User blog comment:Plainblack/Blackbeard, the Enigma/@comment-10543621-20130904061618

Reading all the comments made me wonder something.

Since we've been shown that when a devil fruit user dies, the fruit gets reborn into the nearest fruit. If this is a known fact, why haven't people been just carrying a bunch of fruits with them, and killing devil fruit users to get the fruit?

Also, does this mean Doffy had an apple hidden somewhere in his feathery coat with him and he quickly ran near to where Ace fell and that's how he managed to get Ace's fruit?

I personally hate the idea of the devil fruit being reborn in a nearby fruit. I used to think it'd just be reborn randomly somewhere in the world. That'd make more sense and keep devil fruits rare. With the whole nearest fruit thing, it kinda become manipulatable. Even if you don't have a fruit with you, you'd probably just go around looking for a possible nearby fruit whenever a df user dies.