User blog comment:Neowitch/676 - End of the Party/@comment-4642018-20120802010035

It was implied by CC that Smiley died when he ate the candy, when he said "let us meet again."

As we know, Devil Fruits are reborn after it's user dies, so maybe the nearest actual fruit (in this case the apple) becomes the reborn DF the﻿ dead user had.