Chapter 68: Oh my, a Digimon!

The weather was clear and warm, and the *Rakumu* was sailing steadily across the Grand Line.

Xia Nuo had just finished his morning training and was leaning against the ship's railing, holding a cup of steaming coffee, enjoying the seascape and this rare moment of tranquility.

Someone approached on tiptoe, reaching a small hand from beneath his armpit toward the coffee cup.

But the moment it touched the side of the cup, Xia Nuo slapped the hand away without ceremony.

"Ow, that hurts!"

"What are you doing? Trying to steal bitter coffee without any sugar?" Xia Nuo said, annoyed. "Zhepu brewed a whole pot of coffee first thing this morning; if you want some, go pour it yourself."

"The kitchen is too far..." Nami crawled into his arms, looking up at him with a pitiful expression.

"You're just lazy to the bone."

Xia Nuo had long since become immune and couldn't be bothered to pay her any mind.

He suddenly noticed a newspaper clutched in Nami's hand and raised an eyebrow. "Did you run into a News Coo that early? Still no report on Crocodile?"

"I flipped through it from start to finish and didn't see a thing."

Nami angrily rolled the newspaper into a tube and tapped it against the railing with a *thwack*.

It had already been a week, and the efficiency of the World Economic News Agency was just too poor!

She didn't care about Morgans, but she was anxious!

She wanted more than anyone to see Xia Nuo's bounty skyrocket, to shake the entire Grand Line.

And yet, after such a huge event, there wasn't even a ripple?

"It's been a week already, huh?"

Xia Nuo sipped his black coffee slowly, letting the bitterness spread across his tongue.

"If that's the case, it has nothing to do with Morgans' efficiency. It's clear that someone at the top is deliberately suppressing the news."

"People are dead, can they really suppress it?"

Nami curled her lip.

"They can manage it for a while."

Xia Nuo pondered. "It seems the Marine Headquarters wants to seize the time to save face before the news can no longer be contained."

Crocodile's conspiracy hadn't been exposed, so in the eyes of the Marines, he was still a model representative of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, someone who stood on the same side as them.

Furthermore.

This time, the man had died while following orders from Headquarters to arrest him. In any heartless corporation, that would count as a death in the line of duty; naturally, they couldn't let him die in vain.

Therefore, the Marine Headquarters' most urgent desire right now was to capture him as soon as possible. Only then could they announce Crocodile's death, making it somewhat justifiable so they wouldn't lose all face.

"Oh..."

Nami responded listlessly, not sure if she had even taken it in.

She slumped against the railing like a sun-wilted piece of seaweed, her orange hair seemingly having lost its luster.

Without a new bounty poster, life felt like it had lost its flavor.

Thinking about how Xia Nuo had defeated a Seven Warlord so majestically, yet no one knew about it... she felt completely restless and annoyed!

"Where's your sister?" Xia Nuo asked. "I saw her get up for the training room at four in the morning. It's breakfast time now; she still hasn't come out?"

"Nope." Nami rested her chin on her hand. "She's been training harder every day, staying until ten at night. I guess she'll be like this until she masters Armament Haki."

Xia Nuo said nothing. He understood Nojiko.

She was like him in the past—a very strong-willed person. Unlike the thick-skinned and carefree Nami, seeing the other crew members master Haki one after another while she remained stuck was something she couldn't swallow.

Indeed.

Now, the Rakumu Adventurer Crew had basically achieved a full-crew mastery of Haki, thanks to the buff from the Falcon Statue.

Smoker didn't need to be mentioned; he came with it when he joined.

As a proud disciple personally trained by Zephyr, he had mastered both types of Haki before graduating from the Elite Training Camp.

Among the remaining crew, the first to master Armament Haki was Kuina.

The young swordswoman's talent was enviable; three days after leaving Twin Capes, she had already mastered the basics of Flow and Hardening.

She was currently attempting to master Haki emission and the advanced technique of blending it with sword intent, showing quite good progress.

Next was Zhepu, who had mastered it only after leaving Whiskey Peak.

As for Silver Wolf...

Its talent was truly unfathomable. As it grew older, its physical fitness improved automatically like a balloon being inflated, without any training at all.

And as for Armament Haki, it seemed that because everyone else around it had mastered it, it felt like it would be embarrassing if it didn't, so it just inexplicably learned it too.

"Go tell her to eat breakfast."

Xia Nuo sighed and instructed, "If she doesn't come out, that's fine, but help her bring her three meals. Don't forget."

"Got it." Nami nodded. She was experienced with delivering food; back in the day, she and Nojiko had often delivered meals to Xia Nuo while he was training on the mountaintop.

Once Nami disappeared from view, Xia Nuo sipped his coffee and opened the system interface.

A month had passed since the last market refresh. He had intended to browse the market while drinking his coffee, but Nami had interrupted him.

A deep blue light screen unfolded before his eyes.

He wasn't interested in the first six items at all, scrolling past them one by one, his brow furrowing slightly with a bad premonition.

There were only ten items in total; if he didn't want most of them, was he going to come away empty-handed this time?

Fortunately, the moment the seventh item appeared, his brow smoothed out.

[High-Grade Pet Egg]

[Type: Special Item]

[Price: 4,000 Points]

[Description: After purchasing the pet egg, a high-grade pet cub will be randomly rolled. Inferior bloodlines are excluded, with a minimum rating of A. Initial loyalty will depend on the species and the host's first impression.]

[Seller's Note: None, direct from system.]

Another pet egg?

And a high-grade one at that... Xia Nuo couldn't help but be tempted. This was a super gacha pool with a guaranteed floor.

Back in Cocoyasi Village, using a regular pet egg to get an A+ bloodline Silver Wolf had already exhausted all his luck.

So if it had been a regular pet egg this time, he would have hesitated, fearing he'd get trash.

But with a guaranteed A-rating...

Buy it!

Xia Nuo purchased it directly. The price of 4,000 points would have been a massive fortune back then, but it was fine now.

If he was unlucky and lost a bit, he could accept it, but if he could hatch another partner and combat asset no less capable than Silver Wolf, it would be a huge profit regardless.

He couldn't contain his curiosity and didn't even add it to his cart, placing the order immediately.

He planned to open the egg first and then see if there was anything else worth buying.

With 4,000 points spent, the high-grade pet egg arrived, and Xia Nuo chose to open it without hesitation.

[Rolling randomly, please wait.]

[You have obtained a new pet: YukimiBotamon.]

[Incubating...]

The dice vanished, and a silvery-white pet egg appeared, beginning to crack from the top with *cracking* sounds.

Within seconds.

The top of the shell shattered completely, and a fluffy white snowball jumped out, blinking its large, dark eyes and curiously observing its surroundings.

"That's it?"

Xia Nuo looked at the little creature in his hand, stunned.

Was it cute?

Of course, it was very cute, like a *mochi*, round and soft.

Even Silver Wolf in its piglet phase was less cute than this. If a girl saw this, she would definitely be unable to put it down.

But how did this look like an A-grade bloodline? How was this worth 4,000 points?!

This was a scam!

As if responding to his complaint.

Soon, as the pet egg vanished into a phantom on the system panel, a series of prompt texts appeared:

[Bloodline Rating: S+]

[Initial Loyalty: 80]

[Description: A Digimon baby covered in light, fluffy white fibers. It is considered a type of Botamon. Named YukimiBotamon because of its white body. As long as the master builds a strong enough bond, it will naturally evolve into its final form.]

[Evolution Path: YukimiBotamon -> Nyaromon -> Salamon -> Gatomon -> Angewomon]

Xia Nuo's expression froze instantly.

Wait, what kind of "mon" was that?

Angewomon?!!!

"So it was you!"

Xia Nuo immediately performed a 180-degree turn in attitude, smiling brightly as he scooped up the little YukimiBotamon and gave it a fierce *rua* (nuzzle).

"Oh my, why didn't you say so earlier? What a cute little baby, welcome to this world!"