"Zoro, what do you say?"
"Aren't you hungry after twenty days without food?"
Xia Chen asked as he looked at Zoro before him.
To be fair, he really admired Zoro on this point.
If it were him, he would probably be just like Luffy.
A few days without food, and he'd be starving to death.
"Are you with that kid in the straw hat?"
"Don't compare me to you guys. My willpower is beyond anything you can imagine!"
Hearing that, Xia Chen nodded in agreement.
Indeed.
Few people in the entire world of the Pirate King could match Boss Zoro's willpower.
His line, "Nothing happened," had moved countless people.
But Xia Chen wasn't going to be like that idiot Luffy. He had already walked right up to Zoro.
Why not untie the ropes on him first?
In the end, it still fell to him, the wise and mighty vice-captain, to do it.
Then Xia Chen flicked his fingers through the air a few times.
Several tiny air blades shot out with the movements of his fingers.
They sliced straight through the ropes binding Zoro.
That's right, he had used the principles of Rankyaku.
As for why he could use the technique with his fingers?
Kaku could do it with his neck, so there was no reason Xia Chen couldn't do it with his fingers!
Zoro stepped down from the frame and stretched.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I was tied up so long that this feels a little strange!"
With a thought, a piece of meat appeared in Xia Chen's hand.
Then he tossed it to Zoro.
Zoro caught it and immediately started gnawing on it.
"Huh? Aren't you afraid I poisoned it?"
Xia Chen was a little curious. Did Zoro trust him that much?
"If you wanted to kill me, you could've done it while I was tied up. There was no need to let me down."
Zoro answered calmly.
Mm! Not bad!
Zoro's intelligence seemed to be in working order. He wasn't like that idiot Luffy.
Just as Xia Chen was about to chat with Zoro a little more,
a commotion came from the rooftop of a building in the distance.
Xia Chen turned to look.
He saw a massive stone statue being slowly pulled upright by dozens of ropes.
Luffy's arm had also reached the edge of the rooftop parapet.
Xia Chen smiled knowingly.
"Looks like we're in for a good show!"
Then he grabbed Zoro, who was still eating meat, by the collar.
Zoro broke out in a cold sweat from the fright.
When Xia Chen suddenly reached for him, he had actually wanted to resist.
But before he could react at all, he found himself caught.
Then...
He flew into the sky.
(＃°Д°)!
Xia Chen carried Zoro as he repeatedly stepped through the air.
The two of them sped toward the rooftop.
"Who exactly are you?"
"You can fly, too???"
Zoro was utterly dumbfounded.
You could actually do this?
His gaze toward Xia Chen also filled with gravity.
A thought flashed through his mind.
This guy is strong!
Before long, the two reached the rooftop.
At that moment, Luffy also came flying up from below.
"Aaah! I overshot!"
Luffy cried out instinctively.
Then his hand unconsciously landed on Morgan's statue.
Then...
Crash!
With the sound of something heavy slamming into the ground,
Morgan's statue broke clean in two.
(⊙o⊙)...
Everyone froze in place.
Seeing what had happened, Luffy said sheepishly,
"Sorry!"
(╬▔皿▔)╯!
"I'll slaughter you!"
Morgan roared.
"That's the guy who hit me, Pops!" Helmeppo shouted.
But the next second, Luffy appeared right in front of his face.
The fright twisted his face out of shape.
"Oh, it's you! Come on, I'm taking you to find something!"
Then Luffy slung Helmeppo over his shoulder and ran downstairs.
Standing on the rooftop, Xia Chen told Zoro,
"Go on. Follow them, and you'll find your swords!"
Zoro hesitated when he heard that.
"Will you be all right up here alone? Morgan is pretty strong!"
"Him? Strong?" Xia Chen asked, picking his nose as he pointed at Morgan.
"What kind of joke is that? I can beat trash like him no matter how many come at me!"
"Enough talk. Hurry downstairs!"
"Without your swords, you're no use even if you stay!"
Xia Chen put Zoro down without the slightest courtesy.
Indeed, Zoro wasn't particularly strong yet, and he hadn't developed his Swordless Style either.
He really was a little superfluous here.
Zoro's face darkened a little. Although he knew Xia Chen was telling the truth,
don't I have any dignity?
Without another word, Zoro turned and chased after Luffy and the others.
Meanwhile, Morgan was utterly enraged.
First, some damned kid in a straw hat had destroyed his statue.
Then another brat who looked just as wet behind the ears had called him trash.
If he could tolerate this, what couldn't he tolerate?
Others might put up with it, but he wouldn't!
Roaring loudly, he charged at Xia Chen.
As he closed in on Xia Chen, he swung his axe straight down.
The expression on Xia Chen's face didn't change in the slightest.
His lips parted slightly.
"Kami-e!"
Just like that, Xia Chen dodged Morgan's attack by a hair's breadth.
To be fair, although he was already countless times stronger than Morgan,
he had only just acquired the Six Powers.
He still wanted to try these techniques out a little.
Even though his understanding of the Six Powers had already reached the pinnacle,
having the system instill them directly into him was certainly different from experiencing them himself.
When Morgan saw Xia Chen dodge his attack, he scoffed disdainfully.
"Kid, you're pretty lucky!"
Yes, he didn't think Xia Chen had dodged his attack through skill.
He thought it was only luck.
After all, with his limited knowledge, he didn't even know the Six Powers existed.
Then he said,
"This next blow will kill you!"
With that, he raised his axe and attacked Xia Chen again.
Xia Chen gave a contemptuous smile but said nothing.
Some time later~
"Huff~"
"Huff~"
Morgan was panting heavily.
His eyes were full of shock as he looked at Xia Chen.
During that time, he had attacked Xia Chen at least several hundred times.
But every single time, Xia Chen had dodged "just barely."
By now, no matter how stupid he was, he knew the young man before him was no ordinary person.
But he still didn't think he would lose.
In his view, Xia Chen only knew how to dodge.
In terms of raw strength, he was definitely inferior to Morgan.
Then he tried to provoke Xia Chen.
"Can you only keep dodging? Do you dare face me head-on?"
"Come on!" Xia Chen beckoned to Morgan.
"I won't dodge this time!"
Joy appeared on Morgan's face when he heard that.
Still too young.
He lost his composure so easily.
"Then let your Grandpa Morgan send you to hell!"
With that, Morgan ran toward Xia Chen, leaping high into the air just before reaching him.
He raised the axe in his hand over his head.
Then he brought it slashing down hard at Xia Chen.
Clang!