One Piece: Who still has dreams?

Feng Kelei looked at them one by one, but when he looked up and saw Gertz carefully, he suddenly froze. He took out several wet wanted posters from his pocket, compared the one-eyed photo of Gertz with the one in front of him, and asked, "Is this you?"

“Yes.” Gertz chuckled.

"You scared me to death!" Feng Kelei exclaimed dramatically. "Have your eyes grown back again?"

"How could such a thing be possible, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" the members of the Okama Pirates shouted.

Gertz laughed: "Yes."

"Wow, that really happens!"

"I see."

Feng Kelei's exaggerated demeanor vanished, replaced by a serene and peaceful aura, as if bathed in Buddhist light. He bowed to Redio with one hand, "Anyway, although I lost the hostage I had prepared, I was fortunate enough to find a replacement! So, if you want the hostage to live, then please fight me... Hmm?"

As he spoke, he found himself seemingly rising into the air.

Reddio grabbed Bon Clay by the shoulder, lifted him up, and carried him to the shore. He dangled him over the water and then gently let go. "Splash!" Bon Clay fell into the water, making a perfect splash.

"Mr. 2, Lord Bon Clay!" Several henchmen from the transvestite sect hurriedly jumped into the water to save the man.

"So he really is a Devil Fruit user," Ace thought knowingly.

"What on earth is going on?" Zoro scratched his head, completely bewildered. He turned to look at Nami, only to see her staring blankly at the distant sky. Zoro's question marks widened even further.

"Young man, you should just say yes!"

On the deck of the pink swan boat, an old man with hair styled like a flower and dressed in a flower-patterned dress stood there, solemnly telling Redio and the others on the shore, "Otherwise, people will die..."

Ace's eyes narrowed: "People will die? Is that person's Devil Fruit ability really that powerful?"

The old man in the floral shirt said seriously, "I will die."

"So you're the hostage replacement he was talking about!!" Zoro and Ace shouted.

"That's right!"

After being rescued by his men and brought ashore, Foncrae weakly gave Reddio a thumbs-up, and then, inexplicably moved, shed tears, saying, "If you want to rescue this old man, then agree to fight me!"

Mr. 2 requests your quest: Dance with me!

Estimated Difficulty: ★★★

Reddio: "..." What's going on here?

Chapter 102 The Roar of the Soul

[Task accepted]

You have hired Ace and Zoro for approximately 10 days.

Although it's quite inexplicable, there's no reason not to pick up a free 3-star mission.

Reddio was too lazy to dance with the transvestite, so he flicked a coin at Zoro and Ace, signaling them to settle things.

"The Cursed One!" Bon Clay struck a thunderous ballet pose, crossed his legs, pointed at Reddio, and exclaimed passionately, his voice rising and falling with his own fervor, "You're the one I invited! I've gone to great lengths to come to the entrance of this Grand Line!"

"..."

Reddio had already headed towards the swan boat on the transvestite path. Zoro and Ace exchanged a glance and started playing rock-paper-scissors! Zoro unfortunately won.

Feng Kelei assumed the starting stance of the transvestite boxing style, "So you're the one with the lowest bounty? What's your name again?"

Zoro's eyebrows twitched, and with a sinister grin, he drew his sword and slashed at the transvestite.

Reddio leaped onto the swan ship. The Bon Clay men on deck retreated hastily, sweating profusely and watching Reddio nervously—this was a pirate with a 1 million bounty!

They didn't understand why Mr. 2 Bon Clay was bothering this person, but they definitely didn't want to become trouble in the eyes of this "cursed one".

"Are you a hostage?"

Reddio looked at the old man in the floral shirt who was tied up; he was the ship's doctor who had once served on Roger's pirate ship.

Crocus, who was also observing Redio, abruptly asked, "Why aren't you white-haired?"

Redio laughed: "Did the white hair make you misunderstand something?"

Crocus's eyes narrowed. Did this boy know something about "Nika"?

"You kidnapped this old man to threaten me? Why is that?"

Remembering something, Reddio glanced back at Zoro, who was fiercely fighting with Bon Clay on the shore. This transvestite was quite skilled, especially with his graceful movements and unpredictable attacks. Zoro had no intention of killing him, so for a moment it really seemed like a 50/50 fight.

I'd rate it around three stars overall, and a strong three stars at that...

Reddio activated his Observation Haki, watching Bon Clay exert all his strength against Zoro's sword attacks. He silently estimated the situation and then warned, "This person ate the Imitation Fruit. If you touch him with his right hand, he can transform into your appearance."

"This should have been said from the beginning!" Zoro shouted with Fangs.

"There's an opening!" A ballet shoe-like leg kicked out, and Zoro quickly dodged it. Just as Bon Clay's right hand was about to strike, Zoro's eyes turned cold. He swung his sword to knock Bon Clay's arm away, then thrust the hilt of his sword forward, smashing Bon Clay's chin and sending him flying.

Just then, the sea beneath the pink swan boat suddenly surged upwards, and a huge black whale emerged.

Nami was sitting on Gerts's palm, whispering to her, when she saw the enormous whale surfacing and threatening to engulf their Black Flash. She and Gerts rushed forward in perfect unison. Gerts slammed his hands on the bow, and Nami, using Moonwalk, charged forward, kicking the hull...

The massive Black Flash was pushed aside by the two women, avoiding the giant waves stirred up by the black island whale that emerged from the sea, which was as big as a small mountain. Not far away, MooMoo stared in disbelief at the power of Nami's kick.

"Ooo ...

The island whale gets its name from its shape, which resembles a small island reef. It emerges from the sea, overturns the pink swan boat, and then stands upright with its mouth wide open, letting out a roar that seems to shake the heavens and the earth.

"It's so noisy," Ace frowned in annoyance.

"There's an opening!" The ballet shoe with hairy legs kicked his head, shattering it. Seeing his head turn into flames, Bon Clay cried out, then Ace pointed a finger at his chest, and with a "boom," flames exploded at close range.

With a "thud," Fon Klei, charred black and smoking, fell to the ground.

Ace, with his hands in his pockets, Redio, carrying the old man bound with flowers, and Zoro, holding a sword, walked up to him. Bon Clay opened his mouth as if to speak, then exhaled a puff of hot air, tears streaming down his face, tilted his head, and collapsed.

[A few minutes later]

Goodbye, friends!

Feng Kelei stood gracefully at the bow of the swan ship, turning back to give Redio and the others a thumbs-up in the sunset, "As long as we're still on this sea, we'll meet again sooner or later!"

Watching the pink pirate ship sail away, Zoro and Ace both broke out in a cold sweat: "What on earth is going on? Are all the people on the Grand Line these weirdos?"

[Mission Rewards: 3200 Essence; Auxiliary Radar x1]

Redio glanced at the system notification and thought, "Eccentrics are great. We need more of these kinds of eccentrics."

"So, old man, why did they take you hostage?"

Redio asked Crocus.

Zoro stroked his chin: "Yeah, we don't know them, and we don't know you either..."

Crocus said seriously, "Before asking others, wouldn't it be better to explain what you know first?"

Zoro said, "Oh, sorry. We are..."

"My name is Crocus, I am the lighthouse keeper at Twin Capes, I am 66 years old, almost 67, blood type AB, and a Gemini."

Crocus continued, “They’re a criminal organization called ‘Baroque Works.’ They seem to have their eye on your captain, but they want to test him before inviting him to join. The hostage they brought was a pirate who jumped overboard and escaped, then captured me. The ‘hostage’ tactic was probably just a spur-of-the-moment ‘plan’ to kill that transvestite…”

Zoro's forehead veins throbbed: "You old geezer, are you looking for trouble?!"

Ace was also annoyed: "Those kinds of people, inviting our captain? To join them and become their boss? Are you sure you're not mistaken? You actually want to invite the guy with the 1500 million..."

"I'll kill you!" Zoro chopped off Ace's head with a single stroke.

Ace's spinning head grinned and turned back into flames...

So the two of them started their usual duel. Just as Redio was about to ask Crocus some questions, Laboon roared at the sky and angrily charged headfirst into the Red Line.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

The impact of the island whale is negligible to the majestic red earth continent, but for the Twin Points Lighthouse at the foot of this mountain, the impact was as powerful as an earthquake.

Crocus couldn't sit still any longer. It seemed a bit too late to inject Laboon with a sedative now.

Just then, a red light struck the island whale. The huge black whale, already covered in scars and splattered with blood, was sucked away by the red light and suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"…………" Crocus stared blankly at the red and white ball in Redio's hand.

The red dot in the middle of the red and white ball kept flashing, and the flashing speed became more and more rapid. Just as Laboon was about to break free from the Poké Ball, Redio casually put the Poké Ball... into the system inventory.

"It's quiet now."

Redio clapped his hands and said.

Crocus looked at his empty hands and asked anxiously, "Where did you take that whale—Labu—from earlier?"

"Don't worry, he's not dead."

Redio said, "Old man, you're the Pirate King's ship doctor, so you must be quite knowledgeable. May I ask you, what exactly is the Devil Fruit ability? Have you studied the bodies of the experts on your ship? And what exactly is Haki?"

Crocus looked surprised again and examined Redio closely. "Before that, shouldn't you explain how you knew my identity?"

Redio said, "That's not enough."

"I'm just a doctor, not a researcher. The secrets about Devil Fruit abilities are probably only known to Dr. Vegapunk, who studies lineage factors."

Before Reddio could finish speaking, Crocus continued, "As for Haki... medical methods can't detect that energy at all, but Roger once said something like this: 'Conqueror's Haki is the roar deep within the soul!'"

Reddio: "..."