Let Me See Your Limit

-1s.

-1s.

-1s...

Invisible numbers kept appearing above the heads of the bounty hunters as they drank and smoked.

Somewhere in the tavern, a young man in beach shorts and a floral shirt, with a red scarf stubbornly wrapped around his neck, reclined in an executive chair, drinking health tea.

Above his head, the number "+1s" kept appearing.

He was the owner of the tavern, a veteran slacker of the criminal organization Baroque Works, and a top instructor who had trained dozens of rookie slackers—the Penguin-Penguin Fruit user, Ma Qiao!

Five years had passed since he transmigrated from Earth to the world of One Piece, or rather, since he recovered the memories of his previous life.

From being forced at the start to eat a Devil Fruit that tasted like shit and becoming a user of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Common Zoan, Model: Penguin, to fully developing its powers, Ma Qiao had been through a great deal over those five years.

He had gone from a bewildered ordinary man to a workplace veteran who handled all sorts of matters with ease.

Though he had no hope of promotion, his seniority kept growing.

After all, rather than working diligently for Crocodile, who was destined to be sent flying by a single punch from Luffy, the future Pirate King, he might as well use the organization's resources to research and develop his own fruit's powers.

After years of exploration, Ma Qiao had discovered that if Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit was actually the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika, then his own Penguin-Penguin Fruit might be called the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Capitalist.

Of course, that was just a joke.

As a veteran One Piece fan, Ma Qiao knew all too well how the development and awakening of Devil Fruit powers worked.

Law's Op-Op Fruit, Donquixote Doflamingo's String-String Fruit, Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit...

The powers of these fruits, developed by powerful users, had long since broken free of the constraints of their respective names and reached the realm of the wildly imaginative.

The Penguin-Penguin Fruit naturally had the same potential.

Its potential was even greater!

But without a doubt, Ma Qiao was confident that, in this world of One Piece, no one understood the Penguin-Penguin Fruit better than I did!

Feeling his Lifespan Power gradually increase second by second, Ma Qiao stretched comfortably, warmth spreading through his body.

Although the time each individual customer paid was small, it had accumulated over the years. Ma Qiao already had a lifespan comparable to that of a giant, and it was still growing.

Of course, the time he collected from others was, in essence, the lifespan they lost through smoking or excessive drinking.

When they consumed the cigarettes and alcohol at the Big Bird Spin-Spin Tavern, that lost lifespan was transferred to Ma Qiao in accordance with their contracts.

The drinkers all "knew" about it and had "agreed" to it!

It was in keeping with the principle of good faith, not deception or outright robbery.

After all, Ma Qiao possessed the "Zoan Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Capitalist," with its infinite possibilities.

Chopper, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Commoner, had cried himself unconscious in the bathroom once again...

The days of slacking off at work were always this simple and dull.

After working out the date and realizing that this quarter's performance review was still a long way off, Ma Qiao stretched and began reading the day's newspaper.

Methods of spreading information in the world of One Piece were relatively primitive.

The News Coos, found throughout the four seas and the Grand Line, were the primary carriers of information.

Ma Qiao, accustomed to surfing the internet and reading in short bursts, had initially found it somewhat difficult to readjust to the age of print media.

But over his long career of slacking off, he had gradually developed the good habit of reading the newspaper every day.

"Ace has been pretty active. Looks like he's already made a name for himself in the East Blue!"

Looking at the tiny news item tucked into a corner of the page, Ma Qiao could not help but smile.

As it turned out, Ace's first bounty had been the same as Luffy's: 30 million Beli.

It seemed the World Government had not noticed his true identity, or the bounty would never have been that amount.

A pirate with a 30 million Beli bounty was already about as strong as they came in the East Blue. Ma Qiao reckoned Ace would soon begin his adventure on the Grand Line.

After a series of marvelous journeys, he would meet the man who wanted him as a son, and in the end, the old man and the young man would fall together in the Paramount War.

Ma Qiao knew these plot developments by heart. Even a One Piece fan with only a passing familiarity would know this major gut-wrenching event well, let alone Ma Qiao, who could just about be considered a veteran fan.

But none of that was something Ma Qiao needed to concern himself with now.

This was Portgas D. Ace, after all!

An ordinary person like him had no standing to worry about the future and fate of this second-generation pirate.

As an ordinary person with no special bloodline and no D. in his name, Ma Qiao had set himself a modest goal as soon as he confirmed that he had transmigrated to the incomparably dangerous world of One Piece: do his best to stay alive and die of old age.

The Great Pirate Era...

It sounded so romantic.

But only by actually living in this era could one understand the great horrors behind those words.

This was an era in which the strong ran rampant and the weak were left at their mercy.

Whether they were Marines shouting about justice or pirates crying out about their so-called dreams, they were all dangerous people as far as ordinary folk were concerned.

That was to say nothing of the lofty Celestial Dragons, who claimed to be descendants of the gods.

The evils those people had committed were too numerous to list.

In their eyes, ordinary people were worth less than weeds.

Ma Qiao knew that to survive in such a dangerous world, he had to rely on a cautious mindset, an unfailingly disciplined lifestyle and diet, and brutally hard training that bordered on self-abuse!

So...

Garen, do another thousand handstand push-ups! Let me see where your limit is!

Ma Qiao propped his feet up on his desk, picked up a large hamburger labeled "If you don't say it, it's zero calories," stuffed it into his mouth, and gave Garen further instructions from afar...

As a hero Ma Qiao had created through Penguin Power, Garen, the Might of Demacia, could not grow stronger through exercise. He could only increase his strength by leveling up.

The only way to level up was... to top up.

Although it was an ability Ma Qiao had developed himself, he still felt like complaining. His ability seemed to have perfectly inherited Tencent's spirit of "How can you get stronger without paying?" Nothing could be done without a "top-up."

Garen's exercise was not wasted, though.

There was no such thing as a free lunch, and likewise, no effort went to waste.

It simply took another form as sports cars and villas, keeping your boss company.

For Ma Qiao, every handstand push-up Garen did gave him an equivalent increase in arm strength.

So Ma Qiao could actually do handstand push-ups with ease now. He could even do a standing long jump on his hands; no fitness expert from his previous life could match him.

Even so...

It was tiring!

Under normal circumstances, Ma Qiao still entrusted his training to his good buddy Garen.

Someone else exercised while he gained muscle. Was there anything better in the world?

Let me see your limit! Pride of Demacia!

Ma Qiao shifted his attention to Garen's tower-like body, feeling the pleasure brought by the exercise.

Garen, Ryze, and Ashe, the free heroes who had once been the easiest to pick up in League of Legends, were undoubtedly an indelible shared memory for all League of Legends players.

And now, they were also the first heroes Ma Qiao had obtained for free after awakening his fruit's powers.

These manifested heroes had appearances, emotions, and behavior no different from those of real people.

Depending on their different backgrounds, the heroes also displayed different personalities and abilities.

But in any case, Ma Qiao did not consider them complete living beings.

For they had no urge to reproduce, nor any selfish desires, and were always unconditionally loyal to their summoner, Ma Qiao himself.

Ma Qiao had always believed that if a person lacked selfishness and the urge for lewdness, then he was no longer truly human.