At the same time, Lorelei slowly reined in the shock on her face.
Her gaze turned solemn as she spoke in awe,"So this… is your power?"
"I admit it—I underestimated you!"
"But I wonder… just how many times can you unleash attacks on this scale?"
As if convinced that Usopp couldn't possibly sustain such high-intensity firepower, Lorelei immediately sent out her second Pokémon.
A long crimson dress hem, dazzling golden hair draped over her shoulders, and those strikingly red, inviting lips!
Lorelei's second Pokémon was none other than Jynx, an Ice- and Psychic-type Pokémon.
Like Dewgong, Jynx wasn't particularly outstanding in terms of raw potential. But since it had been personally selected and trained by Lorelei, that alone spoke volumes.
Beyond its Ice typing—perfectly aligned with Lorelei's specialty—this Jynx possessed an exceptionally rare Psychic-type Ability: Forewarn.
In simple terms, it functioned much like Observation Haki taken to its extreme—allowing the user to foresee an opponent's moves and attack patterns.
"Poi~"
The moment Jynx appeared, its round eyes shimmered with an eerie glow.
Clearly, its Ability had already activated.
Yet in the very next instant, sheer terror flooded those eyes.
"Poi—!!"
It let out a cry of disbelief.
And then—without a shred of mercy—Usopp shouted again, utterly shameless:
"Ultimate Special Move·High-Explosive Usoppgy Bomb—!"
"Unlimited Barrage!!!"
Lorelei & Jynx: "???"
Boom boom boom boom—
This time, having seized the initiative, Usopp wasted no words. He mounted the cannon, trained the pitch-black muzzle on Jynx, and opened fire.
In an instant, endless shells roared out, streaking across the battlefield like bolts of lightning as they slammed toward Jynx.
Thanks to Forewarn, Jynx naturally anticipated this.
Before Lorelei could even issue a command, it used Teleport, vanishing from the bombardment zone.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Just like a minute earlier, flames and smoke swallowed the entire battlefield once more.
The deafening roar filled Lorelei's mind.
"Th-This… how is this possible?!"
Seeing Usopp unleash another terrifying attack with virtually no interval at all, Lorelei froze in disbelief.
Under the machine's influence, Usopp appeared to her as nothing more than a Pokémon she had never seen before.
In the eyes of an experienced Elite Four member like herself, his strength shouldn't have been particularly remarkable—his level certainly shouldn't have been high.
So why…?
Why could he repeatedly unleash attacks of such absurd power?!
This level of destruction was practically equivalent to dozens of Hyper Beams fired at once!
For a moment, Lorelei was completely at a loss.
On the other side, guided by Observation Haki, Usopp quickly pinpointed Jynx's new position.
With a slight tilt of the cannon, he resumed the pursuit.
And just as expected, Jynx Teleported again to evade.
However—
This was still an indoor battlefield.
Though far larger than a standard Gym arena, it was nothing like the open wilderness.
Under Usopp's relentless, indiscriminate pursuit, Jynx eventually exhausted itself from repeated Teleports. A direct hit from the barrage sent it flying, knocking it out cold.
"..."
Lorelei bit her lip, helplessness written across her face.
Yet bound by battle rules, she released her third Pokémon.
A level 61 Cloyster, encased in thick shells, bearing both Ice- and Water-type attributes!
As a shelled Pokémon, Cloyster already possessed formidable natural defense.
And Lorelei's Cloyster, with the Ability Shell Armor, had an even more extraordinarily durable shell.
But…
"Can I count on you, Cloyster…?"
After a silent prayer, Lorelei shouted decisively:
"Cloyster—Withdraw!"
"Then use Iron Defense!!!"
"Be careful! That Pokémon on the other side is not normal!"
Though she still couldn't see a clear path to victory, Lorelei refused to give up and placed her hopes on Cloyster.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!!
Familiar firelight. Familiar thunder.
Under the violent explosions, Cloyster—withdrawn into its shell—was launched about like a marble, ricocheting endlessly from the shockwaves.
It couldn't even fire off a single move.
If Lorelei hadn't reacted quickly enough to put it into a defensive stance beforehand, the battle would have ended instantly.
Even so, the situation was grim.
With absolutely no ability to counterattack, Cloyster's defeat was only a matter of time.
"Trying to win by stalling, huh?!"
From afar, Red—dodging the explosions—saw the look on Lorelei's face and immediately grasped her plan.
Unaware of Devil Fruit abilities, Lorelei was betting on Cloyster's incredible defense to buy time—waiting for the moment Usopp finally ran out of ammunition.
To come up with such a strategy under these circumstances was a testament to her elite battle instincts.
But after a brief pause, Red merely smiled.
"The idea is correct."
"Unfortunately…"
"You're up against Usopp!!!"
BOOOOOM—
The barrage continued for a full three minutes.
At last, after nearly a thousand high-explosive shells detonated across the icy battlefield, Cloyster could endure no longer.
Its shell opened, revealing a dazed face with spiraling eyes.
Cloyster—defeated!
Level 61 Slowbro.Level 61 Sandslash (Alolan Form).Level 62 Lapras…
Lorelei's strategy wasn't wrong.
But unfortunately, Usopp's equipment was just too shameless.
Compared to Pokémon fighting on their own strength, this was nothing short of a pay-to-win strategy only a true tycoon could afford!
In just tens of minutes, the ammunition Usopp expended was enough to obliterate an entire nation.
If sold as weapons, it would easily be worth nearly a billion Beli.
If Nami ever found out that Usopp casually burned through that much money in a single battle, she'd probably strangle the prodigal on the spot.
All things considered, Lorelei didn't lose unfairly.
After all—how could a normal person compete with a cheater?
"I never imagined you'd become this powerful…"
With the battle over, Lorelei's lively demeanor stiffened once more as she followed the machine's preset dialogue and addressed Red.
"In that case, consider your challenge successful."
"You may proceed to the next room."
"Finally… it's over!"
"Whew—!"
As the battlefield reverted to normal under the machine's mysterious power, Usopp removed his Green Vine Armor and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.
Using his Devil Fruit ability hadn't drained much stamina, but constantly tracking Lorelei's Pokémon amid thunderous explosions had taken a toll on his focus.
"Well done, Usopp!"
At the same time, Red approached with a Super Potion in hand, smiling with clear satisfaction.
"Combining the Storage-Storage Fruit's special ability with Pokémon energy to issue precise commands to plants…"
"That's an insane idea—you actually pulled it off."
"Hehe."
Grinning proudly at the rare praise, Usopp replied immediately:
"Coming from you, Red—that means a lot. You saw through the Green Vine Armor's operating principle right away."
"But honestly, a lot of the credit goes to Franky!"
"His research and design in weapon structures are what made this armor work so perfectly."
Red nodded with a smile.
"The armor's capabilities probably don't end here, do they?"
"You two—one specializing in bizarre gadgets, the other pushing heavy weapon craftsmanship to the limit."
"With teamwork like that, who knows what kind of chaos you'll unleash in the future."
"I'm really looking forward to the day you let me pilot a Gundam!"
After chatting briefly, Red chuckled and sent Usopp's consciousness back to the real world.
With the Green Vine Armor, Usopp could probably challenge one or two more Elite Four members.
But he wasn't today's protagonist.
Testing the new equipment in a single Elite Four battle was mission accomplished.
Besides, the armor wasn't invincible—its dominance was amplified by the battlefield's constraints.
In the open wilds, whether Usopp could defeat Lorelei was still up for debate.
So the next battle…
…would be left to a true powerhouse.
A black blur flashed.
Sanji—already prepared—appeared instantly before Red.
"Finally my turn!"
"Did that idiot Usopp really waste that much time?"
With a cigarette in his mouth, Sanji looked eager.
Red couldn't help but laugh.
"If only this world had a recording function. I'd love for you to see what Usopp just did."
"Huh?" Sanji blinked. "What, did he invent some new fighting method again?"
"Heh~" Red only smiled, offering a mysterious look.
Ignoring Sanji, Red opened the machine's main interface.
At that moment, a gold-trimmed notification appeared.
It was the first time Red had ever seen such an extravagant message.
Clearly, this was no ordinary prompt.
Focusing his mind, Red read it.
[Congratulations! You have defeated the Ice-type Elite Four — Lorelei. Achievement unlocked: Legendary Path.]
[Legendary Path: Each time the player defeats an Elite Four member, their physical strength increases, and they gain one special ability and one special item.]
[Reward acquired: Special Ability — Ice Incarnation.]
[Reward acquired: Special Item — Ice Crystal Seed.]
Messages flooded the screen.
Feeling a new power surge through his body, Red smiled.
Just as he suspected.
If Gym achievements could steadily strengthen him, then the Elite Four—central to this world's main storyline—couldn't possibly be unrewarded.
The emergence of Legendary Path proved it.
Marveling, Red raised his arm and activated the newly gained power.
"So I even get abilities beyond the Pokémon world now…"
"Machine, have you been influenced by the pirate world or something?"
In the next instant, his human hand transformed into a sharp ice spike.
This was the reward from Legendary Path—Ice Incarnation.
This ability allowed Red to convert any part of his body into ice and freely reshape it.
However, as an achievement reward, its power was limited.
First, it only transformed his body—it couldn't generate ice endlessly like Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit.
Second…
The volume of ice created was limited by Red's own body mass.
He could turn an arm into an ice spike—or even an ice scythe—but he couldn't enlarge his body or form full ice armor.
All in all, its greatest benefit was likely immunity to freezing effects.
With Ice Incarnation, Red could move and travel freely within ice.
Beyond that, he couldn't yet imagine many practical uses.
Still—gains were gains.
He had no complaints.
After all, besides Ice Incarnation, the achievement granted even greater physical enhancement than the Badge Collector achievement.
At this point, purely by physical strength alone, Red could already contend with an elite Marine Vice Admiral.
Add in his various Pokémon abilities…
Right now, he was invincible.
And more importantly—
The machine had also granted him an incredibly special item.
Ice Crystal Seed
[Type: One-time consumable]
[Effect: When used on any non-Ice-type Pokémon, grants it an additional Pokémon type: Ice.]
(End of Chapter)