Bubble Man No. 1

The villagers of Warship Island all ran out of their homes. Looking at the fleet of warships slowly approaching in the distance, fear showed on their faces.

"What are the Marines doing here?" The Straw Hat crew also emerged from the village chief's house. Nami watched the line of warships in the distance and asked in confusion.

"This is bad! They must be here for Dragon Lord!" Apis said nervously.

"For Dragon Lord? Why?" Luffy asked.

"Because legend says Thousand-Year Dragon bones can be used to make an elixir of immortality!" Apis answered, then turned to look into the distance. "No! We have to go to Dragon Lord!"

"Shishishi! All right, Usopp! Get out here, we're leaving!" Luffy shouted into the house.

"Uh... sorry, Usopp!" Hearing Luffy's call, Aaron looked at the unconscious Usopp on the ground. He first bowed to him, then stepped forward and held out a finger toward Usopp's head. Slowly, a drop of liquid seeped from Aaron's hand and fell onto Usopp.

Bang!

"Urgh!" The violent jolt in his head made Usopp's eyes fly open. He sat straight up and shook his head, feeling dizzy. Turning to Aaron, who was secretly absorbing water nearby, he asked, "Aaron, what happened to me? Why does it feel like something blew me up just now?"

"I don't know either. Maybe your bag of tricks suddenly exploded?" Aaron said casually. Then he hurriedly grabbed Usopp's hand. "Come on, come on! Luffy wants us outside!"

Hmm... Aaron had clearly trained his ability to lie through his teeth.

"Uh..." Usopp and the others stared at the creature before them, their faces filled with disbelief.

"This is the village chief's Thousand-Year Dragon," Nami explained briefly.

"How is it?! Isn't it amazing?!" Luffy asked loudly, his expression full of pride.

"It's not even yours, so what the hell are you proud of..." Nami rolled her eyes, then looked at everyone. "What I wanted to discuss is taking the Thousand-Year Dragon back to Lost Island."

When Usopp heard that Nami wanted to send the Thousand-Year Dragon back to Lost Island, he anxiously objected. "Wh-wh-wh-what are you saying?! The Marines are already here, and we don't even know whether we can escape ourselves, yet you..." "Ah! Wo, what are you doing now?!"

Before he could finish, Aaron's cry drew everyone's attention to Wo.

Wo casually jumped out of Aaron's pocket as though no one else was there. He raised his head toward Dragon Lord and shouted, "Meow!"

"Roar!" Dragon Lord, who had been lying there like a salted fish, actually roared in response to Wo's cry.

"Meow!" "Roar!" "Meow!" "Roar!"

"Are they... communicating?!" Nami was stunned by Wo's behavior. Then she turned to Apis. "Apis, do you know what they're saying?"

"No." Apis shook her head, her eyes full of confusion as she looked at Wo. "I can't understand their conversation at all."

"What? Aren't you the user of the Whisper-Whisper Fruit? How can you not understand them?"

"Maybe it's because of that Den Den Mushi..." Apis recalled how she had been unable to hear Wo's thoughts before and answered uncertainly.

"Can't we just ask Dragon Lord after they're done talking?" Aaron said.

"True..." Apis nodded.

The two conversed for around two or three minutes. Dragon Lord closed his mouth, and Wo turned back, slowly crawling step by step onto... Apis's shoulder. Then he withdrew into his shell and stuck firmly to her shoulder.

"Uh... Wo, aren't you in the wrong place?" Aaron looked helplessly at Wo on Apis's shoulder and opened his pocket. "This is where you're supposed to be."

"..." After quite a while, Wo finally poked his head out. He gave Aaron an impatient cry. "Meow!"

Then he tucked his head back into his shell. No matter how Aaron called for him, he refused to come out.

"Honestly..." Aaron scratched his head and could only give up for now. Looking at Apis, he asked, "Apis, can Wo stay with you for now?"

"No problem. Then I'll ask Dragon Lord what he and Wo were talking about." Apis nodded, then fixed her gaze on Dragon Lord.

After a long while, she looked at everyone helplessly. "No good. Dragon Lord's dementia is acting up. He's already forgotten what he was saying just now..."

"I knew it wouldn't go that smoothly." Nami rubbed her forehead, then looked at Luffy. "Animals have migratory instincts. If we take Dragon Lord with us, I think he should still remember something about Lost Island."

"All right! Then we'll take Dragon Lord!" Luffy nodded.

"But how are we supposed to take him, Luffy? We're at the top of a mountain, and Dragon Lord is so huge. There's no way we can bring him down!" Usopp jumped out with a question.

"That really is a problem..." Hearing Usopp, Nami bit her lip and frowned as she thought hard.

"I can carry Dragon Lord down," Aaron suddenly said. Seeing everyone turn toward him, he repeated, "I can carry Dragon Lord down."

"Aaron, are you sure?" Usopp asked. "Dragon Lord is this big!" He spread his arms dramatically. "You definitely can't carry him on your back!"

"Who said I was going to carry him?" Aaron rolled his eyes. He walked up to Dragon Lord and held out one finger. After thinking for a moment, he pulled it back and took out a bottle of bubble liquid from his clothes.

It had been a long time since he had seriously blown a bubble.

Whoosh!

Aaron pressed his hand, covered in bubble liquid, to his lips and blew with all his strength.

The bubble expanded like an inflating balloon, gradually enclosing Dragon Lord within it. The immense buoyancy lifted Dragon Lord slightly into the air.

Then Aaron carefully kicked the bubble, pushing Dragon Lord out of the cave. After that, Aaron pressed his palms together. Once bodily fluid seeped out from them, he rubbed his hands for a while, puffed out his cheeks, and blew fiercely.

Whoosh!

A massive bubble took shape. Aaron released his hands, and the bubble swelled in the wind. As it continued growing, the bubble itself underwent a strange transformation.

The spherical bubble stretched and lengthened. The section near the ground split into two downward branches, while two long, strip-shaped bubbles extended from its middle, stopping only when they reached one-third the length of the main body.

"Doesn't that solve it?" Aaron looked at his creation with satisfaction, then turned back smugly toward the dumbfounded crowd.

"Wow!!" Luffy looked up at the bubble Aaron had blown, stars continuously sparkling in his eyes. "That's amazing!!"

"This kid..." Sanji and Roronoa Zoro also looked up in shock. "Who knew he had a trick like this?"

"A... a Bubble Giant!" Usopp covered his face and shouted.

That was right. This time, Aaron had blown a Bubble Man.

It stood around fifteen meters tall, with arms five meters long. Refracting the sunlight, it seemed to shimmer with seven-colored light. Simply standing there in silence, it gave off an immense sense of pressure.

"I call it Bubble Man No. 1~" Aaron rubbed his nose and said proudly. "This should be able to carry Dragon Lord down, right?"

"...Yes, this actually should work." Nami struggled to close her mouth, then looked down over the entire island. "Aaron, take Dragon Lord to that cape. We'll sail over and pick you up later!" As she spoke, she pointed toward the cape directly below.

"Oh, okay!" Aaron nodded.

After watching Nami and the others walk away, Aaron raised his head and grinned at Bubble Man No. 1. "Bubble Man No. 1, shall we go?"

Bubble Man No. 1 fell silent for several seconds after hearing Aaron's words. Then it slowly nodded, bent down, and placed its right hand on the ground. Aaron jumped onto it without hesitation.

Once Aaron had climbed aboard, Bubble Man No. 1 slowly placed him on top of its head—because it had no shoulders. Then it picked up the giant bubble containing Dragon Lord and began jumping down the mountain step by step.

Hmm... everyone could probably tell by now.

That's right, Bubble Man No. 1 was not an ordinary bubble.

It was a bubble with thoughts!

Hmm, its exact method of birth was unknown. In any case, it had come into existence due to a series of strange coincidences.

And since there was a No. 1, there would naturally be Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Every Bubble Man had its own unique ability.

As for how many there were exactly...

Hmm... Aaron had not decided yet.

Since their bodies were supplied by Aaron's bodily fluids, he normally kept them contained inside his body and only summoned them when he needed them.

Bubble Man No. 1 held Dragon Lord's huge bubble and hopped merrily down the island.

Because it had no knees.

"Ah... Bubble Man No. 1 really is the most useful." Aaron lay comfortably on Bubble Man No. 1's smooth head and let out a long sigh.

It was not just because Bubble Man No. 1's abilities were useful here, but also because Bubble Man No. 1 was relatively quiet!

The Bubble Men were formed from Aaron's bodily fluids, so Aaron had absolute control over them. Their bodies, thoughts, abilities—everything belonged to Aaron. Or rather, the Bubble Men's existence might simply have been a manifestation of Aaron's power.

Hmm... that was why Aaron did not want to summon the other Bubble Men.

Every last one of them was annoying as hell!

Who knew why their minds were so active?!

Just as Aaron was lost in thought, Bubble Man No. 1 suddenly stopped. While Aaron was still confused, a heavy voice suddenly rang in his mind. "Someone... is blocking the way."

"Hand over the Thousand-Year Dragon!" Erik shouted arrogantly from below Bubble Man No. 1.

"Ah! It's you!" Aaron poked his head out and discovered it was the man who had split his head in two aboard the warship. "Sorry, sir, but I can't hand Dragon Lord over to you."

"It's you, brat! Where did my Seastone go? Hand over my Seastone and the Thousand-Year Dragon!" Erik looked up, recognized Aaron, and pointed at his head as he cursed. At the same time, his wrist began twitching wildly before suddenly flicking outward.

Psh!

A whirlwind sliced an opening into Bubble Man No. 1's body. Bubble liquid splashed through the air and rapidly expanded into bubbles that scattered in every direction. Upon touching the opening, they clung tightly to it and began multiplying wildly, eventually filling the gap completely.

Seeing this, Erik snorted coldly. "Hmph, let's see how many times you can repair yourself!" As he spoke, both hands began twitching wildly. He kept flicking them upward, and blade-like gusts continuously tore through Bubble Man No. 1's body, only for the damage to be repaired again and again.

"...What should we do? I'm about to be unable to hold on," Bubble Man No. 1 asked Aaron calmly.

"Uh..." Aaron frowned and thought for a while. "No choice. Go for it."

"...Go? Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Aaron nodded. "Go!"

"...Understood." After agreeing, Bubble Man No. 1 said no more.

Then Bubble Man No. 1 leaped forcefully upward. The bubbles beneath its feet suddenly fell away, scattering through the air and bursting apart. The force propelled Bubble Man No. 1 higher and higher. Before long, it reached a suitable altitude. Bubble Man No. 1 adjusted its direction slightly and flew down toward the island's base.

"...Hmph!" Erik looked up at Bubble Man No. 1, his expression extremely ugly. "You won't escape!"

"In about one minute, I won't be able to hold the bubble in my hands anymore," Bubble Man No. 1 said calmly. By now, both its feet had been completely consumed, and its body was nearly dispersed up to its arms.

"Wait a little longer!" Aaron stared intently at the sea. When he saw the Going Merry sailing toward them, he said decisively, "Bubble Man No. 1, fly toward that ship!"

"Okay!" Bubble Man No. 1 answered briefly. The bubbles behind it began dissipating faster, and it flew toward the Going Merry at even greater speed.

"Luffy, how are we supposed to catch Aaron? Dragon Lord is so huge. I don't know if our ship can even hold him," Usopp said worriedly.

"We'll figure it out when we get there," Luffy said without concern. He casually looked up. "Huh? What's that?"

"What, what?" Hearing Luffy, Usopp lowered the scope attached to his hat and adjusted the focus before looking over. "That's Bubble Man No. 1! He's coming this way!!"

"Ah, Aaron really found a way." Luffy laughed.

"Idiot! If he crashes into the Going Merry at that speed, he'll sink the Going Merry!" Usopp cursed.

"What?!" Luffy looked seriously at Usopp. Then the two of them looked toward Aaron together and shouted.

"Stopppppp!"

"Preparing to land..." Bubble Man No. 1 said.

"Okay!" Aaron placed both hands on Bubble Man No. 1's head.

Suck!

As Bubble Man No. 1 neared the Going Merry, Aaron suddenly inhaled sharply and absorbed Bubble Man No. 1 into his body. Bubble Man No. 1 and the bubble containing Dragon Lord vanished in an instant, but the momentum still carried Aaron and Dragon Lord toward the Going Merry, just barely scraping across its deck.

Thud!

The sudden added weight nearly capsized the Going Merry.

"Safe landing!" Aaron laughed, standing with his hands on his hips.

"Safe landing, my ass!" Nami rushed over and punched Aaron to the ground. "You scared me half to death!"

"Bwahahaha! That was fun, Nami!" Luffy laughed. Then he looked at everyone. "All right! Let's search for Lost Island!"

"Yeah!" everyone shouted.

"Yeah, my ass! We haven't even escaped the Marine encirclement yet!" Nami snapped.

And after seeing Dragon Lord, the Marines charged toward the Going Merry as if they had been injected with stimulants. The encirclement formed at a visibly rapid pace.

"This is going to be troublesome..." Nami looked around, her face grave.