Chapter 191
"Roman,"
Luffy, back on the Sunny Merry, excitedly came to find him.
"I heard you're recording your friends' abilities? How about my Rubber-Rubber Fruit— "
As he spoke, Luffy stretched out his arm, displaying a fearless attitude of 'feel free to bleed,' which earned him a glare from Roman.
"How do you plan to use your Rubber-Rubber Fruit? To make balloons?"
Snap,
"I'm so sorry, I'm just a useless Rubber Human ~~"
Luffy knelt down in despair.
"Here, everyone bring me three 'blood vials'." Roman couldn't be bothered with Luffy. Luffy's 'superhuman' abilities, like Zoan abilities, were the most useless abilities to Roman.
The fact that the ability can only be applied to oneself means that it is 99% useless to Roman. After all, Roman's 'Paper-Paper Fruit' itself includes the ability to change Paper Person's physical body, and an unfamiliar ability to change one's physical body would be a complete loss for him.
Luffy's Rubber-Rubber Fruit can't make rubber, it can't even make balloons!
... Speaking of which, it could be made into something like a 'bulletproof vest'. Unfortunately—if a world doesn't even have confidence in its own body, then it's truly doomed.
Communication, treatment, what else is needed?
As Roman prepared everyone for their respective 'training', he could faintly hear Luffy's signature attack sound:
"Rubber-gun!"
?
"Ah, just a mere Sea Beast."
Usopp remained calm as he faced the Sea Beast, as large as the Going Sunny Merry, which Luffy had just punched away. After all, he had seen monsters tens, hundreds, or even hundreds of times larger than this one.
Ah, once you've seen the ocean, other waters seem insignificant.
Puff,
Two 'things,' one large and one small, were spat out by the Sea Beast and fell onto the deck.
"What's that? A fish...?"
"No, it looks like a person to me..."
"Could it be... a mermaid??" In an instant, Sanji's eyes popped out and turned into hearts. He flew through the air and caught the falling mermaid girl, first gentlemanly placing her on a seat, and then:
The whole person spun rapidly like a top, forming the shape of a noodle.
"Mermaids! Mermaids are the dream of all mankind, the treasures of the sea, and I've finally seen a mermaid~~~"
?!
Roman glanced at the rescued mermaid girl. Indeed, even though this mermaid Keimi, was a bit slow-witted, her appearance was above average among humans. Plus, her fishtail would appeal to many men's sensibilities—she was truly...
A tragedy.
What place is this?
This is the second intersection of the Red Line and the Grand Line, the stronghold of the Celestial Dragons, where the Holy Land Mary Geoise is located! And the Mermaid Island... or rather, Fish-Man Island, lies 10,000 meters below the Holy Land, serving as the last stop of the first half of the Grand Line:
The nearby Sabaody Archipelago took advantage of its proximity to the land and water. Slavery was rampant, and they catered specifically to the Celestial Dragons. After all:
Although the Celestial Dragons are brutal, they are also notoriously rich and brainless.
In short: Foolish people, rich people, come quickly!
Mermaids, lacking power but possessing striking beauty, are naturally the best 'trade'. Even Fish-Man, due to their diverse and unusual appearances, become sought-after high-quality slaves...
This is why Arlong hates humans so much:
Most Fish-Man would secretly swim to the surface of the water when they were young to spy on the bustling Sabaody Archipelago and dream of the fantastic human creations.
But when they grew up, they faced the nets and weapons of the slave-catching teams, as well as the disappearance of their companions and relatives.
This extreme contrast gave birth to Fish-Man like Arlong.
So, as Roman once said, he doesn't hate Fish-Man.
However, he despised cowards who dared not seek revenge against the slave hunters and the Celestial Dragons, but instead vented their powerless rage on ordinary people.
··········
"I've always thought of myself as a human being,"
Along with the mermaid girl Keimi, a giant starfish was also rescued—he's currently standing with his hands on his hips, explaining things to Luffy.
"But by the time I realized I was a starfish, I had already learned human language."
This world is truly bizarre.
In Roman's opinion, this starfish named 'Hachi' was most likely something that escaped from a laboratory, or perhaps a product of a human soul possessing a starfish. However, the fact that this starfish was aspiring to be a fashion designer was unimportant; what mattered was:
"Oh, right, I'll treat you to takoyaki."
"I have a friend named 'Hachi,' and his takoyaki is absolutely delicious—"
Mermaid girl Keimi took a Den Den Mushi) from her seashell backpack and waited for the call to connect:
"Cough cough, Keimi, don't come any closer!"
"Hahaha, you want to save him, right? Then come on! This is the 'Flying Fish Knights' headquarters, 5000 meters east of Sabaody 44. I'll give you half an hour, or we'll sell him."
This is the true face of the sea: one wrong step and you'll be eaten by Sea Beast, one wrong step and you'll be captured by slave hunters...
"Waaaaah, Hachi!"
Upon seeing the crying Fish-Man- woman, Luffy immediately grasped the key point.
Who is Hachi?
"It's the owner of the takoyaki shop where I work. Sorry Luffy- kun, I have to go save him—"
"This is a big deal! Let's go save the takoyaki!"
·······
"We need to save the owner of the takoyaki shop," Nami, rubbing her forehead. "But speaking of Hachi ..." The image of the goofy six-armed octopus who used to work for Arlong in her hometown flashed through her mind.
"I hope I'm just overthinking it."
"Then, let's head to Sabaody 44—"
"Alright, we'll be at Sabaody Archipelago soon." Roman, while following Nami's instructions—or rather, the direction the mermaid girl Keimi obtained by 'asking' the fish—turned the rudder, was lost in thought.
For the sake of the Straw Hat crew, it's best to just "hang out" for now and do nothing until Kuma sends the others away...
Wait a minute!
Roman steered the ship with one hand and stroked his chin with the other.
Where will the Kuma send itself?
It's important to know that Kuma is very particular about how he chooses his subjects: Luffy was sent to Amazon Lily and won the Empress's heart; Zoro was sent to Kuraigana Island, where he was cared for by Perona and became Mihawk's Hawk Eyes.
Nami flies to a small Sky Island, where she can study the weather; Usopp falls into the Boin Archipelago, acquiring a large number of combat plants; Chopper lands in the South Blue — the Torino Kingdom —where he can showcase his medical skills; Franky Punk Hazard, gaining access to Vegapunk's laboratory...
Robin flew to the Bridge Kingdom, where she encountered the Revolutionary Army uprising; Brook landed on Namakura Island and won over the locals with his singing. Only Sanji ... was sent to... the Kamabakka Kingdom), a truly heartbreaking sight!
Everyone else was sent to places that could improve their fighting skills, but Sanji fell into 'hell'. Roman thought it over and over and concluded that it could only be attributed to Kuma seeing through Sanji's identity as the third prince of the Vinsmoke family and sending him there to suffer...
Otherwise, everyone else has seen their combat power leap forward in the past two years, acquiring a bunch of cool and awesome new skills! Only Sanji has gained 'Geppo' and 'Sea Pig Hormone Soup' which can quickly restore stamina.
With Roman around, we can even skip the soup. — Serious fighters all use drugs; who slowly eats to heal?
And to be honest, Roman didn't recall the Straw Hat crew ever drinking soup to heal themselves in his previous life...
I don't know if Sanji forgot or if the materials are incomplete?
Okay, that's all for now.
Anyway, Roman has a whole bunch of recorded Devil Fruit abilities, so he's not afraid of Kuma hitting him. At worst, he can just find a place to develop his fruit and train peacefully.
"Everyone be careful, it's the Flying Fish Knights!"
Keimi's voice brought Roman back to his senses. In front of the Straw Hat crew, a group of people gliding in on giant flying fish charged menacingly towards them!
After all, the Air Force is a big rogue state; they drop their bombs and then return to base.
As naval vessels, they generally cannot engage air units...
However, the Straw Hat crew are no ordinary pirate crew, and Roman is a master of aerial combat—
Splash,
The fluttering papers quickly formed into 'fighter jets' that roared towards the enemy, leaving the flying fish knights, still stuck in the era of 'hand-throwing bombs,' stunned:
Da da da da!
"Hey, Roman! Don't destroy them all, leave one for me to play with!"
"Me too, me too!"
"I want one too!"
Do you really think you're here for sightseeing?
Despite thinking this, Roman's fighter jets fired non-lethal blunt weapons, only enough to shoot down the enemy knights. After all, strictly speaking, these would be "friendly forces" in a moment...
Besides, it wouldn't be bad to keep the flying fish for Luffy and his crew to play with.
P. S.: I forgot to add a title, and it would be terrible if I couldn't change it...