"Nami,"
On the deck of the Going Merry sailing on the Grand Line, Roman, who was steering the ship, instructed Nami beside him.
"My Devil Fruit ability development has hit a bottleneck recently, I need to enter 'deep development' mode to seek a breakthrough..."
Spouting nonsense with a straight face, Roman didn't even blink.
"So I will enter a 'stagnant' state, which means: losing active response ability, most sensory functions shutting down, and..."
"Alright," seeing Nami's confused expression, Roman decided to use a simple example.
"Just think of me as the 'White Knight.'"
The White Knight was a skill Roman had developed recently. A puppet made of paper, capable of handling most chores, with some combat ability, and:
It would do whatever you told it to do with basic intelligence.
"This..."
"In short, everything will be the same as usual. If there's any danger, remember to use the 'code' to wake me up."
As he spoke, Roman's eyes darkened, instantly changing from sharp and lively to dull and lifeless, like a real 'puppet.'
Of course, he would only dare to perform such a dangerous 'idle' action around his companions. As for Roman's 'spirit'...
---
——————
"Gol D. Roger?"
Crocus looked at Roman, who was controlling the puppet 'White Knight,' and his eyes gradually narrowed.
"You know a lot, young man."
The fact that Roman referred to the Pirate King as 'Gol D. Roger' instead of 'Gold Roger' was very intriguing.
Don't underestimate this small difference. For certain reasons, the World Government had long altered much of the Pirate King Roger's history, the biggest change being the concealment of the 'D' in his name.
So, to most people, the Pirate King was 'Gold Roger'! Those who knew his real name were definitely not ordinary people—
"Senpai, I've only read more 'books' than others..."
As the old man named Crocus slowly approached, cracks began to appear on 'Roman's' body out of thin air, and some parts even turned into sheets of white paper, as if about to collapse!
As expected.
"Crocus-senpai, I left this puppet here not to be your enemy, nor to threaten you."
Roman quickly stated his intention.
"I just want to make a deal with you, senpai!"
Crack, crack, crack,
As the old man approached step by step, the puppet centered around 'White Knight' suddenly shrank out of thin air, looking crumpled and about to fall apart! Fortunately, the other party slowly retracted his terrifying aura.
"A deal?"
"Yes," as long as it didn't come to immediate action and entered the 'conversation' phase, Roman was confident he could persuade the other party!
After all, many 'secrets' in this world were not secrets to him.
"For example:"
"The whereabouts of the Rumbar Pirates."
—booom!!
Click,
'Roman' seemed to be hit by a press! Instantly turning into a pile of 'pancake'-shaped paper balls, but fortunately, this was just something created by his Devil Fruit ability. And although the old man Crocus's aura was terrifying, even turning into a physical attack, it wasn't the unreasonable 'Conqueror's Haki' and wouldn't harm Roman, who was far away on the Going Merry.
"Senpai, I told you."
From within the paper balls, Roman's voice came through clearly.
"I'm not your enemy, nor am I here to threaten or intimidate you..."
"How about this, I'll show my sincerity first: the Rumbar Pirates were not completely wiped out!"
...
With his aura retracted, the old man named Crocus seemed to turn back into the ordinary old man reading the newspaper and basking in the sun. But he no longer needed to disguise himself in front of Roman, and coldly spat out a word.
"Speak."
Rustle~~~
The paper balls on the ground flew up and reassembled into the shape of 'Roman.'
This was also why he came with a 'puppet'—as the weaker party, he wouldn't and couldn't be so reckless as to let his life and death depend entirely on someone else's mood.
"The Rumbar Pirates, led by Captain 'Calico' Yorki, were a cowboy-themed pirate crew from the West Blue, skilled in playing musical instruments. They were annihilated by other pirate crews in the Florian Triangle 50 years ago. Their pirate flag was a skull with horns..."
As Roman spoke slowly, Crocus's hands behind his back subconsciously clenched! He thought he had come to terms with life and death, but upon hearing the exact news of his friends' deaths, he couldn't help but feel suffocated.
"But, this pirate crew was not completely destroyed!"
"One of them, someone named Brook, ate a Devil Fruit called the 'Yomi Yomi no Mi' before this,"
"This fruit had no effect while he was alive, it just made him a man who couldn't swim. But after he died—"
The fruit's power activated.
"It brought him back to life!"
What an incredible ability! If the World Government knew about it, they would probably send all three Admirals to seize this fruit.
"Unfortunately, Brook's soul got lost in the Florian Triangle..."
"By the time he found his body, it was just a skeleton. — In other words, he was resurrected as a skeleton."
Roman stopped speaking, waiting for the old man to process the information.
"Very..."
After a while, the old man named Crocus nodded.
"...a very interesting story."
Heh,
"senpai, I know the Roger Pirates didn't like Devil Fruits, thinking they were unnatural."
Indeed, everyone had Haki — the only one without it was Buggy, who had the 'luck of the Conqueror's Haki.' Such a pirate crew would naturally look down on Devil Fruit users, but:
"But you can't deny the wonder of Devil Fruits."
Roman spread his hands,
"Just like me."
In terms of strength, Roman was definitely not as strong as the old ship doctor. But in terms of 'wonder,' the old ship doctor, who was still within the 'human' category, couldn't compare to Roman. So, after realizing that he couldn't really harm Roman unless he abandoned Laboon to chase the Going Merry, Crocus had to seriously consider the 'deal' Roman mentioned.
"What do you want from me?"
Facing the old man's question, Roman revealed what he had long coveted.
"Haki training!"
---
Meanwhile, on the snowy Going Merry.
Yes, it was sunny at Twin Capes earlier, but soon the sky turned gloomy, and even large snowflakes started falling!
"Hahaha, not bad, not bad—"
"Like this, and like this..."
Wham!
Nami, wearing a cotton coat, kicked Luffy and Usopp away and patted Roman, who they had built into a 'snowman,' helplessly shooing away the two overly energetic guys.
"Go, go, if you want to build a snowman, do it elsewhere! Don't mess with Roman."
Roman's 'energy' was mainly focused on the puppet doppelganger 'White Knight' far away at Twin Capes, making his body here very stiff and dumb. — Originally, Roman had asked Luffy and the others to watch over his body, but it ended up becoming their toy...
"Hahaha, look at my 'Mr. Snowman'~~"
The duo, driven away, started a new activity. A classic snowman with one big ball, one small ball, two sticks, and a carrot, of course made by Luffy.
"Hmph, look at my 'Snow Queen'—"
A crystal-clear, elegantly seated ice sculpture, naturally the work of the artist Usopp, who was delayed by pirate work!
"Snowman Punch!"
Since he couldn't win in 'art,' Luffy immediately chose to bring his opponent down to his 'level' and then defeat him with his rich experience.
"Ahhh~~~ My Snow Queen!!"
...
"These two guys,"
Roman, who was steering the ship, brushed off the snow on him, and Nami looked at his serious face. — She didn't know why, but even though Roman was the most versatile among them, he always gave Nami a sense of 'urgency,' as if some powerful beast was chasing him.
"What are you so afraid of, Roman..."
As a companion, shouldn't we all bear the difficulties together... or do you think my strength is not enough to help you?
---
"Hmph, such an arrogant guy."
At Twin Capes, the old man Crocus, with his hands behind his back, listened to Roman's 'deal' and just glanced at him indifferently.
"You are so anxious to improve your strength, do you not trust your companions?"
"No,"
Roman shook his head.
"Of course, I trust them and want to protect them—"
It is precisely because of this that Roman wants to urgently improve his strength. Otherwise, with his knowledge of this world, he could just find a place to train his Haki to a high level, then come out and show off, wouldn't that be great in the New World?
But he can't, because...
"That's why I say you're arrogant, kid."
Crocus shook his head, but in the end, he agreed to Roman's deal.
"I can tell you the method to train Haki, but—"
Whether you can learn it or not is another matter.
——————
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