One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector - Chapter 262: Three Fruits? Challenging Hawkeye!

“My fiance has a change of heart. Your fiance isn’t in love with you. Why don’t we get together and get married instead?” Natalia spoke without a hint of irony to the mysterious man—the embodiment of elegance as the man stood at the entrance to the cathedral under an umbrella on a rainless, cloudy day.

After defying her family’s wishes to marry Vasili and agreeing to retreat from her budding modeling career, Natalia’s life turned upside down when her fiance abandoned her for another rising model from the same company on their wedding day. Amidst Natalia’s contempt, Alex Bruch came into the picture. Natalia thought her marriage with Alex, the man with blood-red lips and violet eyes, would be as mundane as asking each other what to have for breakfast...

Above all else, she would have her revenge.

“Who is the football GOAT?”A question that has been asked countless times in the last decade.Is it Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?To be fair, the question actually depended on what one wanted from a player as they were two different people and they played differently from the other.This was also the case with every other legendary player to grace the game.As a diehard fan of the game, Jason Bolu also had someone he thought to be the goat, but unlike most people, he harbored the desire to not only become as great as them, but even greater than any legend that ever graced the game.He wanted to become the Greatest Of All Legends… the GOAL.Unfortunately, fate has never cared about people’s hopes and dreams, and just like every other unfortunate human, she hit him hard across the face with a broken reality and sent him flying in another direction from his goal, yet he didn’t give up and continually persevered but, in the end, he didn’t ever make it.He wasn’t even halfway near his goal.He thought it was over… but it wasn’t.He got another chance at his dreams, and this time he was going to do more than his best to achieve his dream.

I don’t know how to write an introduction. The few times I wrote it before, the more I wrote it, the more ugly it became. Let’s keep it simple:

This is a Marvel fan novel, with a little added Hong Kong manga elements, if you haven’t read Hong Kong manga, it won’t affect the reading experience.

- Description from novelbuddy

In a world torn apart by rifts that release dangerous monsters, Espers—humans imbued with powerful abilities—serve as humanity's last line of defense. But the power of an Esper comes with a price. Overuse of their abilities leads to dangerous corruption, a force that can destroy them from the inside out. This is where Guides come in: individuals with the unique ability to calm the corruption within Espers and restore their balance.Rowan Mercer, an S-class Guide, is one of the best in his field, capable of stabilizing even the most dangerous Espers. He has worked quietly behind the scenes, helping those in need, but his life takes a dramatic turn when he is called to work with Lucian Vaughn, an S-class Esper whose immense power and unstable corruption levels make him a dangerous threat to himself and others.Lucian, a tall, stoic, and enigmatic figure, has long fought against the growing corruption within him. At first, his relationship with Rowan is purely professional—Rowan as his Guide, helping him to stay in control. However, as their interactions grow more frequent, their bond deepens in ways neither expected. What started as a simple duty soon turns into a complex relationship where power, trust, and vulnerability collide.As the world around them faces escalating threats from rifts, Rowan and Lucian must navigate not only their personal challenges but also the dangerous world of Espers and Guides. Their bond will be tested as they fight together against the corrupting forces that threaten them both.In Corrupted Bonds, survival isn’t just about battling monsters from the rifts—it's about fighting the darkness within themselves and finding a way to stay connected in a world that’s constantly pulling them apart.