"Volcarona?!"
Hearing that name, Usopp froze in shock once again.
If he remembered correctly, that was the name of a Pokémon from the Pokémon world, wasn't it!?
Sure, butterflies and moths shared some similarities to a degree—but calling it that felt like seriously selling himself short. That name had never even crossed his mind before.
But after muttering "Fire God Butterfly" a few times, the rhythm just felt… off. Almost like he was being taken advantage of somehow.
In the end, Usopp made a decisive choice.
From now on, this mutated flame butterfly would be called Volcarona!
After all, there was no real Volcarona in the pirate world anyway—who was going to care about the details!?
…
…
"Volcarona, use Flamethrower!!!"
BOOM!!!
At Usopp's command, an orange-red spiral of roaring flames materialized out of thin air and surged toward a Level 40 Dustox not far away, instantly engulfing it.
"Zzz—!"
Wrapped in searing heat, Dustox let out a miserable screech.
But in the very next moment—
Whoosh!
A powerful gust suddenly swept through, blowing the flames apart and dispersing them completely.
Flapping its deep yellow wings, Dustox twisted its body around, its eyes glowing red with fury as it locked onto the one who had ambushed it.
Seeing that the fiery vortex hadn't dealt much damage, Usopp's expression shifted slightly.
"As expected… having a Level 25 Volcarona challenge a Level 40 Pokémon is still a bit too much, huh?"
"But—" The corner of his mouth lifted into a confident grin. "Then how about we try this next!!!"
"Volcarona, activate transformation mode!"
With a sharp wave of his hand, Usopp issued the command. Volcarona threw its head back and released a piercing cry.
"Chirp—!!!"
Despite having an insect body, it let out a shrill, bird-like call.
In the next instant, roaring flames engulfed its entire body. Amid the blazing illusion, Volcarona's form abruptly reshaped itself into that of a massive bird.
Its silhouette bore an uncanny resemblance to Marco's Phoenix form.
The difference was that Volcarona's entire body burned with intensely hot flames, radiating an aura of sacred, untouchable majesty.
The scorching heat instantly flooded the surrounding space. Upon entering this Vermilion Bird form, Volcarona's previously dull compound eyes transformed into sharp, piercing pupils.
"Hehehe~"
Watching this brand-new form, satisfaction flashed through Usopp's eyes.
Without hesitation, he issued another command, sending Volcarona charging toward the Dustox whose strength rivaled that of a hundred-million-Beli pirate.
Empowered by the Vermilion Bird Fruit, Volcarona's flames became wildly more violent and scorching.
What had once only dealt minor damage now burned like the radiance of a miniature sun. The moment the flames touched Dustox, a pitch-black scorch mark appeared and rapidly spread across its body.
If the Azure Dragon Fruit granted immense physical power and auxiliary abilities, then the Vermilion Bird Fruit—on the same tier—bestowed unparalleled control over flames!
In Vermilion Bird form, Volcarona—already exceptionally compatible with fire-type powers—had fully become a god of flame in this world!
Under the amplification of Vermilion Bird Flames, the power of its fire-type moves surged to nearly double their original damage.
Compared to this heaven-descending divine fire, even the flames produced by the Flame-Flame Fruit were nothing more than ordinary mortal fire.
So yeah—Flame-Flame Fruit, **** it!
Of course, a massive level gap wasn't something that could be erased so easily.
Even while burning under Vermilion Bird Flames, Dustox stubbornly flapped its wings, releasing thick clouds of deep-purple poison powder, then followed up with Gust, blasting the toxins straight toward Volcarona.
The speed was astonishing—leaving almost no time to react.
It was obvious that Poison Powder + Gust was Dustox's signature combo.
Yet Usopp showed no panic at all. Instead, a mocking smile appeared on his face.
"Poison powder, huh? Not bad—that combo's pretty solid~"
"If Volcarona were still in its normal form, dealing with that cloud would be troublesome."
"But unfortunately…"
He murmured softly, then suddenly lifted his head. Despite being a Bug-type Pokémon, Volcarona's eyes now flashed with blazing fire as Usopp gave the final command:
"Volcarona—charge straight through and finish it!!!"
"Use Sizzly Slide!!!"
"Chirp—!"
Volcarona shrieked sharply.
In an instant, even more intense Vermilion Bird Flames erupted, completely wrapping its body as it dove straight at Dustox.
…
…
Half a minute later.
Staring at the fallen Dustox, Red swiftly tossed a Great Ball · Arceus Edition, capturing it and converting it into two streams of experience light that flowed into Usopp and Volcarona.
But after doing so, an odd expression crossed his face.
Watching Usopp already leading Volcarona off in search of their next target, Red couldn't help but mutter softly:
"Why does it feel like… Usopp is more of a Trainer than I am?"
At the very least, when he normally trained the Straw Hat Pirates, he never issued commands with this level of meticulous detail.
More importantly…
As the King of the Insect Tribe, Usopp held absolute control over Volcarona. His command over it was even smoother than Red's as a Trainer in name only.
For a moment, Red felt like nothing more than an experience-boosting accessory—following Trainer Usopp around, throwing Poké Balls and farming EXP.
Shaking his thoughts away, he watched as Usopp and Volcarona defeated yet another Pokémon and promptly followed up with another Great Ball · Arceus Edition.
Unlike the Poké Balls that had to be purchased from friendly shops before, Red could craft Poké Balls from roadside materials in this game world. As a result, the Arceus-edition Poké Balls had been heavily nerfed by the system.
With the item-drop effect removed, only the EXP boost remained.
Thankfully, Poké Balls were incredibly easy to obtain here, so Red tossed them without a shred of hesitation.
And so, after a full day of effort—
Under massive experience infusion, Usopp leveled up once, reaching Level 50. Even without relying on special items or Devil Fruit powers, his base stats alone now qualified him as a top-tier powerhouse.
Meanwhile, Volcarona leveled up eight times, reaching Level 33.
That was because Usopp deliberately focused on training Volcarona, which had just emerged from its cocoon and gained Devil Fruit powers.
Otherwise, with both Usopp and Red power-leveling together, the experience gains would've been far higher.
Through a full day of testing, they also mastered the powers granted by the Vermilion Bird Fruit beyond Vermilion Bird Flames.
Most notably—
Upon entering Vermilion Bird form, Volcarona's original Fire + Bug typing successfully transformed into Fire + Flying.
As a Bug-type Pokémon, Volcarona could already learn some Flying-type moves—but they were usually mild ones like Gust or Roost.
At best, it could learn Air Slash, a Flying-type move with 75 base power that fired compressed blades of air.
However, after consuming the Vermilion Bird Fruit, Flying-type moves imposed no restrictions on Volcarona at all.
Even Brave Bird, with a base power of 140, could be mastered with ease.
When combined with the ability Flame Body and the might of Vermilion Bird Flames, Volcarona's full-power strike was already enough to heavily injure a Level 50 Pokémon.
Beyond that, while the Vermilion Bird Fruit didn't grant Volcarona the Azure Dragon Fruit's monstrous physique, nor the Phoenix Fruit's rapid regenerative immortality…
It bestowed another unique power—
Purifying Flames!!!
The flames wielded by Volcarona in Vermilion Bird form didn't just burn enemies—they could purify all abnormal status conditions affecting the body.
Paralysis, freezing, poison, and other negative debuffs would never appear on Volcarona again.
Once Volcarona fully mastered these Purifying Flames, it could even cleanse negative states from others—just like Marco—using its own fire.
Body or mind alike.
All things considered… good thing Chopper changed professions early.
With the Straw Hat Pirates now enjoying an unlimited supply of Super Potions, plus the Grassy Terrain on the Going Merry's deck—infused with massive energy by Red and capable of lasting long-term—
And with everyone's ever-expanding toolkit—
The ship's doctor barely had any presence left.
Now, with these all-purpose Purifying Flames in play, Red seriously began to wonder whether they'd even need a ship's doctor at all in future adventures!?
Of course, aside from being a doctor, Chopper was also an excellent pharmacist—and now he was studying all kinds of knowledge alongside his companions…
In the future, he would undoubtedly become someone the Straw Hat crew could never afford to underestimate.
After testing the Vermilion Bird Fruit's powers, both Red and Usopp wore deeply satisfied expressions.
At the same time, their anticipation for the other Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits grew even stronger.
Besides the Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Qilin, Usopp's internal storage still contained many Mythical Zoan Fruits.
Most of their names were ones even Red had never heard before—likely tied to mythological systems from island nations or other regions in Red's past life.
Since they hadn't been specially marked by Saint Saturn, it suggested those fruits' powers were probably just average.
They might still be strong—but nowhere near the level of the Azure Dragon or Vermilion Bird.
If Usopp ever cultivated surplus elite insect troops, he could even consider forming a new lineup beneath the Four Heavenly Kings—something like Seven Demon Lords or the Twelve Zodiac.
…
…
"Sanji, do you have some time?"
That day, the Straw Hats continued their usual training on Fish-Man Island.
Having finally completed his body modifications, Franky unexpectedly sought out Sanji and made a request.
"I'm still a bit clumsy with close-combat techniques. I sat in on a few Fish-Man Karate classes before, but they didn't really suit me."
"Red told me to come ask you for help."
"Combat techniques, huh!?"
Sanji, who had been about to find a quiet spot for Dragon-attribute awakening training, abruptly stopped.
Faced with a companion's request, refusal never crossed his mind. After a moment's thought, he nodded.
"You mean that method Red mentioned—combining heavy weapons with combat techniques, right?"
"I haven't seen it myself, but from his description, that fighting style does resemble mine quite a bit."
"After lunch, let's find a place and study it properly."
"That's SUPER… thank you!!!!"
Hearing Sanji's affirmative answer, Franky broke into exaggerated laughter.
Jets of compressed air erupted from beneath his feet, launching him skyward as he flew back to his workshop to prepare for the afternoon's special training.
Elsewhere—
Nami descended slowly from the sky atop a swirling wind, accompanied by a group of burly members from the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
Pointing at the bookshelf in the temporary study, she instructed:
"Alright, put all the books here."
"Yes, Lady Nami!!!"
With a unified shout, the men opened their packs and carefully organized the books onto the shelves.
These were books Nami had just borrowed from Ryugu Palace on Fish-Man Island.
Though Fish-Man Island lay deep beneath the sea, it had produced many unique scholars over the years.
If Fisher Tiger hadn't been captured and enslaved midway through his journey, he might've become one of them—recording his adventures in writing.
Thanks to the innate advantages of fish-men and merfolk, Fish-Man Island possessed numerous records and documents chronicling the world.
However, due to its location, these materials had never appeared on the surface—only deep beneath the sea, or within Ryugu Palace itself.
Nami had recently hit a bottleneck in her Devil Fruit training.
Though she had fully mastered the offensive applications of the Catastrophe Fruit and cleverly combined them with the Clima-Tact, awakening the fruit—as Red described—was still leagues away.
She knew that awakening such a powerful fruit in so short a time was unrealistic.
But she had found another approach.
That was to learn more about the world—and the disasters it had endured.
These books and documents were her first step.
At the same time, she could also use the knowledge within to teach little Chopper about navigation.
Moreover, many Fish-Man Island texts recorded undersea environments and the causes of oceanic disasters—
Priceless materials that money couldn't buy on the surface, and invaluable for their future voyages.
One move—three gains.
Besides Nami and Franky, Brook, whose combat strength still lagged behind, continued absorbing wandering soul energy that Red had captured for him, steadily strengthening his spirit.
Luffy, experimenting with combining Haki coating and Nika's power;
Zoro, comprehending blade Zen and exploring the peak of swordsmanship;
Sanji, excavating bodily potential and attribute awakening;
Usopp, breeding peerless insects and forging the strongest subordinates;
Chopper, studying myriad disciplines on the path to becoming an all-purpose assistant;
Robin, merging Fish-Man Karate with Devil Fruit abilities;
Nami, understanding the world and comprehending disasters;
Franky, refining his mechanical body and searching for a new combat path;
Brook, strengthening his soul and advancing toward the title of Soul King…
The Straw Hat Pirates were growing at a speed the world could scarcely comprehend.
When they returned to the seas, they would undoubtedly bring either a massive surprise…
Or sheer terror.
Watching his companions train so diligently, Red, the busiest of them all, smiled in satisfaction.
"At this rate, in another month, even the weakest—Brook—will reach elite Marine vice-admiral-level strength. Combined with his unique soul attacks…"
"He'd even be able to fight some ordinary Yonko commanders head-on."
"And by then, Laboon and the others escorting the liberated slaves should be finishing their mission and reporting back."
"Looks like it's time to gather our forces…"
"And let this world know…"
"Who the true king really is!!!"
Red's lips curled upward, countless thoughts flashing through his eyes.
The Four Emperors?
They were nothing more than stepping stones in his grand plan.
After all, he and Luffy hadn't set sail just for the sake of becoming a mere Yonko…
(End of Chapter)