I reached the top of Pirates

Chapter 223, Section 222: Ohara! A cautionary tale!

A slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, Jingjing?
No, no, how could there possibly be such a thing?

Is that stuff refinable?

Even if it's extracted, is it still useful?

He shook his head, clearing his mind of distractions.

"Asia, go tell Crocodile next door that we're about to leave."

Robin: "Aren't you leaving first thing tomorrow morning?"

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Asia vanished and flew away.

"No, the scenery at night is quite nice."

He rolled his eyes at Messer and said nothing more, quietly staying with Messer there.

Moses smiled as the gray mist continued to devour and refine the sea.

A small portion of the water essence is retained, while the rest is absorbed by the "small world," producing imperceptible changes and providing the body with imperceptible nourishment.

Even the slightest feedback from Mercer's control over his body is perceptible.

Is the only quality level for crystal water D+?
Moses didn't believe it anyway, so he increased the refining process.

Consuming a massive amount of seawater, the "small world" unleashed its full power of absorption, and after a considerable period of refinement...

Looking at the droplet-shaped B+ grade water essence that appeared in the devouring space, containing a massive amount of water element essence:
"The basic information remains the same, but the effect has been greatly improved? Is this the best quality in terms of cost performance at present?"

The gray mist engulfed him, and a large amount of water element essence flowed into his body, nourishing every corner of his body. A shimmering watery halo appeared on the surface of Messer's body, and he could clearly feel a wonderful connection with this sea.

Ocean Mommy?

No, it's the affinity with the water element.

Looking curiously at Mercer beside him, Robin observed Mercer's skin with interest, wondering if it had become even better.

It's in a woman's nature to love beauty.

He stared longingly at Moses, saying nothing, making no demands, simply admiring him.

After Asia returned, Nami took the helm and Ace steered the ship, until a water crystal with a warm, shimmering luster, like a water-blue diamond, reappeared in Messe's hand.

"Is this for me?"

Mercer laughed and said, "This water spirit has too much energy, your body may not be able to absorb it effectively, let me help you."

The gray mist devoured and merged with her, remaining in a state of near-merging.

Infuse this high-quality water essence into her body.

Moses sensed the various wondrous changes occurring within Robin's body. Overall, the most basic effect was the further improvement in her physical attributes.

As the fusion was complete, Messer discovered that the girl had fallen asleep comfortably.

Washing and purification.

Moses then thought that Devil Fruits were unnatural products born from the strange interaction between human imagination and the rules of the world.

The sea will reject it if you eat it.

So, would higher quality water essence, with its greater affinity for water elements, cleanse and purify the body and mind, alleviate this "curse" of aversion to the ocean?

Will the effect of "PYROBROIN" on ability users be reduced? For example, even if a large area of ​​the body comes into contact with seawater, even if the ability is ineffective, will the user not be completely powerless?

Moses thought that this should be possible, since Kaido, the strongest creature in the world across land, sea, and air, had already memorized the book.

As a user of the Azure Dragon Fruit, the ocean doesn't seem to have much of an effect on him.

The strongest creature on land, sea, and air has already explained everything.

Bring your thoughts back to the main point.

He smiled and escorted her back to her room on the second floor.

After dinner, they went up to the top of the cabin. Moses leaned against the platform railing and made a phone call to someone.

Moses smiled, and after a long silence, uttered his final words:
"It's okay, when you come, beat me up as much as you want. Just beat me to death as long as you don't kill me."

"Then wait for me."

"See you."

Click!

After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, looking at the little guy with the light blue shell looking exhausted, Mercer took out a water spirit and put it to its mouth.

Upon seeing that it was water, the Den Den Mushi (snail) happily drank it and looked at Mercer with disdain, implying that he was stingy.

Mercer shook his head and chuckled.

Looking up at the sky, the bright moon hangs high, and the stars shine brilliantly.

Their large ship was sailing steadily in one direction on the sea, with Ya Dabao at the helm.

It looks amazing.

With each breath, I harmonize with the surrounding environment, experiencing the increasingly profound rhythm of my own breathing.

Various wondrous natural frequency fluctuations interact with oneself in sync with the rise and fall of breath.

Feeling the frequency fluctuations of nature, I breathe, and my domineering aura flows quietly within my body with each breath.

The next day.

Morning class is over.

On the ice surface right next to the ship's hull.

Mercer brought a manatee, which was already processed and had a diameter of ten meters, onto the ship.

Have a snack in the morning.

……

A week later.

Guided by a permanent pointer, we arrived at a small, deserted island covered with flowers, trees, and shrubs. The island was filled with collapsed "ruins" and scars of artillery fire.

At the fence, Robin stared blankly at the scene; the island had completely lost its original appearance.

"O'Hara?"

She gripped the railing tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white from the effort, and bit her lip, trying her best to hold back her tears.

"Come with me to the island," Moses said softly.

After speaking, he looked at the crowd around him, who had become much quieter now that they sensed the change in atmosphere:

"Do as you please, whether you stay on the boat or go to the island to explore."

Lower the anchor and hoist the sails.

Ace and his friends landed on the island and wandered around.

Moses walked toward the center of the island, with Robin silently following beside him.

"Why did I even think of coming here? I really didn't want to come here."

"Are you scared?"

"Ah."

She reached out and hugged Mercer's arm, her body visibly trembling.

Moses said calmly, "It's okay if you're scared. I'll just beat Kuzan up next time I see him."

Robin said quietly, "He should be considered a good person. He was the one who spared my life back then."

At this point, Robin said softly:

"Just beat him up, don't kill him."

Moses nodded and said no more.

Before long, they arrived at the center of the island.

The remains of a huge tree.

The Tree of Omniscience.

It's already burned to a crisp.

Even in its remains, one can still see the grandeur of the tree when it was still alive.

There was some disappointment in his eyes; there were no achievements to plunder.

Robin, now back to her original appearance, stared blankly at everything around her, tears streaming down her face.

Looking around, Moses walked across a wide pool of water and came to the roots of the Tree of Omniscience, raising an eyebrow slightly.

At the point where the massive rootstock broke off, a small tree with a thick canopy, about the thickness of a thumb, grew out.

Here, rows of solitary graves stand defiantly.

The first one is a tombstone called "Clover".

"This is?"

Robin looked at everything in astonishment. "Who did this?"

Her gaze swept quickly around the area, but ultimately she lowered her eyes in disappointment.

"There is no tombstone for my mother."

Moses shook his head: "Isn't this the task you came here for today? Since no one else remembers, you're still here, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'll do it."

Soon, a cenotaph without any clothing was completed, and a name was inscribed on the tombstone.

Robin did it himself.

Sitting in front of the newly built tombstone, he whispered about his life over the years.

After the worship ceremony.

Robin was clearly in a better mood. She wiped away her tears and smiled at Moses:

"Thank you."

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Robin noticed the sapling of the Omniscient Tree growing from the rotten roots, and his eyes widened suddenly.

He quickly jogged over.

Robin reached out and gently stroked the sapling, his emotions fluctuating.

Seeing this, Moses said softly:
"If you like it, you can take it with you and plant it in your room as a potted plant, or transplant it to another island."

Robin shook his head with a serene smile. "No need for that. Let's replant it here and let it continue to grow into a towering tree."

One day, someone will discover this place, and a hundred years from now, perhaps people will migrate here again.

He nodded, and the gray fog spread out, engulfing the saplings.

Walking with Robin in the center of the island, they replanted it in a fertile open space.

Mercer infused several water spirits into the sapling, and the sapling visibly became even greener.

Robin smiled, his entire demeanor becoming more cheerful. He knelt down and gently stroked the tree trunk.

Moses laughed as he watched this scene:
"Since you like it so much, how about we carve some words on the tree trunk?"

She flatly refused, "No."

Robin rolled his eyes at Moses.

"I don't want that, it's free."

Clap your hands and stand up.

He kneaded his cheeks with both hands, and as the petals fluttered in the air, his face changed, revealing the face of Merlot.

"Let's go." She put her hands behind her back, leaned forward slightly, and tilted her head charmingly to look at Messer. "Come stroll around here with me."

"Row."

The two strolled around the island, and as they walked, Robin quietly recounted his childhood experiences on the island.

Mercer listened quietly as they approached the ruins of a building.

Robin pursed his lips, his mood becoming somewhat downcast.

"This is where I lived before I was eight years old, back then."

listen.

Just then, as footsteps sounded, a cheerful voice rang out:

"Hahaha, Mercer's great discovery."

Runti's figure appeared around a corner, skipping and running over. When she was about five meters away, she jumped up and pounced on Mercer's back, hugging his neck tightly and hanging on Mercer.

A cheerful laugh rang out as long, slender, fair, and strong legs wrapped around her waist, and her delicate face rubbed vigorously against Mercer's right cheek.

A cold, white demon horn pressed against his temple. Mercer muttered speechlessly, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so happy?"

Runti chuckled and said, "It's nothing, I'm just happy."

"Like a complete idiot."

Yamato also walked over from that direction, looking at Runti clinging to Mese with displeasure, and grabbed Runti's demon horn.

Just as I was about to exert my strength.

Sizzle.
Dense blue-white arcs of electricity erupted from the demon's horn, and Yamato, feeling the pain from the electric shock, quickly released it.

Runti pouted and snorted: "How dare you touch a young lady's beautiful face?"

Yamato puffed out his cheeks and looked at Messer with jealousy in his eyes.

Mercer laughed, "Your horns are no less impressive than hers."

Yamato looked dejected. "But it's not cool at all. All I have is toughness and hardness, but no special abilities."

Mercer retorted speechlessly, "Isn't it better to be tougher? Are you lacking that ability?"

Yamato winked and grinned, saying:

"Oh right. I don't need any."

He pulled out his spiked club from behind his back, swung it through the air with a whooshing sound, and watched as Runti raised her chin:

"Come on, little Tizi, take this!"

Runti's lips twitched.

He jumped off Mercer, pulled out his spiked club, stomped his foot to crush the ground beneath his feet, and charged forward at top speed.

Clang!
Rumble!
A violent impact broke through between the two. Runti, like a berserker, swung her strangely shaped spiked club around Yamato, flying up and down.

Its entire body was a cold white with a metallic sheen, crackling with dense blue and white electric arcs.

Mercer stepped back, watching the two engage in an incredibly intense fight.

The fighting here is extremely brutal.

Before long, Peipei and the others all arrived over here, gathered around Xiong Bao, took out sunflower seeds and cola, and found places to sit together and watch the delightful battle.

The gray mist materialized into a hand, which swiped a handful of melon seeds from Xiong Bao's hand. Mercer squatted on a ruin, watching the fierce battle between the two.

A small tornado of sand gathered and solidified beside Messer, and Crocodile spoke:

"When do we start?"

Mercer watched the two beautiful girls arguing without looking at them, and said to him:

"So-called domineering spirit is..."

Crocodile calmly explained to him what domineering power was and his own understanding of it, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light.

"As for why you have been unable to wake up, it's simple: you rely too much on the Sand-Sand Fruit's power. You've developed it to such an extreme that those weaker than you can't beat you, and those with Haki who aren't much stronger than you can hardly defeat you."

However, even someone like you is only mediocre, not the best, but not the worst either. When you encounter a truly top-tier expert, you...
"Ha! Let's have a fight."

Crocodile listened to Moses's comments with a mixture of anger and displeasure, but he couldn't refute them because what Moses said was true.

Because they rely on Devil Fruit abilities and neglect physical training, they find it difficult to awaken Haki.

Upon hearing Moses's words, his gaze turned fierce.

"Sure. I'd like to see just how strong you really are."

"Yes, I will keep my promise and teach you how to be domineering. But you have to listen to me while I'm teaching you."

Crocodile's eyes flickered slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he nodded: "...Defeat me."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a gust of sand and appeared not far away.

"Identification"

Strength rating: B
His physical abilities are so-so, but the only thing that makes him strong in combat is his A-rank Sand-Sand Fruit ability, which is also the source of his confidence to act arrogantly everywhere in the past.

A surge of fighting spirit emanated from his body.

This immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. Yamato and Runti stopped fighting, and Pepe, in her spirit form, approached Mercer, covered her mouth, and chuckled:
"Does he want to have a match with you?"

"Ah."

Mercer stood up and stretched, then walked towards him, his breathing rising and falling, his domineering aura flowing rapidly within him.

In the blink of an eye, the figure broke through the hundred-meter distance between the two and arrived in front of him.

Upon seeing Mather's current speed, Crocodile's gaze sharpened, and his right hand instantly transformed into sand, unleashing a massive sand blade gleaming with steel light.

"Desert Sword."

His eyes closed slightly, and in the blink of an eye, his arms turned dark, covered with delicate dragon scale patterns.

A cherry-red aura appeared at the tip of his fist, and he threw a punch—thump!
The Desert Sword shattered instantly.

Mercer appeared silently in front of him, his right fist slamming into his face with a deafening thud! A radial impact smashed his head apart.

Crocodile's body disintegrated into a sea of ​​sand that swirled everywhere. He had already used his elemental powers to dodge it, and a deep voice echoed from within the sand:

"Desert prison".

Whip-like tentacles formed from solidified sand lashed out at Mercer from all directions.

A sense of danger was sensed emanating from the densely packed whips. The moisture in the surrounding air rapidly disappeared, and even the ground began to turn into quicksand.

Dry.

Messer took a deep breath, and the dark dragon scale patterns quickly spread across his entire body. His spiritual vision accurately sensed the location of Crocodile's true form.

A powerful aura erupted from beneath his feet, and with a bang, a large crater suddenly appeared in the sandy ground beneath his feet. His arms and legs lashed out in mid-air with lightning speed, delivering punches and kicks.

Thump thump thump thump.
One sand whip after another was shattered, and Mather's figure flashed rapidly in the swirling sandstorm, closely chasing Crocodile's elemental body that was rapidly moving through the sandstorm.

Crocodile wasn't just dodging; he was also taking the opportunity to counterattack Messer.

A series of powerful sand attacks came one after another.

Mercer anticipated his true form, feigned an opening, lured him to his side, and suddenly turned around to throw a punch. Boom! A hole appeared in the surrounding sand sea.

Crocodile, bleeding from his mouth, was forced into his elemental form by the impact. His eyes were filled with shock as he silently stepped in front of him.

Mercer looked at him coldly, her hands moving quickly, her left hand suddenly grabbing his face.

Crocodile's face flushed red, and he swung the golden hook on his left arm at Mercer's side, creating a sharp whistling sound.

With a slight upturn of his lips, he didn't care about the golden hook coming down. As he pressed down on his body, his right knee, which was wrapped in a cherry-red aura, suddenly lifted up with a thud!

A dull thud spread from behind him, his body was thrown sideways, his eyes widened suddenly, blood spurted from his mouth and nose, and his swinging hook motion stopped.

Pull down his face with your left hand, clench your right fist, and aim it at his chest.

A lightning-fast, continuous beating.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump.
His fists flew like afterimages as Crocodile roared in anger, his eyes rolling upwards uncontrollably.

Click, click, click!

I felt my ribs break.

Moses suddenly released his face, bent down, grabbed his right leg, and slammed it violently to the ground with both hands.

As Crocodile spun around, a thought suddenly occurred to him: this guy wanted to kill him. What a blunder.

Look away.

After a while,
Looking at Old Sand lying unconscious on the ground, Messer curled his lip and said, "You're a squishy mage, and you got caught by a powerful melee fighter like me. If you don't get hit, who will?"

He bent down, grasped Crocodile's arm, and lifted him up, his eyes flickering slightly:

"The Sand-Sand Fruit is really amazing. This guy has even developed the concept of drying out. If he could advance to the concept of withering, that would be incredibly powerful. Or... let's just forget about it. One should be honest."

Mercer carried his body to the nearby ruins and threw him in front of the crowd like a dead dog.

He beckoned to Sabo and Reiju, and the two of them came over with twitching lips, glancing at Crocodile out of the corner of their eyes:
What are your thoughts on this?

Sabo blinked: "Making an example of someone?"

Reiju said helplessly, "A warning to me to behave?"

Seeing that Moses's eyes had turned unfriendly, the two immediately straightened their expressions.

Sabo said righteously, "As a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, I must not neglect physical training. No, I should work even harder and make physical fitness my strength."

Reiju continued, "I understand the barrel principle. I will work hard and please keep an eye on me."

Moses's eyes lit up with satisfaction. No matter how many times he said it, it was better to let them see for themselves what would happen to those with weak physical bodies who were natural-type.

They can only bully ordinary "kids," and when they encounter real barbarians, they will only be trampled on.

"Mercer, what are you going to do with this guy?"

Ace looked at Crocodile lying on the ground.

Mercer looked at Law and Chopper and said with a smile, "You two don't often encounter seriously injured patients, so this guy is your responsibility to treat, although most of his injuries are just superficial."

But I broke two of his ribs; you two put them back in place.

Their eyes immediately lit up.

He hurriedly went back to get his medical supplies.

The Supreme Bandage is definitely indispensable.

(End of this chapter)