No Need to Thank Me

Time passed leisurely. Duen enjoyed himself in the village, and Ace and Luffy had already come to regard him as a friend. After all, food like dumplings held an irresistible appeal for the two of them.

In Luffy's words, "I ate your dumplings, so you're my friend now!"

Of course, it was not just about the dumplings. There was also recognition of his strength. Ace had constantly tried to challenge Duen, but every attempt ended in defeat. In the end, he had no choice but to admit that Duen was indeed just a tiny bit stronger than him.

Besides Ace, Luffy had eagerly volunteered to spar with Duen as well, yet he had not won a single match either. Only after battling the two brothers for an entire morning did they finally stop. Through those fights, Duen continued to ponder the abilities of his Devil Fruit and the direction of his swordsmanship training.

Although he had only obtained a fragment of the Devil Fruit's power and mastered only one ability from it, [Phantom Mirror], unlike other Devil Fruit users, he did not need to train in order to increase the Nightmare Fruit's upper limit. What he needed to do was understand what abilities he could develop within the conditions permitted by the Devil Fruit.

The power of [Phantom Mirror] leaned more toward "illusion." It used nightmares to create illusions and confuse opponents, but its drawback was equally obvious: it could not inflict tangible physical damage like Conqueror's Haki.

Still, crowd control abilities were often the most practical. In competitive games, a hero with control skills—especially one capable of landing group control—was usually the easiest to get banned.

Just imagine it: Duen had control skills while also being a high-damage swordsman. That was like Sven in Da suddenly having an extra hammer skill, or Riven in LL gaining Sejuani's ultimate.

It was still that seaside slope, and still Ace, Luffy, Duen, and Nami.

The mountain breeze should have swept across the blanket-like grass, turning it into beautiful rolling waves. Yet accompanied by a very strange sound, the scene now had no charm whatsoever.

"Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft..."

Only thirteen years old, Luffy sat cross-legged on the grass with a slice of watermelon in hand. His pale cheeks, faintly flushed red, wore a vacant expression. With his lips slightly pursed, he fired black watermelon seeds mixed with saliva out like a machine gun, sending them in arcs into the ocean before him.

On the other side of the slope.

Duen leaned back calmly and said, "No, no, Nami. You should say, 'Great Lord Duen, please enjoy my lap pillow.'"

Negative emotion points from Nami +...

A cross-shaped vein bulged on Nami's forehead as she made a chilling sound. "Who would say something only a third-rate woman would say? Don't treat me like some roadside service that costs ten thousand Beli a session..."

"Is that so..." Duen took out a stack of Beli that glimmered beneath the sunlight. "This money really does look beautiful..."

Nami immediately pressed Duen's head onto her lap, snatched the stack of Beli from his hand, and said, "Great Lord Duen, please enjoy my lap pillow!"

"Tch, a woman with no principles at all..." Duen pointed at his face. "Give me a full facial massage."

"Lord Duen, special services cost extra~~" Nami bent down and blew hot breath into his ear.

"Don't mention money to me. So vulgar." Duen put on the air of a wealthy tycoon and pulled out another stack of Beli.

Nami happily took the Beli and gently began massaging Duen's temples. "How's the pressure? Is it okay?"

"Passable... Slightly worse than those third-rate roadside women."

Negative emotion points from Nami +...

Nami's face darkened, cold light flashing in her eyes as she increased the pressure in her hands. "Is that so..."

"Mmm... mmm... mmm..." Duen let out muffled sounds that were half agony and half enjoyment. For some reason, it felt strangely like he was getting cupping therapy.

Elsewhere...

Having finished spitting out watermelon seeds, Luffy puffed out his cheeks and boredly blew air from his mouth like a fish releasing bubbles. At last, he could not sit still anymore. He stood up and shouted in frustration, "It's been so long already! Why hasn't a single fish taken the bait?!"

Ace lay on the grass with his eyes closed, looking perfectly calm. "Luffy, fishing requires patience. The more impatient you are, the harder it is to catch a big fish."

This was what had happened: at Duen's suggestion, Ace and Luffy had immediately accepted fishing as a leisurely activity.

Filled with novelty and enthusiasm, the two had made three extremely sturdy fishing rods from wooden sticks and rope. They lowered baited hooks into the water, planted the ends of the rods in the ground some distance apart, and fished until now. Along the way, they had also swiped what seemed to be unripe watermelons from the village fields to quench their thirst.

So they were not slacking off. They were enjoying a warm, breezy day of fishing, as well as an intense and thrilling fishing competition.

Yet they had finished an entire watermelon, and the three rods stuck in the ground had not moved in the slightest.

"Could the bait have already been eaten?" Duen asked absentmindedly.

The speaker had not meant anything by it, but the listener took it to heart.

Luffy hurried over to inspect the fishing rods. He picked up the first one and gave it a shake. The sea showed no reaction at all, so he shouted, "Ace, the bait's still there!"

Although Ace had begun to lose interest in such a boring activity, he still replied so as not to dampen Luffy's enthusiasm, "Then check the next one. Maybe it'll have something."

"Okay!" Luffy answered. He quickly put the first rod back, walked over to pick up the second, gave it a shake as well, and shouted again, "Ace, this one doesn't have anything either!"

"Then it must be the next one."

Luffy eagerly ran to the third fishing rod, gave it a shake, and opened his mouth. "A..." Only that one syllable had left his lips when he felt an enormous force tugging at the rod. His face instantly filled with excitement, and he tightened his grip as he thought, It must be a huge fish! Once I reel it in, Ace will definitely be shocked!

"How is it, Luffy? If you can't catch one, just wait patiently. Something will bite eventually." Ace had not held much hope that they would catch a fish, but after not hearing Luffy answer for a while, he opened his eyes and looked toward the slope. He immediately jumped to his feet in alarm.

Luffy was pulling desperately on the rod, leaning his entire body backward with gritted teeth as though playing tug-of-war. But it was completely useless. The unknown creature hooked on the line kept dragging him forward. Sweat covered his face as he forced out a few words, "A...ce... help... me...!"

"Luffy, let go!!" Ace charged toward Luffy at full speed without hesitation, shouting anxiously. But he was far too far from Luffy at the third fishing rod, and even with all his strength, he could not reach him in an instant.

Although Luffy heard Ace's words, he only gripped the rod tighter and refused to let go. He was dragged forward again and again, and with less than a meter left before the cliff edge, he was almost certain to fall into the sea the next moment.

At that heart-stopping moment, a figure rushed in from the side. After a running start, he leaped high into the air and nearly raised his leg to a ninety-degree angle before delivering a heavy kick to Luffy's side. Luffy was sent flying like a cannonball dozens of meters away, crashing into the forest and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The fishing rod fell into the sea and was completely swallowed by the rolling waves.

"Whew..." Duen wiped away nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead. "That was close. I saved his life..."

"..."

After several seconds of silence, Ace roared furiously, "You were clearly trying to kill him, you idiot!!"

Negative emotion points from Portgas D. Ace +866...

Duen waved a hand nonchalantly. "It's fine. He'll thank me."

"Thanks..." Luffy's voice came from the forest.