"1,050,"
"1,051,"
On the merchant ship's deck, Luffy and Zoro, wrapped head to toe in Paper Bandages, were hunched over beneath heavy weights, grunting through squats. Meanwhile, Nami, who was also training nearby...
"Why do I have to join too?!"
Facing the tearful Nami, Roman, standing beside the helm, merely raised an eyelid.
"You want to fight me too?"
"Beat me, and you won't have to listen to me—"
"Forget it, I'm training from the bottom of my heart..."
Even those two battle maniacs, Luffy and Zoro, had lost. Nami decided it was better not to invite trouble. Still:
"Roman, don't you need to train?"
"Who said I wasn't training?" Roman waved a hand. Beside him, a pair of white "paper hands" was steering the ship forward.
"I'm training my Devil Fruit ability. If I can create 'paper clones' that move freely, it'll greatly ease our shortage of manpower..."
Well, many of Roman's ideas required precise "control," so he really was training.
"Roman, I can understand you being able to hurt me with a sword."
Luffy, once again wrapped in "Paper Bandages," shouted as he trained.
"But why could a shield hurt me too~~"
"Was that the thing you called 'Haki'?"
"Dream on," Roman said helplessly. "If I knew Haki, I'd have gone off to mess around in the New World already!"
"As far as I'm concerned, Haki is an extension of the 'soul.'"
"Observation Haki represents 'perception,' Armament Haki represents 'will,' and Conqueror's Haki represents..." Fate? Magnanimity? Or something else...? Roman shook his head. That stuff was too mystical; he didn't understand it either.
"Anyway, I don't even know the specific methods for training Haki. How could I possibly use Armament Haki?"
As he spoke, Roman beckoned, and a white "paper hand" floated out from the cabin, clutching a katana. It was not Zoro's treasured sword, but part of the merchant ship's "cargo."
Although Roman and the others had paid little attention to it, a massive fortune lay in the hold beneath the deck: crate after crate of swords, sabers, and flintlock guns!
"I merely attached tiny triangular pieces of 'paper' to the shield's edge, just like this."
As Roman deliberately "amplified" his ability, pieces of paper shaped like serrated teeth appeared along the edge of his hand, fingers pressed together like a blade.
"Then I make them move at high speed."
Bzzzzz~~~
Amid a deep buzzing hum, those "teeth" raced across Roman's body, forming a gray, hazy chainsaw! Then, aiming at the katana floating before him, he slashed down with his hand.
Clang!
Sparks flew, and metal rang.
The sheathed katana was instantly split in two!
"Tch, that's only because of your Devil Fruit ability. That doesn't make you an Iron Cutting swordsman."
Roman shrugged at Zoro's disgruntled words. "Come on, I'm a Devil Fruit user to begin with. I'm not a swordsman..."
If Luffy facing Roman's sword and shield was like facing two high-speed chainsaw blades, where even a brush meant injury and a hit meant blood spraying, making even dodging incredibly miserable—
Then Zoro facing Roman was like encountering a steel fortress. He spent the entire fight striking iron, scratching away at nothing, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion.
"If you can cut through steel, you might have a chance of winning."
But clearly, Zoro did not possess that strength yet.
Facing Roman clad in "Paper Dance—Iron Armor" and carrying a shield, Zoro hacked out a storm of sparks before helplessly being knocked to the ground. He could not break through Roman's defense at all—what was there to fight with?
Of course, with enough strength, one could still injure someone through vibrations even without breaking their defense.
Of course, if Zoro charged up and used a technique like Onigiri, he could barely break through Roman's "Paper Dance—Iron Armor," but...
Don't forget, even without his Devil Fruit ability, Roman himself was no weaker than Zoro or Luffy! So their sparring match ending in the two of them losing had been perfectly natural.
Come to think of it, heavy weapons were actually more effective against a Devil Fruit user like Roman, one who was "armored from head to toe." But Roman was already extremely nimble, and his paper "armor" and "weapons" weighed almost nothing, making him truly swift as the wind.
In short, a bet was a bet.
Luffy and Zoro had no choice but to begin training in a downpour of sweat. With their usual clowning around gone, Roman got quite a bit more peace and quiet.
"This is way too careless~~"
?
"This is a merchant ship, right?"
After taking a comfortable hot bath and washing away her sweat, Nami sat in a paper chair and began discussing serious matters with Roman. As for Luffy and Zoro? They were already snoring away on the deck nearby.
"Although this merchant ship isn't bad, isn't it unsuitable for sailing?"
As the name implied, merchant ships were built to carry cargo. They were large and stable, but also slow and weakly armed. And if they were heading to the Grand Line, what they needed was a light, fast ship with some long-range firepower, able to advance and retreat freely while surrounded by enemies.
"So, we need a proper ship. And—"
Nami, drying her hair with a towel, asked in confusion,
"Is it really okay to waste freshwater like this?"
Hot baths and the like... were the height of luxury for the crew of any seafaring vessel. Even if this merchant ship had plenty of cargo space...
"Ah, that? Don't worry about it."
Roman waved a hand.
"I can provide huge amounts of paper as 'fuel,' and the freshwater is simply a product I filter from seawater."
"Huh, huh, huh?"
"Because my paper possesses certain 'biological' traits to some extent, as long as I want it to, I can make these things..." As he spoke, a sheet of white paper appeared in Roman's hand.
"Function like biological cell walls. Then, through the principle of 'reverse osmosis,' they can purify freshwater from seawater..."
"Sorry, I understand every word you said, but put together, it just—"
Nami clenched her fists after Roman gave her a once-over with an expression that said she was completely uneducated. So annoying~~! If our strength were switched, I'd definitely teach you what cruelty meant!
"Anyway, just think of it as one of my Devil Fruit abilities."
Roman rubbed his chin.
"I'll call it 'Paper Dance—Water Purification.'"
"Whatever makes you happy."
"Back to the point, before entering the Grand Line, we'd better switch ships."
Roman nodded in agreement with Nami's suggestion. Just like the Wave Rider he had once been on, the Silver Light Pirates had escaped danger several times thanks to that ship's ability to sail at high speed.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast it had been, it had ultimately been destroyed by their own people.
Roman had sunk that ship to the bottom of the sea. It could be considered the Silver Light Pirates' final place of reunion.
"Mm, our next destination is called Syrup Village. It would be best if we could get a new ship there..."
Watching Nami study the sea chart seriously, Roman rubbed his brow.
Syrup Village...
Usopp's hometown, and the place where the Straw Hat Pirates obtained their first ship, the Going Merry. He remembered that Usopp's childhood friend had a pirate infiltrator in her household known as "Hundred Plans." What was his name again...? Nock? Or Kuro?
Roman thought for a long time and only remembered the man's signature gesture of pushing up his glasses with his palm, along with the long blades on all ten fingers... He was probably just some small fry.
Excellent. Once they got there, he could just beat the guy up and claim the ship as a reward...
Wait!
Roman rubbed his temples, wondering whether he had spent too much time with Luffy. Had his intelligence really dropped so dramatically? How could anything in the world be so simple and straightforward? Go beat someone up, then get a reward... What was this, a game? And he seemed to remember that it had been because Luffy and the others stumbled upon the man's secret meeting that...
Forget it. Since he knew who the problem was, things would be easy.
Roman's eyes gleamed. Being the "bad guy" was what he was best at~~
Before you continue