CHAPTER 274: [274] : THE APEX OF TALENT! THE PATHETIC PLIGHT OF THE TRIO! VEGAPUNK’S SATELLITES!

~ As Usual. Bonus Chapter Every 300 Powerstones!

~ 19 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon

"YAHOO!"

Luffy yelled, sitting on a custom-made sled, joyfully gliding across the ice.

"This is so much fun! Shishishi!" Luffy grinned from ear to ear.

"Hahaha! That’s my special, SUPER~ Sled! I even added a power system," Franky announced, holding up his right hand.

After completely retrofitting himself with the technology from Vegapunk’s lab, Franky’s torso and arms had grown to the size of a small giant’s.

Especially his massive arms and hands—though their power was far greater than before, performing fine mechanical operations had become difficult.

But Franky had a solution.

Click.

Franky’s giant right arm opened a small switch, and a very delicate small hand extended out.

This was Franky’s workaround.

In battle, he relied on his remodeled, incredibly powerful giant arms. And for controlling and building machinery, he relied on the delicate small hand within his giant right arm.

Click.

Franky’s delicate small hand pressed a switch on a remote control.

WHOOSH!

The custom sled Luffy was on immediately revved its engine, leaving afterimages on the ice, Luffy’s laughter echoing continuously.

"SUGEEEEEEEEEE! SO MUCH FUN! THIS IS AWESOME!" Luffy couldn’t stop laughing.

"Hey! Luffy! It’s our turn!" Usopp roared, glaring at Luffy.

"Yeah, yeah! You’ve been playing with it this whole time!" Chopper also bounced up and down, indignant.

"On my command, Chopper!" Usopp, seeing Luffy had no intention of stopping and was still having a blast, looked towards Chopper.

"Mm!" Chopper, seeing Usopp’s serious expression, swallowed nervously and nodded firmly.

"Hah..."

Usopp closed his eyes.

In an instant, Luffy’s presence, his movements—all the information was captured by Usopp. It even formed a clear picture in his mind, like a movie.

Observation Haki!

And it was a very strong Observation Haki!

Just like in the original story, Usopp’s cowardly nature had so far prevented him from learning Armament Haki. But now, he had awakened his Observation Haki early, and it was far more powerful than the version he had awakened in the original story.

In fact, he was incredibly close to achieving the ultimate form of Observation Haki: Future Sight.

This founding member of the Straw Hat Pirates had a talent for Observation Haki second only to the walking cheat codes that were Rowen and Luffy.

"NOW!" Usopp suddenly yelled, lunging forward with Chopper.

"Wh-What are you doing??" Luffy was caught by Usopp and Chopper but still didn’t want to let go.

It was just too much fun to give up.

Because of Rowen’s Ice-Ice Fruit, Franky, who loved to spoil Luffy and the others with his inventions, had created this custom sled.

But because they had been in a state of tense training and war before, Franky had only recently started making these fun little gadgets.

Of course, this wasn’t a waste of time for Franky—making fun little machines also gave him other inspirations for mechanical manufacturing. And it added a bit of fun for Luffy and the others—it was a win-win.

"IT’S OUR TURN, YOU JERK!"

Usopp and Chopper, one hugging Luffy, the other directly biting Luffy’s head with his deer mouth, made Luffy scream in pain.

"Usopp’s Observation Haki is improving really fast," Zoro commented seriously, watching the curious trio brawl.

"Probably the next one to be able to ’see’ the future will be Usopp," Rowen smiled.

Mastering Future Sight Observation Haki was extremely difficult, no less so than completely mastering Haōshoku Coating.

In Rowen’s entire faction, only he, Luffy, and Katakuri had pushed their Observation Haki to its limit and could briefly glimpse the future.

The others weren’t even close...

After all, for Observation Haki to ’see’ the future, it had to evolve from a mere enhancement of the five senses to a manifestation of the sixth sense.

The true secret to Future Sight was learning to manifest that mysterious sixth sense into a tangible power.

That was why it was just as difficult as advancing from basic Conqueror’s Haki bursts to complete mastery of Haōshoku Coating—and that’s complete mastery, not just the initial stages.

The sixth sense itself was a mysterious aspect of the human body.

That so-called "gut feeling" or "sense of danger" still had no scientific explanation. The fact that Observation Haki, at its peak, could manifest this mysterious sense as a usable power spoke volumes about its difficulty.

This was also why there were very few powerhouses on these seas who could ’see’ the future with Observation Haki. Some had even fully mastered Haōshoku Coating without ever reaching the pinnacle of Observation Haki.

Big Mom was a prime example.

And some, who hadn’t even mastered Haōshoku Coating, had trained their Observation Haki to its peak, able to briefly see the future.

Katakuri, for instance.

Of course, the current Katakuri, under Rowen’s training, had already preliminarily mastered Haōshoku Coating, and was working towards fully mastering it, becoming an Emperor-level combatant.

Katakuri was a perfect older brother, a true man.

Since choosing to join Rowen’s command, Katakuri had shouldered the responsibility of the Charlotte Family. He trained desperately every day and perfectly completed the tasks given by Rowen.

All for his siblings and family.

Katakuri knew very well that the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet had too many powerful combatants.

His previous top-tier Yonko Commander level combat strength, which was the undisputed second-in-command in the Big Mom Pirates—in the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet and Straw Hat Pirates’ alliance, didn’t even rank in the Top 10.

To improve the situation for his siblings under Sky Sovereign’s command, he could only rely on himself—

Because he had Conqueror’s Haki, as long as he fully mastered it, he could become an Emperor/Admiral level combatant—Although his raw potential and stats were far below his mother’s, his combat talent arguably surpassed hers.

Once he reached that level, his actual combat effectiveness might even be greater.

Usopp, though he didn’t have Conqueror’s Haki, his talent in Observation Haki was even stronger than Katakuri’s.

The moment he awakened it, it was already exceptionally strong, and with Rowen’s training, he was improving at a breakneck pace. He had even begun to grasp the concept of manifesting his sixth sense.

To master Future Sight—excluding outliers like Rowen and Luffy—it was crucial for a normal person to clearly perceive the power of their sixth sense. It was the key that unlocked the door.

Usopp already held that key.

Now, he just needed to break down the door to manifest his sixth sense, and he would possess the ultimate level of Observation Haki.

Of course, Rowen’s purpose at this moment was not to admire Usopp’s Observation Haki talent.

It was—

"What happens if I press this button all the way down?" Rowen, looking at the custom sled’s remote control in Franky’s hand, curiously pressed it all the way down.

WHOOSH!

The next moment, the sled—with the trio still wrestling on it—surged with an incredible amount of energy. It became a terrifying blur, rocketing across the ice.

"HELP!!!"

Because the speed was too fast, it had exceeded the three’s ability to control machinery. The three could only scream for help.

But the result...

BANG!

The sled flung the three of them headfirst into the ice. Speed is power, and the immense kinetic energy of the sled drove their heads straight through the thick ice sheet.

"I see. So that’s what happens when you press it all the way down," Rowen said with sudden understanding.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US, ROWEN?? CAN’T YOU REIN IN YOUR CURIOSITY??"

Usopp, struggling to pull his head out of the solid ice, transformed into his sharp-toothed angry state.

"YEAH, YEAH!" Chopper also bounced up and down.

Fortunately, his Human-Human Fruit was already Awakened, so the impact was nothing to him. Still, he rubbed his antlers tenderly and turned his head away with a pout, pretending to ignore Rowen.

"Sorry, sorry, Chopper. I’ve prepared a special seat for you," Rowen pointed to his shoulder.

Thanks to the Heat-Heat Fruit, Rowen could freely regulate his body temperature. Chopper already loved sitting on his shoulder, and now he loved it even more.

In the summer, the heat-sensitive Chopper would spend all day there, enjoying the coolness from the Ice-Ice Fruit—and in a winter climate like this, Rowen would adjust his shoulder to Chopper’s favorite temperature.

"I-I’m not happy about it or anything, you jerk!" Chopper’s words hadn’t even finished when he smiled like a flower, appearing on Rowen’s shoulder at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Rowen affectionately stroked Chopper’s fur. After his Fruit fully Awakened, Chopper’s fur had gotten an upgrade—it was even softer now.

"Ara, how cute, Chopper," Robin took out a special lunchbox Sanji had made for Chopper and fed him.

"Awm!" Chopper ate until his eyes were closed. His cute appearance made Robin, Nami, Vivi, Kaya, Hancock, and Perona all smile.

Chopper was the crew’s beloved pet.

"Chopper has no principles! He complains about not being a pet, but the moment Rowen calls, he acts just like one,"

Usopp had a black line on his forehead.

Chopper was always complaining about the World Government classifying him as a pet and was furious that his bounty, while increased, was still only 10,000 berries.

But looking at Chopper’s appearance before Rowen, Usopp felt he couldn’t blame the Navy and the World Government!

"Waaah! Usopp! Help me get out first!"

Luffy had been pulling his head for a long time, but his rubber body was very inconvenient at this moment—he couldn’t pull it out at all.

"Honestly..." Usopp could only help.

BAAAAANG!

But then, both Luffy and Usopp were sent flying. They crashed heavily to the ground from high up.

The solid ice trapping Luffy’s head had vanished.

"Oh, you two looked like you were struggling, so I melted the ice," Rowen said with a completely insincere smile.

The Ice-Ice Fruit could freeze, and it could also unfreeze.

Just like in the original story, when Kuzan met Blackbeard and the others, after freezing many of the Blackbeard Pirates’ commanders, he could also unfreeze them.

"D-Damn you," Usopp and Luffy certainly knew Rowen was doing it on purpose. But Rowen’s excuse was flawless—they couldn’t even refute it.

"Hahaha,"

Seeing Usopp and Luffy fall so heavily again, everyone burst into laughter.

Everyone was indeed very happy at this moment.

From the Summit War, they had entered a state of war. After the Summit War ended, they immediately began to expand the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet’s territory, and planned the great siege on Big Mom, Kaido, and Marine HQ.

It had been a long time since they had a journey like this.

Rowen also smiled.

This was how their pirate crew’s voyage should be.

The sea, which had given the Straw Hats so much trouble in the original story, was now as smooth as solid ground under his Ice-Ice Fruit.

However—

"WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO!"

BANG!

The solid ice was directly pierced, and a giant robot broke through the ice.

A woman’s furious voice followed.

"What a big robot!"

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper—the curiosity trio—saw the robot, and their eyes immediately lit up.

"Lilith?"

Rowen smiled faintly.

One of Vegapunk’s satellites.

~ 19 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

~# Keep the Chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!

~# Every 300 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter