Chapter 91: Celebration Banquet, Time to Part.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

Gulp, gulp—

Chew, chew~~

Knife and fork cutting, elegant and composed.

Don't get me wrong, the only person in the Straw Hat crew who eats with 'elegance' is:

"Hey, hey, don't choke by eating so fast."

While cutting the steak in front of him with a knife and fork, Sanji reminded Chopper, who was using his hooves to hold chopsticks. As for Roman, he was absentmindedly stuffing food into his mouth while frowning, still thinking about how to improve his combat power.

Continue developing his Devil Fruit abilities? Or improve his Observation Haki? As for Armament Haki, he still had no clue. —What does it mean to attack with all your heart and soul...

If he were to develop his Devil Fruit abilities, he would need a strong body. But building a strong body requires tedious training day and night... I really envy Luffy's 'Seimei Kikan - Eating Version,' where he can recover his strength, heal injuries, and grow stronger just by eating and drinking.

Slap.

?

Turning his head to look at Nami beside him, the orange-haired girl was speechless as she grabbed the fork Roman was bringing to his mouth, with a smear of bright red on the bread.

"What is this...?"

"Usopp~~!"

Facing Nami's expressionless turn, Usopp beside her was stunned.

"It wasn't me, I didn't do it... Luffy made me do it..."

...

Are you the white lotus female lead in a romance drama? This brainless denial is too much.

Tsk, but it doesn't matter.

"This is just hot sauce, right?"

Without changing his expression, Roman stuffed the bread into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed the bread mixed with a large amount of hot sauce.

!

"Roman, you..."

"Hmph, if I can't handle this little bit of hot sauce, it means my stomach isn't that strong."

??

What hit you? You've gone from combat power anxiety to human anxiety...

Nami was speechless. They had just defeated the Seven Warlords of the Sea 'Sand Crocodile' - Crocodile, and it was time to relax and celebrate. But Roman was still tense, as if countless stronger enemies were waiting for the Straw Hat crew in the future...

How could that be?

Shaking her head, Nami dismissed the strange thought.

Since I can't figure it out, I'll just conclude that Roman simply 'doesn't want to be human' anymore!

Hiss, is this the demeanor of a strong person?

———————

"Hahahaha~~~"

After a hearty meal, it's time for a soak in the hot spring. While everyone was laughing and joking, Roman was frowning and thinking about something in his hand—

"Roman, what's this fun thing?"

Luffy snatched the 'bracelet' from Roman's hand and immediately went limp, sliding into the water like a noodle.

"Ahhh, I have no strength~~"

"Help, I'm drowning!!"

...

How can you drown in a half-person-high hot spring pool? What—

?

Seeing Luffy lying limp in the pool, blowing bubbles and unable to get up, Zoro and the others quickly pulled the limp Luffy out of the water.

"What is this...?"

"This is a wristband embedded with seastone."

Roman took the 'iron ring' from Zoro, and a feeling of extreme weakness immediately spread throughout his body! It felt like he was holding a thousand-pound weight! The wristband was embedded with seastone particles, courtesy of the 'generous' Crocodile.

Seastone is a scarce resource! The cage in Crocodile's Rain Dinners that held ability users was just an alloy iron cage embedded with seastone particles. It wasn't luxurious enough to be made entirely of seastone.

So Roman asked the royal army to remove the seastone particles and quickly made several 'wristbands'.

This is the one in his hand.

"These wristbands are embedded with seastone particles, which can greatly suppress the stamina of Devil Fruit users."

"But on the flip side, they are excellent training equipment for Devil Fruit users."

Roman glanced at Luffy, who was performing 'Water Release : Water Dragon Bullet Technique' with his mouth, with a puzzled look.

In the 'future', Luffy trained at Kaido's labor camp with Eustass Kid, wearing seastone handcuffs and moving bricks. Not only did he build a strong physique, but he also learned advanced Armament Haki... earning the title of 'Brick King'.

Kaido's training camp, tried and tested by ability users!

"And as a Devil Fruit user,"

Roman's 'Paper-Paper Fruit' leans more towards creation rather than superhuman physique. When he ate the fruit, his strength was already close to 30 million, so the seastone's suppression didn't render him immobile. But Luffy...

"The sea and seastone are absolute weaknesses! There's nothing we can do about seawater, but seastone can be trained to build resistance."

And there's another point, Blackbeard's 'Dark-Dark Fruit' can nullify other fruit abilities, similar to the effect of seastone. It's necessary to train for this in advance...

Splash!!

A splash of hot water poured over Roman's head, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hahaha, Roman, you guy,"

Luffy laughed with his hands on his hips, showing his twelve shining teeth.

"You're always thinking about combat power, combat power~~~"

"Can't you just relax and have fun~~~"

...

"I can't help it, I have to see your dreams come true."

Without enough strength... forget it, since it's time to relax.

"Hmph," Roman 'smirked evilly', "You underestimate my specially made training equipment, I'll show you what 'terror' means!"

"Take this, 'Paper Dance - Seastone Handcuffs'! Hahaha, drown in your own bathwater~~~"

"Ahhh, I feel drained..."

Glug, glug, glug~~~

"Luffy, Luffy, wake up!"

"Doctor, doctor, come quickly~~~"

"Aren't you the doctor?!"

——————

"Honestly, can't these boys be quiet for a moment?"

On the other side, while enjoying Vivi's back massage, Nami complained while enviously looking around.

"It would be nice if we had a ship with a hot spring."

"There definitely will be," Vivi reminisced about the journey, which, although short, was full of surprises. "Giants, dinosaurs, cherry blossoms on snowy mountains..."

"Compared to those, a ship with a hot spring seems quite ordinary."

"True."

"Come on, it's my turn to give you a back massage."

While massaging Vivi's back, Nami casually said,

"We plan to set sail tonight."

?!

Vivi's white back suddenly stiffened. Although she knew this day would come, she didn't expect it to be so soon.

"Can't you stay a bit longer..."

"Well, there are over thirty Marine warships gathered outside," Nami shrugged, her hands not stopping, "and the captain is already awake. We need to continue our journey."

"...I see,"

———————

"Hey, hey, hey, this can't be real, right?"

The captain of the royal guard, Igaram, and the vice-captains Chaka and Pell, looked at the wanted posters on the table, both shocked and angry!

"How could... the Marines act so quickly?!"

"With such high bounties, Marine officers will definitely be dispatched..."

On the table were two wanted posters: one for 'Roronoa Zoro' with a bounty of 60 million, and the other for 'Monkey D. Luffy' with a bounty of 100 million!

What does 100 million mean?

It means the captain of the Silver Light Pirates would destroy all his crew for it, a Devil Fruit that grants bizarre abilities, the entire fortune of a royal noble...

It also symbolizes a 'great pirate'!

In the Grand Line, only those with bounties over 100 million are considered significant figures.

"Damn, we must inform them immediately—"

Grabbing the wanted posters, Igaram rushed to the Straw Hat crew's room and suddenly pushed open the door, only to see a row of neatly made beds and:

"Princess Vivi, where are Luffy and the others?"

"Of course, they've set sail,"

The blue-haired princess, hugging her knees, lowered her eyes.

"Because they are pirates."

———————

Buzzing~~~

Amid the sound of high-speed rotating propellers, the 'Paper Dance - Boeing 747' glided smoothly over Alabasta.

"Nami, are you feeling unwell?"

In the cabin, everyone was either sitting, standing, leaning, or sleeping, except for Nami, who was silently looking down.

"How about I share some of my meat with you,"

Luffy said reluctantly.

"You're thinking about Vivi, aren't you? No wonder." Sanji, for once, wasn't smoking, "But... Vivi still has the fate of a country on her shoulders..."

Everyone else had the same serious expression. Although they all considered Vivi a comrade, her identity meant...

"No, I'm heartbroken."

"What about the 1 billion Berries we were promised for helping Vivi defeat Crocodile..."

??!!

This...

"So that's what you were thinking about!"

"Give us back our sadness, you idiot!"

"Hahaha~~ What did you think I was thinking? Of course, I know Vivi can't go to sea with us~~"

Soon, after a day of partying, everyone fell asleep. A figure in a suit silently walked towards the 'cockpit.'

"Roman."

"Yes, what is it, Sanji?"

Facing Roman, who was 'flying the plane,' Sanji hesitated, not knowing how to start, and finally bit the bullet.

"It's about Nami..."

"I know."

?!

"You know?"

Sanji's eyes narrowed, slowly filling with anger.

"You shouldn't doubt my intelligence—"

Bang!

Roman's back slammed against the plane wall, his collar grabbed by Sanji!

"If you know everything, then why—"

"Ugh~"

The sound of someone turning over and Nami's unconscious murmur came from the cabin, making Sanji pause.

...

"Roman, what do you mean?!"

"Don't tell me you have a fiancée or something, or—do you look down on Nami?"

"Of course not,"

"Nami is an excellent girl, and I understand her feelings. But..."

Roman sighed, "The reason is a bit complicated. Just think of it as me not having time to consider these issues for now..."

"Why—"

Facing Roman, who didn't want to explain, Sanji finally let go of his collar and turned away.

"I don't know what you're afraid of, Roman."

"You aren't even afraid of Crocodile, so why are you afraid to face your own feelings?"

"In any case, this is between you and Nami, and I shouldn't interfere. But—a gentleman shouldn't break a girl's heart."

As Sanji went back to sleep, Roman touched his chin and smiled wryly.

In his previous life, he often saw slogans like 'XX will never die, how can we call it home.' Now, should he also shout 'If I don't become an Admiral, how can I call it home'?

"Strength, strength,"

If he had the strength of an Admiral... no, even the strength of a Seven Warlords of the Sea, Roman wouldn't have to deliberately ignore it. Only Roman knew how many strong enemies awaited the Straw Hat crew ahead, maybe he shouldn't have...

"What am I thinking,"

Roman shook his head self-deprecatingly.

Without the Straw Hat crew, he might have already become 'Blackbeard 2.0.' Since he chose to stand in the light, he must bear the corresponding price.

"Sorry, Nami... at least wait until after the Summit War."

——————

PS: I have a feeling you guys are going to scold me~~~ But, feelings should develop slowly. Swearing eternal love at first sight is just lusting after someone's body~~~ 

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