Reality proved one thing very clearly—if you never push yourself, you'll never know where your limits truly lie.
"AAAH—!!!"
With a roar that sounded like someone who'd been constipated for three straight days finally finding release, Zoro's veins bulged as the massive dumbbell slowly lifted off the deck under the strain of his arms.
However—
That state didn't last long.
Thump!
With a dull impact, the entire ship rocked slightly.
Zoro struggled to set the dumbbell back down, then bent over, gasping heavily.
Yet despite his ragged breathing, the tremor in his eyes and the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth made it clear—he himself couldn't believe he had actually pulled it off.
"I… I did it!" he laughed breathlessly.
On the other side—
"Slow down, Luffy! This ship's brand new! I was planning to sell it later to recoup some Beli!!!"
Watching Luffy strain to lift the dumbbell before slamming it back down, Red hurried over and stopped him, his heart aching.
In terms of pure physical strength alone, Luffy was now far ahead of Zoro—by an overwhelming margin.
But still—
"Stop, stop, stop! Luffy!!!"
Seeing Luffy prepare to lift it again, Red quickly stepped in.
"Huh? What is it, Red?" Luffy blinked in confusion.
"That's not how you use this thing!" Red waved his hand. "Didn't you hear what I said?"
"This is a dumbbell, not a barbell. You're supposed to lift it with one hand."
Red grabbed one of Luffy's arms and gave it a light pat. "Let go! Try it with just one hand!"
"One hand? That's impossible, right?"
Nami muttered softly from the side.
Then she saw Luffy's arm suddenly swell as he used only one hand. Veins popped across his face as he let out the same roar Zoro had earlier—
"YAAAH—!!!"
Rumble…
The massive dumbbell slowly lifted off the deck, hovering in midair.
It wasn't as smooth as when using both hands, but it was still a clear success.
"Th-This has to be a joke, right!?"
At that moment, both Nami and Zoro were completely shaken.
Yet it also made Luffy's strength painfully clear to them.
Especially for Nami…
Seeing this scene made her recall the words Red had spoken to her earlier that afternoon.
"Can I really… rely on them?" she murmured quietly in her heart.
...
...
Because the preparations went so smoothly, by evening Red and the others had already set sail from Shells Town, heading toward their next island.
With a top-tier navigator like Nami on board, there was no need to worry about sailing through the night.
After assigning training goals to Luffy and Zoro, Red returned to the cabin with Nami.
After a quick wash, he immediately lay down on the bed.
Unlike Luffy and Zoro, who needed intense physical stimulation—
With Ancient Power, he simply needed to sit comfortably in meditation to become stronger.
As a mysterious energy rapidly flowed through his body, Red entered a cultivation state, allowing that power to nourish him freely.
Meanwhile, Nami sat at a desk nearby, propping her chin on one hand, her bright eyes flickering.
Moonlight streamed in faintly through the window as waves lapped against the hull, her thoughts drifting somewhere unknown.
Time passed quietly.
Before long, it was past midnight.
Nami had fallen asleep.
Zoro and Luffy, both completely exhausted from training, were snoring loudly on the deck.
Large patches of damp sweat on the floor bore testimony to their efforts.
Step… step… step…
Suddenly, a set of footsteps echoed through the silence of the night.
Red looked at the two sleeping figures, a smile flashing briefly in his eyes.
"They really put my mind at ease… good partners."
"In that case, I can't afford to slack off either~"
He helped them up one by one, carried them back to their respective rooms, and then returned to his own cabin.
"When it comes to training, there's not much I can directly help with."
"But when it comes to cheating the system…"
"You can leave that to me!"
"System, start!"
With a single thought, blinding white light burst before Red's eyes.
Yet this time, he didn't immediately enter the familiar Pokémon world.
Instead, a window appeared within the light.
It was unmistakably the Pokémon storage interface from the game world.
At the top of the window, a line of black text appeared:
[Please select the Pokémon to be deployed]
Below it were two chibi character icons.
One was Luffy, wearing his straw hat…
And the other—
Was Roronoa Zoro, complete with his unmistakable green hair!!!
"So that's it! I guessed right!!!"
Red burst into excited laughter.
The conditions for becoming a Pokémon were exactly as he had suspected.
All of today's effort had not been in vain!
Without the slightest hesitation—after silently apologizing to Luffy in his heart—Red cast aside the old love and chose the new one!
The game's entry CG began playing once more.
A flash of light—
Red reappeared at his previously saved location…
Inside Pewter Gym!
Beside him was Zoro, still fast asleep.
"So after entering the game, consciousness remains consistent with the real world, huh?"
"That's important information."
"If you don't get proper rest, it could affect a lot of things later on."
Musing inwardly, Red didn't wake Zoro immediately. Instead, he opened the interface and checked Zoro's information.
[Pokémon: Roronoa Zoro][Level: 38][Gender: ♂][Nature: Serious][Type: Dragon / Steel][Ability: Pressure (Causes opponents to feel overwhelming tension when locked in a stare)][Moves: —, —, —, —][EXP: 0/4447]
...
[HP: 143][Attack: 117][Defense: 115][Sp. Atk: 140][Sp. Def: 100][Speed: 91]
...
"Dragon and Steel types, huh?"
Studying Zoro's attribute list, Red pondered.
"The Steel type makes sense—he's a swordsman, after all, using blades day in and day out."
"But the Dragon type… what's that about?"
"In Pokémon terms, Dragon typing is both an energy and a representation of a powerful species."
"So…"
"System, are you saying Zoro isn't human anymore!?"
Red grinned. Since he couldn't figure it out, he didn't bother overthinking it.
Dragon was an incredibly powerful type anyway.
Pairing it with a charismatic man like Zoro felt perfectly appropriate.
Maybe that was the right answer.
As for his ability, Pressure was neither particularly good nor bad.
It was useful in battle, sure—but in Red's opinion, Luffy's Regenerator offered far greater tactical flexibility.
What stood out more was Zoro's stats—his Special Attack potential was clearly immense.
At only level 38, his Sp. Atk was already 19 points higher than Luffy's at level 46.
That alone was enough to define Zoro's future development path.
"Special attack build, huh?"
"Yeah… that actually sounds pretty damn good."
"Special moves would fit perfectly when integrated into sword techniques!"
After some thought, Red finally crouched down, pinched Zoro's nose, and covered his mouth to wake him up.
Surprisingly, it worked wonders.
Less than ten seconds later, Zoro frowned deeply, as if trapped in a nightmare.
Another few seconds passed before he violently shook Red off and sat straight up.
"Huff… huff…!"
"R-Red, what the hell are you—"
He looked up, about to question the smiling Red—
But then something felt terribly wrong.
Wait.
Wasn't I already on the ship?
Then what is this place!?
Why am I here!?
Questions flooded his mind.
But Red merely reached out, helping him to his feet, smiling mischievously as he said:
"Zoro—welcome to… my world."
(End of Chapter)