Marvel: I Trade Devil Fruits for Power

A SHIELD branch facility.

A branch created specifically for a single department.

Agent Hill had personally established this location for the newly formed division.

It was built on the outskirts of New York, close enough to the city for convenience.

The facility housed numerous security personnel and scientific researchers.

All of them had recently received reassignment orders from SHIELD headquarters and transferred here.

They'd been told there would be research involving something entirely new.

But after waiting for a long time, no actual projects had arrived.

Today, when everyone thought another uneventful day would pass—someone finally entered the facility.

Natasha Romanoff.

Level 7 Agent.

Behind her stood an Eastern man.

"This is our department's headquarters."

"Starting today, you're officially the advisor here."

Natasha introduced the place with a formal tone.

Her words were also transmitted throughout the facility.

Everyone immediately understood:

this man would be the department's advisor from now on.

Qin Xiao clicked his tongue.

"Impressive. SHIELD really has money."

"A single department gets this much land."

"And judging by everything we passed on the way here—advanced equipment, top-tier facilities…"

"You're clearly serious about this place."

"But honestly, that's the right move."

"Who knows? More Fruit Ability Users may eventually join SHIELD."

"If the place is too small, there won't be room to grow."

He casually evaluated the base.

Then his expression suddenly shifted.

Natasha immediately noticed.

"So you really do know him."

"How is he here?"

Qin Xiao looked toward a familiar figure.

Natasha explained:

"You hired Frank to save Tony."

"When Frank rescued Tony, Dr. Yinsen was with him."

"You should know Tony was critically injured back then."

"Yinsen was the one who saved him."

"He stayed beside Tony through his darkest and most helpless moments."

"After Frank rescued them, Tony invited Yinsen to work at Stark Industries."

"But Yinsen had already lost his family."

"He refused."

"Later, SHIELD brought him in under the pretense of investigating the incident."

"After spending time with him, we discovered he was incredibly capable."

"He's now one of SHIELD's biomedical specialists."

"And researching Devil Fruits will likely involve injuries and loss of control."

"Dr. Yinsen is an ideal candidate."

Qin Xiao looked at Yinsen with slight surprise.

Dr. Yinsen.

The man who had performed chest surgery in a cave with scraps and removed metal fragments from Tony's body.

The man who somehow managed to keep Tony alive using a car battery.

A scientist.

A linguist.

The person who pulled Tony out of despair.

Without him, Tony Stark might've become a corpse abandoned somewhere in the desert.

Compared to the original Yinsen—the man who died buying time for Tony—a living Yinsen felt like repairing an old regret.

But perhaps…

living was its own form of suffering.

His family was gone.

Living meant remembering.

Living meant enduring loneliness.

Still—Yinsen had always possessed extraordinary emotional strength.

Even trapped in that dark cave, he'd remained calm and pulled Tony back from the brink.

Perhaps now…

he'd finally found a little sunlight.

And maybe someday—someone would truly illuminate his darkness.

Qin Xiao quickly returned to normal.

"Very good."

"Looks like SHIELD really put effort into this."

"You're making use of every available resource."

"Of course."

Natasha nodded.

"Now then…"

"we can probably begin testing my Fruit abilities."

That was her real reason for coming.

Not conversation.

Testing the Soul-Soul Fruit.

Hidden throughout the facility were numerous SHIELD agents.

One of them—Clint Barton.

Hawkeye.

As the man who had originally brought Natasha into SHIELD, he'd personally vouched for her.

Seeing her treated like an experiment made him uncomfortable.

But this had been Natasha's choice.

So all he could do was hide nearby and monitor everything.

The entire facility operated with a relaxed exterior and heavy internal security.

Qin Xiao shrugged.

"No problem."

"Your fruit is somewhat special."

"It's not as straightforward as most abilities."

"I already warned you before."

"It consumes souls."

"Or more accurately—lifespans."

"If you want proper experimentation…"

"you'll need people willing to sacrifice lifespan."

Natasha looked completely prepared.

"Don't worry."

"I arranged everything before coming."

She led Qin Xiao toward a sealed area.

Behind transparent glass walls sat rows of prisoners.

Qin Xiao curled his lips.

"Yep."

"That's exactly SHIELD's style."

The moment Qin Xiao mentioned lifespan consumption—SHIELD had immediately prepared prisoners who had essentially disappeared from the world.

Spies.

Murderers.

Criminals.

Whatever they once were—they'd now become consumable resources.

"Basic usage of the Soul-Soul Fruit should already be engraved into your mind."

"Go collect some lifespan."

Qin Xiao felt no sympathy.

SHIELD had dark sides.

But overall, they still worked to protect the world.

Occasionally crossing lines was inevitable.

Besides—Qin Xiao himself wasn't exactly a good person either.

These people meant nothing to him.

In fact, his future plans would indirectly kill far more people than most.

Natasha nodded toward nearby researchers.

A prisoner was immediately brought out.

"What are you doing?!"

The prisoner looked terrified.

Ever since arriving here, he'd been treated surprisingly well.

Fed properly.

Cared for.

Which somehow made everything even more horrifying.

Looking at all the people in white lab coats…

he suddenly felt like his kidneys were in danger.

Nobody answered him.

He was strapped directly into a machine.

"This device can monitor almost every biological function in the human body."

Yinsen explained professionally.

"But since we're studying souls and lifespan…"

"we're entering territory modern science has never truly understood."

"Lifespan is manageable."

"We can observe biological vitality."

"But souls…"

"We've never reached concrete conclusions."

Qin Xiao nodded.

"Good."

"Keep explanations simple and report results directly."

He showed no special reaction toward Yinsen.

The prisoner was secured.

Natasha stepped into the chamber.

All researchers remained outside the glass room.

Everyone stared with excitement.

Souls.

A subject that endlessly fascinated humanity—yet produced no real answers.

Perhaps today would change that.

Natasha approached the prisoner.

He trembled violently.

Unable to move.

A serious-looking woman stood silently in front of him.

Fear overwhelmed him.

Natasha's own expression shifted repeatedly.

In her eyes—something flowed inside him.

And her power could pull it out effortlessly.

The greater the fear—the more obvious it became.

The Soul-Soul Fruit fed on fear.

She raised a hand.

Following Qin Xiao's earlier instructions—she decided to start with one month.

One month of lifespan.

A strange energy mass immediately appeared in her hand.

She stared at it.

Then remembered Qin Xiao's next instruction.

Give it to an object.

Her Widow's Bite.

Without hesitation, she infused it into her wrist weapon.

A strange ripple spread across it.

The Widow's Bite…

came alive.

Natasha stared.

Then slowly walked back outside.

"How were the readings?"

She looked calm.

But only she knew how shocked she truly felt.

The Widow's Bite had accompanied her for years.

But it had always just been a weapon.

Today—it had become alive.

She could feel it moving slightly.

Restless.

She could almost imagine facial features forming on it.

The Soul-Soul Fruit…

really could do something like this.

The impact was enormous.

One researcher quickly reported:

"The prisoner's readings are difficult to interpret."

"He remained terrified throughout."

"Adrenaline caused excessive biological activity."

"We'll continue monitoring until he stabilizes."

Fear had complicated the data.

"Then test this."

Natasha removed the Widow's Bite.

A researcher carefully accepted it.

The moment he touched it—his face changed.

This…

wasn't an object.

It felt alive.

He stared at Natasha in shock.

"Begin testing."

Natasha repeated coldly.

Yinsen stepped forward.

Taking the Widow's Bite himself.

His eyes widened.

Then—excitement replaced shock.

An object becoming alive?

This was a completely unknown field.

What kind of phenomenon was this?!

He rushed into a specialized laboratory.

Researchers followed immediately.

Experiment after experiment.

Report after report.

Theory after theory.

Eventually—they reached an inevitable conclusion:

The Soul-Soul Fruit truly possessed the ability to grant souls to objects.

This was genuine power.

The entire facility erupted.

Natasha received the final reports.

And immediately afterward—the researchers submitted a new request.

More.

Create more living objects.

They wanted further study.

So every prisoner in the facility suffered.

One after another—Natasha created more and more "living" objects.

Soon every researcher had one in hand.

Studying.

Observing.

Analyzing.

Souls.

Lifespans.

Something this miraculous—was irresistible.

Qin Xiao looked toward Natasha.

"After creating so many living objects…"

"How do you feel?"