Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

Kazan didn't know how good he was, but in any case, even if he was completely submerged in the seawater, he could now struggle powerfully in the water.

If only a small part of his body is submerged in the seawater, he can even use a little bit of the Iron-Steel Fruit's power, somewhat similar to Aokiji and Charlotte Owen, who can use freezing and heating abilities by inserting their hands into the sea.

The reason he strengthened his resistance to seawater was because when he was fighting Shanks, Kazan accidentally stepped into a lake that connected to the sea.

At that time, Kazan's resistance to seawater was practically zero, which caused him to become completely exhausted. Even if he wanted to temporarily attach a layer of steel membrane to his body to isolate himself from the seawater, similar to the Emperor Armor, he was powerless and had no strength to use the power of the Steel Fruit.

But now the situation is completely different.

In the future, even if both feet fall into the sea during a battle, as long as Kazan reacts quickly enough, he can completely seal his body with the steel membrane before most of his body is submerged, and then quickly leave the sea to avoid losing his fighting ability.

"So... there's one last scenario to test."

Kazan obtained the 'Thug' from Bellamy, a magical arm armor with parts of Seastone embedded in its fist.

Then he clenched his fist tightly with his right hand, and the familiar feeling of weakness returned, but it was not as intense as when he was soaking in the pot.

However, Seastone is very different from seawater. Although Seastone is small in size, it contains the element in seawater that can make Devil Fruit users lose their strength.

The seastone on the 'thug' alone made Kazan feel like at least half of his body was submerged in seawater.

He has lost about 70-80% of his strength, but he has not completely lost his ability to move and can still fight.

"Next is steel...the gap between chemical and membrane materials."

Kazan first released the thug, then used his Iron Skin to grab him, then released him again, applied the Iron Skin membrane, and grabbed him again.

"I see..."

The steel-like body touched the seastone, but the situation did not change. The body was still weak, and the power of the Steel Fruit disappeared in an instant.

When the steel membrane touched the seastone, its power remained intact, and its strength was not diminished, as if it had not touched the seastone at all.

The steel transformation changes the body; even if the arms become steel arms, it is still one's own body that touches the seastone.

The steel membrane, on the other hand, is a thin film of steel attached to the surface of the body, which isolates the body from the outside world. What touches the Seastone is the membrane on the surface of the body, not the Seastone itself.

"We'll have to be more careful about the situation in future battles..."

Since Kazan was able to turn his body into steel, he has never used the steel membrane himself. He only applies a thin steel membrane to his blade when he wants to heat it.

After all, although steel membrane is lighter, its defensive capabilities are far inferior to those of steel, and its heat resistance is also not as strong as that of steel.

However, steel membranes are not entirely useless nowadays.

At least when facing enemies like Smoker and Zephyr who use Seastone weapons, Steel Mesh is the best and only choice.

Even if the body is hit by the opponent's weapon, as long as the damaged part is protected in time with the steel membrane, the combat ability will not be lost.

Stretching, Kazan tossed the 'thug' back to Bellamy.

This time, Kazan's departure from the cauldron was certainly not because he felt it was enough, or because he didn't want to stay in the water any longer.

Although he really didn't want to stay in the water any longer, and after going out to sea he felt that it was about time.

But the real reason was that Bellamy, out of sheer boredom, fished and pulled a big fish onto the boat.

Kazan went up to the deck at the stern and glanced at the strange creature surrounded by the crowd.

???

Kazan felt a faint sense of déjà vu about this thing, as if he had seen it somewhere before, but he just couldn't remember why he had this subtle sense of familiarity.

A baby manatee... "baby" here refers to its young age, but in terms of size, this little creature is at least three meters long.

"The manatee looks like it hasn't been weaned yet... These kinds of sea creatures should be living in the Grand Line all year round. The fact that it's here is probably because it got lost during its species' migration."

When Kazan heard Robin say that this thing was a manatee, the first image that popped into his mind was the kung fu manatee from Alabasta, but... the difference was too great, it was obviously not that.

Robin crouched down and touched the little manatee's horns and the small ring on its nose; these things struck a chord with Robin.

That's why it wasn't killed immediately when Bellamy caught it.

Just then, Robin, who was sunbathing nearby, witnessed the scene and stopped Bellamy's fist from falling. Otherwise, the little manatee would have been reborn shortly after birth.

Kazan didn't find anything cute about this thing. Its abdomen and back were covered in fish scales and fins, while the rest of its skin resembled that of a cow, except that the black stripes on a cow were replaced with dark green.

"Moo..."

The little manatee stared pitifully at Robin with its big, watery eyes, its instincts telling it that only this woman could save it.

"Just throw it away."

"Ni-chan... if you leave it there, it'll just get eaten by other fish!"

Robin held Kazan's ghostly hand and said something to him very seriously, but her face was a little flushed, as if from excitement.

"..."

Kazan glanced at the three-meter-long manatee, a slight doubt in his mind, but a sense of understanding quickly flashed through his mind: "Then let's keep it for a while?"

"Uh-huh!!"

Seeing his usually aloof and mature Robin showing such a cute and girlish side, Kazan decided to spare the life of this sea cow for the time being.

"We don't have any milk on our ship that it can drink."

At this point, Monet said with a headache, "There is no shortage of milk on the Carousel, but only papaya milk, which is a resource that only girls in the family can access."

Moreover, the baby manatee can't drink papaya milk, but pure milk is something we could consider.

When Sugar and Perona were little, they used to have pure milk on hand.

However, ever since Sugar tasted papaya milk once when she was nine years old, she was immediately attracted by its sweet taste and stopped liking plain milk.

Therefore, their supply list before each voyage no longer includes pure milk, but only a large amount of papaya milk.

"It's alright, we can already see the next island. There should be something for this manatee boy to drink there."

How do you know he's a boy?

"I've secretly taken a look."

Chapter 138 Cocoyasi Village

Click.

"Pirate, this is not a place for you."

Bang!

The first sound was a pink-haired woman with a cigarette in her mouth holding an old flintlock pistol to Kazan's forehead.

The second sound came from Kazan catching Bellamy's punch aimed at the pink-haired woman. As he caught the punch, he turned his head and used his eyes to stop Arkin and Tiga.

These three guys are incorrigible; they can't change even after being taught a thousand times.

Tsk.

Judging from the tingling and vibration sensations coming from his right hand, Bellamy's strength has reached Lv.5, which is on par with Kazan.

Sigh... Bellamy is indeed physically gifted, but of course, he works very hard.

If Kazan hadn't stopped that punch in time, the pink-haired woman's head would probably have been blown off.

“Belmel!”

A man wearing a police hat with a windmill on his head suddenly ran over, snatched the pink-haired woman's gun, and then pulled her arm and quickly retreated.

"Jian, what are you doing! These guys are pirates, it'll be dangerous if we let them into the village!"

You can't stop him!

"We must stop them!"

"Idiot! What will happen to Nojiko and Nami if you die?!"

Ah Jian snapped at Bellemel, "You're a man with two daughters, how come you still act like you don't think before you act!"

Even if the daughter isn't her biological child, she should still have some responsibility and consideration as a mother.

Ah Jian wanted to say something to Bellemehr, but he knew now was not the time.

Pressing his hat down, the man named A-Jian walked up to Kazan and bowed slightly: "I'm sorry, that girl didn't mean it. I hope you can forgive her. I am the sheriff of Cocoyasi Village. If you have any complaints, you can come at me."

Saying something like that to a pirate is incredibly stupid.

Fortunately, Kazan was just an adventurer who sailed the seas under the guise of a pirate.

But that doesn't change the fact that Kazan thinks A-Jian is an idiot.

He hadn't experienced the Arlong incident yet, so he still seemed a bit reckless, but this didn't make Kazan dislike him; some idiots are just endearing.

Kazan had no recollection of the 'Cocoyasi Village' and 'Belmer' that A-Jian had mentioned. The reason he knew where he was was because of the 'Nami' that A-Jian had mentioned earlier.

Upon hearing the name Nami, Kazan's memories of Cocoyasi Village began to resurface, albeit in a limited way, but they still brought back many things to his mind.

Kazan looked down at the man, and if he remembered correctly, the man's face should have been covered in wounds, but Ah Jian's face was relatively clean at the moment.

Was he injured during the Fishman Pirates' invasion...?

With a little guess, Kazan roughly figured out the reason for the injuries on Ah Jian's face that he remembered.

"It's okay, we're just here to replenish our supplies."

By the way... let's deal with some things that might happen in the future.

Ah Jian looked up cautiously at the man in front of him with his chilling eyes, his heart filled with complicated emotions.

If they are allowed into the village, Ah Jian is afraid the villagers will be in danger; but if they are not allowed into the village... is that even possible?

According to passing merchant ships, a mad dog with red eyes and ghostly hands has come to the East China Sea. It kills anyone it sees, leaving blood everywhere it goes, and even the air is stained blood red.

The merchants even showed Ah Jian the man's bounty poster—a super pirate with a bounty of nearly 100 million!

Ah Jian will never forget the man's face on the wanted poster. Although his eyes have changed a lot, Ah Jian knows that the guy in front of him is that man!

Kazan, the captain of the Monster Pirates, with a bounty of 93 million Berries!

Although Kazan acted relatively mildly just now, that bounty wasn't fake. With such a high bounty, he's definitely not a kind person!

The nearby naval base is a bunch of rotten apples, all good-for-nothings who do absolutely nothing and have no reason to care about their Cocoyasi Village.

The villagers of each village have their own unique characteristics.

The people in Windmill Village are all quite kind. Perhaps because of Garp, they don't panic when they see pirates and are very courageous.