Strange Route, Haki Ambition

"Nami,"

Roman, steering the Golden Merry on the Grand Line, cautioned Nami beside him.

"My Devil Fruit ability development has hit a bottleneck lately, and I need to enter 'deep development' mode to seek a breakthrough…"

Roman spoke utter nonsense with a straight face, not even blinking.

"So I'll enter a 'dazed' state, which will manifest as: loss of active response, most sensory functions shut down, and…"

"Alright," seeing Nami's blank expression, Roman decided to use a simple example.

"Just think of me as the 'White Knight'."

The White Knight was a skill Roman had recently developed. It was a puppet made of paper, capable of handling most chores, possessing some combat ability, and:

Low-level intelligence that does whatever you tell it to do.

"This…"

"In short, everything will be as usual. If there's any danger, just wake me up with the 'secret code'."

As he spoke, Roman's eyes dimmed, instantly shifting from sharp and agile to vacant and lifeless, like a true 'puppet'.

Of course, only when he was around his comrades would he dare to engage in such dangerous behavior with his main body 'offline'. As for Roman's 'consciousness'…

"Gol D. Roger?"

Croccus looked at Roman, who was controlling the 'White Knight' puppet, his eyes narrowing.

"You know quite a lot, young man."

The fact that Roman referred to the King of the Pirates as 'Gol D. Roger' and not 'Gol D. Roger' was very telling.

Don't underestimate this small difference. For some reason, the World Government had long ago made many revisions to the past of the King of the Pirates Roger, the biggest of which was hiding the 'D' in his name.

So in the eyes of most people, the King of the Pirates was 'Gol D. Roger'! Those who knew his true name were definitely not ordinary people—

"Senior, I just read more 'leisure books' than others…"

As the old man named Croccus slowly approached, cracks began to appear out of nowhere on 'Roman', and some parts even turned into sheets of paper, as if about to collapse!

As expected.

"Senior Croccus, I'm leaving this puppet here not to oppose you, nor to threaten you."

Roman quickly stated his intentions.

"I just want to make a deal with you!"

Crack, crack, crack,

As the old man walked closer, the puppet with 'Roman' at its core suddenly shrank by a head, its whole body wrinkled and looking on the verge of collapse! Fortunately, the other party slowly retracted his terrifying aura.

"A deal?"

"Yes," as long as they didn't attack immediately and entered the 'discussion' phase, Roman was confident he could persuade him!

After all, many 'secrets' in this world were not secrets to him.

"For example:"

"The whereabouts of the Rumbar Pirates."

—Crunch!!

Crack!

'Roman' was hit as if by a stamping machine! He instantly turned into a pile of 'round' paper balls, but this was, after all, something created by his Devil Fruit ability. And although the old man Croccus's aura was astonishing, even manifesting as physical attacks, it wasn't the unreasonable 'Conqueror's Haki' and wouldn't harm Roman, who was far away on the Golden Merry.

"Old senior, I told you."

From within the paper balls, Roman's voice came through clearly.

"I am not your enemy, nor am I trying to threaten or intimidate you…"

"How about this, I'll show my sincerity first: the Rumbar Pirates were not completely wiped out!"

His aura retracted, the old man named Croccus once again appeared as the ordinary old man who read newspapers and basked in the sun. However, he no longer needed to pretend in front of Roman, and simply uttered a word coldly.

"Speak."

Rustle, rustle~~~

The paper balls on the ground flew up, reassembling into 'Roman's' appearance.

This was also why he had come with a 'puppet'—as the weaker party, he wouldn't and couldn't be so reckless as to let his life depend entirely on someone else's mood.

"The Rumbar Pirates. Led by Captain Yorki, a cowboy-style pirate crew from West Blue, whose members were skilled at playing musical instruments. They were annihilated by other pirate crews in the Thriller Bark 50 years ago. Their pirate flag was a skull with bull horns…"

As Roman spoke slowly, Croccus's hands, clasped behind his back, involuntarily clenched! He thought he had come to terms with separation and death, but upon hearing the definitive news of his friends' demise, he couldn't help but feel a suffocating sensation.

"However, this pirate crew was not actually wiped out!"

"One of them, named Brook, had eaten a Devil Fruit called the 'Yomi Yomi no Mi' before this event,"

"This Devil Fruit was useless in life, it only turned people into landlubbers who couldn't go into the sea. But after a person dies—"

The fruit's ability would activate.

"It brings people back from the dead!"

What an earth-defying ability! If the World Government knew about this, they would probably send out all Three Admirals to seize this fruit.

"It's a shame Brook's soul got lost in the Thriller Bark..."

"By the time he found his body, only a skeleton remained. —In other words, he was resurrected as a skeleton."

After speaking, Roman paused, waiting for the old man opposite him to digest the information.

"Very..."

After a long pause, the old man named Croccus nodded.

"...A very interesting story."

Heh heh.

"Old timer, I know the Roger Pirates don't like 'Devil Fruits', believing them to be unholy."

Indeed, everyone possessed Haki—the only one without it was Buggy, the holder of 'Conqueror's Luck'. Such a pirate crew would naturally look down on Devil Fruit users, but:

"However, you can't deny the marvel of Devil Fruits."

Roman spread his hands.

"Just like me."

In terms of strength, Roman was certainly no match for the old ship doctor. But when it came to 'marvels', the old ship doctor, who remained within the 'human' realm, couldn't compare to Roman. Therefore, after realizing that he couldn't truly harm Roman unless he abandoned Laboon to chase the Golden Merry, Croccus had no choice but to seriously consider the 'deal' Roman had spoken of.

"What do you want from me?"

Facing the old man's question, Roman revealed what he had long coveted.

"Haki training!"

Meanwhile, on the Golden Merry in the wind and snow.

That's right, it was sunny and bright at Twin Cape earlier, but in a short while, the sky turned gloomy, and it even started snowing heavily!

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad—"

"Like this, and like this..."

Bang!

Kicking Luffy and Usopp away, Nami, dressed in a cotton coat, patted Roman, whom they had piled into a 'snowman', and helplessly drove away the two over-energetic guys.

"Go on, go on, if you want to build a snowman, go somewhere else! Don't mess with Roman."

Roman's 'energy' was mainly focused on the 'White Knight', his puppet clone that had already left Twin Cape. His main body here appeared very stiff and foolish. —Roman had originally asked Luffy and the others to watch his body, but he didn't expect them to turn him into their toy...

"Hahaha, look at my 'Mr. Snowman'~~"

Driven to the side, the duo started a new activity. A snowman with a classic big ball, a small ball, two sticks, and a carrot was, of course, Luffy's creation.

"Hmph hmph hmph, look at my 'Snow Queen'—"

A crystal-clear, elegantly seated ice sculpture that looked almost real was, of course, the masterpiece of Usopp, an artist whose talent was delayed by his pirate work!

"Snowman Flying Fist!"

Since he couldn't defeat his opponent in 'art', Luffy immediately chose to bring his opponent down to his 'level' and then defeat him with his extensive experience.

"Aaaahhh~~~ My Snow Queen!!"

... ... ...

"These two guys,"

Nami, helping Roman clear the snow off himself while he steered, looked at his serious face. —For some reason, even though he was the most well-rounded person among them in terms of strength, Roman always gave Nami a feeling of 'urgency', as if some fierce strong individual was chasing him.

"What are you so afraid of, Roman..."

As comrades, shouldn't all difficulties be faced together... Or, do you think my strength is completely useless to you?

"Hmph, what an arrogant fellow."

At Twin Cape, the old man Croccus, with his hands behind his back, glanced at Roman indifferently after hearing his 'deal'.

"If you're so eager to improve your strength, don't you trust your comrades?"

"No,"

Roman shook his head.

"Of course I trust them, and I want to protect them—"

It was precisely because of this that Roman wanted to urgently improve his strength. Otherwise: with his understanding of this world, wouldn't it be more enjoyable to find a place to train the Three Types of Haki to an advanced level, then come out to show off and get revenge, and have a blast in the New World?

But he couldn't, because...

"That's why I say you're arrogant, kid."

Croccus shook his head, but in the end, he agreed to Roman's deal.

"I can tell you how to train Haki, but—"

Whether or not you can learn it is another matter.

PS: Celebrating successful advancement to the recommendation list, here's an extra chapter. Also, please give me some free recommendation tickets~~~~