If I were asked whether carelessness and arrogance are foolish, I would answer: "I don't know." I believe that carelessness and arrogance arise from a certain level of mental comfort and complacency. To be careless or arrogant means that the person has a sense of ease and room for themselves.
However, unfortunately, I am not someone who has such room for complacency. Therefore, I cannot imagine myself being careless or arrogant. If I were to witness such behavior in myself, I might want to kill myself.
While thinking about these things, I checked a certain file as soon as I arrived at work. The file contained the names of all CP5 members.
However, it only had their names, and no other information. This file was, in a way, a measure against the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
The Hobby-Hobby Fruit has an insane ability. In the world of One Piece, there are Devil Fruits that cause an imbalance in power when used in certain ways. So, it's essential to have countermeasures against them.
First of all, I'm not particularly worried about the part where I could be turned into a toy. There is a process that needs to be directly touched… even if Sugar from the original work starts from a position where she is only 1 cm away from touching my body, I can kill her ten times before her hand reaches me.
But the true threat of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit lies elsewhere… its greatest danger is the unbelievable power to erase the memories of those turned into toys.
It's an incredible ability that can affect multiple people's memories worldwide. However, there are countermeasures to some extent.
In the original work, Kyros's name was still remembered even as his memories were fading, and there were statues that remained… You can erase memories, but you can't erase records.
Well, that's only natural. If you could erase records too, that would be a divine power of altering the past.
Anyway, because records can't be erased, if I find any "unknown names" in this file that only I have touched, I will consider it as the influence of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit's ability.
I have an immense sense of disgust towards any act that invades my domain. Erasing my memories is like stealing them from me… just imagining it makes my blood boil.
I don't really have any thoughts about the actions of the Donquixote Family. Whether it's their rule over Dressrosa or anything else, as long as it doesn't concern me, they can do whatever they want, as far as I'm concerned.
However, if the Hobby-Hobby Fruit affects me, I will consider them as enemies. I will immediately go and kill the Donquixote Family, including Sugar. If my memories still don't return, then it's likely the influence of another ability user. In that case, I will find them and kill them without fail. I will never tolerate anyone taking something from me unjustly.
***
After finishing a light sparring session, I toss a drink to Pochi, who collapses in the training area.
"Thank you very much."
"Take a break."
I give a light response to Pochi before resuming my training and contemplating. Pochi turned out to be a better find than I expected, but there are no other promising candidates for CP5.
I wouldn't call them incompetent. There are some who are reasonably skilled, but none of them stand out. The male Four-Shiki user is especially bad... he's arrogant, good at making excuses, and once his spirit is broken, he never bounces back.
In fact, when Pochi started rapidly gaining strength initially, there seemed to be some competitive spirit in her, and I thought it might lead to improvement... but after watching Pochi's fights and seeing her improvement, I quickly gave up on that idea.
CP... and being able to use Four-Shiki in the CP5 position isn't much of an advantage. I think the CP9, a department that deals with more rough tasks like assassinations, would be more suitable. But if Pochi were to join the CP9, she would quickly break and quit.
My evaluation of her is that she's only high in formal specs and pride, but not very capable. She's not very useful, but at least she can handle the tasks given to her, so I let her team up with similar individuals to handle simple jobs.
"...Pochi."
"Yes?"
"Even though it's still far off, someday I will become the Chief of CP9, inheriting it from my father. Keep that in mind."
"Yes!"
There's no need to tell her to follow me. Pochi will naturally follow me no matter what. Pochi is definitely a talented individual. Since becoming my assistant, she has been eagerly learning various techniques, and her presence significantly affects the efficiency of our work.
I can't help but smile wryly at what makes her happy.
"Oh, that's right. Captain, can I ask a question?"
"What is it?"
"You don't use iron blocks much, do you?"
"Yeah... remember this well. If it won't make any difference whether you dodge or take it head-on, then dodge. There's no need to recklessly take an attack just because it won't cause damage. Those idiots who think that no damage means they can take it without worry will eventually end up receiving an unexpectedly powerful blow and become the starting point for a counterattack. In situations where receiving an attack with iron blocks is more efficient than using paper art to receive it, then use the iron blocks... well, in your case, not using iron blocks is better."
"Ugh... I can't use Rokushiki, can I?"
"It's because you lack practice. Rokushiki uses all six techniques... but well, you should have some techniques that can be decisive. I'll teach you a few derivative techniques of the Storm Leg that apply other martial arts techniques. Stand and prepare."
"Yes! Thank you very much!"
Even though she was completely exhausted just a moment ago, Pochi immediately gets up and gets into position upon hearing my instruction.
Teaching her also benefits me. I'm willing to spend some training time with her if it helps me utilize her better.
***
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