Chapter 243: Heading to the New World

"Alright, then it is time to conduct the final test."

Uchiha Feiyu took a small stone from his hand and handed it to Bell. This Devil Fruit user took a long breath, reached out, and caught the tiny stone.

"Ugh..."

"How does it feel? Compared to before, is there any difference?"

Seeing Bell frowning, Uchiha Feiyu quickly asked. Bell took a long breath; although he looked a bit listless, his voice carried a hint of joy:

"I feel that the weakening effect of the Sea Prism Stone on me has lessened a lot! Now, at most, the stamina boost the Devil Fruit gives me has disappeared quite a bit, but my own stamina hasn't completely vanished!"

"Is that so? Then that is enough!"

A look of excitement flashed in Uchiha Feiyu's eyes. As long as it was effective, it proved that the Faith Power absorbed by the Future Unborn Sutra could indeed compensate for the shortcomings of Devil Fruits.

The reason Bell was still weakened by the Sea Prism Stone was that his own Faith Power was insufficient, and even the evolution of his Devil Fruit was just showing a trend; Uchiha Feiyu certainly did not expect it to completely compensate for the Devil Fruit's shortcomings all at once.

One must know that Bell had not promoted any faith in Alabasta at all. Relying solely on the spontaneous faith of these Alabasta people had already resulted in such great progress. If the state apparatus were truly activated for promotion, Uchiha Feiyu was confident he could obtain dozens or even hundreds of times more faith.

By then, whether it was Devil Fruit evolution or compensating for defects, it should be enough... or maybe not. Theoretically, the more powerful a Devil Fruit is, the more Faith Power it likely requires to advance further.

The Devil Fruits that Uchiha Feiyu could set his sights on were almost all the peak Devil Fruits of this world. The faith required to take them a step further was definitely not comparable to an ordinary Zoan type.

However, he was not in a hurry. There were many countries in the One Piece World, and with his strength, if he thought of a way, he could always gather enough Faith Power.

After dismissing Bell, Uchiha Feiyu made up his mind and prepared to start acquiring the Devil Fruits he coveted.

"The Devil Fruit most suitable for me... I wonder if there is a Vampire Fruit in this world, though even if there is, it won't be easy to find... Then I will go to Sleepy Town in the New World to look for that Vampire Fruit!"

"Besides, there is also Blackbeard... Whether it is that guy's Dark-Dark Fruit or his strange body that can accommodate multiple Devil Fruits, both are extremely valuable to me... The only problem is that right now, my strength is about the same as his; it won't be easy to win, and it will be even harder to kill him."

Of course, this was only a matter of time. Blackbeard's progress speed was indeed extremely fast after obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit and exposing his ambition, but no matter how fast he progressed, could he progress faster than Uchiha Feiyu, who was cheating?

There were still at least a few months until the Summit War. By the time a few months passed, he would definitely possess the strength of a Four Emperors level, and then he could go and trouble Blackbeard.

"Go directly to the New World? It's a bit troublesome... But with my current status, I can actually change the method."

What was Uchiha Feiyu's status now? He was Princess Vivi's fiancé, and could be said to be the next successor of the Alabasta Kingdom. This status sounded like nothing special, but in reality, he was already a member of the Alabasta royal family and could directly borrow the Marine's power to head to the New World!

If one has the right, one should use it. Uchiha Feiyu was not the Straw Hat Pirates, thinking every day about sailing out to sea on his own. He went to sea for the sake of obtaining powerful strength, and only secondarily to see the scenery of the Pirate King world.

After discussing it with King Cobra, Cobra soon contacted the Marine and called over a Marine warship near Alabasta. What surprised Uchiha Feiyu a little was that the person he encountered was actually an acquaintance.

"Smoker? You guy, why aren't you staying properly in Loguetown and running to the Grand Line for?"

The fleet sent by the Marine was the one closest to Alabasta; Smoker's jurisdiction was not here.

"I was chasing the Straw Hat Pirates and Buggy the Clown... At that time in Loguetown, a mysterious person rescued Monkey D. Luffy, and later Buggy the Clown followed onto the Straw Hat Pirates' ship..."

"That straw hat kid doesn't feel like an ordinary person, so I chased him all the way to the Grand Line, but unfortunately, I still didn't manage to catch him in the end."

While speaking, Smoker covered his cheek, which had obvious bruises, and in addition, his arms were wrapped in bandages.

Uchiha Feiyu touched his chin. It was very clear that Smoker had been beaten by someone, and in a situation where he possessed a Logia Devil Fruit, there were only two people in Alabasta who could beat Smoker down.

One was naturally himself, and the other was Fire Fist Ace. If Uchiha Feiyu guessed correctly, Smoker probably encountered Ace while chasing the straw hat kid and was beaten up by him.

"It seems your pursuit didn't go smoothly. Did you encounter any obstacles?"

"It was indeed not very smooth. I didn't expect to encounter the captain of the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates here in Alabasta. I don't know what this guy is trying to do by running to the New World! I have already reported it to Marine Headquarters! We must not let those pirates be so rampant!"

As he spoke, Smoker's face showed a grimacing expression again, clearly because he was too excited while talking and pulled his injuries.

"Fire Fist Ace? I met him too... That Monkey D. Luffy got mixed up with the Alabasta rebel army and was beaten into a serious injury by me, and it just so happened that he was rescued by Ace at that critical moment. The two of them are said to be sworn brothers."

"Fire Fist Ace and Monkey D. Luffy also have a relationship?"

The expression on Smoker's face was a bit surprised, which also made Uchiha Feiyu pause for a moment:

"You didn't know? Fire Fist Ace wasn't fighting you because you were chasing Luffy?"

"No... I hadn't caught Luffy yet, I only caught Buggy the Clown. He seemed to have some relationship with that Ace, so Fire Fist Ace took action and rescued him!"

It was actually because of Buggy the Clown. Come to think of it, when Fire Fist Ace first went to sea, he did indeed encounter Buggy the Clown, and the two sides seemed to have even held a banquet; there was a little bit of friendship.

With Ace's personality, seeing his friend captured by the Marine, he certainly wouldn't remain indifferent. It was very normal for Smoker to be beaten up.

But fortunately, it seemed Ace only beat Smoker alone; the others didn't suffer any injuries, they just looked a bit listless.

Later, Uchiha Feiyu found out that Ace had used a Haoshoku Haki burst at the time, directly knocking down all the cannon fodder. Only Smoker and Tashigi managed to block this wave of impact, and since Tashigi was a woman, the only one who ended up getting beaten was Smoker.

Smoker didn't want to talk much about his experience of being frustrated, and hurriedly skipped the topic:

"By the way, I heard you defeated Krokfar? Destroyed that guy's conspiracy to steal the country?"

"Not defeated, I finished him off directly."

Uchiha Feiyu said with a light laugh, making Smoker unable to help but widen his eyes.

Although he had already received the intelligence, he could never have imagined that when they were in Loguetown, the other party's strength wasn't that strong, right? How did he come to the Grand Line and even finish off a Seven Warlords of the Sea?

"So amazing! As expected of Mr. Uchiha Feiyu!"

Tashigi stared with her big eyes. This girl's brain wasn't very sharp; she had the typical Pirate-world mindset, only feeling that Uchiha Feiyu was extremely awesome, without considering whether it was reasonable at all.

"By the way, you finished off Krokfar, so would you be willing to inherit his position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

Smoker seemed to have thought of something and suddenly asked. Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes:

"I'm not a pirate, why would I want to inherit the so-called position of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

Smoker was stunned for a moment. The position of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was actually selected from among pirates. Smoker was just thinking about Uchiha Feiyu's strength and directly ignored the prerequisite.

"Uh... that's true. You might even become the King of Alabasta in the future; the Seven Warlords of the Sea is indeed meaningless to you."

Regardless, the king of a member country still exceeds the Seven Warlords of the Sea in terms of power; it was only because of the huge disparity in individual martial power that the Seven Warlords of the Sea seemed to have a higher status than the king of a member country.

"Alright, enough talk. Take us to the New World first!"

This time heading to the New World, Uchiha Feiyu was not alone; he also brought Nami and Robin along.

Needless to say, Nami wanted to obtain more sea charts and also learn about the sea conditions in the Grand Line through the Marine. As for Robin, she naturally wanted to see if there was any news about the Poneglyph.

Of course, Robin herself was disguised. It wasn't the disguise technique of Princess Vivi who changed her hairstyle, but a disguise that Uchiha Feiyu personally performed, which was almost a complete transformation.

The Book of Demonic Inheritance also contained methods of disguise, and this kind of disguise technique that borrowed external objects was also very cheap and did not require many sacrifices.

The most brilliant disguise technique could even make a person change their appearance and then automatically change as they aged, making no difference from becoming a different person.

Unless a special potion is used, the disguise on the face will never disappear. This time, no one saw through Robin's disguise; as long as she does not use her Devil Fruit Ability, she can easily blend onto a Marine ship.

The Marine is truly the largest force on the entire ocean, especially in the first half of the Grand Line, which can be called the Marine's world. For every three islands, there is a small base garrisoned by a Marine Haijun Benbu Colonel, and for every five islands, there is a large base suppressed by a Marine Haijun Benbu Vice Admiral. Whether it is the deep-sea undercurrents, oceanic monsoons, or island climates, everything has been explored clearly.

With the help of the Marine's shipping lanes, the journey was smooth sailing, and in just over half a month, the Red Line was already in sight.

"Once we pass the Red Line, you will have to find a place for yourselves. I don't know what you are planning to do in the New World, but I must tell you, even with your strength, it is far from safe in the New World. Guys stronger than you, if not as numerous as the hairs on an ox, are definitely not few in number."

Smoker said to Uchiha Feiyu with a serious expression, and Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes:

"Please, I am only going there to look for a treasure, not to challenge the Four Emperors. Why do you think I would encounter danger so easily?"

He is neither a Pirate nor a Marine, and as long as he does not take the initiative to provoke those large Pirate crews, Uchiha Feiyu's current strength is absolutely sufficient in the New World.

Smoker choked for a moment, then spoke in a flustered and exasperated manner:

"You guy, don't be ungrateful for good intentions! Those Great Pirates of the New World don't care whether you are a Marine or not. The level of chaos in the New World far exceeds your imagination; without the flag of a Four Emperors Pirate crew, it is impossible to move an inch on that sea!"

If the Paradise in the first half of the Grand Line is the Marine's world, then the New World in the second half is the Pirate's world. The strength of both sides is exactly reversed, and the level of chaos in the sea areas ruled by Pirates can be imagined.

The base of the Four Emperors Pirate crews is fine; having already formed the prototype of warlords, the Four Emperors Pirate crews can still maintain a certain order in their own base.

However, in those border areas, or places beyond the scope of the Four Emperors' rule, there is almost chaotic fighting everywhere. Pirates against Pirates, Pirates against countries, and countries against countries—everywhere is in a state of war and smoke.

"Tsk, is the New World this chaotic? I thought it could at least maintain a little order here!"

"Know it now? The reason why this place is called the New World, besides the harsh environment, is also because the order here is completely different from other places..."

"Isn't it all your Marine's fault? You Marines are truly too incompetent. Since you can't eliminate the Pirates, you put all the Pirates here in the New World. The fact that these countries in the New World are so chaotic is also a problem with you Marines, right!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Smoker's face turned red:

"You... what do you know... this is... this is necessary..."

What followed was a bunch of hard-to-understand things about Marine strategy and the World Government's leadership.

On the contrary, Tashigi's face turned red, and she bowed directly to Uchiha Feiyu:

"I'm sorry, this is all our Marine's responsibility. We will work harder in the future!"

"Look, look, Smoker, you are not even as good as Tashigi! At least she doesn't shirk responsibility."

"Bastard! You make it sound simple. The Marine has already exhausted all its strength just to suppress these Great Pirates in the New World! It is almost impossible to defeat all the Great Pirates in one fell swoop."

"Mm-hmm, but that is your Marine's problem and also your Marine's responsibility. What is the use of telling me this? I don't look at reasons, I only look at results! The result is that you Marines cannot deal with the Pirates, isn't it?"

"... You guy, how on earth did you manage to live this long?"

"Probably because I exercise often, forcing certain irritable guys to patiently listen to me speak!"

(End of this chapter)