(Alright, that idiot Luffy is no longer a threat. Now it's just a battle between Chopper and me! If I win, I'll lose a little less pocket money.)
Usopp wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, thinking to himself: (But Chopper only has three cards left, and my hand is so lousy... Heh heh, looks like it's time to show them what true "Cheating Skills" are all about!)
The long-nosed brother smiled confidently. Suddenly, he reached out and pointed behind Luffy and Chopper, exclaiming with an exaggerated expression:
"Wow! Look, you guys! There's a dog flying in the sky."
"Ah?! Where! Where?!" X2
The innocent ship doctor and captain turned their heads simultaneously, searching while asking, "Usopp, where's the flying dog?"
"Right over there, look closely." Seeing that the human and reindeer were distracted, Usopp let out a treacherous laugh and quietly pulled another deck of cards from his pants pocket. His intentions were self-evident.
(Your lousy cheating method can only fool those two simpletons...) Nami and Zoro, who was exercising nearby, watched the scene with dark lines over their faces.
"Ah!!! I see it! Luffy, there's a black shadow in the sky!" Suddenly, Chopper waved his little hooves, screaming with excitement.
"Where, where? Oh... I see it! It seems to be getting closer to us." Luffy shaded his eyes with his hand and looked up at the sky, his big eyes filled with curiosity:
"And that thing doesn't look like a dog at all."
What was going on???
Nami, Usopp, and Zoro raised their heads suspiciously and looked up into the sky.
The azure sky looked as if it had been washed, crisp and translucent. Yet, in this delightful blue, a mass of black shadow was extremely conspicuous. It was getting bigger and bigger, as if something were falling from the heavens.
Looking closely, it appeared to be a rather large: Ship.
A ship?! In the sky? Falling down?!!
The hearts of the few people on the Going Merry skipped a beat. This rhythm felt a bit off!
Meanwhile, oblivious to the events on the deck, Sherlock was still holed up in the cabin, developing his Devil Fruit abilities.
Sherlock's physical fitness was very poor. Let alone comparing him to the three monsters—Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji—even Usopp's ability to take a beating was significantly better than the Occultist's! (No exaggeration, the long-nosed brother is actually very durable.)
Therefore, "Mirror Reflection," an ability that can reflect attacks, became the foundation of the Occultist's survival. If "Mirror Image Fusion" was currently Sherlock's sharpest "Spear," then "Mirror Reflection" was his sturdiest "Shield"—and a spiked one at that.
(The actual principle of Mirror Reflection is simply performing a virtual-to-real conversion the instant it contacts an external attack, thereby changing the attack's direction. The so-called reflection limit is actually the limit of that conversion.)
(Although Multiple Mirror Reflection has amazing effects, due to the long preparation time and its overly passive nature, this move is somewhat useless except in specific situations.)
For enemies whose attacks can't break Mirror Reflection, Sherlock can happily crush them no matter how many come; there's no need to use Multiple Mirror Reflection at all. And for enemies who can exceed the Mirror Reflection limit, Multiple Mirror Reflection is simply seeking death.
(However, Mirror Reflection doesn't necessarily have to be passive defense...)
However, at the exact moment this thought rose in Sherlock's mind, he heard several familiar screams from the deck, followed by the sound of a massive splash, as if something huge had fallen from a great height into the sea.
??!!
Sherlock froze. Then, the entire ship suddenly began to rock violently, and the books on the table scattered all over the floor with a clatter. Under this violent shaking, the Occultist, who still had Multiple Mirror Reflection active, was thrown directly into the wooden wall of the cabin.
Then, something even more magical happened.
Crack~
With the sound of splintering wood, Sherlock actually smashed a large hole directly through the hard wooden planks! His speed undiminished, he flew out of the cabin like a cannonball, startling him into hurriedly deactivating his Fruit ability.
(Is it because of the Multiple Mirror Reflection? Also, did something fall from the sky? Why is it so chaotic...)
This thought flashed through his mind. Subsequently, Sherlock felt as if he had crashed into something soft, and this soft thing let out a familiar cry of alarm.
(That voice is... Nami?! Oh no, we're going to fall!)
Splash! Splash! Two splashes rose from the turbulent sea. Sherlock only felt his body being enveloped by the freezing seawater. Simultaneously, the unique sensation of weakness characteristic of Devil Fruit users struck instantly. He struggled a few times, but ultimately sank powerlessly toward the bottom of the sea...
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
"What happened! How did Sherlock smash such a big hole in the Going Merry?!" The long-nosed brother, hugging the mast tightly, looked at the exaggerated hole in the cabin, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
"Ahhh, Nami was knocked into the sea by Sherlock!" The blue-nosed reindeer, already scared out of his wits by the huge sailing ship falling from the sky, turned completely grey and white at the sight.
"Sherlock! Nami! Damn it, I'll go save them right now..." The idiot captain hadn't even finished speaking before his body was immobilized by two hands blooming from the deck like flowers.
"Luffy, don't forget you're an Anchor too." Robin said calmly, albeit with a hint of resignation, as she steadied herself on the violently rocking Going Merry.
"Nami-san!!!" A certain love-struck cook hurriedly jumped into the sea. Immediately after, the professional lifeguard Zoro jumped in just as decisively. Based on the green-haired swordsman's previous experiences, in a situation where a man and a woman fall into the water simultaneously, that love-struck curly-brows would absolutely never care about the life or death of the same sex! Even if that member of the same sex was an Anchor.
More than ten minutes later.
The sea surface had returned to calm. The wreckage of a huge ship was floating near the Going Merry. By the looks of it, this massive, ancient-styled sailing ship would sink to the bottom of the sea in a short while.
However, aside from a certain idiot, the attention of the rest of the Straw Hat crew was firmly attracted by two drowned rats.
On the deck of the Going Merry, the atmosphere was very strange.
With a large towel wrapped around her head, Nami wiped her wet hair while staring with an unkind expression at the Occultist in front of her, who was calmly wiping his glasses. She remained silent, appearing to be brewing up something.
Zoro, Chopper, Sanji, and Usopp looked at the two equally soaked people and whispered among themselves:
"This is the first time I've seen Sherlock make a mistake. Given that violent woman's temper, sigh~" The green-haired swordsman sighed.
"That guy actually knocked Nami-san into the sea. Unforgivable." —By a certain love-struck cook.
"Nami is so scary~" The little reindeer shrank behind the green-haired swordsman's pant leg, looking terrified.
The long-nosed brother grinned: "Come to think of it, Nami has never physically hit Sherlock before. Could it be that she'll set a precedent this time? Eh, if that's true, then today is a day worth commemorating!"
At this point, the three people and one deer swallowed their saliva in unison, actually feeling a faint sense of anticipation in their hearts. (Chopper has been led astray.)
On the other side, Robin leaned elegantly against the ship's railing. Her mouth held a smile, and her beautiful blue and black eyes were filled with "schadenfreude" as she looked at the Occultist, clearly harboring no good intentions.
The deck was extremely quiet, giving the feeling of the calm before a storm.
After a while, Nami stopped wiping her hair. With a dark face, she took a deep breath:
"Sherlock, you..."
"One hundred million Berries." Sherlock held up a finger and spoke calmly.
Ah—The expression on Nami's face instantly did a 180-degree turn. She pulled the towel from her head and handed it to the Occultist.
"...Do you want to wipe your hair too? The seawater is cold, be careful not to catch a cold~" The orange-haired navigator's face was piled high with a brilliant smile.
(Holy crap! That works?!)
Zoro and the others, who had intended to watch a good show, nearly choked with shock. Immediately afterward, they realized that Sherlock, this inhumane tycoon, was simply the perfect counter to Nami, that money-grubbing miser!
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