43 Annoying bunch
|Farid's POV:|
...
"Shit, how does this make any sense...?"
Cleaning the blood flowing down from the left side of my mouth with my sleeve, I cursed with an annoyed tone in my voice, as I glanced at the heavily injured Crocodile standing in front of me.
His heavy breathing and the enormous amount of blood coming down his face made it evident that he was on the verge of collapsing. However, despite that, he continued standing on his feet and looking at me as if he would continue going on without problems.
In fact, despite me knowing that in terms of raw power he was equal to the real Crocodile, it was hard to believe that the monster in front of me was the same person I had beaten down so easily just a few days ago.
Was this really the Crocodile that I defeated without much problem?
It was hard to accept when the difference between the two was so clear.
I had already known that the combat skill of every artificial opponent generated by the system increases in contrast with their real counterpart because of their more focused mind, and their excellent efficiency when it came to using everything their real counterpart knew in order to fight. However, none of the previous guys I defeated presented such a big difference in terms of power.
The real Crocodile was like a kid compared to the guy in front of me.
His reflexes were top-notch, so much to the point that it even made me think that he had Observation Haki or something like that. He was dodging a lot of my finishing blows by twisting his sand-like body in strange shapes so that my fists couldn't connect.
And somehow, his sand techniques were also much more cunning and complex than the real ones.
Like sand traps that appeared out of nowhere on the ground, tornados of sand surrounded the entire surroundings to block my vision and make it harder for me to walk and breathe, and several sand swords that appeared from the ground and were really hard due to how many they were.
It was as if I was fighting with a Crocodile that had trained his Devil Fruit powers to their limit, and created incredibly annoying techniques along the way!
Fortunately, thanks to the difference in speed, strength, and endurance between us, he was still something that I could handle. Albeit not without getting a bit injured in the process.
Despite the blood coming down from my mouth, I wasn't really that injured. Just a few cuts all over my body, a few serious bumps on my head, and a small bruise on my mouth. But that was it.
If I was really going to fall because of such small wounds, then I would have already died long ago.
At this point in the battle, the difference in how damaged we both were was so big that it wouldn't surprise me if he suddenly fell unconscious because of blood loss or something like that.
In fact, it was a miracle that he was still standing, despite how much I had already beaten him up.
Surely, just like the real Crocodile, he had quite an enormous pain resistance...
"Though, it's already getting annoying at this point..."
Hitting my fists against each other, I grumbled angrily, before then I glanced at the screen that was counting the time I was taking in defeating Crocodile, and narrowed my eyes in annoyance.
『Current fight's duration: 3:02』
The battle hadn't even been going on for that long. However, considering that in the outside world time passed much faster than here, it wouldn't be a surprise if one or two hours had gotten by already.
And while this fight was fun to some extent...
Staying here for more time was already something that I didn't plan on doing.
Thus, setting my mind straight, I slammed my fists against each other and took a deep breath before muttering in an irritated voice.
"Let's see if you can really dodge this, you sand bastard"
-Bam!-
Complaining angrily at the beaten Crocodile in front of me, I rapidly coated both of my fists with Haki, and immediately kicked the ground to propel myself forward. Sending a punch directly towards Crocodile's body in order to finish the fight.
"...!"
-Wiggle-
And, just as I had expected, the bastard soon reacted to the incoming danger and started morphing his body so that he would avoid getting hit by my fist.
However, unlike what he had predicted, this only made me feel delighted in my mind, as my feet suddenly started being coated with Haki as well.
'I can do that too, you little shit!'
Twisting my own muscles in mid-air using my advanced control of each of my body parts, I silently let out a small groan, before then I twisted my whole body and rapidly changed my attack to being a kick instead of the punch that it was.
It was a type of movement that was only possible thanks to my Psychomotor Ability stat. As it allowed me to have much more profound and clear control over each part of my body.
Though it still hurt my arm a little bit because this move forced my muscles in ways they shouldn't. However, thanks to my great resilience, it didn't really go beyond a slight pain and maybe a few torn muscles.
"...?!"
-Bam!!!-
And thanks to that, the fake Crocodile was unable to react on time and ended up receiving my full-force kick directly.
-Crack...!-
-Baaam!!-
With that, and the sounds of something cracking, soon Crocodile was sent flying away like a rocket and landed several meters away, rolling through the floor like a lifeless doll that had lost its ability to move.
And, as if confirming my victory, soon a screen appeared in front of me and made me sigh in dissatisfaction after seeing how much I had taken in defeating this guy.
Though, a little glint of surprise still remained in my eyes as I saw the rewards for defeating Crocodile.
『You have successfully defeated your opponent in [3 minutes and 12 seconds]』
『The System will now start collecting Status Points from [Sand-human: Crocodile] every 3 Minutes and 12 seconds...』
▽
☠ [New Selected opponent!] ☠
▸[Sand-Human: Crocodile] Gives 2~2.5 status points every [3 minutes and 12 seconds...]
△
It was several times higher than that Osamu guy. Even to the point that it made him look like a small fry rather than the infamous guy that he was.
It made me wonder just how fast would the status points pill up if I defeated this guy in under 5 seconds.
Though, that wasn't possible for the time being, and neither did I have the intention of trying so for the time being.
After all, there was no need for me to grow stronger. I could defeat most pirates with one or two punches, and while I couldn't do that with Crocodile, he was an exception to the norm. And I don't think I will meet someone as strong as him for a while.
There were also other reasons, but most of which I had already mentioned were the most noteworthy reasons for me to not increase my stats any further.
Anyway, it had been quite an exhausting battle, and I was ready to leave. So, I glanced at the screen in front of me with a raised eyebrow, and waited for everything to end.
Soon, as if answering to my wishes, the screen suddenly changed as my surroundings started being filled with a blinding light.
『Leaving the Battle-Simulating Stage』
And as I started feeling my body go back to the real world, I glanced at the screen that displayed the time that I took to beat down the fake Crocodile and furrowed my eyebrows slightly.
'... It's annoying...'
For some reason, I couldn't help but feel annoyed seeing that I had taken so long.
However, knowing that those feelings were useless, I set them aside and then waited for the process of transference to end with my eyes closed.
It took a few seconds or so, but soon the dry air of Arabasta hit my hair once again and made me stretch my limbs in delight.
Then, as I was about to let out a groan of delight, suddenly my hand touched something, and I grabbed it instinctively.
-Squish-
It was then, that I felt something squishy in my left hand, and opened my eyes in confusion.
"What the...?"
What I saw, then, was Nico Robin sitting right in front of me with a tea cup on her hands.
"...!"
And my hand...
... My hand was...
...
In her mouth.
...
"...?"
Thankfully, I hadn't squished so hard, so it probably felt like a slight grab to her.
Though, from now on, I should probably not try to squish things unless I know what they are.
"... Sorry about that"
Moving my hand away as I apologized for that, I stood up from the couch and then turned to look at Nico Robin, who was looking at me with a strange expression.
However, not even letting her say anything, I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at her with an even more strange expression on my face as I asked her.
"Why are you inside my house?"
...
(A/N: You have been bamboozled by the great me!)
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|3rd person POV:|
...
Coughing in an awkward manner, Nico Robin glanced at Farid in front of her with a confused expression, before she then sighed and returned to having her normal expression.
Then, moving her hand to the small living room table beside her, she grabbed a cup of tea and offered it to Farid.
"I came to tell you something"
"And you had to enter my house for that?"
Accepting the tea without saying a word, Farid looked at Robin with a confused expression on his face as he began sipping from it with a slightly content smile.
Then, as if satisfied by his reaction, soon Robin's expression softened, and a small smile appeared on her face.
"You don't expect a lady to wait for you in the rough and harsh desert, right? Besides, you weren't answering when I called at the door. So I thought you were out"
Narrowing his eyes at her for a brief moment, Farid mumbled annoyed, before he then sighed in resignation and asked her with a confused expression on his face.
"-Sigh...- But how did you enter?"
"The door was open"
Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Farid looked to the side to try and remember if he had left it open before he then felt his face twitch when he remembered what had happened.
'Ah, that right... I wanted to ventilate a little bit the house, but since the windows are rather small, I also opened the door in order to let the air enter...'
...
'Huh, Maybe I shouldn't leave the door open before entering into a place where time passes several times slower...'
Shaking his head to disperse his wandering thoughts, Farid sighed, before he then leaned on the couch and took a relaxed position.
"Then? What happened?"
"Do you remember Baroque Works?
Hearing that name, Farid narrowed his eyes for a brief moment, before he then sighed and looked at Robin with an annoyed look in his eyes.
"Yeah, what's up with them? Did they cause trouble now that their boss is behind bars?"
Nodding her head at Farid's words, Robin crossed her arms, before she then started explaining to him what had happened.
"After the executives heard that Crocodile was defeated, and were notified by me that Baroque Works was going to dissolve because of that, they went on a rampage and declared that even without having Crocodile as their boss anymore they would take over Arabasta one way or another... -Sigh...- They probably believe that if all of them band up together, they will have enough power to take over the still recuperating Arabasta, now that it's still in its weakest state"
Hearing her, Farid nodded his head, before he then clicked his tongue, and stood up from the couch.
"What an annoying bunch... Well, whatever. They shouldn't be too much of a problem anyways... How many are there of them?"
"There's nine of them. However, they still have some billions and millions with them that want to join on their new plan for taking over Arabasta, so I estimate that their numbers should be around the hundred or so..."
Massaging her chin in contemplation, Robin spoke with a calm tone, as she looked at Farid from the corner of her eye with a curious expression. Wanting to see if he would flinch in the slightest against such an impressive number.
However, to her delight, the only thing that Farid showed was an annoyed face, as he grumbled in a low voice.
"Such a big fight will gather a lot of attention... Then I better cover up my face just in case..."
Then, crossing his arms, Farid looked at Robin and raised an eyebrow before asking her
"Do you know when will they arrive?"
Nodding her head, Robin took a sip of her tea, before she then smiled softly and placed her tea cup back on the table.
"It should be between today and tomorrow... They will probably arrive at Nanohana by then"
Snorting, Farid grabbed the dark coat and the cow mask that were lying on one of the couches, before he then walked towards the door and prepared to leave. Followed by Robin.
Then, muttering something and putting on the dark and ragged coat, Farid grumbled in a low voice before he then put on the cow mask and opened the door of his house.
"Very well. While I was not expecting that I would beat up a hundred bounty hunters on my vacations, since I was bored just a few hours ago, I guess I can't complain"
Like that, both of them left the house and started walking through the desert.
Their destination?
Nanohana.
...
-To be Continued-
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(A/N: I'm feeling productive thanks to you guys supporting the story so much the other day. so rejoice for a new chapter in less than three days.
That's my limit. Don't ask for more.
Also, in case you don't remember, the "Billions" and the "Millions" that Robin mentioned, are bounty hunters of inferior rank within Baroque Works that would be considered their "troops".
So yeah, it's Farid against 9 Executives of Baroque Works and a hundred weaklings.
Either way, enjoy the chapter. I just got my ass beaten by a statistics test, so now I'm going to cry in a corner)
(A/N 2: Goddamn, Webnovel erased like 1900 words out of the chapter and I didn't notice when I uploaded it an hour ago. Thank god it has a restoring feature, otherwise, you would have had to wait like seven days more for the new chapter :P )
