A metallic clang rang out.
A look of horror appeared on Morgan's face.
He said in disbelief:
"This... how is this possible?"
The view shifted, revealing that Xia Chen had stopped Morgan's axe firmly with just one finger.
And there wasn't a single scratch on his finger.
To be fair, although Iron Body was jokingly called the trashiest of the Six Powers,
quite a few people still used it.
It was actually pretty useful in the early stages.
It was just replaced by Armament Haki later on.
Xia Chen looked at Morgan calmly and said:
"You've been attacking for so long. Shouldn't it be my turn now?"
Morgan still hadn't recovered from his earlier shock.
Hearing Xia Chen's words suddenly made him shudder.
A thought instinctively surfaced in his mind.
"No!"
Xia Chen's fist appeared in front of Morgan in an instant, driving straight into his stomach.
"Pfft!"
Morgan went flying.
He spat out a great mouthful of blood in midair.
He flew off the rooftop and fell toward the execution ground below.
"Soru!"
Xia Chen vanished from the middle of the rooftop in an instant, then appeared at its edge.
He quietly watched Morgan lying on the ground, coughing up blood nonstop.
After a while, Morgan lost consciousness.
To be fair, this was already the result of Xia Chen holding back a great deal.
He had originally planned to give Morgan a casual punch and make him suffer a little.
Then leave the finishing blow to Zoro.
But unfortunately!
He had overestimated Morgan and underestimated himself.
He hadn't expected this guy to fold when he had used only thirty percent of his strength.
Now Zoro wouldn't even get a chance to practice!
But it didn't really matter.
Fighting a weakling like this wouldn't help him improve much anyway.
He could just leave the next few EXP packs to Zoro.
Speak of the devil.
Luffy's voice came from the stairs.
"Xia Chen, hang on! Zoro and I are coming to help you!"
But when Luffy and Zoro reached the rooftop, they found an extremely strange scene.
Xia Chen was standing at the edge of the rooftop.
Meanwhile, all those Marine extras were huddled in a corner.
Their eyes held deep fear as they looked at Xia Chen.
Luffy didn't think much of it and asked Xia Chen directly:
"Where's that big axe guy?"
"There, lying down below!" Xia Chen gestured downward with his chin.
"Huh??"
Question marks appeared above Luffy's and Zoro's heads at the same time.
Then they walked over and looked down.
Morgan was lying peacefully on the dirt of the execution ground, surrounded by bloodstains.
All of it was blood he had just coughed up.
(☆▽☆)!
"Awesome! Xia Chen, you're so strong!"
"Keep it low-key, keep it low-key! Isn't this perfectly normal?"
Xia Chen said it was perfectly normal, but the expression on his face completely gave him away.
The corners of his mouth were practically rising into the sky.
Beside him, Zoro was also very surprised to see that Xia Chen had dealt with Morgan so quickly.
It seemed he had been right.
Xia Chen really was strong.
Looking at the two of them, a faint smile appeared on Zoro's lips.
It looked like life wouldn't be boring from now on!
A while later, Xia Chen looked at Luffy and Zoro with some surprise.
That was right. While Xia Chen had been playing around with Morgan,
Luffy had already talked Zoro into joining the crew.
He had thought that, with the plot going a little off track, it would take some effort to coax Zoro aboard.
He hadn't expected Luffy to handle it so easily.
Was this the personal charm of King Luffy?
Xia Chen smiled.
With that, Zoro officially became the third crew member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet!
"Let's go! Let's head into town for some meat!" Xia Chen said happily.
"Meat!!!"
(☆▽☆)!
Luffy's eyes instantly turned into stars.
"Yeah, yeah! Come on, let's go!"
Luffy bounced up on the spot and ran toward town.
Seeing Luffy like this, Zoro gave a disdainful smile.
"What's so great about meat?"
"Hmm? I remember you seemed pretty happy eating it when I gave you some earlier!"
Xia Chen asked pointedly.
Zoro's face instantly stiffened. After a while, he stubbornly replied:
"That was because I was starving!"
"Didn't you say you had the most willpower?"
Xia Chen hit him with another soul-searching question.
"I..."
"Xia Chen, are you asking to die?!"
Zoro flew into a rage.
"Hahaha..."
Feeling this harmonious atmosphere, Xia Chen was very happy.
Then he said:
"What if there's booze too?"
"Booze?" The anger on Zoro's face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of longing.
Then he cleared his throat.
"Ahem, let's go, then!"
With that, he ran after Luffy, calling out as he went:
"Luffy, why are you running so fast?"
Then he turned back.
"Xia Chen, if you don't hurry up, you'll be last!"
A faint smile appeared on Xia Chen's lips.
"That's impossible!"
Then he instantly used Geppo to fly into the sky, before combining Geppo with Soru.
He kept flashing through the air.
As he passed Zoro, he even threw in a taunt.
"Now I'm not the slowest! Bye-bye!"
Then he vanished in an instant.
"You're cheating!!"
Night!
"Gurgle, gurgle~"
After eating and drinking their fill, Luffy and Zoro lay in the room, fast asleep.
Xia Chen, however, stood up.
He opened the door and walked out.
He rose into the air with Geppo and disappeared into the boundless night.
In just a few breaths, Xia Chen arrived at the Marine Base.
He had spent the day shooting his mouth off with Luffy and the others.
He had nearly forgotten his real business.
As soon as Xia Chen entered the base, he saw someone sitting on the wall around the execution ground.
Out of curiosity, Xia Chen went over for a look.
"Well, if it isn't Helmeppo!"
"What, your dad's fallen from power, so you've come out to brood under the stars?"
Helmeppo, who had been staring blankly at the sky, was so startled by the sudden voice that he nearly fell off the wall.
And when he turned to see that it was Xia Chen speaking,
he actually fell off this time.
Seeing how frightened Helmeppo was of him, Xia Chen felt a little displeased.
"What, do I look that scary?"
"N-no!"
"Then why are you so afraid of me?"
"Uh..."
Helmeppo was speechless. You beat my dad until he barely had a breath left.
What do you think? Should I be scared of you?
Xia Chen shook his head and didn't dwell on it.
He asked him directly:
"Hey, where do you keep the Beli, treasure, and stuff in this Marine Base?"
"Take me there!"
"Yes!"
Helmeppo answered hastily with a frightened cry.
Before long, Helmeppo had led Xia Chen to his destination.
"Th-this is where the treasure is stored!"
"Very good!"
"I'll go in myself. You don't need to follow!"
With that, Xia Chen pushed the door open and walked inside.
The moment he entered, Xia Chen vaguely caught sight of a dark silhouette flashing past.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Interesting!"