At lunchtime, with everyone gathered, Caleb finished introducing Baymax, Inoue, and Shizuka to everyone.
In fact, Shizuka and Saeko were from the same world. They died in the same incident.
"Busujima-san, I'm so glad you're alive~!" Shizuka said to Saeko.
Smiling, Saeko said, "Yes, Dr. Marikawa, I'm happy to have been summoned by Caleb-sama and to have a new chance at being alive."
Shizuka's sleepy eyes turned into half-moons as she smiled: "Really? That's good to hear~"
The way she spoke seemed to have a double meaning.
Before eating, Caleb said: "Chun-Li, I'm going to fulfill the promise I made to you earlier."
"Huh?" She looked confused at first, but soon her eyes lit up: "Did you get something good for me?"
"Yes, a very interesting power," Caleb said mysteriously.
"Tell me, what is it?" Chun-Li asked, curious.
In response, Caleb smiled and said: "Later."
"Tsk..." Even though she looked annoyed, she was more anxious than upset.
"What are you talking about?" Alice entered the dining room with a cart full of delicious dishes.
"Oh right, Alice. I have something for you too," Caleb said.
"Something for me? A new machine?" her eyes sparkled a bit.
"Better," Caleb replied.
**
After lunch, Alice and Chun-Li were the only ones who stayed behind.
The rest went out for a bit.
With Helena, Harribel, Erza, and Saeko in their outfits, they could protect Alice, Inoue, and Shizuka.
Before giving each of them the card, Caleb removed the weakness of the Akuma no Mi.
He had 4 of these cards, so he kept only two.
After that, he first gave the Bomu Bomu no Mi card to Chun-Li.
"Before you use this card, I need to warn you, Chun-Li," Caleb said. "This card is basically a devil fruit. I don't need to explain how it works, right? So, I managed to remove the sea weakness, which means you'll be able to swim, and even Sea Stones won't affect you. On the other hand, you're still limited to eating only one Akuma no Mi."
"What are this one's powers?" Chun-Li went straight to the point.
"You become the bomb-woman. Each of your attacks will have enormous destructive power. For example, a simple kick of yours might explode and knock down a tree. Of course, it's not limited to just that; the Akuma no Mi develops based on the user's creativity, meaning that as long as you develop this power well, it can become incredibly destructive," Caleb explained.
"And what about me?" Alice pointed to herself.
"Yours is something similar, but a little different," Caleb said. "Instead of eating a devil fruit, you will steal it, so to speak, from a character who had the devil fruit."
"In short, I will assimilate the character, correct?" she asked.
Caleb nodded. "Exactly. With that, you'll not only be able to use the power of the fruit but also gain the strength of the character. However, the process is slower and more time-consuming, unlike Chun-Li who will get the devil fruit power immediately."
"Caleb, you still haven't told me what kind of power this character has." She crossed her arms and pouted, feeling like he was teasing her on purpose.
"See for yourself." Caleb handed her the Eustass Kid card.
On the card, as soon as she clicked on the Eustass Kid's Akuma no Mi section, she would get all the information related to the Devil Fruit.
"Wow, this is perfect~! Caleb, I love you, mwahhh!" Very touched, yet also playful, she blew him a kiss with her hand while winking her left eye.
"Hahaha." Caleb simply laughed at her reaction, saying: "I'm glad you liked it."
"I also liked it a lot, Caleb. Thank you," Chun-Li gave a sincere smile.
After that, the two used their cards. Alice went first, grimacing as she assimilated the card, while Chun-Li barely reacted.
'Since she's using a card to acquire a Devil Fruit, does it not taste bad, or is it for another reason?' he wondered.
By the way, he initially thought about giving Chun-Li the Sube Sube no Mi Devil Fruit, but now he wouldn't have that chance anymore...
'Another thing, a character being assimilated who has a Devil Fruit… Does that still count as having eaten a Devil Fruit?' Caleb had this doubt.
In theory, it shouldn't, after all, when assimilating, you're not really eating a Devil Fruit, but rather inheriting its powers, so to speak.
Whereas using the Devil Fruit card like Chun-Li did... was a completely different situation, since in theory, she ate the fruit and obtained the Devil Fruit powers.
'Unfortunately, I'll only be able to find out if I test it, but I won't use any of the girls to test this kind of thing.' Caleb thought: 'Maybe I should get someone to serve as a guinea pig?'
The problem was that, even if it worked, it would be a complete waste. At least at the present moment, he couldn't afford such a cost.
As soon as Alice finished, Caleb saw her pick up a spoon and place it on the table, then she extended her hand and when the spoon moved, a wide smile with two white canine teeth appeared as she grinned.
Soon, she got lost in thought, mumbling something.
"With this, I can do that, so..."
"I'm going outside!" Chun-Li, on the other hand, looked like she couldn't wait to test her power.
While Chun-Li left and Alice got lost in her own little world... Caleb was left with nothing to do.
'Let's go for a walk.'
Today he still hadn't gone to the sea.
At least once a day, he trained in the water, either by swimming or walking on it.
Walking on water helped improve Haki, and also he learned to better control this ability.
It was good training. But unfortunately, hard to replicate.
Only Harribel managed somehow.
Saeko was still learning to use Haki. She still had a long road ahead.
Chun-Li could use it, but it was more instinctive. Something similar to Harribel, but the difference between the two was huge.
Helena was still learning Haki. She had learned Observation Haki, although she was at the first stage. As for Armament Haki, she was still struggling to learn it.
Erza... well, she surprised Caleb in many ways.
He knew she was a genius, but seriously, she learned Armament Haki in less than a month? What kind of genius was she anyway?
Although she was still far from reaching the level of making a sword blade turn black, the simple fact that she could already coat her arms with Haki was something incredible.
It's true that her powers adapted to the world of One Piece, but not even Harribel managed to coat her arms with Haki that quickly.
At most, she could use Conqueror's Haki. Although, in simple terms, it was more powerful, it was still more natural to use.
'If I don't put in the effort, soon they'll all be better than me.' Caleb thought.
At least in terms of Haki usage, Caleb felt superior to Harribel. But if he didn't keep progressing, even that would soon change.
Not to mention Erza, who was a freak in her own right...
Putting those thoughts aside, he left the house.
**
17.5 million Belly...
That was the amount Caleb saw on a ship approaching.
Gem, also known as Mr. 5, and Mikita, also known as Miss Valentine.
Seeing the two of them, he already guessed the reason for their visit, and when they saw him, they looked happy as they jumped from the ship onto solid ground.
"Kyahahaha!" Mikita laughed loudly while flying through the air with her umbrella: "Look, Mr. 5, he came to welcome us~"
Picking his nose, Mr. 5, who had just landed on the ground, said with a stuffed voice: "Yes, we're lucky."
With the snot between his fingers, he looked at Caleb with a neutral expression while Mikita had a wide grin as she landed right next to Mr. 5.