Under the faint glow of the moon, Red walked to the stern of the small sailing ship.
Bathed in moonlight, the surface of the sea churned with layers of pale golden ripples.
As he gazed down at the seawater below, a deep azure gleam flickered once more in Red's eyes.
Immediately after, he silently murmured to the sea beneath him:
"Surf."
Whoooosh—
An invisible wave of Pokémon energy suddenly burst forth from Red's body, drifting toward the nearby ocean.
All the seawater enveloped by that Pokémon energy instantly seemed to come alive, surging upward in a frenzy.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic wave rose before Red.
However, under his control, this wave did not crash forward like last time. Instead, it maintained its form, hovering in place without falling.
While continuously channeling Pokémon energy to sustain the wave, Red muttered thoughtfully:
"Using the Surf move to control nearby water really consumes far less energy."
"A wave of the same scale costs only a fraction of what it did before!"
"And the controllability has improved tremendously!"
The blue light in his eyes flashed once more as Red abruptly increased his Pokémon energy output.
The seawater churned again, rapidly gathering together.
The wave before him grew larger and larger.
In less than half a minute, a massive wave tens of meters high appeared behind the Straw Hats' ship, moving forward alongside it while keeping a safe distance.
Such an eerie sight would be enough to make any ordinary navigator gape in shock.
"As expected!"
"By manipulating nearby water sources, Surf has changed from a one-time attack move into a continuously controllable water-manipulation ability!"
"The downside is that the water has to exist in the form of waves—it's not true free-form water control."
"And without large-scale compression of Pokémon energy, the impact power of the wave drops significantly. It can only rely on the wave's natural force to attack."
"But still…"
"This is pretty damn strong, isn't it?!"
A glint flashed in Red's eyes.
At that moment, he could already envision the terrified expressions of future enemies—those who tried to pursue the Straw Hats at sea, only to be stopped cold by the might of the ocean itself.
And as Red continued to progress through the game and earn more badges, the power he wielded would only grow stronger!
Maybe one day, he could even be like Whitebeard—casually swinging an arm and creating waves that towered ten thousand meters high!
But it wasn't over yet!
With a flick of his wrist, the enormous wave instantly split in two… then continued dividing, until it became one smaller wave after another, each only about half the height of the ship.
Under Red's control, these waves gathered around the vessel, pushing it forward.
In an instant, the sailing speed of the ship more than doubled.
Yet as Red felt the suddenly intensified sea wind blasting against him, only one ominous thought surfaced in his mind:
Oh no.
I'm becoming a tool person!!!
...
...
Early the next morning.
Bathed in the first rays of dawn, Luffy and the others gradually woke from their sleep.
When they exited the cabin, they were surprised to find Red sitting cross-legged on the deck near the stern, his eyes closed in meditation.
Luffy immediately walked over curiously.
"Huh? Red, why are you sitting here?!"
As the person who had spent the longest time with Red aboard the ship, Luffy knew very well that while Red didn't like sleeping in, he was definitely not a morning person either.
Not to mention that they had only gone to bed late last night after adventuring in the game world.
Hearing Luffy's voice, Red slowly opened his eyes, as if just waking up from a dream.
"Ha~ It's you, Luffy."
Red greeted him with a smile, then withdrew the Ancient Power that had been nourishing his entire body.
Looking at the brightening sky, he stood up and stretched lazily.
"It's morning already? That went by really fast."
"So…" Zoro and Nami also gathered over, curiosity on their faces. "What exactly were you doing all night?"
"Ah, that…" Red chuckled softly, leaning casually against the railing as he extended a hand and pointed downward.
"Just take a look and you'll understand."
"Huh?"
Luffy and the others blinked, then followed Red's gesture to look below.
The next second, all three of them wore expressions of pure astonishment.
Because at the point where the hull met the sea, they saw countless waves—almost as if alive—working tirelessly like diligent little helpers, frantically pushing the ship forward.
Nami paused in realization.
"No wonder the wind speed felt kind of off this morning…"
"Is this your new ability, Red?!"
By now, they were long used to Red occasionally pulling off unbelievable feats.
Aside from a bit of surprise, what they felt most was curiosity.
"That's right." Red nodded with a smile, then waved his hand, giving them a live demonstration of what could only be called the power of a Sea King.
Crash—!
A brilliant blue flash passed through his eyes, and the previously steady ship suddenly trembled.
Immediately after, Luffy and the others watched in shock as their ship was lifted high by an enormous wave, surging forward like a professional surfer riding the tide.
Seeing their mouths hanging open in perfect "O" shapes, Red explained proudly:
"This is my newly acquired ability—its name is Surf!"
"With this ability at our disposal…"
"In future battles at sea—"
"We'll be invincible!!!"
The corners of Red's mouth lifted in a confident smile, radiating indescribable charm.
"So cool, Red!" Luffy shouted excitedly, his face shining as well.
He was more and more grateful that he had brought Red along to sea with him.
"Thanks!" Red accepted the praise without hesitation, then with another wave of his hand, returned the waves to their original, more subdued state.
He had only wanted his companions to understand his abilities—so that when something happened in the future, they could avoid unnecessary trouble.
As for the waves currently pushing the ship forward…
Although Red didn't want to be a tool person, once he discovered that his recovery ability was absurdly strong—enough to offset most of Surf's energy consumption—
Well, for the sake of faster progress…
He could only suffer a little.
"Oh, right—Nami," Red suddenly asked, "can you tell where we are now? How long until we reach Syrup Village?"
"Let me check…" Nami pulled a sea chart from the four-dimensional space near her chest, then took out a device Red didn't recognize and began observing.
Before long, she came to a conclusion.
"If we maintain this speed, we should arrive at Syrup Village at around three in the afternoon today."
"Really? Then my night wasn't wasted after all." Red smiled slightly, then turned to Luffy and Zoro.
"Alright, a new day begins!"
"Luffy's Armament Haki is already showing results."
"Luffy, your task is to continue familiarizing yourself with using Armament Haki—at the very least, you need to be able to get through an entire fight with it."
"Zoro, you continue training at your own pace."
"Once Luffy's Armament Haki matures enough, I'll have him guide you."
"But don't put too much hope in Luffy's teaching skills—you know how that's likely to go. In the end, you'll still have to rely on your own effort."
"And as for your swordsmanship training…"
On this brand-new day, drawing on his knowledge of the anime, Red began assigning the next phase of training for Luffy and Zoro.
But at that moment, a News Coo wearing a beret landed on the railing, letting out a loud cry that interrupted him.
"Hm? Today's newspaper?" Red said, pointing at the bird. "Nami, you handle the payment."
He wasn't interested in money.
So after Nami truly joined the Straw Hats, he had already handed the crew's financial authority over to her.
"Okay~" Nami replied, pulling out some Beli and buying today's paper from the News Coo.
But before she could even unfold it, a brand-new wanted poster slipped out from between the pages.
And on that poster—
Was a photo of Luffy grinning straight at the camera.
"Huh?!"
The sudden appearance of the wanted poster stunned everyone on deck.
Red was the first to react. He stepped forward, picked it up, and burst out laughing.
"Luffy, you've got a bounty now?!"
"Your name's going to be known all over the world!"
"Ah?! Really?! Really?!" Luffy jumped over excitedly, eyes wide as he stared at the poster in Red's hands.
On the brand-new wanted poster, several bold words stood out clearly:
'Straw Hat' Monkey D. LuffyExtremely Dangerous. Dead or Alive.Bounty—
50,000,000 Beli!!!
(End of Chapter)