Marvel: I Trade Devil Fruits for Power

"How does it feel… creating so many living beings?"

Qin Xiao looked calmly at Natasha.

Throughout the entire process, he hadn't offered much guidance.

He had simply watched as Natasha created each and every Homie.

Of course, the researchers here referred to them as "artificial living entities."

Natasha herself didn't know how to describe the feeling.

Controlling the lifespan and souls of others…

it was impossible to say whether it felt good or bad.

There was a sensation—as if she were a god.

And once someone experienced that feeling…

it would be easy to become addicted.

If it weren't for her mental discipline, most people would probably have already lost themselves in it.

Moreover—this Devil Fruit required human lifespan.

That alone made it feel like murder.

Its activation conditions were also incredibly simple:

fear.

Fear toward the Soul-Soul Fruit user.

In the world of One Piece, bold and fearless people were everywhere.

Or rather—people with overwhelming confidence were everywhere.

That was why the Soul-Soul Fruit could only easily affect weaker opponents.

Even Big Mom, despite being one of the Four Emperors, couldn't simply terrify a Warlord into surrendering lifespan.

But in this world…

the fruit might achieve completely different results.

At the very least—Black Widow could use it without pressure.

And with SHIELD backing her…

nobody knew how far she might develop this ability.

There was also another important factor:

HYDRA.

Once HYDRA learned Devil Fruits could even affect souls…

they would definitely go insane.

One branch of HYDRA had always attempted to summon the true Hydra deity back from another dimension.

Perhaps they would believe the Soul-Soul Fruit could help achieve that goal.

By now, Qin Xiao's identity had already spread throughout SHIELD.

Which meant—HYDRA likely knew as well.

And with HYDRA's personality…

Qin Xiao didn't even need to guess what they would do.

In fact—he was looking forward to meeting them.

He wondered who HYDRA would send to contact him.

"Does this Devil Fruit… have side effects?"

Natasha finally asked the question.

Something about the fruit felt dangerous.

"No."

"The fruit itself has no issue."

"What you're experiencing is simply the effect of becoming accustomed to controlling other people's souls and lifespan."

"It's easy to become addicted to that sensation."

The Soul-Soul Fruit itself carried no real side effects.

After all—its power was simply the manipulation and transfer of souls.

But the feeling of creation…

of playing god…

could easily corrupt someone.

Natasha sighed softly.

The sensation of "creating life" truly was intoxicating.

"The Soul-Soul Fruit should have more abilities than this, right?"

This time, she actively asked about further applications.

"The things you're creating right now have almost no combat ability."

"But the fruit can create much stronger soul constructs."

"They can possess tremendous offensive power."

"You can even infuse souls into water…"

"or fire."

"Though that's a more advanced application."

"You'd need to shape them personally."

"There's also another use."

"You can create soul avatars of yourself."

"They can carry out tasks in your place."

"As for the rest…"

"you'll have to develop the abilities yourself."

"But I hope you don't lose yourself in this power."

Qin Xiao finally revealed more advanced applications of the fruit.

Natasha's eyes lit up immediately.

So there were even more ways to use it.

Souls inside water and fire?

The sheer potential of this fruit was astonishing.

And she finally understood why Qin Xiao had claimed this fruit suited espionage work perfectly.

If she created enough Homies…

she could gather intelligence without ever leaving home.

Natasha stared seriously at Qin Xiao.

"If this fruit has so many uses, then it's clearly the best choice for me."

"So why did you initially recommend the Love-Love Fruit?"

"Just because you think I rely on my appearance?"

Her voice carried anger.

"No."

"Because this fruit is more support-oriented."

"That's my understanding of it."

"In direct combat, it won't immediately increase your strength."

"Unless you prepare powerful combat Homies in advance."

"Otherwise, most of its value lies in intelligence gathering."

"But the Love-Love Fruit is different."

"It gives immediate combat power."

"And honestly…"

"even if using beauty as a weapon isn't ideal…"

"doesn't that indirectly prove you're beautiful?"

Natasha instantly lost half her anger.

Mm…

Beautiful?

Now that sounded more reasonable.

Women truly never disliked being praised for their looks.

"Fine."

"I understand."

"I'll continue experimenting with creating Homies."

She raised her hand.

"This bracelet…"

"I'm going to make it stronger."

Her Widow's Bite was her signature weapon.

Both bracelets had already been transformed into living entities.

But she wanted them to become even stronger.

At that moment—someone appeared before them.

Hawkeye.

Clint Barton.

The moment Qin Xiao saw him, his eyelid twitched slightly.

This guy…

was also a potential Devil Fruit match.

"Ding! Detected compatible Devil Fruit host."

"Compatible Fruits: More-More Fruit, Mark-Mark Fruit, Float-Float Fruit, Calm-Calm Fruit…"

Qin Xiao froze slightly.

Hawkeye's matched fruits were surprisingly ridiculous.

The More-More Fruit could increase the size and speed of anything touched by up to one hundred times.

Honestly—this completely exceeded Qin Xiao's expectations.

At first, he never imagined Hawkeye would match with this fruit.

But after seeing it…

it somehow felt perfectly logical.

Hawkeye's arrows already came in countless varieties.

If he could multiply an arrow's speed and size by one hundred—

he'd become an absurd sniper.

Normally, his arrows probably traveled at maybe a hundred meters per second.

Maybe less.

After all, Loki once casually caught one of his arrows barehanded.

But if that speed increased one hundred times—even a fifty-meter-per-second arrow would become several thousand meters per second.

That was hypersonic speed.

A Barrett sniper rifle barely exceeded 1,000 meters per second.

Hawkeye could casually fire arrows multiple times faster than that.

Who could possibly react?

And the More-More Fruit could also amplify his own speed.

He'd basically become another Quicksilver.

As for the Mark-Mark Fruit—it was also powerful.

Once someone became a target, any projectile thrown by the user would automatically track them endlessly.

But the fruit had flaws.

First—the user had to physically touch the target to mark them.

And the number of marks was limited by the number of fingers.

That alone heavily restricted the fruit.

Honestly, it suited close-range fighters better than Hawkeye.

And the projectiles themselves could still be blocked or destroyed.

Meaning—the attacks weren't unavoidable.

The Float-Float Fruit was interesting too.

Not only could the user fly—they could also make touched objects float.

Normally, Hawkeye's arrows lost speed and range due to gravity.

But if gravity no longer affected them…

the only resistance left would be air friction.

At that point—he might be able to snipe enemies from absurd distances.

As for the Calm-Calm Fruit—it erased sound.

In the hands of an assassin, it was terrifying.

Imagine someone shooting you from only a few meters away—and hearing absolutely nothing.

By the time you felt pain—you'd already be dying.

And afterward, the assassin could calmly walk away.

No gunshot.

No trace.

No witnesses.

But for Hawkeye?

Unless he switched fully to sniper rifles, it wasn't that impactful.

Compared to guns, bows were already quiet.

Among all the fruits—none suited him better than the More-More Fruit.

Honestly, that fruit was overpowered on almost anyone.

Imagine Hulk with it.

A monster already possessing overwhelming strength—suddenly amplifying his speed and attacks one hundredfold.

Just imagining it was horrifying.

Or Thor.

Imagine Mjolnir enlarged one hundred times and accelerated one hundredfold.

Who could survive that?

And with that speed boost—how absurdly fast would Thor fly?

As for Captain Marvel—she already approached light-speed travel.

Give her the More-More Fruit…

and she'd become a monster moving at one hundred times light speed.

Who could even fight that?

Even Thanos would become terrifying.

Imagine Sanctuary II enlarged and accelerated one hundredfold.

No strategy needed.

Just ram everything.

The More-More Fruit's power far exceeded expectations.

And yet—it had appeared among Hawkeye's compatible fruits.

That genuinely surprised Qin Xiao.

Barton quickly approached.

"Natasha."

"Advisor Qin."

He greeted Qin Xiao politely.

"This is Agent Barton."

Natasha introduced him.

"You seem to have business with Natasha."

"I'll leave you two to talk."

Qin Xiao prepared to leave.

After all—he and Barton had no relationship.

But Barton stopped him.

"Actually, Advisor Qin…"

"I came to speak with you as well."

Qin Xiao shrugged.

"Fine."

"Let's hear it."

Barton quickly explained:

"After Tony Stark refused to hand over his armor technology to the military…"

"and Hammer Industries' drones went out of control…"

"the military factions supporting Tony have come under heavy pressure."

"The anti-mutant faction now has influence nearly equal to theirs."

"As a result, the super soldier faction has begun rising again."

"The most successful super soldier was Captain America."

"Later, another failed experiment created the Hulk."

"You once mentioned that the green giant would eventually appear."

"General Ross has already begun searching for him."

"They recently tracked him to a South American country…"

"but he escaped."

"We're worried this situation could eventually affect the United States itself."

"So Director Fury wanted us to ask…"

"will the Hulk become a threat to this country?"

Qin Xiao smiled faintly.

"So…"

"You're finally willing to believe what I say?"