Chapter 277: Baltigo - Not Telling You

After Takumi used the Stabilizing Wind Pearl to dispel Dragon's attack, he didn't even need to lift a finger before the system's voice rang in his mind.

[Ding! Progress increased by 30% for shocking Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army. Current total progress: 70%.]

Since Takumi had already received a reward once for refusing Dragon's invitation, he wasn't surprised when he didn't get anything this time. Generally, if a task is completed twice with the same person on the same island, the system only gives one reward.

Since the task was now complete, there was no reason for him to keep fighting Dragon. The reason he chose to take that attack for Enel in the first place was simply to see if it would trigger the task progress.

That was why he stopped Dragon from launching a second attack.

Dragon stared at Takumi in silence before asking, "How did you nullify my attack just now?"

"Not telling you." As Takumi spoke, he returned the pearl to the system storage with a flick of his wrist.

Dragon's gaze shifted to Takumi's right hand, where the pearl had been moments ago. "You had something in your hand, didn't you?"

Takumi opened his hand, smiling faintly. "Nothing at all."

Dragon frowned.

Ignoring him, Takumi turned and walked toward Enel and Kaku.

While walking, he asked in his mind, "System, what's the last task detail?"

[Ding! Gain recognition from more than 80% of the Revolutionary Army on Baltigo. Task progress will increase by 30%.]

Takumi went silent for a moment.

Was the system messing with him?

Over the last five months, he and his two crewmates had been having a good time. But on this island, he was well aware that, although no one said it out loud, at least 90% of the people were not particularly fond of them.

Gaining recognition from 80% of them wouldn't be easy...

"Yahahaha, I won!" Enel laughed loudly. "I told you Takumi was strong, but none of you believed me. See? Your leader's attack didn't even reach him!"

The Revolutionary soldiers scowled.

"This can't be right. Something shady must be going on!"

"I refuse to accept this outcome without a proper explanation!"

"Yeah, I don't accept it either!"

Enel looked at them in disdain. "Hmph! Win or lose, that's how it is. You people just can't handle losing. Long-nose, collect the money."

"Got it." Kaku smirked. "Since Miss Koala bet on our captain as well, even though you didn't bet much, let's split all the winnings and give you a third."

Koala blinked, then smiled wryly. "Uh, alright, sure."

"Sabo, you've got to help us out here!"

"Yeah! There's no way our leader's attack couldn't even touch Takumi! Something's wrong..."

"That was all my savings... If I lose it all, I'll be eating dirt..."

Enel gave the speakers a scornful look. "You think my golden staff isn't my entire savings too?"

"Enough." Takumi walked over to Enel.

Enel immediately put on a cheerful face and said with a grin, "See? I'm the only one who's been on your side all along. I believed in you from the start! And I earned us a good amount of travel funds too, haha..."

"Come here," Takumi said with a slight smile.

Enel walked over, and as soon as he got close, Takumi punched him in the face, sending him flying.

The Revolutionary soldiers were stunned, especially those who had just returned from outside and hadn't gotten used to Takumi's antics.

They hadn't expected Takumi to actually hit his own crewmate.

"What the heck?! Why did you hit me?" Enel's voice, full of indignation and frustration, came from afar.

Takumi replied coolly, "You're the one whose brain got stuck in a door."

Enel: "..."

Kaku burst out laughing. "Enel always finds a way to get himself beaten up every day. It's hilarious!"

"Stupid long-nose! You're dead meat!" Enel yelled as he suddenly appeared in front of Kaku and squirted him in the face with the water gun Kaku had left with him earlier.

Kaku couldn't dodge in time and ended up just like Crow earlier—completely out of energy.

"Enel, you..." Kaku staggered, nearly falling. Fortunately, Sabo was nearby and caught him.

"Are you also a Devil Fruit user?" Sabo asked curiously.

Kaku nodded weakly.

Enel looked at the water gun in his hand and found it even more pleasing. "Long-nose, what's in here? Seawater?"

Kaku didn't even want to respond to Enel.

Sabo rubbed his chin, thinking aloud. "If it was just regular seawater, the small amount from one shot wouldn't be enough to weaken a Devil Fruit user this much. There must be something else mixed in."

"Exactly," Kaku nodded. "I did add something."

"What did you add?" Koala asked, curious.

Kaku took a dry handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the water from his face, and slowly regained some strength. "Not telling you."

As if he'd tell them that, about a month ago, he had convinced Takumi to give him some Seastone after pestering him for days.

Yes, the water in that gun was mixed with Seastone powder.

Seastone was incredibly valuable and rare in this world. It wasn't something you could easily find in the market.

Even if you could get it, Seastone was extremely tough, and turning it into powder wasn't easy. So when Kaku wanted to go with the Revolutionary soldiers on an expedition to the nearby black market, Takumi had generously given him a few pounds of it.

Though it was just a few pounds, it was worth a fortune.

Kaku didn't know where Takumi had gotten the Seastone from, but since he had it, there was no need to go looking elsewhere.

Afterward, Kaku spent a whole month experimenting with different methods to crush it, and in the end, he had to ask Takumi for help to finally produce some powder.

"You're so stingy," Koala muttered in dissatisfaction.

Sabo glanced at the powder-like substance left on Kaku's handkerchief, thought for a moment, and then guessed, "The water in that gun must be mixed with a substance that weakens Devil Fruit users. The most effective thing for that would be Seastone. If I'm right, you mixed Seastone powder with seawater, didn't you?"

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