Encounter with the Celestial Dragons

The Skybreaker sailed slowly across the sea. After learning the location of the Tribacana Kingdom, Lott had set off in that direction.

According to the news, the Celestial Dragons would take nearly another half month to reach the Tribacana Kingdom. Lott was in no hurry to get there. He merely applied a little electromagnetic force to the ship, letting it advance slowly.

Clink, clink.

Clang, clang.

Lott sat in a lounge chair on the lawn, leisurely drinking the banana juice Ling'er had prepared.

He watched Zoro swing an enormous barbell.

The barbell swept through the air, stirring breezes that ruffled Lott's hair.

Watching Zoro train his body at every moment left Lott feeling rather reflective. He had read the manga before and knew Zoro was the hardworking kind of genius. Back aboard the Straw Hat Pirates' ship, he had constantly worked to improve his strength.

Though he could not compare to the cheat-like Luffy, he still counted as a genius in the pirate world as a whole.

In fact, Lott was also training every moment, activating his Devil Fruit powers to stimulate every cell with electromagnetic force. The improvement was even more effective than Zoro's training.

Ling'er was very clever. Apart from cooking, she spent practically all her time in the training room and gravity room.

She knew her captain was someone who would do great things, so he had to be of help when the captain needed him.

After finishing his banana juice, Lott stood and walked over to Zoro.

"Moss... pfft, Zoro, training like this is really slow."

Zoro turned to look at Lott, but the barbell in his hands never stopped moving.

"Hey, you were about to call me Moss Head, weren't you? Who are you calling Moss Head?" As he spoke, Zoro swung the barbell at Lott like a weapon.

"Armament Haki Hardening!" In an instant, Lott's fist turned black, blocking in front of him.

A single clang rang out.

With nothing but his fist, Lott easily blocked the steel barbell.

Zoro was a little stunned. He had clearly heard the sound of steel colliding.

He brought the barbell before his eyes and examined it. A fist imprint stood out on its surface.

"What's this?"

Zoro looked at Lott suspiciously, his expression clearly saying that this had to be a Devil Fruit ability.

How could Lott not know what Zoro was thinking? He rolled his eyes and said, "This isn't a Devil Fruit ability. It's called Haki, a power everyone can use."

Hearing Lott's words, Zoro could not help looking at the fist imprint on the barbell again.

He could not help feeling shocked. You're telling me this is a power everyone has? Then why the hell am I even training?

Zoro's voice was noticeably trembling. "Y-you're saying this is a power everyone can use?"

Somewhat disbelieving, he pointed at the red-haired girl nearby. "Can she use it too?"

Ling'er had been watering the flowers nearby, never expecting the conversation to turn to her.

Ling'er turned into a mass of flames and came to Zoro's side. "Of course I can, though mine isn't as powerful as the captain's."

She simply said, "Armament Haki Hardening," and her right fist turned black too.

Zoro found it hard to believe.

Lott continued, "You know Ling'er is a Devil Fruit User, right? And that her ability comes from the Logia Flame-Flame Fruit."

"Ling'er, try turning into flames."

At Lott's words, Ling'er obediently turned into a mass of flames.

"Zoro, reach out and try grabbing her."

Seeing Lott's gesture, Zoro looked at him as though he were an idiot. "You idiot, how am I supposed to grab something that hot?"

Lott said nothing. Instead, he reached out and easily caught a wisp of flame, which actually turned into Ling'er's arm in his hand.

"This is another use of Armament Haki."

With that, Lott released Ling'er's arm, and she changed from flames back into human form.

Lott continued, "Zoro, when Ling'er turns into flames, there's nothing you can do to him, right?"

Zoro replied rather helplessly, "So what if there isn't?"

"You saw me grab the flames just now, right?"

Recalling the sight of Lott grabbing the flames, Zoro nodded thoughtfully.

"This is another use of Armament Haki. It lets you grab and even attack Logia Devil Fruit Users."

Zoro seemed to understand something and fell into thought.

"Haki is an essential step on the path to becoming strong. That Hawkeye you mentioned-I've never met him, but he definitely knows Haki. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the World's Greatest Swordsman."

"He knows it too?" Zoro tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

"Not just him. Everyone of note in the world knows it, and they're quite accomplished at it."

"Captain Lott, please teach me this too." Zoro stared at Lott with burning eyes.

For a moment, Lott felt that gaze practically rivaled the way those creeps in his previous life looked at beautiful women. "Moss Head, you're showing a lack of faith in your own captain."

"Who are you calling Moss Head?!" Hearing Lott call him Moss Head, Zoro instantly flared up again.

A month later.

The Skybreaker was still heading toward the Tribacana Kingdom.

"Hey, there's a ship up ahead."

Zoro's voice came from the lookout room on the mast.

Zoro had asked Lott to turn the lookout room up there into a gravity room too, so he could watch for enemies without interrupting his training.

Lott had gladly accepted the suggestion and set the gravity up there to twenty times normal.

Lott looked ahead. Sure enough, a ship was approaching from the direction of their bow. On taking a closer look at the flag on its mast, he saw that it bore the World Government's emblem.

Presumably, this was the Celestial Dragons' ship returning from the Tribacana Kingdom.

[Ding. Choice triggered:

A: Kill the Celestial Dragons. Rewards: Supreme Grade Great Grade Sword "Flowing Light," Devil Fruit Side Effect Removal Card ×1, Logia Cloud-Cloud Fruit, 200 million Beli.

B: Flee quickly before the Celestial Dragons notice. Reward: "A pair of High-Speed Escape Shoes."

C: Kneel before the Celestial Dragons and become their mount. Reward: "Shame of the Transmigrator" title.]

What a joke! As a transmigrator, there really wasn't much in this world worth Lott's fear.

I choose A!

"Everyone, our target has appeared."

With that, Lott activated Super Mantra. Sensing several powerful electromagnetic waves aboard the ship, he frowned slightly.

By then, Zoro and Ling'er had also come to the bow.

"Captain, is that the Celestial Dragons' ship?" Ling'er brushed aside the red hair at the tip of her ear, looking quite casual.

Her expression suggested that she paid no mind at all to the ship before them.

"So that's the Celestial Dragons' ship? I wonder if there are any Celestial Dragons aboard." As he spoke, Zoro rested his left hand on his sword hilt.

During this time, Lott had told Zoro quite a bit about the Celestial Dragons. When they were mentioned, a trace of disgust inevitably appeared in his eyes.

Lott nodded and replied, "There should be two Celestial Dragons aboard. My Observation Haki picked up two remarkably weak people surrounded by a crowd. Everyone around them is stronger than those two. Presumably, those are the Celestial Dragons."

"Can you sense where the slaves are?" Ling'er asked anxiously. After all, he had once nearly become a captive too. She felt a natural sympathy for those who were persecuted, especially since there were reportedly more than twenty young girls.

For now, her Observation Haki still allowed her to sense things in such detail.

"Let's go take a look!" With that, Lott pressed his right hand onto Zoro's shoulder.

"Electromagnetic Ejection." In an instant, Zoro became a streak of light almost invisible to the naked eye, flying toward the Celestial Dragons' ship.

Zoro's voice drifted faintly through the air. "Lott, I~will~definitely~cut~you~down!"

"Let's go!" After speaking to Ling'er beside him, Lott vanished instantly as well.

"Who are you? Stop right there!" A man in a dark suit pointed at the three of them.

Zoro ignored him and instead held Wado Ichimonji against Lott's neck. "You bastard, I'm definitely going to cut you down!"

"Hey, hey, hey, let's deal with what's in front of us first." Lott raised both hands in surrender.

He remembered reading the manga in his previous life, when everyone aboard the ship frequently suffered because of Luffy, with Zoro getting the worst of it. To think he still couldn't escape that fate even with a different captain.

Even Lott could not help feeling a little sorry for him.

"I told you to get lost! Can't you see this is a World Government ship?" Seeing no response from Lott and the others, the suited man barked again.

"Hey, you're a little noisy." With that, a red gleam flashed in Lott's eyes, and an invisible wave of pressure spread outward from him.

The Marines aboard the ship all collapsed like wheat cut down by a scythe.

"Ooh, scary. As expected of a ship belonging to those Celestial Pigs. Their strength really is terrifying." Checking with his Observation Haki, he found that two people had actually barely withstood the Conqueror's Haki he had just unleashed.

Of course, he had deliberately spared the two pitifully weak Celestial Dragons.

Zoro looked at Lott in astonishment. So this is Conqueror's Haki? It really is terrifying.

Ling'er had seen it more than once already, so her expression was very calm. "Hey, hey, hey, Lott, at least leave a few for the two of us to practice on."

"Don't worry. There's exactly one for each of you."