Capturing Alive

Zhou Qi did feel like his mind had been working much better these past two days. Not only was he thinking more thoroughly, but his memory had also become surprisingly sharp.

Just two days ago, he'd flipped through a book, and after glancing at the preface, he'd gotten a general impression of all the books in the room.

Moreover, what he'd expected to be a difficult translation job turned out to be not difficult at all. He felt his writing had become much smoother, and his literary style seemed to have improved a bit.

At the very least, he found it very comfortable to read his own work.

But because it was a gradual process, he hadn't truly grasped it until today.

"Is it because of Meditation? But I've only been doing it for a few days, less than a week!" Zhou Qi frowned. Was it really that exaggerated?

He wanted to confirm it again, preferably by playing a game of LOL. It's a game that really tests calculation, reaction speed, and awareness. A good mind means playing well, and it could be a good way to measure his current mental capacity.

However, he then thought that if he started a game and came back, that red-haired guy might already be dead...

He'd deal with the Devil Fruit first.

Zhou Qi returned to the One Piece World and opened the Space Gate again. This time, it was a little closer to the battlefield, moving from ten meters away to nine meters away.

"Smoker, where's your Jitte? Why are you fighting him bare-handed?" Zhou Qi shouted.

"What Jitte?" Smoker retorted.

He intended to capture the guy alive, not that he couldn't defeat him, so he still had the energy to reply.

"Huh?" Zhou Qi was stunned. Wait, didn't Smoker have a Jitte? Why doesn't he have one now?

Could it be that this weapon only exists later?

Right, he's facing a Logia Type Devil Fruit User. This guy is incredibly weak, yet he's managing to fight Smoker to a standstill just because he's a Logia Type. Smoker must be annoyed.

So he'd turn back and apply to the higher-ups for a Seastone weapon, which would be logical!

"Maybe I remembered wrong?" Zhou Qi said, then asked, "So, do you need help?"

"What help can you provide!" Smoker said irritably.

He knew this guy could only open a portal, but had zero combat power.

"That's not necessarily true!" Zhou Qi said. "I may not have combat power, but capturing a Devil Fruit User is more than enough for me!"

"Oh?" Smoker was taken aback. That's right!

This person might not have combat power, but he has a country behind him. A country might very well have a trump card against Devil Fruit Users.

"Then use it!" Smoker shouted. "Although this Pirate's bounty is only four million, I can apply for you to get ten million!"

"Money is irrelevant!" Zhou Qi shook his head. "It's just that this Pirate cannot be handed over to you. Let me handle him!"

"You?" Smoker frowned, then thought of the harsh environment of the country Zhou Qi was from.

Deep underwater, and controlled by Sea Kings.

It seems they really do need a Mera Mera no Mi, whether for combat or for warmth.

But...

"This Pirate, although his debut was short, has already massacred five villages and robbed over a dozen merchant ships, with no survivors. If I hand him over to you, can you control him?"

"Don't worry!" Zhou Qi smiled. "I want him, not to control him. As for how he's dealt with, you can follow along and watch the whole process, how about that?"

"This..." Smoker thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, it's a deal!"

"Bastard!" The red-haired man watched helplessly as the two of them decided his fate in just a few words, and became furious. "Do you think I'm dead?"

Then, with a roar, he threw another punch.

Zhou Qi chuckled. This guy wasn't young anymore, around thirty or forty years old, but his Devil Fruit development was far behind Ace's.

Ace even developed a "Fire Gun" for ranged attacks, but this guy just swings his fists.

He extended his hand, still holding a small wooden stick, and pointed it through the Space Gate at the red-haired man. "Avada Kedavra!"

"What?" The red-haired man was stunned. He saw a stream of water appear out of nowhere and surge directly in front of him, instantly washing him into the ship's cabin.

Smoker was also splashed a bit, and immediately felt weak all over. He quickly took two steps back, then said in surprise, "Is this, seawater?"

"That's right!" Zhou Qi said, as an endless stream of seawater continued to pour into the ship's cabin. He shouted, "Hurry up, do you have Seastone handcuffs? Put them on him!"

"Yes!" Smoker nodded blankly, still somewhat incredulous. It was that simple?

Right, a teleportation gate. If you open the gate underwater, wouldn't you be able to teleport an endless amount of seawater up?

In this world, every Devil Fruit User fears seawater. Isn't this ability invincible?

No, no!

Smoker realized that there was no invincible ability in the world.

Firstly, the speed of his water stream was very slow. It was only because this red-haired guy had a short debut that he couldn't react.

If it were a Marine Vice Admiral, they'd be eight hundred meters away the moment you surfaced!

Not to mention the monstrous Three Admirals. Water can't touch light, seawater can be frozen, and what about using seawater to touch lava?

It would probably be evaporated directly!

Moreover, there are plenty of strong individuals in the Marines who specialize in physical combat without relying on Devil Fruits. With Zhou Qi's weak physique, he'd win as long as he got close.

However, this ability wasn't without its merits. At the very least, it was quite useful against powerful individuals who couldn't use Observation Haki and were heavily reliant on their Devil Fruit abilities.

Smoker, for instance.

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it. Smoker turned towards the red-haired man's subordinates, instantly becoming like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Everywhere he went, people were thrown down and scattered; no one was his match.

In less than two minutes, everyone on the entire ship had been swept away!

"Awesome!" Zhou Qi, seeing that they were completely safe, finally opened a portal. In reality, even if that red-haired man had used his Haki, he wouldn't have been able to hit Zhou Qi, only a mirror.

"What does 'awesome' mean?" Smoker asked.

"Uh, it means 'sugoi' and 'yoshi'!" Zhou Qi gave a thumbs up. "Your fruit is awesome!"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Smoker shook his head. "My fruit isn't awesome; his fruit is awesome!"

Both of them turned their heads simultaneously and saw the red-haired man being brought out in handcuffs.

"The Mera Mera no Mi is indeed awesome!" Zhou Qi nodded in agreement.

In this world, Logia Type Devil Fruits were already rare, and awesome ones were even rarer.

Zhou Qi's favorite was undoubtedly the Gura Gura no Mi, after all, light particle attacks, understand?

Although Kizaru hadn't displayed such power, perhaps he was holding back, or perhaps it was limited by the world, and the potential of this Devil Fruit couldn't be fully unleashed.

But undoubtedly, the upper limit of this Devil Fruit was extremely high; it could explode stars!

Zhou Qi could travel between worlds. In the future, when he reached a more advanced world, this fruit wouldn't become obsolete too quickly.

But unfortunately, Kizaru was someone he couldn't afford to offend.

His second favorite was, naturally, the Thunder-Thunder Fruit. After all, electromagnetism was one of the four fundamental forces, with infinite potential. Electromagnetic cannons were also common weapons on starships, not much worse than light particles.

If he could unify the four fundamental forces, then this fruit would truly be awesome; creating black holes with his bare hands wouldn't be a problem.

At that time, he could use sand and water to create 3-nanometer chips, just to show off.

Below the Thunder-Thunder Fruit, it was naturally the Ice-Ice Fruit and the Mera Mera no Mi that reigned supreme. One was yin, the other yang. The former could be developed towards absolute zero and time-stopping, while the latter could be developed towards absolute high temperatures and become a human hydrogen bomb.

As for the Magma-Magma Fruit, what trash was that? The temperature of magma had an upper limit. A Logia Type with an upper limit was only useful in a world with an upper limit; in another world, it would be easily defeated.

For example, in Naruto, what trash bloodline was the Lava Style? It was dealt with by Kisame Hoshigaki single-handedly.

The Snow-Snow Fruit had more potential than the Magma-Magma Fruit.

"How do you plan to deal with him?" Smoker asked, holding a cigarette. "I have to tell you in advance, I will definitely report your handling method. If you plan to keep this pirate, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Why would I keep such a villain?" Zhou Qi shook his head and said, "Bring him along, and follow me!"

With that, he opened a Space Gate.

On the other side of the gate was Shimotsuki Village.