Smart and overflowing with talent as I was, I understood every bit of the theory Grandpa Garp explained.
I just hadn't been physically mature enough to train properly.
Luffy, on the other hand, was too dumb to understand the theory or even why it was necessary.
I'll show you this time! The difference between you and me!!
And honestly, even if I got hit badly and died this time, judging by what Nami said,
they seemed like really, really awful bastards, so I didn't think I'd mind.
All right, numbers matter first, so let's take out the fodder!!
"Ready!!"
"Set~"
"Go!"
At Zoro's signal, I activated Observation Haki and used [Shave] to sprint ahead of Luffy.
Then I made my way upward, taking out every lackey with a single punch.
"Zoro, you're watching, right??"
"..."
"Zoro?"
"Yeah, I'm watching."
"Jin!! That's cheating! Leave some for me too!!"
"That's why you should've worked hard at what Grandpa taught you!!"
"Fine, then!!"
"Gum-Gum Whip!"
Luffy tried to attack everyone at once, me included.
I had no choice but to dodge Luffy's attack.
"Oh, so you're attacking me too? Luffy, you started this."
"Shishishi, I don't remember doing that."
Luffy said it with that distinctive expression of his—the one that made it obvious he couldn't lie.
"Liar!!"
Between Luffy's and my indiscriminate attacks, all the fodder had been taken out, leaving only Buggy.
Luffy had the advantage when it came to clearing out fodder all at once, so I'd rushed ahead to deal with them first.
But I hadn't expected Luffy to attack me too, so I didn't think there would be much difference in our scores.
"What the hell are you brats?!"
"Luffy!"
"I'm Origin."
"Zoro! Who took down more?"
"Damn it, you took them out so fast that I lost count."
"Wow, you guys are seriously strong...."
"Hmm. I think I got more."
Luffy said it again with that utterly unconvincing face.
"Don't lie!! Fine, then whoever takes down that boss first wins."
"You won't get to him unless you defeat us first!!"
"First Mate Mohji, Chief of Staff Cabaji!! You're here."
I needed to catch Buggy, but two guys appeared: one wearing bizarre furry clothes and a fur hat while riding a lion, and another riding a unicycle with the expression of an edgy middle-schooler.
"Luffy, let's each take one."
"Shishishit, okay."
"Then, as a fellow swordsman, I'll take the unicycle guy."
"I'll take that lion guy."
I drew the sword Shanks had given me and held it in my right hand.
"You're lucky, edgelord. It isn't easy to get a look at my swordsmanship."
"I don't know what an edgelord is, but why does it piss me off so much? Here I come!!"
The edgelord rode his unicycle forward and tried to stab me with his sword.
I activated Observation Haki, leisurely dodged the thrust in the slowed-down world,
then countered by uppercutting the edgelord's jaw with my left fist.
It landed so cleanly that it was downright satisfying.
"Heh heh heh. My Black Flame Dragon wins."
"You said you were going to show us swordsmanship!!"
"This is a sword I treasure.... Besides, if I'm fighting while holding a sword, it's swordsmanship no matter what!!"
Zoro tried to call me out over my victory, but I demolished him with my logic.
I was right!! And I had to return it, so it would be a problem if it broke.
It absolutely wasn't because I didn't like the design of the hilt.
"I'm going first!!"
While I was Danganronpa-ing Zoro, Luffy dashed ahead.
The enemies were such complete fodder that the gap in our abilities wasn't even showing.
"What are you talking about? Nami's mine!!"
"My will!!!"
NamiNamiNamiNamiNamiNami!!!!
I grabbed Luffy as he swung his fist at Buggy before me and threw him away.
He'd hit me with a Gum-Gum Whip earlier, so this much was totally justified.
"Wow, that's cheating!"
Ah.... It hurt when Nami said that....
"Jin!!"
"You started it!!"
As I left the flying Luffy behind and moved to attack Buggy,
I felt a hand grab me.
"Gum-Gum Rocket!!"
When did he grab hold of me? Was this protagonist buff?
"Rejected!!!"
I caught Luffy's arm as it pulled me toward him and sent me flying, spun with the centrifugal force,
and threw him off in another direction.
In the meantime, Buggy began to run away.
"Hey, wait!! My points!!"
Taking advantage of the distance between Buggy and me, Luffy attacked Buggy from afar.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!!"
Damn it, I need to make myself a long-range attack too.
For a moment, I thought the Gum-Gum Fruit might actually be nice, but no. Still, the Gum-Gum thing was a little....
I tried to block Luffy's fist as quickly as possible, but the angle put it too far away.
"No, Nami!!!"
"Don't yell my name while you're looking at Buggy!!!"
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Buggy separated his body and floated his head away to dodge Luffy's punch.
Then, while Luffy was flustered, I grabbed Buggy's head and used Absorption, putting distance between myself and Luffy.
As I used Absorption on him, Buggy let out pained groans and gradually became an old man.
"Take this!!"
Just when I let my guard down, thinking I'd won, Luffy attacked the remainder of Buggy's body.
Then Luffy and I looked at Zoro at the same time and said,
"Me, right?"
"Damn it, you three sort it out yourselves!!"
"Tch!!"
We finished dealing with Buggy's crew first, then collected the Buggy Pirates' treasure.
"They said Buggy always made sure to secure his treasure, and it really is all top-quality stuff!"
"This should be worth ten million Berries."
"Now let's hand the pirates over to the villagers and go."
Just in case, I turned every member of the Buggy Pirates who looked a little stronger into an old man.
And now, all that remained was deciding on our crewmate.
"Nami said she hates pirates anyway, so it's me!"
"Nami, become our pirate crew's navigator."
"I...."
"Wait!"
I stopped Nami just as she was about to answer.
"As of today, I withdraw my support for Nami."
"?? You only met her today...."
I continued speaking without being deterred by Zoro's interjection.
"From today onward, we will leave behind this relationship of support.
Nami and I will become one body, united as one!
An attack on Nami will be regarded as an attack on me!"
"If there are seven billion of Nami's comrades in this world, I will be one of them.
If there are one hundred million of Nami's comrades in this world, I too will be one of them.
If there are ten million of Nami's comrades in this world, I will still be one of them.
If there are one hundred of Nami's comrades in this world, I will yet be one of them.
If there is one comrade of Nami's in this world, that person will probably be me.
If there is not even a single comrade of Nami's in this world, only then
will I no longer exist in this world."
It was the statement that best expressed how I felt about Nami.
I was so moved by myself that I felt like a tear might fall.
'Nami, I'll take care of a nobody like Arlong for you!!!'
"I don't think being crewmates is going to work...."
"Why!!"
My tear went back in.
"You're.... way too intense."
"No!!!"
"Bwahahahahaha!"
Zoro laughed beside me, getting on my nerves.
"But let's join forces temporarily. It seems like I make good money when I'm with you guys."
"And really, it doesn't matter which of the two of you I pick, does it?"
"No! There's an enormous difference between picking me and picking Luffy!"
"Yay!! We got a navigator!!"
"Nami, I was wrong.... I'll fix everything. Pick me."
"That's even more intense...."
Damn it....
Why?? Why?? I'm handsome!!!
I was so distracted by Nami that I hadn't been able to sort out my thoughts,
but when I'd used Absorption on Buggy earlier, I'd felt an energy different from the ones I normally absorbed.
I tried to absorb that energy too, but it felt like it was still too early, and I couldn't do it.
Somehow, I had the feeling that once I became stronger, I would be able to absorb it.
I kept thinking about what that energy might be and came up with two hypotheses.
1. An energy that somehow makes the strong even stronger.
2. The energy of a Devil Fruit.
I knew Buggy was a character who showed up pretty often, but I wasn't sure whether he was actually strong.
I'd probably find out if I tried Absorption on another Devil Fruit user.
I might be able to find out by trying it on Luffy, but
that strange energy had only revealed itself after I'd absorbed every energy I already knew,
so it seemed dangerous. I didn't want to try it on Luffy right now.
Then the four of us—Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and I—safely arrived at Syrup Village.
We stopped by another island along the way, where bizarre animals lived,
along with a man trapped in a chest who looked like Bob Ross, the guy who always said painting was easy.
He was a pitiful man who had lived alone after getting stuck in that chest for twenty years.
I was really, desperately curious about how he handled his business, but I barely held myself back from asking.
When the man learned that the treasure chests which had kept him on that island for twenty years were actually empty,
Luffy tried to recruit him as a crewmate, but he said he would remain on the island to protect the animals.
Then a wild Usopp appeared.
"I'm Usopp, leader of the great pirate crew that rules this village!!"
"People praise me and call me Captain Usopp!!"
"If you're thinking of attacking this village, you'd better give up!!"
"Because this great man's eighty million subordinates won't stand for it!!"
Wild Usopp used Lie!
"That's a lie, right?"
It had no effect.
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