Chapter 23: Power System
The group arrived at Mr. Burufaruto’s residence, which was next door to La and the two others.
After entering the door, the other party said nothing and first took a bottle from the freezer in the corner of the wall, then gulped down a big mouthful directly from the bottle.
“Ha~ Refreshing! I live every day just for this.” Putting down the wine bottle, Mr. Burufaruto let out a satisfied sigh, then greeted the group to sit down.
The stools in the room were a bit high, and La and the two others couldn’t quite reach the ground while sitting on them, but they didn’t mind.
At Aoxi’s urging while swinging her little feet, Mr. Burufaruto slowly began to explain the two most important power systems in this world.
“First of all, so-called ability users are people who have eaten Devil Fruits. You know about Devil Fruits, right… Alright~” Seeing the big ‘I don’t know’ written on Aoxi’s face, Mr. Burufaruto had to start from the most basic things.
“There is a special fruit on this sea called the Devil Fruit. People who eat it will gain all sorts of abilities.
Generally, these abilities are divided into three categories by people. The first category is Zoan. People who eat Zoan Devil Fruits will gain the ability to transform into animals, and their strength, recovery power, etc., will greatly increase.
The second category is Superhuman. People who eat this type of Devil Fruit will gain all sorts of strange abilities, like being able to fly in the sky or swim underground.”
“Is there a fruit that can turn a woman into a man?” Aoxi immediately thought of her missing second brother upon hearing about the wonders of Superhuman Devil Fruits.
“Uh… this, there probably is one. But I haven’t seen that kind of ability user.” Mr. Burufaruto felt a bit unable to understand what was going through this little girl’s mind at her age.
“And I heard that Devil Fruits taste just like shit. Do you want to try one?”
“No.” Aoxi shook her head directly upon hearing this; she didn’t want to choose any of those ‘shit-flavored chocolate’ options.
“By the way, the person you heard this from wouldn’t have actually eaten shit, right? Otherwise, how would he know Devil Fruits taste as bad as shit. Eww~ Uncle, you should stay away from that guy from now on.”
Mr. Burufaruto felt a bit unnatural under Aoxi’s sincere gaze tinged with a hint of pity, and his mind couldn’t help but wander.
『No way~ That guy wouldn’t really have…』
He shook his head to clear these messy thoughts from his mind, and Mr. Burufaruto cleared his throat.
“Ahem~ Let’s continue, continue.”
“The third type of Devil Fruit is also the rarest category, called Logia.
Logia ability users can transform into all sorts of natural elements, like fire, ice, and such. They have immense destructive power and, moreover, cannot be hit by physical attacks unless their corresponding elemental weakness is found and exploited to counter them.”
“Eh~ Doesn’t that make Logia ability users almost invincible? They just need to watch out for elemental weaknesses in battle. Being immune to physical attacks is way too unfair~” Aoxi complained.
“Moreover, this type of ability user completely violates the law of increasing entropy; it’s really too unscientific.” Obei frowned as well.
“Yeah, as the saying goes, ‘rarity makes value.’ As long as one’s talent isn’t too weak, an ordinary person who eats a Logia Devil Fruit can easily become a top-tier expert with a little training. And speaking of rarity, there’s another type of Devil Fruit that’s even rarer than Logia.”
“What what? Is there a Devil Fruit with even more amazing abilities? Could it be one that turns you into Ultraman or an alien?”
“I don’t know what this ‘Ultraman’ you mentioned is, but this type of Devil Fruit can indeed let ability users transform into creatures from fantasy, so-called ‘Mythical Beasts.’
This is a special category within Zoan Devil Fruits: Zoan—Mythical Zoan.” As Mr. Burufaruto spoke, a hint of longing crept into his tone.
“Is Captain Kaido an ability user of this ‘Mythical Zoan’?” La thought of Kaido’s massive Eastern Dragon form as soon as the other party mentioned ‘Mythical Beast.’
“That’s right.”
Pulling back his thoughts, Mr. Burufaruto gave the affirmative answer as she expected. “What Boss Kaido ate was the Mythical Zoan of the Fish-Fish Fruit—Azure Dragon Form.”
『It’s ‘Fish-Fish Fruit’ not ‘Dragon-Dragon Fruit’; it seems these so-called ‘Mythical Beasts’ are still based on real-world creatures. So the possibility that so-called ‘Devil Fruits’ are artificially manufactured is quite high.』
Not noticing that La’s thoughts had wandered far away, Mr. Burufaruto continued talking.
“However, all ability users actually share one common weakness: they all turn into landlubbers. Whether Logia or Mythical Zoan, once they touch seawater, they become powerless and can’t use their abilities.”
“Ah? You mean Boss Kaido, as an Azure Dragon, is afraid of water? And as a pirate, he can’t swim?”
“Hahahaha~ Fish-Fish Fruit ability users can’t touch water; that’s too hilarious!” Aoxi imagined in her mind a fish flopping around in water a couple times before drowning, and couldn’t help but clutch her belly laughing.
Mr. Burufaruto didn’t pay it any mind and just took another gulp of wine to moisten his somewhat dry throat.
“Alright, that’s everything I know about Devil Fruits and ability users. Next up is the Haki I used earlier.
Haki is a power that exists within everyone’s body. In theory, anyone can use it with training, and cultivating it to the extreme can likewise surpass those with powerful Devil Fruit abilities and reach the top of this world.
Like the great pirate Gol D. Roger and that ‘Navy Hero’ Garp that I know of—they’re not ability users, but they’re among the top strongest on this sea.”
“Oh? Between these two people you mentioned and Boss Kaido, which is stronger?” Kids just love comparisons.
“Cough! This, this is hard to say.”
Alright, from Mr. Burufaruto’s embarrassed expression, Aoxi knew the answer.
“We, we’re continuing. Unlike the bizarre abilities of Devil Fruits, Haki is generally divided into just two types: Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
So-called Observation Haki, which you red-haired brat have already personally experienced, is a technique to predict the opponent’s actions by sensing their aura. Those strong in Observation Haki can often anticipate the enemy in battle and remain calm and composed.
As for Armament Haki, that’s what I used before—wrapping it around the body to harden it, forming an effect like a layer of hard armor. And it’s also the only way to attack Logia ability users’ bodies besides seawater and elemental counters.
As for the type called Conqueror’s Haki, I really don’t know much about it. I only know it’s an innate Haki that only those with kingly qualifications can awaken.
If you want to know more, you can go ask Boss Kaido; he has Conqueror’s Haki.”
The wine bottle was already empty. After lecturing for most of the day, Mr. Burufaruto had finally built a framework of this world’s power system in the three’s minds.
“I see, thank you for your explanation, Mr. Burufaruto.”
“Eh~ No need to be so polite, little girl. We’re pirates; we don’t stand on ceremony. From now on, we’re all one pirate crew—just call me by name.”
Mr. Burufaruto waved his big hand to show no need for such formality; he had a quite good impression of La, who had always been polite.
“That hard-to-remember-name uncle, can you teach us Haki?” Meanwhile, Aoxi, having heard Mr. Burufaruto’s introduction, was eager to learn Haki.
“Go go go, you didn’t want to learn when I offered earlier, don’t bother me now!”
Mr. Burufaruto was clearly still upset about what happened before. He’d been teaching Armament Haki, but this brat just kept dodging, and ended up dodging out Observation Haki instead!
“Eh~ Don’t be like that! Don’t be so stingy, uncle.” Aoxi jumped down from the stool, ran over and hugged Mr. Burufaruto’s leg, staring straight at him.
Although acting cute like this was a bit undignified, the temptation of this otherworldly power overpowered the shyness in her heart.
Stare~
Stare stare~
Stare stare stare~
“I said no teaching then no teaching, and you little brat still haven’t remembered my name by now!” Mr. Burufaruto huffed and tsundere-ly turned his head away.
“Wah~”
Just as Obei couldn’t stand it anymore and planned to pry Aoxi off the other’s leg, a young voice suddenly rang out at that moment.
“That probably won’t do, Burufaruto. Boss Kaido wants us to get these three to master Haki as soon as possible.”
Everyone looked up to see a person wrapped up tightly all over walking in at that moment.
