"Treasure! Treasure! Treasure!"
Luffy and his trio cheered around a wooden barrel adorned with a flag that had just been salvaged.
Meanwhile, Xia Chen, standing to the side, couldn't help but twitch his lips as he looked at this thing.
The reason for this lies in the first five characters of the banner. "Sea God's Imperial Treasure."
Of course he knew what it was, but the problem was that knowing it made it seem a bit far-fetched; it felt like the plot was falling apart.
That's right, this is the very thing Moria used to find prey in the Devil's Sea.
Theoretically speaking, given Moria's personality, he would never wander around unless there's a reason, so... are they the ones running around now?
Have they arrived at the Devil's Sea?
Can anyone tell him why flying directly down from the Sky Island ended up here?
He's not Sister Li!
But at this point, none of that matters anymore; it doesn't make much difference to him where he is.
This is the confidence that Xia Chen has gained from his formidable strength!
Forget about Gyuki, kill as many as they come!
"There's no treasure in here, just some wine and dry rations!" Nami said casually to the group as she came out.
"How did you know without even opening it?" Luffy retorted, unconvinced.
"Didn't you see it says 'Sea God's Treasure Front' on it? This thing is called a 'flowing vessel'!"
"These are offerings made by people to the gods to pray for safe voyages! 'Goho-mae' means offering to the gods!"
"Tch~ It's not a treasure!" Upon hearing this, Luffy immediately deflated, and the excitement in his eyes as he looked at the barrel was gone.
"Then we've wasted our time?" Usopp said helplessly.
"That's not necessarily true. At least the food inside is edible; all you need to do is pray to the gods! I've heard that wine that's been battered by waves a lot tastes especially good!"
Nami looked at everyone and said playfully.
"Yes!" Robin nodded in agreement.
"However, according to custom, after we finish eating, we need to put in new offerings so that it can continue drifting at sea!"
"Is that so? Then I won't be polite!" Luffy said with a smile, then turned to look at Zoro.
" Zoro, aren't you the one who loves alcohol the most? Come here, let's pray to God together and then we can drink!"
"I don't pray to God. Besides, have you forgotten? Didn't you just beat up the god of Sky Island?" Zoro curled his lip in disdain.
Seeing that Zoro had no intention of praying, Luffy ignored him and instead put his hands together in a prayer position, muttering:
"God, please let me enjoy the delicious wine offered to you! I will become a new god, leading the world..."
"Huh!"
Luffy was halfway through reciting his lines when he suddenly realized something was off, and then he smiled sheepishly at everyone.
Sorry, wrong channel!
Everyone:...
In conclusion, after Luffy finished expressing his wolfish ambitions, the prayer ceremony was officially completed.
Luffy rubbed his hands together, looking at the wooden barrel in front of him with excitement. Then he started to untie the ropes.
The moment Luffy opened the barrel lid, a violent explosion occurred inside, blasting the unsuspecting Luffy away.
Then a streak of red light shot into the sky, and exploded with a bang when it reached a certain height, dyeing the entire sky red.
Everyone on the ship stared in disbelief at this scene. Chopper couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did the wine turn into light and fly into the sky?"
Robin shook her head, her expression somewhat grave, and said, "It's a light-emitting bullet!"
"If it's just a prank, that's fine, but if it's not... we might already be being watched!"
"Being targeted?" Zoro revealed a sinister smile upon hearing this.
"I'd like to see which one has the guts to cause us trouble!"
"If he dares to come, just kill him. It's that simple!"
"Indeed, if anyone is a threat to us, we just need to kick them to death!" Sanji said casually after taking a puff of his cigarette.
They were both seething with anger; despite their recent significant improvement in strength, they had no way to validate it.
To put it more bluntly, they can't feel the joy of improving their strength, since no matter how much they improve, they are still easily defeated by Xia Chen.
They've lost all enjoyment; now they desperately need opponents of similar or slightly stronger strength to give them a proper workout.
Therefore, they are not afraid of being targeted by others, but they are afraid of being untargeted; the stronger they are, the more excited they become.
Of course, don't be as ridiculously strong as Xia Chen, or there'll be no fun left!
"Hahaha... Zoro, Sanji, you guys are so fierce! If there are enemies, you can just cripple them halfway through their lives. Why do you have to kill them?"
"You guys are still too bloodthirsty!" Luffy looked at Zoro and the other two, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.
???
Zoro and Sanji both raised question marks above their heads, then turned their gazes to Xia Chen.
"Huh? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
" Luffy wasn't like this before. Ever since he's been spending so much time with you, he's become quite the jerk!" Sanji sighed and said calmly.
Xia Chen:???
"I think you two are the ones who deserve a beating, aren't you?" Xia Chen said irritably.
Luffy's transformation is entirely due to his own natural talent, and has absolutely nothing to do with Xia. He certainly didn't teach Luffy the art of speaking!
Zoro and Sanji are both good at slander!
Just then, Nami suddenly sensed a subtle change in the surrounding air pressure and hurriedly spoke:
"Never mind that for now, the storm is coming! Everyone get ready! Head northwest!"
As soon as Nami finished speaking, everyone on the ship began to move.
Although it's still sunny and calm, they've long since developed an unconditional trust in Nami. If Nami said there would be a storm, then there definitely will be.
A few minutes later, the storm arrived as expected, but because they had been prepared, they were already on the edge of the storm and soon left the area.
However, one phenomenon puzzled everyone at this time.
"Why is the sky so black? Is there going to be another storm?" Zoro looked at the dark sky with a puzzled expression.
"No, it's because of this sea area!" Xia Chen said calmly, then looked at everyone.
"This place is known as the Florian Triangle. I don't know if you've heard of it?"
" The Florian Triangle?" Robin looked horrified upon hearing this.
Nami turned to look at Robin.
" Robin, you know?"
"Hmm! I know a little!" Robin nodded.
"This is a place known as the Devil's Sea, where it is said that hundreds of ships disappear every year!"
"What?!!"