Chapter 69 – Progress bar.
—Aokiji
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—20
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—15
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—10
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—5
"Gah, you perverted jerk! What are you drawing?!"
"Progress bar."
Watching the bar fill, a surge of accomplishment rose.
————
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Click, clack—
The lock turned.
Fubuki pushed the door open.
"Big Sis is back?" She noticed the shoes in the entrance.
Besides her sister's pair, a much larger set sat beside them.
A guest?
The question flashed through her mind as she stepped into the living-room.
Just then the bedroom door opened.
"Aokiji? Why are you here—where's my sister?" Fubuki asked instinctively.
Her sister hadn't come home all night; with her strength Fubuki wasn't worried, but she was curious.
Especially seeing Aokiji in the house, her imagination began to run wild.
"Tatsumaki's resting. You saw the Z-City news?" Aokiji poured a glass of water.
"Yeah—Monster attack, evil organisation, you developed a new Psychic Power." Fubuki summarised.
"Good." Aokiji glanced toward the bedroom and lowered his voice.
"The group they mentioned is the one that took Tatsumaki for experiments when we were kids; she and I wiped it out completely."
Hearing this, Fubuki felt dazed.
Long-buried memories surfaced.
Back when Tatsumaki was taken away—
Fubuki had been two, her Psychic Power not yet awakened, so the organisation left her behind.
She stayed with her foster parents, and after three sister-less years—
Tatsumaki suddenly returned to take her away.
Four strange men appeared, trying to capture Tatsumaki, only to be killed by her instead.
The scene had unfolded before five-year-old Fubuki's eyes.
The shock awakened her Psychic Power.
From then on, beyond blood ties, she also felt a deep fear of Tatsumaki.
The culprit behind it all had finally been erased by her sister… Tatsumaki's feelings must be complicated.
Fubuki hesitated, wondering if she should go comfort her.
"…Let Big Sis rest." She decided after a moment.
The grudge of many years had reached its end.
Whatever her sister's reaction, she wouldn't want anyone to see her like this.
That was Fubuki's judgement.
"Right, let her rest." Aokiji agreed.
Then he changed the subject.
"How's the Move I taught you last time?"
"I've practised till it's perfect!" Fubuki smiled confidently.
"A powerful counter: Monsters can't break the defence and get hit back."
"Aokiji, can you teach me the next one?"
Hope shone in her eyes.
After so long she'd finally gained real guidance.
Though a Genius stood beside her, she couldn't learn from her at all.
She'd had to grope forward alone.
Aokiji lounged on the sofa as if he owned the place, lazily reclining.
He considered what Move to give her.
Gravity boost?
Tatsumaki and Boros's octopus underling had both used it.
But with Fubuki's Psychic Power, even if she mastered it, its combat value would be low.
Convert stamina into healing?
During the Monster Association arc she'd used that to save the gravely injured Tank-Top Master, turning him into a fatty.
Yet what she urgently wanted was battle strength.
The most direct method—
was the technology he'd obtained from [Tsukuyomi].
Considering the future disposition of the Association higher-ups,
he'd only shared the brainwashing-removal tech so they could free Green.
All other tech remained solely with him.
Tatsumaki wouldn't even touch it out of disgust.
If not for her dislike—
after verifying feasibility, it would indeed be the fastest way to make Fubuki stronger.
For now, stick to plain old Train.
"Try developing illusions."
"Illusions?" Fubuki was puzzled.
She'd always relied on telekinesis.
Back in high school she'd explored other applications—
like Sealing the wild vice-president's Psychic Power.
But those tricks hadn't helped her combat strength, so she'd dropped them.
Illusion was foreign to her.
Aokiji suggested it because in the original story she'd shown spiritual uses of her power.
"Turn your telekinesis into unique mental waves."
"You don't need grand illusions—just feed enemies false info in combat and create openings."
"I see…" Fubuki lowered her head in thought.
Her dark-green bob brushed her shoulders, a pearl necklace swaying against her chest as she leaned back.
"Sounds workable, but how do I Train it?"
Unlike direct telekinesis, developing hallucinations required experiments.
She couldn't test on civilians or friends.
Monsters or criminals wouldn't cooperate.
"Come to Z-City tomorrow." Aokiji had considered this.
Perfect.
He planned to complete the 'Three Kings' figurine set.
"Plenty of Monsters there for you to experiment on."
"All right." Fubuki nodded gratefully.
"one more thing," he emphasised, "stay out of your sister's room and let her rest."
"Isn't that what I just said?" she replied, puzzled.
"As long as you remember."
Aokiji didn't care about hiding.
But with Observation Haki he sensed
a certain curly loli still scrubbing away scribbles.
If her sister found out,
the shame might make her Psychic Power blow up the whole building.
——Back at the villa——
——night——
The sun blazed.
Yet it brought no warmth to the backyard.
Aokiji sat cross-legged, eyes closed.
His Dragon tail lay still behind him.
Sea-blue ice met azure scales.
Extreme cold and surging life-force pulsed from his body.
Logia and Zoan—
two utterly different Devil Fruit powers, merging under his will.
Like a humanoid Azure Dragon carved from polar glaciers.
He opened his eyes; cyan pupils showed dissatisfaction.
This form merely used both fruit powers side-by-side.
It still fell short of the Ice-Dragon mode he envisioned.
More development was needed.
Two sleepless nights, yet he felt no fatigue.
With his stamina, skipping sleep for days was trivial.
The titanic aura of the glacier Dragon faded back to normal.
Aokiji stood.
"Time to buy the Subterranean King figurine."
—End—