Chapter 105: Blue Ball

Kelo's obviously unnatural movements could not possibly escape Gasa's notice; her lips unconsciously curled into a faint smile.

Oh? So you're one of those stubborn ducks who won't admit it—you clearly adore it to death~

Looking at Kelo, who was pretending to be calm.

Gasa nearly burst out laughing; she forced herself to calm down with great effort, then spoke:

"Then, Mr. Kelo, since matters here have settled, I'll be returning."

"That thing…"

She ultimately couldn't hold back and laughed:

"If you like field guides, I've got—!"

"Who would like that kind of thing!"

Kelo's face turned bright red:

"I study history!"

The moment his voice ended, Jasmine beside him burst into laughter:

"Hahahaha—!"

Gasa reacted instantly, clamping a hand over Jasmine's mouth; she turned to explain, only to see Kelo had already vanished from where he stood.

Seeing this, the master and servant both slightly smiled; wild laughter echoed through the harbor.

…

Night fell.

The sky was dotted with countless stars; the full moon shone pure white.

Across the sea beyond Crow's Port, a massive crimson dragon roared toward them.

In a few breaths, it swept over the harbor and landed steadily within the mountains behind.

Thanks to Gasa's orders and warnings, the harbor guards remained far calmer this time and did not launch an attack.

Yet as the dragon flew overhead, some still instinctively crouched and curled into corners—fear being humanity's most basic respect for mythical creatures existing only in legend.

Boom!

After a thunderous crash, Gao Wen retracted his wings and landed slowly.

His body visibly shrank before the eyes; within mere seconds, he returned to human form.

Looking at the enormous footprints beside him, Gao Wen's inner excitement remained hard to calm.

"The three basic forms of the Zoan type—human form, human-beast form, and beast form—I've largely mastered control over them."

"The Red Dragon's abilities are powerful—far stronger than I ever imagined!"

"The Red Dragon's naturally formidable physique, combined with its ability to manipulate earth veins, is essentially a monster combining endurance, burst power, tanking, and wide-area AoE."

"But…"

Saying this,

Gao Wen furrowed his brow slightly, staring at the long blade in his hand; he stared for several seconds before continuing:

"The Red Dragon's abilities are incompatible with my current combat style—combining Death's Scythe and sword techniques into a lightning-fast one-hit kill. They form a separate combat system."

"To push Zoan abilities to their limit, one must perfectly fuse one's own combat style with the ability—the best example being Kaido."

His perfected Haki, the Oni race's naturally inhuman physique, and the extreme enhancement from the Blue Dragon Fruit fused perfectly to make him the undisputed one-on-one king of this era.

"In later times, even with the Straw Hats activating three forms, they still had to rely on the Nine Red Blades to wear him down, Kuma's betrayal, and nearly dying multiple times just to barely win."

If we faced each other at full strength, I can only say it would be a matter of life and death.

"If I model myself after Kaido…"

Gao Wen closed his eyes and meditated; after half an hour, he reopened them.

A device—or rather, a potion—appeared before him.

Blue Ball!

Developed by Tony Tony Chopper, a Human-Human Fruit user, to expand his own limits, this potion disrupts the transformation wavelength of Zoan Devil Fruits.

Unless absolutely necessary, Gao Wen had no intention of taking drugs mid-battle.

The key point is that Blue Ball's existence proves the transformation range of Zoan Devil Fruits can be controlled!

Once Gao Wen understands its principle, with his complete mastery over body harmony, he will quickly master it entirely.

At that time, Gao Wen could transform part—or several parts—of his body into animal forms.

While retaining his own agility, he could maximize the Red Dragon's abilities.

For example, covering his skin with scales to boost defense, strengthening his muscles alone to gain the Red Dragon's strength, or extending wings solely from his back to gain aerial control.

Thus,

While retaining the Red Dragon's physical capabilities, Gao Wen's combat style would become far more flexible; by combining it with sword techniques and developing corresponding methods, he could push his own combat power to an absurd level!

Perfectly fusing physique, sword technique, Devil Fruit, and Haki—taking on Kaido one-on-one head-on wouldn't be a problem.

As long as the battlefield isn't a desert or sea where earth vein energy is nearly depleted, the Red Dragon's extraordinary endurance stands alone even among Zoan types.

It excels best in prolonged battles!

Thinking of this,

Gao Wen's lips unconsciously curled into a faint smile:

"Perfect."

"I still need a professional ship's doctor aboard—and in this regard, Chopper may not be the strongest, but he's definitely the most cost-effective!"

"A bounty of just a few hundred Berries, doing jobs worth hundreds of millions, and whose main profession is still a doctor—in the past, Gao Wen would've definitely said:"

"Bounty's only a few hundred? What are you risking your life for?!"

"But now, once the pirate ship is built and we enter the Grand Line, our first destination has a concrete target."

Saying this.

Gao Wen was slightly stunned, only then realizing that if he accepted Chopper, nearly half of the Straw Hat's original crew would already be under his command.

Gao Wen felt not the slightest psychological burden regarding this.

Besides, that reindeer was simple and kind, possessed solid professional skills, and could serve as emergency rations in critical moments.

Gao Wen was also quite interested.

"Straw Hat~"

"You can only blame yourself for being born too late."

"I wonder, after you set sail this time, what kind of crew will gather on your ship."

"Tsk~"

After shaking his head.

Gao Wen turned and walked toward the harbor.

In the distance.

The lights were bright, and the passing crowds were shoulder to shoulder.

Although many buildings were still under reconstruction, the faces of these commoners all wore smiles of hope.

Even after suffering pirate attacks twice in succession, this area remained one of the most prosperous regions in the East Blue.

It could be said.

As long as Gao Wen's flag still stood around Raven Harbor, and as long as Gao Wen's pirate crew remained active in the vicinity, no pirate in the East Blue dared to cause trouble here.

Especially after news spread that Gao Wen had slain Labute and Rachet from the Grand Line, this was even more true.

As for the issue of pirates operating in the harbor, I just lower my pirate flag; who can say I am not a law-abiding citizen?

Besides, in this era, which harbor lord or kingdom noble does not have a side job?

You must remember, they already stand at the destination most pirates seek; if pirates can occupy mountains to become kings, why can't kingdom nobles go to sea?

Even Huang Siliang knew to hire a gang of Zhang Mazis!

For the following period.

Gao Wen, along with Xiang Keluo and the others, simply settled down in Raven Harbor; even Zoro, Sanji, and Jango, who had been left behind on Para Island, rushed over.

After all, although Para Island was the main base, in terms of prosperity, it could not compare to Raven Harbor.

Seeing this, Jasha simply allocated a plot of land behind the harbor for Gao Wen, and even originally intended to allocate a sum from the treasury to help the people of Gao Wen's pirate crew build residences.

Unfortunately, all of this was interrupted by a gloomy face.

"Young Lady, we... we have no money left."

(End of this chapter)