.
"What's wrong?" Zoro looked over at him, who was still examining the rock formation.
"I actually think there might still be treasure here."
Zoro looked puzzled and shrugged. "Wouldn't it be better to leave whatever's left for Gaimon?"
"I'm not talking about what's on top. I mean inside this rock. Don't you think this hill looks man-made?" Marcus pointed at the structure.
Hearing that, Zoro also looked it over from different angles, then surveyed the surrounding area.
Sure enough, the entire island was covered in lush vegetation, but this hill was completely bare, not even moss grew on it. That was definitely unnatural.
And treasures weren't usually just left sitting out in the open on mountain tops. They were typically buried underground or hidden in some concealed location.
Thinking it through, he started to feel something was off too.
But Marcus' suspicion didn't come from logical deduction, it was simply because his minimap was showing a treasure chest icon at this exact location.
"I'm gonna dig around a bit."
He pulled out an iron pickaxe and started working.
The small hill was quickly hollowed out, causing the five treasure chests on top to tumble to the ground, all empty, just as Gaimon had said.
Looking at the "stone" blocks now filling his inventory, Marcus then focused on a patch of ground with different-colored soil.
Without hesitation, he kept digging.
Naturally, his actions drew everyone's attention. Gaimon was the most curious of all, watching intently as Marcus dug deeper and deeper.
After digging several meters down, something new appeared.
A Devil Fruit, almost completely embedded in the surrounding rock like it had been there for centuries.
He reached out and touched it. In the next instant, the Devil Fruit vanished from the stone and reappeared in his palm, completely intact and clean.
Its appearance was bizarre, the top half was apple-red, the middle section was bright yellow, and the bottom was green. At first glance, it looked like a traffic light, but when he flipped it over, the back side was deep purple.
It was like someone had taken a color palette and turned it into a fruit.
"That's a Devil Fruit!" Alvida exclaimed.
Anyone who'd eaten one before could recognize it instantly, there was something unmistakable about the swirling patterns and unnatural appearance.
Usopp crowded closer to get a better look, examining it from every angle. "So this is what a Devil Fruit looks like... it's really weird. The top part looks like feathers, but the bottom's more like scales or something."
Nami's eyes lit up with berry signs. "I've heard a single Devil Fruit can sell for as much as 100 million berries! Marcus! Can you give me that fruit?"
Marcus shook his head. "If you're planning to eat it, I'll give it to you. But if you want to sell it, forget it."
"Aw, come on, Marcus~" Nami tried her most persuasive voice. "Don't you think our crew could really use the money?"
