"Captain Roger, your nose hair—er, I mean, your beard is quite dashing! I never noticed before. I'm going to grow one just like it!"
Upon hearing this, Roger's face darkened. "Don't just spout nonsense, kid. My nose—no, my beard was actually predicted by a wise man long ago. As long as I keep it, I'm destined to leave my mark on history!" It definitely wasn't because he was too lazy to shave. Nope, absolutely not!
"Shanks, do you want me to help you with your chores?"
Shanks, who was scrubbing the deck, looked bewildered. Chronos usually relied on the fact that he'd joined the crew earlier than Shanks and Buggy, pushing all the hard work onto them. Why was he offering to help today? Had he gone mad from eating too much?
Having discovered the immense power of his Devil Fruit, Chronos was feeling great, as if he'd won the lottery. Everyone seemed pleasant to him.
"Did eating that Devil Fruit scramble Chronos's brains?"
"I think so too. He finally worked up the courage to eat a Devil Fruit, but nothing changed except for his right hand. It must have been a huge blow..."
"Shhh! The captain told us yesterday not to mention the Devil Fruit in front of Krono."
Everyone watched Chronos snatch the mop from Shanks's hand, whispering among themselves.
"Heh! A bunch of uncultured fools!" Chronos scoffed at the crew members on Roger's ship. "They have no vision. No wonder they'll be subordinates their whole lives."
"Krono, how is it? This fruit must be a Mythical Zoan, right? Even though it's only a partial transformation, there's still a lot of potential for the future." Jabba patted Chronos's shoulder, feeling a bit guilty. He was partly responsible for this; if he hadn't shoved the Devil Fruit directly into Chronos's mouth yesterday, Chronos wouldn't be like this now.
"Haha, you clueless guys, watch this!" Chronos grabbed a random crew member's weapon and fiercely stabbed his already petrified right arm.
Just like in the morning, the blade snapped in half, and Chronos's hand was perfectly fine.
"Sugoi!"
"Chrono, your Devil Fruit has amazing defense!"
"Is that... Armament Haki?" x3
The others cheered for Chronos, celebrating his acquisition of a "hard-as-rock" Devil Fruit. However, Roger, Rayleigh, and Jabba stared intently at the dark blue layer on Chronos's right arm. As super-giants who had mastered Armament Haki to its peak, they immediately recognized what that layer on Chronos's right arm was. But they remembered that Chronos hadn't learned Armament Haki yet!
"Rayleigh, did you teach Krono Armament Haki?"
"No, I didn't! Jabba, did you?"
"I'm busy steering the ship every day; when would I have the time?"
After their discussion, the three confirmed one fact: Chronos absolutely did not know Armament Haki. This meant that the Armament Haki on his right arm was most likely a power bestowed by the Devil Fruit itself. In that case, Chronoshad eaten a truly extraordinary fruit!
"Norse, Shanks, big news! Our battle with the Flying Pirates made the front page of the newspaper! Norse, Shanks, you two have bounty posters now!"
Just as Chronos was demonstrating his Devil Fruit to the crew, Buggy came running over, waving a stack of newspapers.
"Really?! Let me see! Let me see!"
Chronos and Shanks, thrilled to hear they had bounties, sprinted over to Buggy, snatched the newspapers, and eagerly scanned the bounty section. New bounties and increased bounties for pirates were always listed there.
Chronos was even more excited now than when he had first eaten the Devil Fruit. He had been on Roger's ship for several years, participating in dozens of battles, big and small. Unfortunately, he had only faced minor antagonists and reserve members, so the news always focused on the Captain and Boss Rayleigh, leaving his own bounty at zero until now.
For a pirate with grand ambitions, this was truly embarrassing. Thankfully, Shanks and Buggy had been with him these past few years, saving him from too much awkwardness. Now, finally, he had a bounty too! From now on, he could proudly tell people, "This great man has a bounty of ***!"
Time for a no-prize guessing game:
There were originally sixty emperors in the world, and fifty-six died by the sword.
Can anyone guess who this quote refers to?