21 Dio! What's wrong, Dio!

All three reward items looked incredibly tempting, but Jos would never trust anything this system offered. Was the Zanpakuto powerful? Of course—it was formidable enough that, if he could achieve Bankai, even someone like Thanos in the Marvel movie universe would be easy to deal with.

But did he have the ability to unlock Bankai? In the original story, countless Soul Reapers lived thousands or even tens of thousands of years in the Soul Society without managing to achieve Bankai; the difficulty was nearly unimaginable. Not to mention, judging by the system’s questionable integrity, giving him a mere Zanpakuto replica was entirely possible.

As for the ninjutsu scroll, that was an even bigger trap. S-rank techniques in Naruto were nearly the pinnacle of that power system, but learning them was equally difficult. According to the original, regardless of effort or innate talent, mastering such techniques was far from guaranteed. Even if Jos were a genius who could learn S-rank ninjutsu instantly... he still lacked chakra.

Among the three options, Jos couldn’t find any obvious pitfalls with the devil fruit, so he simply chose it. Accompanied by a flash of light, a fruit the size of a cherry, adorned with strange spiral patterns, landed in Jos’s hand.

Lilith glanced at the unusual scene before returning to her television. Jos had produced plenty of strange things recently, but just as he never asked about her origins, she had no intention of questioning him about these matters.

[Name: Stunted Glint-Glint Fruit]
[Rarity: SR]
[Description: A Glint-Glint Fruit that didn’t mature properly. Tastes even worse than a typical devil fruit—more like excrement—and after consumption, only part of the body gains its powers. However, it won’t be completely rejected by the sea.]

“Huh... Actually, this doesn’t seem so bad,” Jos mused after a moment of inspection, realizing the fruit was more promising than expected.

In the Marvel universe, there weren’t many situations where he’d need to venture into water, especially with Iron Man’s array of armors as backup, so he had little fear. Still, having no side effects was preferable. The description’s “part of the body gains power” wasn’t unacceptable, either. Whether it was a hand or a foot, the ability to release laser beams from the Glint-Glint Fruit was nothing to scoff at. Even if the system was being petty and only made his head luminous, at least Jos would be immune to headshots—and a light-speed headbutt might not be out of the question.

All things considered, this fruit wasn’t as imposing as the original Admiral Kizaru’s, but in terms of value for effort, it was one of the best things Jos had ever received.

With that thought, Jos didn’t hesitate. He pinched his nose and shoved the devil fruit—which smelled and tasted exactly as its description warned—into his mouth. Fortunately, it was only the size of a cherry, so the unpleasantness didn’t last long before he swallowed.

“I recall, according to those CP9 agents, after eating it you naturally understand your powers and how to use them, right?” Though there were no instructions, Jos wasn’t worried about using the Glint-Glint Fruit’s abilities. There were few depictions of fruit consumption in One Piece, but the scattered clues were enough for Jos to make an educated guess.

Sure enough, as soon as the fruit was ingested, Jos felt a pure energy gathering inside him, first rising from his stomach and then flowing into his limbs. If it were a normal devil fruit, this energy would be reconstructing his body, turning him into a devil fruit user. But Jos’s energy was only a small cluster, clearly insufficient for a full transformation, which explained the strange sensation of it moving.

Even so, as it coursed through him, Jos felt waves of comfort, and his physique improved considerably. Quantified, he was now about as strong as one and a half Hawkeyes!

But more than the physical boost, Jos was curious where the energy would ultimately settle. It left his stomach, rushed to his head, and before he could react, flowed into his left hand. This shift left Jos both pleased and disappointed; a luminous head might not look great, but it was practically invincible in defense.

After all, even Wolverine’s adamantium skull had been blown apart, but if Jos’s head were made entirely of photons, his safety would be maxed out.

“Still, a light-powered fist is pretty nice. With enough practice, I could pull off Kizaru’s sword of light or his signature attacks. At least before the purple sweet potato guy shows up, I’d never need to worry about offensive capabilities.”

Yet before Jos could finish fantasizing, the energy, as if to spite him, left his hands and poured into his legs.

“So it’s the legs? That’s pretty good—light-speed movement would rival Quicksilver!” Seeing his legs infused with energy, Jos was delighted. “Plus, I’ve always wanted to try Kizaru’s ‘Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?’ And with some development, I could probably simulate a Devil Wind Kick or something similar.”

But the energy seemed intent on tormenting Jos. It didn’t linger in his legs for long before moving again.

“Wait... it’s been to the head and all four limbs, so where else? The torso?” Jos was speechless; even if his torso became luminous, the effects would be limited, and offensive abilities would be even harder to use.

“Tch, whatever. It’s not the first time this blasted system has screwed me over. If my body’s luminous, at least I can ignore most attacks—my defenses would be unmatched.” After so much time dealing with the system, Jos’s nerves had toughened, and such absurdities no longer fazed him.

Sure enough, the energy moved upward after passing through his legs, finally settling and transforming that part of his body.

“Hold on a second!”

Jos stared in disbelief at his glowing little Jos, shining through his trousers, while Lilith, not far away, shot him a look that was unmistakably—no, definitely—the gaze one reserves for utter perverts.

“So why did it have to be DIO’s transformation into the luminous form?!”