Knight Upgrade: Sea Train

Five days later,

On the Golden Merry.

The weather was sunny with a gentle breeze.

"That's great, Robin, how are you feeling?"

Seeing Nami stretching, Robin smiled and nodded, then turned to look at the little reindeer beside her.

"Much better, thanks to the ship's doctor's skills."

!

"~~I'm not happy at all, you jerk~~"

Chopper twisting and turning.

"This is my new creation, ladies. Fried potato wrapped fish, please enjoy."

As always, the dashing Sanji served up delicious food.

"So delicious~~"

"What about mine?"

He turned to face Zoro, his face immediately showing impatience.

"You only have mashed potatoes. Go get them yourself from the kitchen."

??

"Here it comes~~~"

Usopp and Chopper were excitedly waiting at the cabin door when Luffy came Luffy out excitedly.

"Watch me—"

As soon as Luffy ran out of the cabin, he threw the flour he was holding onto himself.

"The Frozen Man Reappears!"

Luffy, covered in white flour, struck a pose like a statue.

"Pfft, hahaha~~"

"Luffy is amazing~~"

·····

"Seriously, you almost froze to death. And you're still in the mood to joke around?"

"Haha, what do you think? Does it look like it?"

Just as everyone was laughing and chatting as usual, the cabin door opened again, and a figure stepped out. Everyone instinctively stopped laughing because:

Hahahaha~~!

Roman appeared at the door with one arm in a sling, but unlike his usual somber and resentful face, Roman was now smiling brightly.

His laughter... made others wonder if his brain had been invaded by the cold air.

But Roman didn't care. As he clenched his fist, a strange power enveloped it, like an invisible armor without any thickness! But unlike armor, this was an extension of the mind, the ultimate expression of the body.

Armament Haki! If it weren't for Admiral Aokiji's 'guidance,' Roman would never have been able to deliver a single, focused punch.

Although Roman's Armament Haki is still in its initial stage and can only achieve the simplest 'hardening', which would make him a minor boss in the New World, he has at least taken the most crucial step from nothing to something.

Next comes consistent training—on this point, Roman believes he will never lose to anyone.

After all, having come from another world, Roman has spent every day training and fighting.

"Roman, you..."

Seeing Nami hesitate to speak, Roman waved his left hand.

"I'm fine, very fine."

"You could even say it's never been this good."

"Mr. Roman, your right hand..."

Seeing Chopper hesitate to speak, Roman waved his hand magnanimously.

"It's just an arm, and it's only temporarily damaged, not broken." With an arm in a sling, learning Armament Haki would be a huge win! After all, while Armament Haki isn't valuable in the New World, it was extremely rare in the in the Grand Line.

Capturing Logia users, resisting Paramecia abilities, boosting attack and defense... it's the most versatile and practical ability. Furthermore, Armament Haki can be continuously strengthened through training.

If he hadn't just been frozen into an ice sculpture by Aokiji, with his right hand still slinged over his chest, Roman would be lifting weights 24/7 to train his Haki!

But before that—

Snap,

As Roman snapped his fingers with his left hand, sheets of white paper peeled off his arm, fluttering and spinning, quickly reforming into the 'White Knight' that had collapsed after he was frozen. However, unlike the simple lines of the White Knight before, this time...

Although it is still armor made of white paper, it is different from the knight's armor that used to look 'light and flimsy'. The current 'White Knight' gleams with a cold light and is full of the heavy texture of metal.

The armor clearly displays the endless mountains and rivers stretching for thousands of miles! The scenery of the North and the misty rain of the South are depicted on the shoulders, with the magnificent Great Wall pattern engraved on them, showing a sense of weight, strength, solidity and indestructibility.

"Look, here comes the brand new version of 'White Knight - Modified'!"

As Roman gave his grand introduction, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper's eyes sparkled. They immediately rushed over and started groping him all over.

"Oh oh oh oh~~"

"That's so cool, so stylish!"

"I never imagined Roman, you had such artistic talent..."

"Hmph, actually I was already capable of creating a more glamorous appearance."

If it were just about appearances, Roman would have been capable of creating much better-looking armored golems long ago. After all, his skin and clothes have always been made of paper; Super Creation is definitely Roman's most deeply developed ability. However,

What's the use of just looking good? Something that gets crushed by a single punch is just a joke. But things are different now!

"My new version, 'White Knight - Modified,' isn't just an upgraded look; its abilities have also improved—"

Bang!

"It hurts!"

Seeing Luffy clutching his head and Luffy out in pain, Roman burst into laughter, his head swelled with pride.

"Hahahaha, that's supposed to hurt! That's a fist imbued with Armament Haki!"

???

"Huh, so this is Armament Haki? It feels nowhere near as good as my grandpa's punch—"

Forehead,

How can you use your grandfather's level of skill as a benchmark? Compared to Vice Admiral Garp, 99% of the Armament Haki in the entire One Piece world is 'far inferior'.

"Oh, Roman, you've already mastered Armament Haki?"

Zoro drew his sword, eager to try.

"Let me cut it."

Clang!

Sparks flew—even with Zoro's current strength, he couldn't break through the puppet enhanced with Haki without charging up. Roman's puppet's strength had increased dramatically! It had already reached the threshold of a '100 million' bounty.

"Hahaha, finally the last weakness has been addressed! All that's left is to keep training and developing! -- It's decided, today I'll do 10,000 one-handed handstand push-ups!"

"Oh, oh, oh, then I'll make 20,000!!"

"Luffy, Mr. Roman, your bodies..."

"Usopp, you come too. Five thousand, three thousand? No less—"

While everyone else was joking around, Nico Robin smiled, resting her chin on her hand. Not everyone has the courage to stand up and fight Marine Admiral; and not everyone can survive a near-death experience and still accept themselves with the same carefree attitude...

No!

It should be said that apart from the group of people in front of her, no one else in Nico Robin's life would treat her as a partner so sincerely.

Therefore, it is even more inappropriate to...

Two days later,

"Wow, I saw a frog swimming freestyle!"

Having just been tormented by the Seastone bracer in Roman's training ground, Luffy instantly perked up and started his usual antics again.

"Change course! Change course! I'm going to catch that frog and roast it!"

"Hey, frogs are beneficial at least..." Well, whether frogs in this world eat people or not is hard to say. Roman shook his head, ignoring Luffy and the others' antics, and focused on controlling the 'White Knight -Modified' beside him as it punched and kicked.

While Roman's acquisition of Armament Haki under Aokiji's 'guidance' was a significant gain, having only one arm in a sling is ultimately disadvantageous in combat. However, if the puppet could be made as responsive as an extension of his own arm, it wouldn't just be like gaining an extra fighting asset, but also allowing for various coordinated attacks...

"Hey, hey, hey? There's a lighthouse ahead!"

?

After regaining his senses, Roman turned his attention to the few 'seagulls' circling in the air and frowned.

"Luffy, we need to slow down."

"Huh? I still have to chase that frog~~~"

"That won't do. The Sea Train is coming. If we go any further, the Going Golden Merry will be in danger."

??

Waaaaah—!

Just as the Golden Merry was slowly slowing down, a long train sped across the sea! The rest of the Straw Hat crew were stunned.

"A smoking ship?!"

"It's illogical for such a long ship to sail on the sea—"

"This is not a ship, it's Sea Train."

Besides, you guys have nothing to do with 'science' anyway, right?

"This is a large cargo and passenger transport vehicle. The reason it emits smoke is because it uses a steam engine as its power source..." The enormous Sea Train before them was a rare example of 'normal technology' in this world—although the fact that it could run on the sea was quite illogical.

"Mr. Roman is truly learned!"

Roman shook his head in response to Chopper's praise.

"This doesn't count as being erudite; it's just that I know a little more."

Roman watched the Sea Train speed away into the distance. Compared to the various cool and awesome modes of movement used by Devil Fruit user, the steam engine was the direction most people should be developing. Unfortunately:

This is a distorted world. The 'Pacifista,' technological creations of the Marine Headquarters, have already entered the battle, while Alabasta doesn't even have a freshwater purification system...

"Let's go. Since we've encountered the Sea Train, it proves we're not far from Water 7."

"Water 7?"

"Yes, there is a very large shipyard there Galley-La Company."

"Repairing ships and building new ones are no problem for them. — That smoking Sea Train we just saw was built by that shipyard. We can get the Going Golden Merry repaired there..."

However, although Roman carefully protected the boat he was on throughout the journey, it was, after all, just an ordinary sailboat, already riddled with holes and barely able to withstand its weight. If—

When that time comes, let's use that method.

P. S.: Riddler, get out of Gotham City!! ·······Ahem, let's first guess how Roman will solve the Golden Merry problem.