At those words, Luffy's expression first went blank, then suddenly lit up with wild joy.
"R-really? You really want to join our crew?"
"Yeah, I do!"
"Ahahaha, that's great!"
Sanji then followed Luffy and the others to the little boat. Just before he boarded, a voice called out from behind him.
"Don't catch a cold!"
In an instant, Sanji's eyes brimmed with hot tears, which streamed down his face.
He turned toward Zeff on the second floor and dropped straight to his knees.
"I'll never forget everything you've done for me for as long as I live!!!"
At those words, tears welled up in Zeff's eyes too.
"Go! Go chase your dream..."
Some time later~
Out on the sea heading toward Cocoyasi Village, a little boat sailed along.
The four aboard were leisurely enjoying their food.
Xia Chen took a bite of meat, then a sip of red wine, and couldn't help sighing.
"Now this is living!"
What miserable days they had led before they had a cook.
Although the existence of System Space meant he could carry a lot of meat with him,
he got sick of it after eating it for too long. How could it compare to Sanji's personalized service now?
"Ah, I'd much rather cook for Miss Nami than for you guys~"
"I'm so happy just thinking about seeing Miss Nami soon!" Sanji stood nearby, lost in his fantasies.
Just then, they suddenly felt the boat begin to shake.
"Huh? What's going on?" Luffy asked in confusion.
The next second, an enormous creature burst out of the sea, fixing its gaze on everyone aboard.
"W-w-why is something this huge in the East Blue? Isn't this the kind of thing you only find on the Grand Line?"
Yosaku clutched his head and spoke in terror.
"Whoa, this sea cow really is pretty big!" Xia Chen said, raising his eyebrows.
"Idiot, how could a cow live in the sea? That's a hippo!" Sanji retorted from the side.
"Since when do hippos have horns?"
"Hmm... now that you mention it..."
"S-stop chatting, guys! It's about to attack us!" Yosaku shouted as he stared at the sea cow before them.
"Relax, relax! I was just thinking this boat was too slow. Now we've got a solution."
Xia Chen waved a hand, then sent his Conqueror's Haki crashing toward the sea cow.
In an instant, the sea cow froze in place, staring in terror at Xia Chen as he sat leisurely on a stool.
It didn't dare move a muscle.
That made what came next easy...
"Brave moo-moo, fear no hardship! Charge!"
Xia Chen and Luffy stood together at the bow and shouted, with the sea cow tied by a rope ahead of them.
"Woohoo, we're so fast!"
"Keep charging straight to Arlong Park!"
Before long, they spotted an island in the distance. Barring any surprises, it was the island where Cocoyasi Village was located, and where Arlong Park stood as well.
But things never went quite that smoothly.
"Hey, hey, hey! You stupid sea cow, stop!"
Watching the sea cow about to crash into a wall, Sanji shouted with a grim expression. But Xia Chen and Luffy beside him didn't seem concerned and kept shouting:
"Charge~"
"Charge, my ass!"
But no matter how Sanji shouted, the sea cow still crashed into it.
And then...
"Why does it feel like we're flying through the sky?" Luffy asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Drop the 'feels like,' would you!"
[Ding! Successfully checked in at Cocoyasi Village. Fruit ability upgraded to intermediate. Acquired Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils!]
In an instant, Xia Chen felt a sharp pain in his eyes, making him instinctively cover them and sit down on the stool.
"Xia Chen, what's wrong?" Luffy couldn't help asking when he noticed something off about Xia Chen.
"Nothing. My eyes just hurt a little!"
Some time later, as the boat slowly came to a stop on land, the stinging in Xia Chen's eyes gradually faded too.
"What the hell are you bastards doing?" Zoro's exasperated voice rang out.
"Oh, Zoro. What are you doing here?"
"I..."
While the others chattered away nearby, Xia Chen was sensing the changes in his eyes.
As Xia Chen slowly opened his eyes, anyone looking at him would have noticed that his pupils had turned golden.
They gleamed brilliantly, making him look even more handsome!
Of course, the greatest change certainly wasn't his appearance. Xia Chen turned his gaze toward Luffy and the others nearby.
He discovered that his vision gradually passed through their clothes, and then he saw... their little willies?
Oh, no, it was the flow of their blood and qi. To Xia Chen's eyes, they now looked like human shapes composed of blood and qi.
By observing that flow, Xia Chen could keenly identify where they were injured and which spots would suffer greater damage if attacked.
Simply put, it was basically a weakness detector!
And that wasn't all. His eyes could even fire powerful energy beams like Superman in Marvel. They were immensely powerful!
Xia Chen absolutely loved this ability. Wasn't it just so cool!
Just as Xia Chen thought this check-in had ended there, another voice rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Successfully checked in at Cocoyasi Village. Acquired...] [Ding! Ding! Ding! A system bug has occurred. Repairing... unable to repair!!! Great Sage Equal to Heaven Fruit Demonized Form has been issued!] [Warning, warning! Demonized form is extremely unstable. The host must...]
The string of notifications left Xia Chen completely bewildered, but when he heard that the bug couldn't be repaired and he had received another reward, he instantly grew excited.
Did this count as a windfall falling right into his lap?
Could he get a few more bugs like this, please?
And this demonization sounded seriously badass!
Just as he wanted to learn more about his newly acquired demonization, the system's warning about its instability rang out as well.
But before he could investigate further, he felt a sudden urge to slaughter flood his mind.
In an instant, Xia Chen collapsed on the spot. Clutching his head, he rolled wildly across the deck.
Hearing the commotion, the others turned toward Xia Chen. When they saw him rolling back and forth on the ground, horror filled their faces.
Luffy hurried over, helped Xia Chen up, and asked:
"Xia Chen, what's wrong?"
The others rushed over too, looking at Xia Chen's contorted face.
"W-what's going on?"
Sanji stammered. Zoro said nothing, but his expression showed that he shared Sanji's thoughts.
They had watched Xia Chen fight Hawk-Eyes and knew he was immensely powerful, stronger than them by who knew how much.
Yet now, someone as powerful as Xia Chen was clutching his head and scrambling about, rolling wildly with his face contorted.
Just... what had happened?