Chapter 41 / Chapter 42

Pato tossed out the Transformation Leaf. With a pop, a cloud of white smoke appeared.

A figure instantly emerged, looking exactly like Burgess.

"Anyone want a fight? Wi-hahahaha..."

Burgess raised both arms high, looking utterly arrogant as he faced the people before him.

Looking at his perfect double, Burgess couldn't help marveling. "Every time I see this, it feels unbelievable."

"Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits really are incredible. They can even conjure up people."

Lafitte adjusted his top hat with a courteous air. "The most important thing is that the person created can use the original's abilities."

"That's what makes it so terrifying!"

Law nodded in agreement. "If Pato recreated the Captain, who could possibly stand a chance against it?"

Honey Queen smiled. "But that isn't possible."

"Chris is far too strong for Pato to recreate. Not unless the little one keeps improving its mental strength."

Belo Betty exhaled a mouthful of smoke, as calm and composed as ever.

As it turned out, although Pato could use the Transformation Leaf to recreate someone, doing so consumed mental energy.

The stronger the person it created, the more mental energy Pato had to expend.

It had tried recreating Chris before, but when it threw out the Transformation Leaf and the white smoke rose...

"Chris" never appeared, and the smoke instantly dissipated.

"This is fun! So much fun! It's such a blast! Horo-horo-horo..."

Perona flew back and forth through the air, her laughter ringing like silver bells. She was delighted.

"I'm done playing. I'm going fishing! Hee-hee-hee~~"

As soon as Pato finished speaking, there was a pop and a puff of smoke. Burgess vanished as though he had never been there.

Just then, whoosh...

Two figures suddenly appeared on the deck.

"Reiju, introduce yourself to everyone."

With that, Chris headed straight for the Training Room.

Although he had a very good impression of Reiju, he wouldn't let her interfere with his training.

To Chris, strength was what mattered. Everything else came second.

(Dear readers, some of you said you really liked the beautiful Reiju, so I wrote a little more about her. Consider it doing justice to this gentle, lovely beauty. As for that Supernova, he'll appear later ︿(￣︶￣)︿.)

Chapter 41

A woman had arrived.

Was she a new crewmate?

"Another woman. How boring."

Burgess had never been interested in women. He shook his head and walked off to the side.

Doc Q looked at Reiju with an eerie smile. "The Captain likes women. That's understandable."

Law glanced at Doc Q and said coldly, "We all know what kind of man the Captain is. Does he care about anything besides training?"

Lafitte nodded in agreement. "That's what I think, too."

Then he twirled his cane and politely addressed Reiju. "Hello, and welcome to the Chris Pirates. I'm this crew's First Mate, Lafitte."

"If I could have a few minutes of your time, I'll explain how things work aboard this ship."

Baccarat waved a hand, her brows curving as she smiled. "Lafitte, we're all women here. Just leave this to us."

Honey Queen nodded in agreement. "That's right. Go about your business. We can handle this ourselves."

Perona flew around Reiju, curiosity written all over her little face.

"Your eyebrows are so strange. They're curled! This princess has never seen anything like them. Horo-horo-horo..."

Feeling everyone's warmth, Reiju gave a gentle smile and spoke with easy grace. "You've misunderstood. I'm not a new crewmate."

"I'm a member of the Vinsmoke Family, here to oversee cooperation between our two sides."

"I hope you'll look after me in the days ahead. Thank you!"

She wasn't a new member?

Everyone froze for a moment, unsure how to react.

"Since the Captain brought you aboard, it's not our place to say anything. In any case, you're very welcome here."

Lafitte smiled at Reiju, then walked off to the side.

Law and the others asked no further questions and went their separate ways.

After all, Chris surely had his reasons for doing this. It wasn't their place to pry, so keeping quiet was best.

"Reiju, let's chat in the Training Room."

Baccarat looked at her with a lovely smile. "When we have nothing to do, we stay in the Training Room and watch Chris train to pass the time."

Belo Betty took a drag of her cigarette and said casually, "Let's talk over there. I'm pretty curious about this cooperation business."

They were going to watch Chris train.

At that, Reiju's eyes lit up, her interest instantly piqued. She smiled sweetly. "Sure, let's go together. It'll be a good chance to learn more about Chris."

"He's very strong, and he seems so mysterious to me. This is the perfect chance to see how he trains."

Honey Queen walked ahead, explaining with a smile, "He's the hardest-working person on this ship."

"Every day, all he does is train and train some more. He has absolutely no interest in anything else."

"He's a total training fanatic!"

Baccarat looked at Reiju with a charming smile. "That's because strength rules aboard this ship. Everything comes down to how strong you are."

"If Chris doesn't work hard, someone else will take his place as Captain one day."

By then, they had reached the Training Room's entrance and filed inside.

The first thing they saw was a figure up ahead, swinging a large blood-red blade.

Reiju looked around the Training Room and found it well equipped.

Barbells, punching bags, huge rocks...

"Chris is practicing his swordwork. He has a task he completes every day."

Honey Queen sat down and explained to Reiju with a small smile, "He swings his sword ten thousand times. That's the goal he set for himself."

Belo Betty leaned back in her chair with her legs crossed, looking calm and composed.

"That alone tells you his swordsmanship must be incredibly strong."

"He just never shows it. He's been hiding his strength all along."

Perona fluttered through the air and quickly chimed in. "He's not just hiding his swordsmanship. Chris's physical arts are super strong, too."

"Didn't you say last time that Chris had developed several really powerful techniques?"

"Morning Peacock, Daytime Tiger, Evening Elephant, and what was the other one?" Perona knitted her delicate brows in frustration. "I can't remember. I know there was one more."

Baccarat smoothed her dark red hair and said with a smile, "Night Guy, right?"

"Chris said he named those physical arts techniques after the times of day."

"Morning, daytime, evening, and night. Exactly one whole day."

Perona's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly. "That's right! That was it! Horo-horo-horo~~"

As Reiju listened to their conversation, she grew more and more astonished, her gaze fixed on Chris.

She was utterly in awe of him!

"He knows swordsmanship and physical arts, and he's also a Devil Fruit User."

Reiju looked at the women, her eyes shining as she said admiringly, "I've never heard of anyone with such a complete range of combat abilities."

"If you hadn't told me, I honestly wouldn't have believed such a powerful man existed in this world."

Honey Queen nodded and added with feeling, "That's why he's destined to change this world. It's inevitable."

Belo Betty tossed away her cigarette butt and said calmly, "How could anyone establish themselves in the New World without enough strength? It's really not surprising when you think about it."

Baccarat gave Reiju a gentle smile. "Anyway, as long as you're aboard this ship, you'll gradually get to know Chris and understand what kind of person he is."

"Oh, there's something I'd like to ask."

A question suddenly occurred to Reiju, and she looked at them curiously. "How strong is Chris right now? Has he ever mentioned it?"

She had wanted to ask this earlier, but had felt too awkward to bring it up with Chris.

Now that she saw how approachable these women were, she had the perfect opportunity to ask.

"I know! I know..."

Perona flew up in front of Reiju and said with a grin, "Chris told us. Right now, he's at Admiral level~~"

(Dear readers, this chapter gives you some details about Chris. I hadn't written much about his situation before, so I mentioned it here to give you an idea of his overall strength (*￣︶￣).)

Chapter 42

"What?!"

Reiju's beautiful eyes instantly widened, shock covering her stunning face.

An Admiral—that was the Navy's greatest fighting force.

An invincible existence!

Chris had already reached that level? How was that possible?

Yes, Reiju acknowledged that Chris was strong. Extremely strong.

But she had never imagined he could be strong to this extent.

"Chris really is that strong."

Belo Betty glanced at Reiju and said calmly, "He may be young, but he trains incredibly hard. He works that hard every day and every night."

"So it's not really that hard to accept that he's this powerful."

Honey Queen looked toward Chris, a smile appearing on her lovely face. "Come to think of it, he seems to have grown a little taller."

"He used to be... centimeters, and now he's already 185. I expect he'll keep growing by the time we enter the Grand Line."

Baccarat gathered her hair, looking elegant and refined. "He's only nineteen. He's still growing, so isn't it perfectly normal for him to get taller?"

Reiju said nothing more. She gazed at the man ahead of her, admiration in her eyes.

He was so young, yet already possessed such immense strength.

Reiju was truly curious about Chris's future. She wanted to see just how far he would go.

The Shichibukai would definitely not be his final destination!

The Calm Belt, at Amazon Lily's harbor.

The sky was a pristine blue, dotted with white clouds beneath the brilliant sunshine.

It was truly a perfect day to go out.

"Who put a cat in my path?!"

Hancock lashed out with her right foot, kicking a white cat aside.