Xia Chen walked through the forest, took out Den Den Mushi Rocks that Rocks had given him, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
" Rocks? Ha!"
Xia Chen casually put away the Den Den Mushi and walked forward in silence, lost in thought.
However, as Xia Chen walked, he suddenly sensed something, and his gaze involuntarily turned in a certain direction. He murmured to himself:
"Even with such a big change in the plot, they still came? Interesting!"
After saying that, Xia Chen's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.
A short while later, Xia Chen appeared next to the Going Merry, and there was another person there at the same time.
Xia Chen looked at him indifferently and asked, " Tyrant Kuma! What are you doing here?"
Indeed, the person who appeared here at this moment was Xiong. He didn't answer Xia Chen's question immediately, but instead asked Xia Chen:
" Demon King Xia Chen, where is Straw Hat Boy?"
"Shouldn't you answer other people's questions before asking them?" Xia Chen said calmly, looking at him.
The bear shook its head and said, "I can't tell you why I'm here!"
"That means there's no point in talking about it. I can't tell you, and I won't let you go to them either!"
Xia Chen would absolutely not allow Kuma to deflect Luffy's injuries onto Zoro, as depicted in the original work.
Xia Chen and the others have come this far and have completely integrated into this group; the bond between them doesn't need to be shown in this way.
Upon hearing this, Xiong narrowed his eyes and stared quietly at Xia Chen, the air around them seemingly frozen in place.
"I advise you not to lay a hand on me... you'll die!"
With that, an overwhelming Conqueror's Haki emanated from Xia Chen and pressed down on the bear.
If I can't beat Rocks, surely I can beat you, Bear? Even if Bear has the strength of Admiral Xia Chen is confident that he is no match for him.
Sensing this powerful and domineering Haki, Xiong's face showed surprise, and the way he looked at Xia Chen changed slightly.
After a long pause, Xiong said calmly, "I won't harm them!"
"I know that! If you simply want to use your Devil Fruit ability to deflect damage for them, then I welcome it. But if you're trying to test the bond between us, then there's no need for that!"
Xia Chen is now being frank: if you're here to help, you're welcome; but if you're here to do something trivial, then I'm sorry, we don't need you!
Their partnership doesn't need any outsider to interfere!
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiong looked at Xia Chen with even greater surprise, as if he hadn't expected Xia Chen to say that.
Xia Chen didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "How did you know we were here?"
In the original work, it could be explained that the next island Water 7 is Fish-Man Island, so it was speculated that they might come here.
But the problem now is that they just came down from the Sky Island and haven't even seen a glimpse of Water 7 yet, so using this reason again is a bit far-fetched.
Xia Chen stared at the bear and continued, "Let me guess, you should have Luffy's Vivre Card. As for who gave it to you, I guess... it was Dragon!"
Upon hearing Xia Chen's words, Xiong's eyes narrowed, and his gaze towards Xia Chen turned hostile.
"Don't get agitated! It's not hard to find out you're from the Revolutionary Army, and I won't harm you. There's no need to be so wary of me!"
Upon hearing this, Xiong stared at Xia Chen for a few seconds before slowly saying, "Long told me he met you in Loguetown and said you're a very interesting person!"
"So, my identity was also revealed to you by the dragon?"
"No!" Xia Chen shook his head.
"The dragon didn't tell me anything about you, and you don't need to worry about how I found out!"
"Hmm..." Xiong looked at Xia Chen and pondered for a moment before finally saying, "Seeing you with them, then I really don't need to come!"
"But since you know so much, you should also understand that with their current strength, they simply wouldn't survive in the New World!"
"Hmm?" Xia Chen was silent for a moment after hearing this. Was this the reason for the two-year agreement?
Although Kuma didn't know Luffy's current strength, he still thought their strength was at the level it was when they defeated Crocodile.
Xia Chen was very clear about their strength, and naturally knew that they were much stronger than in the original story, but still somewhat different from how they were two years later in the original work.
This is true; those two years were incredibly beneficial for the group's development.
Moreover, it wasn't just their strength that improved. For example, Nami and Chopper improved their navigation and medical skills during those two years, which isn't something that can be achieved simply by staying at sea and sailing all the time.
Thinking about this, Xia Chen had a guess and looked at Xiong, asking, "So what you mean is?"
After a period of time~
Xia Chen remained silent, processing the information he had just received from Xiong.
It turns out that Luffy's two-year promise was orchestrated by Dragon, which is why he had Kuma send them flying to various places, all of which Dragon had researched and found to be suitable for their growth.
Thinking of this, Xia Chen looked at Xiong and asked, "Could you show me the information you've collected?"
Xiong didn't answer. Instead, he took a folded piece of paper from the book's inner pocket and tossed it to Xia Chen.
Upon opening the paper, Xia Chen's face showed surprise. It not only recorded the strength assessment of Luffy and the others, but also their individual characteristics, and finally outlined a relatively perfect growth path for them.
Although the above strength assessment is from the previous version, the other information is still very valuable for reference.
Xia Chen was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you have Eternal Log Pose for these places?"
"Hmm?" Xiong was a little puzzled at first, but still took out a small box from his body.
(#°Д°)!
Seeing the bear's body open like a storage locker, a strange expression appeared on Xia Chen's face.
He said he knew the bear was a cyborg, but he really didn't know you'd modified that function!
The bear said calmly, "I am a cyborg, and... I will soon completely lose my own consciousness!"
"I know that!" Xia Chen said calmly, looking at Xiong.
He certainly knew all about bears, and even the reasons why he had become a cyborg.
All I can say is that Xiong is indeed a good father! He gave Bonney all his love!
He lost his own consciousness for Bonney, and even after losing his own consciousness, he would still instinctively try to save Bonney!
The bear remained silent for a moment, then opened the small box, took out several Eternal Log Pose, and tossed them to Xia Chen...