Xia Chen looked at Mr. 2 and said, "Come touch me and see if you can imitate me."
"Of course!" Mr. 2 said confidently. Since he ate the fruit, he had never met anyone he couldn't imitate.
Mr. 2 gently touched Xia Chen's arm, about to activate his ability.
"How... how is this possible?" Sweat beaded on Mr. 2's face. No matter how he gestured, he couldn't imitate Xia Chen's appearance.
"Just as I thought!" Xia Chen murmured to himself.
At this moment, Mr. 2 wasn't the only one shocked; Luffy and the others were also extremely surprised by what they saw.
"Why is his Devil Fruit ability useless against you?" Zoro asked curiously.
" Haki! I used Haki to defend against his Devil Fruit ability!" Xia Chen replied calmly.
He had just tried to cover his body with Haki, and then Mr. 2's ability stopped working.
Xia Chen had this idea because he had seen various Haki defense-defense fruit abilities in anime in his previous life.
For example, Vergo used Haki to defend against Law's ability, and Law used Haki to defend against the Sick-Sick Fruit's ability; both instances demonstrate the power of Haki.
It seems Teacher Kaido was right: only Haki can overcome everything!
"Surely you can do Haki to this extent?" Luffy exclaimed in amazement. Then he added, "Looks like I need to master Haki soon too!"
Hearing this, Xia Chen glanced at him indifferently and said nothing.
During this period of training, Luffy is just one step away from mastering Armament Haki; he might just need to defeat one more monster to complete the process.
His Observation Haki is still lacking; there's no sign of him mastering it yet.
The others were basically the same; Zoro mastered Armament Haki faster, while Usopp and Sanji mastered Observation Haki faster.
Thinking about this, Xia Chen couldn't help but wonder, among these people, who would be the first to master Haki?
--
"???"
Listening to the people around him discussing whether something Haki " or Haki, Mr. 2 felt he had stumbled upon a blind spot in his knowledge. After a moment, he raised his hand and asked, "Um... what is 'Haki '?"
"Oh, so this is Haki is..."
Before Luffy could finish speaking, Xia Chen punched him.
" Xia Chen, why did you hit me again this time?" Luffy said, scratching his head and squeezing out tears.
Xia Chen ignored him and instead looked at Mr. 2, saying calmly, "We have no intention of sharing intelligence with the enemy!"
Now that things have come to this, Xia Chen has laid his cards on the table, directly revealing Mr. 2's identity.
"Wha... what enemy! I don't know!" Mr. 2 hurriedly retorted. He didn't want to be the enemy of the man in front of him. He'd die!
Xia Chen didn't answer him, but turned to Vivi and asked, " Vivi, have you seen Mr. 2 from Baroque Works?"
"Huh? No!" Vivi paused for a moment before answering.
"However, I heard that Mr. 2 is a tall transvestite who wears a swan ballet costume, calls himself 'this humble servant' all the time, and has the words '[Yulanpen]' on his back!"
"Uh-huh?"
Upon hearing Vivi's words, everyone's attention involuntarily turned to Mr. 2.
What followed was a silence that lasted for more than a minute.
"Um..."
After a long silence Nami pointed at Mr. 2 and asked, "So, is this what the person you described like?"
"Well... I guess so!" Vivi said uncertainly.
"Remove 'seems like'!" Everyone except Sanji yelled at Vivi.
Usopp turned to Mr. 2, looking betrayed, and said, "I was just treating you like a friend, but it turns out you're the enemy!"
"Tell me quickly, what are you doing on our ship?"
Mr.2:???
"Um... it seems like you guys were the ones who pulled me out of the water!"
"Well, you were just saying you saved me, and now you're saying you rescued me? You ungrateful wretch!" Chopper jumped in and yelled.
The more fun they had just been having, the harsher their insults are now!
Hearing this, Mr. 2 was once again utterly bewildered. "Wait, is this how you condemn me? Are you looking at me through sunglasses?"
"I am indeed Mr. 2 from Baroque Works, but what does that have to do with whether we are enemies or not?"
"The people at Baroque Works are our enemies, do you understand?" Sanji said, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"It seems... there's no point in negotiating!" Mr. 2's expression darkened slightly.
"Since that's the case, the Newkama Kenpo... Ah!" Mr. 2 had just assumed a fighting stance when Xia Chen punched him on the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Don't show me this disgusting boxing style!" Xia Chen waved his hand dismissively.
" Sanji, go get a rope and tie this guy up, otherwise his abilities will be a bit troublesome!"
Although Xia Chen himself didn't have this concern, because his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils could tell whether Luffy and his crew were Mr. 2 in disguise, the problem was that Luffy and his crew couldn't tell!
Even if we can use the rope method from the original work to distinguish them, the problem is that if we don't control Mr. 2, it will be difficult to deal with him if he transforms into Cobra again and does certain things later.
He has always been a person who hates trouble, and if there is an easier way to help Vivi reclaim Alabasta, he will definitely take the simpler approach.
For example, if killing Crocodile would solve everything, then he would go find him now.
The problem is that most of the people of Alabasta admire Crocodile greatly, and eliminating him before his evil deeds are exposed might plunge Alabasta into an even more serious civil war.
Therefore, this method is definitely not feasible. We need to first show Crocodile's true colors to the people of Alabasta and let them see his true face. Only then will it be easier to reclaim the country.
but...
Before that, it should be okay for him to go and fight Crocodile, right?
He also wanted to experience Crocodile's strength firsthand and see if he was really killed by Luffy due to plot reasons.
After all, he was defeated by Luffy back in Alabasta, but after Impel Down for a while, he fought against Hawk-Eyes and Doflamingo during the Paramount War without showing any signs of weakness.
Keep in mind that even Luffy two years later couldn't beat Doflamingo without using Gear Fourth, let alone Hawk-Eyes, who defeated Jinbe in one hit.
Therefore, Crocodile's strength... is very mysterious!
You can't exactly say Impel Down is some kind of treasure trove, right? A Hyperbolic Time Chamber? The Sage of Six Paths' legacy space? The kind where you go in and come out with a huge increase in strength?
Stop fooling around!
In short, Crocodile's true strength will only be known to him by seeing it for himself; hopefully, he won't be disappointed!