Chain Bubble Explosion!

Bubbles—large bubbles emerged one after another from Aaron's hands, swaying as they scattered around him and wrapped him within them.

"...Are you trying to make the enemy laugh themselves to death with those bubbles?" Zoro asked, his face dark.

Most of the bubbles were over half a meter across, full and perfectly round. This wasn't a technique just anyone could pull off; Aaron's skill was impressive, but... weren't they still just bubbles? What could they possibly do? Float up to the enemy and pop in their faces to wash them?! Zoro felt his experience in snark rapidly increasing.

"Just watch quietly!" Aaron shot Zoro an irritated glare before turning his attention back to the approaching soldiers. Sweat gradually beaded on his face and dripped into his collar.

There were three things Aaron loved most in life: making hamburgers, catching jellyfish, and blowing bubbles. Therefore, his three favorite things were: spatulas, bug nets, and bubble solution.

What he hated most was people saying his hamburgers tasted bad, saying he couldn't catch jellyfish, or saying his bubbles were useless.

Well, Zoro had hit Aaron's sore spot. Aaron was extremely unhappy now.

"Stop! There's something strange about this boy!" The lieutenant at the front saw Aaron's actions and hurriedly stopped. With a sweep of his hand, he held back the soldiers behind him. The lieutenant stared intently at Aaron, carefully observing those bubbles.

He had witnessed this kid's strangeness on the rooftop. Even the slashes of Colonel Axe-Hand Morgan, a man of tremendous strength, had done absolutely nothing to him. No... perhaps this kid was immortal!

With that thought, the lieutenant slowly edged toward the nearest bubble. Swallowing hard, he cautiously poked it with his bayonet.

Pop! Naturally, the bubble burst, splashing the lieutenant's face with water and leaving him somewhat dumbfounded.

What happened to the attack? Were they really just ordinary bubbles? Feeling deceived, the lieutenant refused to believe it. He grabbed another bubble and viciously thrust his bayonet forward!

The bayonet plunged deep into the bubble, which then began to tremble violently.

Was it coming? Seeing the bubble's unusual reaction, the lieutenant raised his guard, with a hint of excitement in his heart.

I knew it. There really is something fishy about these bubbles! the lieutenant thought.

The bubble's trembling grew increasingly intense until it quickly reached a critical point.

Boom! The bubble exploded!

This time, it sprayed the lieutenant from head to toe.

Lieutenant: "..."

Soldiers: "..."

Zoro: "..."

"So it's still just water?!" Zoro roared, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"...Charge! Don't use your guns!" The lieutenant's expression shifted uncertainly as he waved his hand and ordered the soldiers to attack.

"Seriously, I never should've expected anything!" Zoro grabbed Aaron and pulled him behind himself, assuming a stance to fight the soldiers. "Damn it, if only I had a sword right now..."

"Why did you pull me behind you?" Aaron looked at Zoro in confusion.

"Shut up, brat! They'll be here any second, so hurry up and find somewhere to hide! Seriously, you got us killed!" Zoro snapped.

"Ah, don't worry, don't worry. They can't get in." Aaron waved him off carelessly.

"What nonsense are you talking about?! You think those few bubbles can stop them?!" Zoro turned and barked, but before he could finish, a rapid series of explosions and screams erupted behind him. Zoro looked over.

The bubbles were still the same bubbles. They would burst when pierced, and water droplets would spray outward when they exploded.

But once there were enough bubbles—

One bubble burst, spraying water droplets that set off the surrounding bubbles. A chain of explosions was completed in an instant.

The power of this wasn't merely the sum of several bubbles—it was their product.

And that wasn't all. The scattered droplets gathered together again, forming new bubbles, and another round of explosions began.

The explosions continued endlessly.

"Yeah, just these few bubbles." Aaron looked at Zoro strangely.

Weren't these bubbles enough? I thought there were already a little too many, Aaron thought.

"Who... exactly are you?" Zoro gaped in shock at the scene before him.

"Me? Didn't I already tell you my name..." Aaron scratched his head, then ran up in front of Zoro and smiled. "My name is Aaron, Aaron Copperfield. I'm going to be a master hamburger chef, a jellyfish catcher, and, um... a bubble-blowing grandmaster!"

Well, he had completely failed to understand what Zoro meant.

Still, the origins of these bubbles were rather impressive.

Back in Foosha Village, Aaron had searched everywhere for bubble solution. Whether he made it himself or asked villagers for some, he could never blow the bubbles he truly wanted. It made Aaron so anxious that he nearly split apart.

Well, split apart in the literal sense.

But then one day—well, the day Sabo went missing—Aaron discovered that he could blow bubbles with his tears!

And they were exactly the bubbles he wanted!

He was so happy that he immediately wailed and cried for three days and three nights, to the point that Luffy and Ace, Sabo's two brothers, came to comfort Aaron and tell him not to be so sad.

There was no helping it. He was simply too loud!

But if Luffy and the others found out Aaron only needed tears to make bubble solution, and wasn't crying over Sabo at all, would they beat him to death?

Later, however, Aaron discovered that there was a limit to how much water he could absorb, and the water that overflowed could also be used to blow bubbles.

Well, based on that, Aaron concluded that his bodily fluids could be used to blow bubbles, not just his tears.

Thus, Aaron finally acquired the bubble solution part of his three-piece set!

Once Aaron, who aspired to become a bubble-blowing master, got his bubble solution, he became unstoppable. This simple bubble formation was merely the foundation of Aaron's bubble-blowing techniques. He later developed many advanced bubble-blowing techniques, but there was no need to go into detail here.

Well, speaking of which, it wasn't Aaron's bubble-blowing technique that was magical... it was his bodily fluids, wasn't it? Did that count as developing his ability too...?

All right, enough idle chatter. Fifteen minutes passed. Zoro looked at the bubbles still exploding and asked Aaron, "Hey, when will the explosions stop?"

"Hmm... they should probably stop after exploding for another hour," Aaron said uncertainly after tilting his head to think.

"An hour?! Those people will have been blown into pieces by then!" Zoro felt like he was about to break down. "Do you have any way to stop the explosions?"

"Just absorb the bubble solution back. It's such a simple thing, and you don't know that?" Aaron looked at Zoro strangely, as though he were looking at an idiot.

"No normal person would think of that! Stop talking and shut the explosions down already!"

Aaron picked at his ear, curled his lip, and walked to the edge of the explosion zone. He extended one index finger and stuck it into the mass of bubbles.

The explosions stopped in an instant. The bubbles that were about to burst, currently bursting, or newly formed all froze, then surged into Aaron's index finger like rivers flowing into the sea. His finger swelled at a visible rate.

Soon, all the bubbles had been absorbed into Aaron's index finger, which had swollen like a water-filled balloon.

At that moment, Aaron pulled a long, narrow empty bottle from his clothes and placed it on the ground. Using his other hand, he squeezed his swollen index finger hard, as though milking a cow. Transparent liquid trickled from his fingertip into the bottle.

"What are you doing?" Zoro walked over to Aaron and asked as he watched him.

"Making bubble solution," Aaron replied as though it were obvious.

"...So this is your ability?" Zoro meant that the bubble solution Aaron used was actually his own bodily fluid.

"Yeah."

"But you only used a little when you blew the bubbles. How did you get a whole bottle after absorbing it back?"

"Bubbles absorb moisture from the air. Isn't that common sense?" Aaron looked at Zoro in surprise.

"...What kind of common sense is that? Have you ever seen bubbles that don't burst in the air, but instead absorb water and grow bigger?!"

"Yes. Mine."

"..."

"Ah, wonderful! Another bottle of bubble solution!" By then, Aaron had finished milking... his bodily fluids, that was. He shook his index finger, tightly capped the bubble solution, tucked it into his clothes, and stood up to look at Zoro. "What do we do next?"

"Let's find my swords first," Zoro said.

"Hey! Zoro! Aaron! You're both here!" At that moment, Luffy's voice came from the distance. Zoro and Aaron looked over to see Luffy approaching quickly with three swords in his hands and a group of gun-wielding soldiers behind him.

"Zoro! Your swords! There are three of them, but I don't know which ones are yours!" With that, Luffy threw the swords over.

"All three are mine. Couldn't you throw them a little more accurately?" Zoro leaped up and caught the swords, gripping two in his hands and holding one in his mouth. He assumed a stance and looked at the pursuers behind Luffy, flashing a savage grin.

"Now, let me show you what I can do!"

The soldiers suddenly stopped and swept their eyes across their fallen comrades. "Damn it, could they all have..." The ensign at the front clenched his teeth at the hellish scene. "Release the safeties! Load the rounds!"

Click!

The rounds were chambered, and the soldiers aimed at Luffy and the other two.

"Fire!"

Three-Sword Style, Dragon Twister!