"That's right. This is the ability of that Explosion Man you encountered earlier."
Roman nodded, confirming the guesses of Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Vivi as they stared at him with mouths hanging open. He pointed at the book in Nami's hands and continued.
"There's scientific basis for this."
??
"As everyone knows, Devil Fruits alter the Life Factor of whoever eats them, which is to say, their DNA..." Seeing the four utterly baffled faces, Roman had no choice but to put it another way.
"Just think of it as changing the eater's physique, bloodline, or something like that."
"According to Old Veg... I mean, Vegapunk's theories and experiments, technology can extract a Devil Fruit ability from the Life Factor of a Devil Fruit user and create an 'Artificial Devil Fruit.' So, based on this..."
Faced with four vacant expressions that looked exactly like failing students in an advanced calculus class, Roman had no choice but to simplify it again.
"Simply put, this book, The Art of the Thief, is actually a piece of flesh I 'separated' using my ability. It has the characteristics of being 'alive,' allowing it to provide nourishment and maintain the activity of the drawings made with Explosion Man's blood stored inside the book."
"So, the book provides 'energy' through me, while Explosion Man's blood provides the 'ability,' and then it attaches itself to blank paper with biological properties—"
"That lets Nami use that guy's ability... Do you understand what I mean now?"
"Mm, mm." x4
Great. Looking at those four pairs of eyes brimming with 'wisdom,' Roman gave up explaining.
"Anyway, just think of it as me having 'drawn' the other guy's ability and handed it to Nami to use."
"Got it, got it~~"
You don't understand shit!
"But, Roman."
Nami frowned. While she could not understand the principle, she had still caught quite a few key details.
"Since this book is essentially part of your 'body,' won't it affect you somehow?"
"And when I use this book, it consumes your 'stamina,' right? Wouldn't that..."
"Don't worry about it."
Roman waved a hand.
"I just don't want to see you slacking off on the sidelines when we're fighting as a group."
"Although I made this book, its 'materials' are only some fat and muscle from my body. Losing it won't have much impact on me. And don't even mention the consumption. How much could such a weak ability possibly drain me?"
Still, this was only a temporary measure.
Roman had long since thought of the next route for 'strengthening' Nami. He believed it could greatly improve her combat ability. Relying on Nami's Climate Baton, with its absurdly long windup time, was nowhere near as simple and brutal as using Roman's book.
Besides, nobody even knew where the materials for the Climate Baton were lying right now.
As for the flesh and blood used to make the book?
What a joke. Trafalgar Law had dared to use his own heart as collateral and could still laugh and chat with an empty chest. Today, Roman had shaved off a little fat and muscle to make a book. There was absolutely no problem with that.
"Alright, anyway, Nami now has at least some ability to protect herself—"
"But..."
Nami hung the 'equipment' Roman had made around her waist, yet she still could not smile.
"This doesn't help us with the predicament we're facing at all... Roman, didn't you say those Shichibukai could wipe out nations with a wave of their hands?"
...Roman seriously rubbed his chin.
"Wiping out a nation with a wave of the hand is a bit exaggerated. Destroying a city would be easy enough, though."
"See?"
Nami looked utterly despondent. "We don't stand a chance at all..."
"Ahem, everyone."
At that moment, the uncle codenamed Mr. 8, whose real name was Igaram, appeared carrying several mannequins.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, but there's still time—"
"I'll take a direct route to draw away the pursuers. Princess Vivi can take your ship along the normal route. Though you'll have to pass several islands, it should be safer."
"Uncle, this disguise of yours is really..."
Roman stepped forward and patted him, making the already injured Igaram smile bitterly.
This was indeed one solution: use a decoy to draw the enemy's fire, then send the princess quietly back to her country. But—
Roman covertly glanced at the wall beside them.
There was a rotating eyeball there, and an ear not far away!
Dazzling Eyes
Blooming Ears
That was Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit ability. In other words—their every move was under that intellectual beauty's control.
"Princess Vivi, I'm leaving. Please take care."
"You too."
Entrusting the princess to a group of pirates they had only just met, who had even been 'enemies' half an hour ago, was a helpless choice. But someone like Luffy could naturally earn people's trust with ease, as though he could instinctively distinguish a person's true nature.
"Hahaha, that uncle was really interesting."
Luffy's bright smile did not change as he watched the boat carrying several mannequins and Igaram sail away.
"Mm, I've always trusted him."
"Let's go, we should—"
Just as Luffy and the others turned around, a deafening blast suddenly rang out in the distance!
Boom!!
They spun around, only to see—
A sea of flames.
The ship that had just departed had vanished into the fire and ocean!
"H-How is that possible?"
Vivi stared wide-eyed at the scene before her. He had been with her as she grew up, practically family...
"...No... No, how could the pursuers have arrived so quickly?!"
You're wrong, Princess.
Roman lowered his gaze. The pursuers had never left! But—
Roman looked at the captain gradually sinking amid the flames. Even if Robin did not save him, that uncle would not die. When Roman had patted his shoulder earlier, he had secretly covered him with a stack of paper.
It was not as sturdy as the defense of his own 'Paper Dance—Iron Armor,' but it would be enough to withstand an explosion.
Amid the blast, flames shot into the sky!
"Nami! Is the Log Pose ready?"
Faced with Luffy's shout, Nami froze for a moment before reacting.
"Y-Yes."
"Roman! Zoro! Get the ship moving—"
"No problem, Captain."
"Nami, bring that girl aboard! We're leaving!"
With that, Luffy ran straight toward the nearby building. Usopp and Sanji were still inside, lost in sleep.
Heh, that was exactly it.
Luffy was always reliable at critical moments. In that instant, even Roman had not thought of the Log Pose, yet Luffy, who was usually so carefree, had brought it up immediately.
"Vivi, hurry up. If we're discovered..."
Nami ran toward the blue-haired girl who was blankly staring at the flames on the sea, but the expression on Vivi's face stopped her cold.
Regret, helplessness, blood flowing from her tightly bitten lips...
It was exactly like Nami herself had once been!
Slap.
Nami pulled her into an embrace. Not knowing what to say, she could only pat Vivi's shoulder.
"Don't worry. We'll get you to Alabasta."
"Quick, quick, get the ship moving..."
As Zoro pulled up the anchor and Roman raised the sails and turned the helm, Luffy came sprinting over while dragging Usopp by the nose and Sanji by the leg. He wore an exasperated expression. "What's with these two? They can still sleep at a time like this."
No, no, no. No matter how one looked at it, they had clearly passed out, right?
Looking at Usopp and Sanji, who had been dragged all the way here with bloodied faces and rolled-back eyes, Roman twitched the corner of his mouth.
Forget it. As long as they weren't dead, it was fine.
Once Nami, the blue-haired princess named Vivi, and her mount, 'Fast Runner,' a rideable land duck, had all boarded, the Golden Merry slowly sailed away from the dock. Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course, 'everyone' only meant Nami and Vivi.
As for the others—
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Why are we leaving in such a hurry? There were so many beautiful women... I mean, such a nice town..."
"Yeah, yeah! Aren't we pirates? It's fine to take it easy, right? The sun isn't even up yet..."
Faced with Sanji and Usopp's loud protests, Zoro crossed his arms and sighed helplessly.
"Someone explain it to them—"
Bang, bang!
"Already explained."
Uh...
Facing Sanji and Usopp, whose heads had both been smashed into the deck, Vivi, seeing the Straw Hat Pirates' style of 'explanation' for the first time, did not know what expression to make.
Not bad. She had learned to use The Art of the Thief so easily already.
Roman nodded.
The second page of that book depicted the Fluffy-Fluffy Fruit from Miss Valentine. Its ability allowed the book's weight to shift between one kilogram and ten thousand kilograms. While it was not very useful, it was still—
Quite handy for making certain crew members shut up. Physically.
"It's getting foggy. Be careful~~~"
"The sun's almost up..."
Just as everyone focused on sailing, a mature, intellectual voice cut in.
"Ah—It feels so nice to escape from the pursuers."
?
"This is a nice ship."
??
Clang.
"Who's there?!"
"You are—"
Everyone on the ship turned around, only to discover that at some point, sitting on the railing of the ship's upper deck, was—
A mature woman wearing a cowboy hat, a vest, a leather skirt, and high boots. Her long legs were crossed, one hand propped beneath her chin as she watched the people on deck with great interest.
"Y-You... Why are you here?"
Vivi, the only one who recognized her, trembled as she looked at the newcomer.
"Miss All Sunday!"
PS: I'm writing One Piece fanfiction, so there definitely won't be elements from other series. Everything is built on the One Piece system. So—
Of course it can't really be something like an 'Explosive Tag'~~ The protagonist ate the Paper-Paper Fruit, not the Dream Come True Fruit. Without knowing the principles behind it, there's no way he could develop that kind of ability.
Otherwise, the protagonist could simply use Golden Rotation in his left hand to transcend space, Infinite Bubbles in his right to pierce misfortune, have Golden Requiem behind him to exploit bugs, and stand atop Platinum Star to stop the world, gathering time, space, fate, and causality into one body...
Forget the mere Three Admirals and Four Emperors. Even Joy Boy would instantly stop thinking.
Mm-hmm, so there's no need to worry about the power scaling falling apart.
Before you continue