"Why hasn't Red come back yet?!"
At the lively banquet venue, the Straw Hat crew below had already begun to gorge themselves, finishing one round and preparing to continue their training. Seated at the head table, Monkey D. Luffy immediately wore a listless expression.
This time, he wasn't putting on an act with the Straw Hats to tease Jinbe—he was genuinely being tormented by the food right in front of him.
After fighting for ten days and ten nights straight, he was starving beyond belief.
Super Potions could restore physical fatigue and heal injuries, but they did nothing to satisfy Luffy's craving for food.
Maybe he hadn't been acting at all just now—maybe he really couldn't wait any longer to dig in!
"By my count, it's been about two and a half hours already, right?!"
Hearing Luffy's complaints, Franky also glanced toward the cabins of the Going Merry with a puzzled look.
Although Red had entered the Pokémon world from a clearing in the Sea Forest, there was no way they would just leave him alone out in the wilderness. Naturally, they had brought him—and the still-unconscious Nika Will—back and settled them in Red's own bedroom.
At that moment, Usopp beside them also showed a confused expression.
"Logically speaking, if it's just turning the Fruit Will into a Pokémon, it shouldn't take this long, right?"
"Could it be that Red forgot about Luffy's banquet constitution and didn't expect us to start the party right away?!"
"How could that be?" Nami leaned back slightly, crossing her arms over her chest as she explained calmly."Among all of us, Red understands Luffy the best. There's no way he wouldn't think of that…"
"See? Nami really gets me."
The instant her voice fell, a bright, cheerful male voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
At the same time, Red's figure appeared right behind Nami, giving everyone an apologetic smile.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting."
"You're finally back, Red!"
Hearing his voice, Luffy instantly perked up, even going so far as to pull out the chair beside him for Red.
Because there were guests present this time—and the Straw Hat crew were also attending—the seating arrangement had been handled with a bit more care.
As the vice-captain, Red was naturally seated closest to the captain.
And as the main guest at the table, Jinbe had been placed directly on Luffy's other side, clearly displaying the Straw Hat Pirates' respect for him.
This, too, was one of the Straw Hats' open strategies.
Even though they had only spent a few days together, Nami and the others had already figured out Jinbe's personality.
For someone as righteous and loyal as him, any kindness shown would be firmly remembered in his heart.
So even though there wasn't yet a perfect opportunity to invite Jinbe to join the Straw Hat crew, Red had long reminded everyone to treat him with utmost sincerity…
Perhaps one day in the future, when Jinbe felt he could no longer repay the Straw Hats' goodwill, he would wager his very life and entrust it to them.
Just like in the original timeline, when he was willing to turn against the World Government for Whitebeard's sake, all to protect Fish-Man Island.
However, the true protagonist of today's banquet was never meant to be Jinbe.
Because at the very moment Red took his seat, a round orb glowing with pink light flew out from the Going Merry's cabin and affectionately nuzzled up against him.
Red extended a finger, allowing the little being to land lightly on his fingertip.
"Let me introduce everyone. This is the Fruit Will inside Luffy—Little Nika."
"But now, it has become a completely independent individual, so there's no need to worry about it causing any further issues with Luffy's soul."
"Luffy…"
After sitting down, Red turned his gaze to Luffy and smiled.
"How about letting Little Nika become our companion and adventure with us from now on?"
"Of course that's great!!!"
Luffy immediately raised both hands in approval.
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he extended his palm toward Little Nika and grinned.
"Little Nika, you and I kind of fought before we got to know each other. From now on, we're all companions on the same ship!"
"Welcome aboard!"
"Nika~?"
Little Nika tilted its head in confusion, clearly not understanding the meaning of Luffy's words.
After all, it had only possessed independent consciousness for two and a half hours.
But sensing the "kindred" aura radiating from Luffy, it instinctively felt a fondness toward him—second only to its Trainer, Red.
After "looking" back at Red and receiving an affirmative nod, Little Nika immediately extended an energy arm from the glowing sphere, roughly the same size as Luffy's hand, and awkwardly mimicked him, shaking his hand.
Nika was a spirit of freedom!
The reason it maintained its current form was simply because this was the way it had been since the moment it was "born," so it regarded it as its default state.
And freedom was a concept that could not be defined.
If it wished, Little Nika could transform into virtually any form imaginable—whether Pokémon or creatures from the pirate world!
It could be said that aside from being unable to use every single Pokémon move, its transformation ability was no different from Mew in the Pokémon world.
Of course, transforming into something excessively large would place a certain strain on Little Nika's energy reserves.
But that was all.
As Little Nika's level and strength continued to grow, Red firmly believed it would soon become a true—"Mew."
Luffy and Little Nika's "formal establishment of diplomatic relations," setting aside their past conflict, completely set the tone for the banquet.
Already unable to wait any longer, Luffy grabbed a drink from the table and laughed loudly.
"Guys! To celebrate Little Nika joining us…"
"The banquet—officially begins!!!"
"Ohhh—!!!"
Joyful cheers instantly swept across the head table.
The Straw Hats, who had also been hungry for quite some time, immediately dug in.
Naturally, throughout the entire feast, everyone's attention never strayed far from Little Nika.
And at this very moment, the true purpose of a banquet was fully realized.
As everyone took turns introducing themselves and chatting with Nika, the little newborn being grew increasingly excited.
Perhaps in its eyes, making lots of new friends was far more interesting than learning combat techniques or moves.
Even the Going Merry's ship spirit, Little Merry, took the initiative to appear because of Little Nika's presence.
After leveling up, Little Merry's ghostly form was now able to move a certain distance away from the ship itself.
Though that distance was only about ten meters—barely any different from before—it was enough to allow Little Merry to join the banquet.
After all, the Straw Hat Pirates couldn't hold every banquet on the Going Merry's deck, even though the deck was spacious enough to accommodate hundreds of people without issue.
But for Merry, this was already more than enough.
After all, at every banquet, her companions never forgot about her.
Once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Luffy and the others would always run near the ship's hull, performing all kinds of silly and hilarious dances.
And so, a banquet both ordinary and extraordinary slowly came to an end amid laughter.
Yet after the feast, Jinbe—invited as a guest—along with King Neptune and the others, appeared as though their minds had been overloaded with information, standing there in a daze, unable to recover for a long time.
A pirate crew daring to challenge the authority of the World Government.Combat power so terrifying that even Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, felt chilled to the bone.Forcing a Fruit Will out of a human body and turning it into a companion.And a ship spirit that suddenly appeared to join the banquet…
Each revelation was more outrageous than the last, each more shocking than the one before.
Even when Jinbe followed Neptune back to Ryugu Palace in a daze—and suddenly remembered that he still had the task of teaching the Straw Hat crew and Robin Fish-Man Karate—none of them had fully processed the shock.
In just a few short days, the Straw Hat Pirates had delivered far too many surprises.
…
…
However, what seemed utterly unbelievable to outsiders had long since become routine for the Straw Hats.
Early the next morning.
As if they had completely forgotten about the previous day, the Straw Hat crew immediately threw themselves back into their individual training routines.
After agreeing with Luffy to challenge Mewtwo that very night, Red—bringing along Little Nika—called for Chopper and Usopp and led them into a quiet room.
"Red, what's this about?"
Usopp, who had been researching insect breeding formulas, entered the room and immediately asked curiously.
Little Chopper followed behind him, wearing the same puzzled, innocent expression.
"Have a seat first."
Facing their questions, Red calmly gestured toward the two chairs across from him.
"I called you here today mainly to discuss two things with you."
"One piece of good news, and one piece of bad news."
"Bad news?!"
Usopp didn't stand on ceremony at all. He plopped down into a chair, his frown deepening as he hurriedly asked,
"What bad news?!"
It wasn't that he was overreacting.
After all, for something to be labeled 'bad news' by the all-capable Red, it had to be serious.
"This matter is actually related to Chopper," Red said without any preamble."Yesterday, you all witnessed Luffy's Fruit awakening process."
"I believe you've also realized that… the awakening of Zoan-type Devil Fruit abilities may not be as simple as we once imagined!"
"It's very likely the result of the user's soul merging with the Fruit Will!"
"So…"
Red's gaze shifted to Chopper, who had just hopped onto his chair.
At those words, Chopper's face instantly changed.
Usopp frowned deeply.
"Red, are you saying that as Chopper grows stronger, when he reaches the point of awakening his Devil Fruit, he'll face the same danger Luffy did?!"
"But… didn't you and Brook already successfully resolve the issue of Fruit Will fusion?!"
"If we just do the same thing again and pull the Fruit Will out of Chopper, wouldn't that solve it?!"
Having personally witnessed Red's successful example—and possessing absolute confidence in him—Usopp couldn't understand why Red was treating this matter with such gravity.
But Red immediately shook his head.
"It's not the same!"
"You may not have noticed, but for Zoan-type Devil Fruits, the Fruit Will is the absolute factor that truly determines the ability!"
"Luffy was able to awaken smoothly only because he happened to awaken a Fairy-type attribute at that moment. By relying on the assimilation of Fairy-type energy, he was able to draw out the Devil Fruit's true power once more."
"But… just because Luffy could use the Fairy type to bring forth Nika's power doesn't mean Chopper can use the same method to draw out the power of the Human-Human Fruit."
"Ah—so it's that dangerous?!"
Speaking on Chopper's behalf, Usopp quickly pressed on,
"Then… can't we just make sure Chopper never awakens his Devil Fruit?!"
"After all, we have so many methods available now—"
"But that's exactly the problem!"
Before Usopp could finish, Red cut him off and looked at Chopper again.
"According to my speculation, the awakening of Zoan-type Devil Fruits may not be something you can simply refuse!"
"Unlike Paramecia or Logia, Zoan abilities directly act upon the body. As your body grows stronger, the Zoan power grows stronger as well…"
"Over time, Chopper may very well awaken his Devil Fruit suddenly one day—or awaken directly under certain specific conditions!"
Red spoke slowly and seriously.
Although this was only his hypothesis, he had ample reasons and evidence to support it.
For example, in the original timeline…
Rob Lucci and Kaku, both of whom awakened their Zoan abilities!
In terms of talent, Lucci was designated by the World Government as the "strongest CP9 member in eight hundred years."In terms of time, Lucci had consumed his Devil Fruit far earlier than Kaku—there was no way his training was inferior by that much.In terms of strength, whether at Enies Lobby or on Egghead Island, Lucci had demonstrated combat power far surpassing Kaku's.
And yet, when it came to Devil Fruit mastery, Kaku managed to awaken his ability after just two and a half years…
This was a key reason why Red suspected that Zoan awakenings were closely tied to one's physical strength.
Moreover, the countless Jailer Beasts in Impel Down—Zoan users who failed their awakenings—further proved just how uncontrollable Zoan awakenings could be!
Red didn't suspect that Chopper's awakening would fail, but the Human-Human Fruit…
Although it was a seemingly ordinary Zoan without any extra suffix, anything related to the broad concept of "human" was never simple.
Especially if all Zoan-type Fruits possessed Fruit Wills—then Red believed the Fruit Will of the Human-Human Fruit would be the strongest among ordinary Zoans!
To be safe, Red had to approach this matter with one hundred and twenty percent seriousness.
"So… that means I have to actively cultivate the conditions for awakening my Devil Fruit, just like Luffy did…"
"And then, with your help, give up the power of awakening so I won't face the same danger Luffy did?!"
After hearing Red's explanation, Chopper nervously looked up at him, his eyes slightly moist as he asked.
Although awakening his Devil Fruit had never been part of his plans, the thought of a hidden ticking time bomb inside his body made the young-hearted Chopper feel deeply uneasy.
(End of Chapter)