Palworld; Rhea's Odyssey

Chapter 08: Enduring the Fruits of Labor

"Well, he did sell me, along with a group of others...to the Rayne Syndicate, actually. So, if you know what's good for ya, you should leave me alone because I have their support now."

"The Rayne Sundicate, eh?" Chloe took a step closer to Rhea, which made her feel more uncomfortable. "You know, if you're going to lie to me, I might as well just let you eat that fruit."

"I'm not lying."

And what does she mean let me eat the fruit? Is there something wrong with this thing? I bet she's just trying to get in my head. I trusted her once, I won't make that mistake again.

"You are lying, and we both know that. I know I don't seem like much, but I know the leader of the Syndicate on a personal level. So, I have it on good faith that you weren't bought by that organization... The real question is, who did?"

"I'm really not. What reason do I have to lie? You think I'd be protecting some unknown slave master who orders me around every day?"

Technically, I'm not . I'm protecting the possible information Cast has about leaving the island. Right now, that's the only lead I've got, and so he has my loyalty, for now.

"...okay. Let's pretend you're telling the truth about being sold to the Rayne Syndicate. Since I know the order was never delivered to the tower, then someone must be lying to you about who they are...or worse; someone's double crossing ole Zoey. So, which one is it?"

Rhea had a flashback of meeting Aims and learning about the plans of the Rebels. She had never been particularly skilled at hiding her emotions, but hoped the truth didn't show on her face that she knew more than she was letting on.

Staring at Chloe with a blank face, she said, "I don't know anything about that. I'm just gathering food for the Syndicate."

"Oh, I doubt anyone told you to grab that fruit and eat it though."

"And why's that? I was gathering berries, but what's up with this fruit?"

"They're called Skill Fruits. You probably haven't seen much battle with the pals on this island, being a coward and all, but those fruit contain abilities."

Chloe's words hit hard for Rhea as she was well aware that her inability to fight is what got her in the position she was in, but she had made some progress since then.

Rhea clinched her fist with half the mind to show her how much she had learned since their last fight, if she could even call it that, but relaxed when she remembered what was more important at that time.

It's not worth it. I've got to get back to that shipwreck before long.

Chloe continued, "If a pal eats one, they gain the power that resides in it and are then able to unleash devastating attacks in battle. They're only valuable to those who tame pals, but every now and again, a human tries to eat one to get the power for themselves."

Well, if Cast's theory about humans being pals is correct, shouldn't we be able to eat them and gain abilities from doing so?

"And what happens when a human eats one?"

"I wish I could say. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and I think it depends on the person. Nobody knows for sure why it happens, but the human body has difficulty digesting the fruits. The only thing that's consistent is that nothing good comes of it and no human has been able to gain any power from the fruit."