The Poor King

The day after they left Little Garden, the sky was overcast, and the drizzle gradually turned into a torrential downpour.

"Vivi, get upstairs! Lina, take in the sail!"

"Ah, got it."

At the Merry's stern, Lina stood in the rain with his upper body bare, unfazed as he continued squatting with a dumbbell across his shoulders.

He had simply sent out a few undead to help pull in the sail.

"3,045, 3,046..."

"You've improved a ridiculous amount, Lina."

Zoro swung the weights in his hands and sighed, glancing sideways. "You suddenly went from lifting 1,200 kilos to 1,600. It hasn't even been that long, has it?"

"Yeah, it's mainly thanks to what I gained on Little Garden."

Lina gave a simple explanation. Ever since the day he ate the Devil Fruit, this was the fastest he had ever improved.

And over the past few days, he had vaguely sensed some inexplicable power stirring inside him.

"What's your maximum now?"

"I tried last night. It's close to 4,000 kilos." Lina squatted down and stood back up, his well-defined muscles rippling beautifully as rainwater traced their smooth contours.

Zoro held an iron bar in each hand, with several huge iron plates attached to the ends. He swung them around like swords, chopping, thrusting, and sweeping.

"I'm at 5,000 kilos. Your strength's almost caught up with mine. You're absurd."

"It's not as crazy as you think."

Lina chuckled, letting the raindrops strike his face and run off his chin. "After this, I probably won't get another Devil Fruit boost for a long time."

A giant's natural physical gifts were an overwhelming advantage. Unless they reached the New World, they probably wouldn't encounter a stronger physical template in the first half of the Grand Line.

He wondered whether Crocodile was big or small right now. He'd better not get stabbed in the back when the time came.

Clouds shrouded the sky, and the sea was a gray blur. Raindrops pattered against the Merry.

"3,999, 4,000!"

Thud!

After setting down the dumbbell, Lina pulled the towel from around his neck and headed for a lounge chair under the parasol to escape the rain.

Squelch—

He wrung the towel into a tight twist, squeezing out the water at once. After drying himself off, Lina leaned back in the chair.

He checked the Log Pose on the table to confirm their course. Just as he lit a cigarette and prepared to relax, he noticed something that seemed to be standing on the sea in the distant rain.

"Zoro, am I seeing things?"

Lina wiped his glasses and looked again. "That's a person, right?"

"Looks like it... maybe?"

Zoro set down the iron bars and walked a few steps toward the railing, squinting as if that would help him see farther.

Splash—!

As soon as he finished speaking, something enormous seemed to rise from beneath the human-shaped figure.

A gigantic hemisphere slowly emerged, seawater cascading down its surface like a waterfall.

Only then did the two of them get a clear look at the "beast." "A ship coming out of the sea?!"

"No, it's a submarine."

Lina corrected him, his expression turning serious. "That person must've been standing on top of the submarine. But why is it so huge?"

Before he could finish, the hemispherical submarine unfurled like a blooming flower bud. In no time, it transformed into a ship with an outrageous castle-like design.

"It can transform, too?!"

"Too bad Luffy didn't see that. Hahaha."

Lina laughed. As the ship slowly approached, he discreetly summoned one undead after another. The fish-man undead quietly slipped into the water, while Mr. 1 stood ready for battle.

Sanji had been tidying up the kitchen in the second-floor living room. Hearing the commotion behind him, he couldn't help stepping out to take a look.

"What's going on?"

"Sanji, huh? Looks like we have a visitor." Lina glanced over and nodded toward the ship.

Once the enormous ship drew near, dozens of figures appeared on its deck. At their head was a potbellied middle-aged man, flanked by two men who looked like bodyguards. Behind them stood a group of soldiers in matching uniforms, rifles in hand.

One bodyguard had an afro. The other wore a cute blue dressing gown but had a vacant expression, making him seem oddly out of place.

"Walala~."

The man in front cackled, then leapt with his two bodyguards onto the railing at the Merry's stern. Their massive weight made the wooden railing creak.

"I'm King Wapol!"

The man sneered, his face covered in rolls of fat. Behind him, the soldiers on the ship raised their guns and aimed at them. "We're going back to Drum Island. Do you have a Log Pose or an Eternal Pose?"

"Doesn't look like they're here to pay us a friendly visit." Zoro rested his hands on his sword hilts, his eyes cold as he prepared to cut them down at any moment.

Before the other man could say more, Lina recognized him. The man before them was the former king of Drum Island, who had never done a single thing for his people during his reign.

"Rrrr—rrr!"

The Chainsaw Devil revved the chainsaw in its hands, the shrill, grating noise setting everyone's nerves on edge.

"Hey! Are you trying to—"

Thud!

Before the afro-haired bodyguard could finish speaking, a pitch-black foot slammed into his face, burying deep into flesh and bone.

Splurt! Splurt!

Before the other man could react, two deep gashes appeared out of nowhere across the dressing-gown man's body, spraying blood everywhere.

The moment the chainsaw roared, Sanji and Zoro sprang into action. Their opponents had raised their guns the instant they arrived, so there was no point asking questions.

They'd just fight!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dozens of gunshots rang out. The Blade Devil charged ahead without dodging, taking the hail of bullets head-on as he leapt onto the other ship. His three blades flashed wildly, filling the air with a storm of steel.

"Shoot! Hurry up and shoot!"

"It's no use! Bullets don't work on him!"

"He's a monster! A monster!"

Wapol's face darkened as he heard the cries and screams behind him, but he didn't dare move.

Three hideous chainsaws had already reached him. He opened his mouth wide and bit down on one as it swung toward him.

Amazingly, his teeth actually shattered the chainsaw.

"What the hell?!"

Sanji was stunned as he watched Wapol chew and swallow the pieces. "I've been a cook for years, and I've never seen anyone eat like that."

"Hahaha! I ate the Munch-Munch Fruit, so I'm a Deka Deka Human! I can eat anything!" Wapol sneered, patting his belly and opening his mouth wide as if he still wanted more.

Bang—!

A gunshot rang out.

Blood sprayed from his mouth. Wapol stared in shock, pain flaring inside it as his gaze involuntarily fell on Lina.

"W-why? Anything that gets into my mouth... shouldn't be able to hurt me."

"Looks like you can't eat Seastone."

Lina gently blew a wisp of smoke from the muzzle. "How do you like the taste of my bullet?"

"You... you..." Wapol looked furious and unwilling to give in, but a sudden wave of weakness made him crumple to the ground.

Rumble!!!

As Wapol lost consciousness, the other ship began to come apart. It turned out that his ability had created the parts used to assemble it.

"We didn't even get a chance to loot it."

Lina sat back down in the lounge chair under the parasol and recalled the Chainsaw Devil. Watching the huge ship slowly sink, he sighed. "We'll have to see how much the fish-men can salvage."

The whole little skirmish had lasted only a moment. Seeing that the farce was over, Sanji turned and went back to prepare dinner.

As soon as he opened the rear door to the cabin, he almost bumped into Nami, who was coming out.

"What happened?"

Nami asked in confusion. She had heard quite a commotion and come out to see what was going on, only to spot an enormous ship breaking apart as soon as she arrived.

Nami was instantly dumbfounded. "What the hell?! I only blinked, and you guys did something incredible!"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just some uninvited guests."

Lina's cigarette had just gone out. Without him realizing it, their strength had already reached the point where they could wipe out a pirate crew in the blink of an eye.

The rain gradually eased, and the undead returned to the ship after finishing their salvage.

"That's all?"

Lina looked at the small amount of treasure they had salvaged. Then he remembered that the man was now just a fallen king, and understood.

Lina couldn't even be bothered to look at it. "Might as well give it to Nami..."