Chương 9: The Experience of Weighing One Kilogram

"Dr. Cho, you're trying to analyze Devil Fruits through the rigid lens of modern science," Rosh said, watching the deeply conflicted look wash over Helen's face. He couldn't help but flash an empathetic, easygoing smile.

"And honestly? That's your biggest obstacle right now." He reached over and tapped the glass of the display case lightly with his knuckle.

"Like I told you when you walked in, these fruits don't care about conventional scientific principles. They don't play by Earth's rulebook."

"But..." Helen's brow furrowed, her voice trailing off as she tried to find the words to salvage her logic.

"Everything you're describing... it sounds completely impossible. Mass and weight aren't variables you can just slider-adjust in real life."

"And yet, you've already witnessed at least three impossible things in this room today," Rosh countered smoothly, spreading his hands wide with an effortless shrug.

"Sometimes, Doctor, the universe is just a whole lot bigger than the rules we've written down in our textbooks." Helen opened her mouth to argue, but no sound came out. She slowly closed it again. Logically, as a pioneer of cutting-edge technology, she knew that science was an evolving door. But emotionally? Accepting that a literal piece of grocery store produce could rewrite physics was a massive pill to swallow.

Her entire career, her status, and her identity were built on understanding exactly how the world worked. Now, a handsome shopkeeper was asking her to believe in what looked like cosmic wizardry.

"Tell you what," Rosh said, his smile turning warm and encouraging.

"We actually offer free samples for first-time skeptics." Helen blinked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Samples?"

"Of course," Rosh nodded, sliding open the back of the glass display.

"How else am I supposed to convince brilliant cynics like you?" Using a sterile knife, he carefully carved a tiny, neat slice from the vibrant pink Kilo-Kilo Fruit sample and placed it onto a small porcelain saucer, sliding it across the counter to her.

"Try it for yourself. See how it feels." For a long moment, Helen just stared at the little pink slice. This tiny piece of food supposedly possessed a biological trigger capable of completely ignoring gravity. It sounded like an absolute joke. And yet... after watching Rosh's finger light up like a star and phase straight through his own hand without a single drop of blood, her inner skeptic was losing the battle.

'Maybe it's time to challenge my own assumptions,' she thought. Slowly, she reached out and picked up the sample. But just as she was about to bring it to her lips, Rosh raised a warning hand.

"One quick heads-up before you bite into that." Helen paused, looking up.

"Yes?"

"Devil Fruits taste absolutely, profoundly terrible." Helen tilted her head, a faint, amused smirk playing on her lips.

"How terrible can a fruit really be, Shopkeeper?" Rosh paused, thinking of Wade's dramatic reaction from yesterday.

"Imagine every single bad decision, awkward mistake, and regret you've ever made in your entire life, blended together into a lukewarm smoothie." Helen let out a soft, elegant laugh.

"I've survived grueling medical residencies and sleepless lab trials, Rosh. I think I can handle a bitter fruit." With total confidence, she took a bite. That world-class confidence lasted for exactly half a second.

"Mm—!" Helen's eyes instantly snapped wide, and every single muscle in her face violently twitched. For a genuinely terrifying moment, her elegant posture vanished as she nearly gagged, fighting the overwhelming urge to spray the fruit straight onto Rosh's clean floorboards. It wasn't just bad. It was an absolute assault on her senses. It tasted like biological warfare, a flavor so profoundly, incomprehensibly foul that it felt like a personal insult to her taste buds.

'How is this even considered organic material?!' she thought frantically. Fortunately, Helen possessed Olympian-level self-control. Grinding her teeth and forcing her throat to cooperate, she made a sharp, desperate gulp and swallowed the piece whole. Gulp! The exact millisecond the fruit hit her stomach, the horrific aftertaste instantly took a back seat. Helen completely froze. A strange, electric sensation began to bloom deep within her chest, rapidly spreading through her limbs.

It wasn't painful or uncomfortable. If anything, it felt oddly... natural. It was as if an entirely new sensory organ had suddenly awakened inside her nervous system. And somehow, she could suddenly feel her own weight. Not in a vague, metaphorical way, but as a literal, tangible, adjustable metric. It was right there, sitting in her mind like a light switch she had possessed her entire life but had never noticed until right now.

"This..." Her voice trembled as she looked down at her hands.

"This is... unbelievable..." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Looks like the data is compiling," Rosh grinned. He quickly ducked into the back storage room for a brief moment, returning with a sleek, standard black umbrella.

"Here," he said, extending the handle toward her.

"Take this." Helen accepted it, her brain still trying to process the weird internal weight-slider.

"What exactly do I need an umbrella for inside a shop?"

"Trust me," Rosh smiled knowingly.

"You're going to want the surface area." A few seconds later, the theoretical physics clicked in her brain, and her eyes widened in pure, childlike wonder.

"If I reduce my physical mass enough..."

"The air resistance of the open umbrella will act as a literal parachute against the draft," Rosh finished for her.

"Exactly." The pure, raw passion of a scientist discovering a new element completely took over. Without wasting another second, Helen popped the umbrella open, gripped the handle tightly, and focused on that new internal switch. It felt awkward and unfamiliar at first, but after a few deep breaths, she successfully dialed her body weight down to roughly one single kilogram. The moment the numbers shifted in her head, she bent her knees and took a soft, normal jump. WHOOSH!!

Instead of a standard, gravity-bound hop, Helen shot straight toward the ceiling like a helium balloon released into the sky.

"Ah!" a startled, uncharacteristic cry escaped her lips as she floated rapidly upward, her head stopping just inches shy of the ceiling tiles. Thanks to the open umbrella, her descent wasn't a drop; it was a slow, incredibly graceful drift. She floated gently back down to earth like a falling autumn feather, as if gravity itself had completely loosened its iron grip on her existence. By the time her high heels softly touched the hardwood floor again, her heart was absolutely hammering against her ribs.

"I... I can't believe it," she whispered, staring from the umbrella to her hands, and then back to the empty porcelain saucer.

"This isn't just advanced biology. This is a miracle." Rosh simply stood there, leaning against the counter with a satisfied expression. A few minutes ago, she had been throwing medical textbooks at his business model; now, she was calling his inventory a miracle. When Helen finally raised her head to look at him, her entire aura had completely transformed. The clinical skepticism was entirely gone, replaced by a deep, breathless sense of awe.

"Shopkeeper," she said, lowering her head in a slight, respectful bow.

"I owe you a sincere apology."

"You don't owe me a thing, Doctor," Rosh replied smoothly.

"No, I do," Helen insisted, shaking her head as she closed the umbrella.

"I walked into your establishment fully expecting a high-end street scam. Instead, you've handed me a phenomenon that completely shatters my fundamental understanding of reality. I am truly sorry for doubting your integrity." Rosh waved his hand dismissively, keeping the mood light.

"Honestly, don't sweat it. Your reaction is the baseline standard around here. Most people think I'm running a cult or losing my mind." A genuine, beautiful smile broke across Helen's face.

"Well, after today, I don't think I'll ever use the word 'impossible' so casually again."

"Now that sounds like real scientific progress," Rosh joked, and the two shared a brief, easygoing laugh, the tension in the room completely melting away. Now that her eyes were fully opened, Helen's professional curiosity was burning hotter than ever before. She stepped right up to the display shelves, her eyes tracking the bizarre, swirling patterns with an entirely new level of respect.

"Shopkeeper," she said, her voice laced with fascination.

"Please, tell me about the others. What else do these fruits do?"

"Gladly," Rosh nodded. For the next half hour, Rosh took her on a guided tour of the cosmos, introducing one Devil Fruit after another. He walked her through the Barrier-Barrier Fruit (the power to generate completely invisible, indestructible shields), the Gum-Gum Fruit (turning the entire human anatomy into highly durable, shock-absorbing rubber), and the Wheel-Wheel Fruit (transforming limbs into high-speed spinning wheels). Every single explanation left Helen increasingly astonished.

As a scientist, she felt like an explorer who had accidentally stumbled upon an entirely new, unmapped continent of physics. The sheer potential of these fruits was limitless. But as the tour wound down, a specific, lingering thought continued to weigh heavily on her mind. She stopped pacing, looking over at Rosh with a soft, contemplative expression.

"Shopkeeper?" Rosh looked up from the counter.

"Yes, Dr. Cho?" Helen hesitated for a fraction of a second, her fingers lightly tracing the edge of her jacket before she spoke.

"All of these abilities are undeniably incredible. The defensive and kinetic applications are mind-boggling. But... let me ask you something." She looked down thoughtfully.

"Is there a specific Devil Fruit designed... explicitly to help people?" Rosh tilted his head, intrigued by the shift in direction.

"Help people? Could you be a bit more specific, Doctor?" Helen nodded, her gaze turning steady and resolute.

"The entire reason I dedicated my life to medicine, the entire driving force behind the Regeneration Cradle project, was to save lives. I wanted to push medical science beyond its current boundaries to reduce human suffering. I want my life's work to genuinely benefit others. If I am to choose a power... I want one that allows me to do exactly that." A wave of deep understanding washed over Rosh,'Of course.' Wade Wilson had come in looking to fix his biggest personal insecurity, but Helen Cho was different.

She wasn't looking for wealth, combat supremacy, or personal vanity. She possessed the heart of a true healer. After letting the silence stretch for a few seconds, Rosh gave a definitive, slow nod.

"Yes, Doctor. There is one fruit that fits that exact description." Helen's eyes lit up instantly, her posture snapping straight.

"There is?" Rosh extended his hand, pointing directly toward a uniquely patterned fruit resting on a velvet cushion near the absolute center of the top shelf.

"That right there... is the Heal-Heal Fruit."

"The Heal-Heal Fruit?" Helen repeated the name, sending a physical jolt of excitement through her veins.

"Just as the name implies," Rosh smiled, his voice dropping into a proud, confident rhythm.

"It grants the consumer the ultimate, unparalleled ability to heal living beings." The moment the words left his mouth, Helen practically leaned across the counter, completely invested.

"Rosh, please. Tell me everything. How does the cellular regeneration manifest? What are the limitations?"

"I'd love to," Rosh nodded, enjoying the sheer enthusiasm radiating off her.

"The Heal-Heal Fruit possesses the absolute power to instantly heal physical injuries, acute illnesses, and systemic biological ailments."

"Wait," Helen cut in immediately, her sharp mind catching a highly specific phrasing. She leaned in even closer, her breath catching in her throat.

"You specifically used the term biological injuries just now. Does that mean... its healing parameters aren't strictly limited to the human anatomy?" Rosh's smile turned incredibly profound as he locked eyes with her.

"Bingo, Doctor. It doesn't care about species." He paused, letting the weight of the next sentence hang in the air before delivering the ultimate bombshell.

"The Heal-Heal Fruit can instantly cure all diseases, close catastrophic wounds, and eradicate ailments in any living organism in the known universe." Total, breathtaking silence filled the boutique storefront. For the first time since she had walked into the shop, Dr. Helen Cho was completely, utterly stunned into absolute silence. Her brilliant mind, capable of printing human organs, was totally short-circuiting at the sheer, god-like scope of what was sitting right in front of her.