The Caterpie that had evolved through the power of wishes had actually inherited the evolution rules unique to Pokémon as well, successfully evolving into a Metapod.
Aside from the successful creation of the Space Pirates' Vivre Card and its flight into the distant sky, this was perhaps the best news Red had heard over the past three days.
All he could say was that the power of wishes truly was formidable.
Perhaps, within the setting of the pirate world, wish power was equivalent to the Hōgyoku in Bleach, or the Ōtsutsuki bloodline in Naruto...
They were all almighty powers. Whatever you wished for, you got.
Even the natural laws of other worlds could be perfectly simulated.
That was something Red had not expected either...
The fundamental laws of the pirate world were actually rather people-oriented.
Compared to those two major incidents, the matter currently spreading like wildfire across the seas—that the Straw Hat Pirates were preparing to subdue Elbaf—was instead something hardly anyone within the Straw Hats paid much attention to.
...
...
"What's up, Red? Why'd you suddenly call us over?"
Inside the Going Merry's meeting room.
Luffy and the others pushed the door open one after another, sat down in their usual seats, and looked curiously toward Red, who had sent them a private mental message.
Red, however, only smiled without speaking. He waved mysteriously at Luffy, signaling for him to calm down.
"Don't rush. Trust me, once you hear this good news, you'll definitely be so happy you jump out of your seat."
"But for such an important moment, of course we have to wait until everyone is here before I say it."
"Fine. Acting all mysterious~"
Luffy pouted and grumbled.
But immediately afterward, he collapsed limply onto the table like a slime.
After becoming addicted to the game world and spending nearly a month without training properly, now that he had just begun returning to his training rhythm, he was clearly somewhat unused to the dull and repetitive life of cultivation again.
To put it simply...
The goal was already clearly within sight. It had even become something that only required steady progress to complete, to the point that Luffy—and even the other members of the Straw Hats—had begun to slack off.
Perhaps only Zoro and Sanji could still maintain high-intensity training at the moment.
Even during the period when everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates had been addicted to Pokémon World, the two of them had not slacked off in the slightest.
The game was only a seasoning to relax their moods during gaps in training.
After all, Mihawk had now successfully mastered the complete form of Pokémon-ization. Combined with his already incomparably sharp swordsmanship, his strength had once again risen by a large margin.
Although, due to the incident on Festival Island, stories of the new World's Greatest Swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, had already begun spreading across the seas, and Mihawk had not completely denied the matter...
The truth was...
In a sparring match half a month ago, Zoro had once again lost to Mihawk.
Although his speed of progress was remarkable, compared to Mihawk, who had obtained Pokémon-ization, there was still a small gap between them.
As for the outside rumors about the World's Greatest Swordsman, neither of the two people involved paid them any mind.
To Mihawk, if Red had not also granted him Pokémon power and selflessly taught him all the techniques related to Pokémon power, including Pokémon-ization...
He would no longer have been Zoro's opponent long ago.
Therefore, he did not feel any disgust toward the outside world calling Zoro the World's Greatest Swordsman. Instead, he felt that it was only natural.
As an ultimate swordsman, he did not care about that bit of empty fame.
But at the same time, since he had also obtained Pokémon power, even though it could not be said that he stood on exactly the same starting line as Zoro—after all, Zoro still had Red occasionally taking him into the Pokémon World to level up...
He would absolutely not let himself be defeated by Zoro so easily.
A title was a title. Reality was reality.
This was the pride he carried as the former World's Greatest Swordsman!
And since Zoro had not truly defeated Mihawk, he naturally could not allow himself to indulge. His training had almost never fallen behind.
At the same time, this meant that although Sanji very much wanted to travel around the mountains and waters of the Pokémon World with Miss Nami, Miss Robin, Miss Uta, and a whole bunch of young, beautiful, wealthy lady Trainers in the Pokémon World...
In order not to be left too far behind by Zoro, Sanji also knew he had to painfully give up what he loved and did not dare relax in the slightest.
This caused his hatred toward Zoro to expand dramatically. That damn moss-head actually had the nerve to work himself to the bone right when Sanji was at his happiest.
Although Zoro had never intended to compete with him in the first place, what did that matter?
No matter whose fault it was, it was all the moss-head's fault!
It was precisely with such hatred in his heart that Sanji's training results during this period were outstanding. The experience he had accumulated in one month was even greater than what he had gained in two months in the past.
Perhaps under the stimulation of such intense emotions, his Lineage Factor once again took effect, giving him a cheat that was neither too large nor too small.
It was also because of this that, under extreme anger, Sanji finally mastered the awakening ability of the Speed-Speed Fruit!
At present, Sanji's Speed-Speed Fruit ability could already affect the surrounding environment.
Although the range was not very large, a steak that originally needed five minutes to finish frying could now be served in only five seconds under the power of the Speed-Speed Fruit.
That was right. Just as Red had initially tempted Sanji with an oversized promise, once the Speed-Speed Fruit was developed to its limit, it actually erupted with a power similar to time manipulation.
It was just that after the Speed-Speed Fruit awakened, the most effective improvement for Sanji was not an increase in his combat strength. Instead, it greatly reduced the time required to provide the Straw Hats with three meals a day. At the same time, it also allowed some dishes that originally required a great deal of preparation time to become everyday food served at the table.
Perhaps Sanji was simply born to be a cook.
...
...
As Uta and Brook, who had been recording a new song for Pokémon World in the recording studio, walked into the meeting room, all fifteen members of the Straw Hat Pirates, including Merry and Laboon, gathered before the round table.
Everyone looked at Red in confusion, unsure what major matter required all of them to discuss it together this time.
At that moment, Red stopped keeping them in suspense. The corners of his mouth rose, and he slowly took out a piece of paper from his pocket that kept drifting upward, as though trying to escape from his palm.
"Everyone, do you still remember what I said before... about there being other life-forms in outer space as well!?"
"Hm!?"
The Straw Hats, who had originally been rather listless, instantly perked up their ears after hearing Red's seemingly ordinary opening line.
Robin and the others focused their gazes directly on the paper in Red's hand.
They immediately recognized that what Red was holding was a Vivre Card.
"I remember! Of course I remember!"
The honest Luffy nodded repeatedly. He even revealed a look of yearning as he sighed.
"Just thinking that there might be other living creatures in that mysterious starry sky, and all kinds of planets as big as our world, makes me unable to stop feeling excited!"
Luffy clenched both fists and suddenly turned his head toward Red.
"Why are you suddenly bringing this up, Red!?"
"Could it be that the time has come!?"
Red had always used the excuse that the world was not mature enough yet to postpone the final battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and the World Government. Therefore, what Luffy most wanted to hear right now were the words "the time has come" from Red's mouth.
Because if that were the case, it would mean they were one step closer to exploring the starry sky!
"The time, huh~"
A gleam flashed through Red's eyes as he looked at Luffy's status panel, which had appeared out of thin air before him.
In the level column, the number 89 was clearly engraved there.
His total base stats had already exceeded 1,700 points.
It could be said that the current Luffy, relying on this basic strength alone, was already capable of clashing head-on with Teacher Kaido in a fierce battle.
That was to say nothing of the fact that Luffy also possessed the power of Nika, Pokémon power, and even extraordinary methods such as Mega Evolution and Dynamax.
Moreover, the experience bar that was almost completely full also indicated that Luffy was about to welcome another massive increase in strength.
In truth, Red also felt that with Luffy's current strength, he should already be strong enough to fight anyone under the heavens without rival.
It was just that whenever he thought about the neighboring production team's Naruto, and how at the final moment before the grand finale, the combat standard had been forcibly raised by several tiers...
A ninja war that had originally revolved around strategy and tactics suddenly turned into a divine battle of gods and demons splitting mountains and seas.
Red was also very worried that the original plot of One Piece might suddenly pull something like that at the very end. Perhaps it would drag Joy Boy's lingering soul out of the underworld out of nowhere, then bestow the last of his Ripple—no, his Haki—to Luffy and Zoro...
Allowing the two of them to become absurdly, outrageously, mother-of-all-invincible levels of strong, only for them to still end up fighting Imu to a draw... and narrowly winning in the end.
According to the usual direction of anime plots, this was not impossible.
His thoughts flashed by, and in the end, Red still shook his head.
"The time has not come yet, Luffy..."
Before disappointment could appear on Luffy's face, Red immediately continued.
"But in a certain sense, defeating Imu and exploring the starry sky don't actually conflict with each other..."
"Isn't that right?"
"Huh?"
Luffy opened his mouth in confusion. His brain reacted quickly for a moment, only to discover that he could not understand the meaning behind Red's words at all.
Instead, Robin's eyes flickered, and she suddenly interjected at that moment.
"So, Red... you've already found a way to explore the starry sky, haven't you!?"
As she spoke, her gaze remained fixed on the Vivre Card in Red's hand.
If it truly was as she guessed, then this time, the Straw Hat Pirates were really about to do something that would leave a heavy, brilliant mark on the history of the entire planet!
They would create history... and the future at the same time!
Hearing Robin's question, Red chuckled noncommittally. Then, under the confused and expectant gazes of his companions, he spoke directly.
"That's right!"
"A few days ago, I went to the moon and obtained some information there regarding life-forms on other planets in the universe."
"And I created this Vivre Card!"
"Although I'm not sure whether a Vivre Card's effect will still work properly in outer space, this may be our most likely chance to come into contact with cosmic life-forms!"
"I... don't want to miss this opportunity."
"Luffy, and everyone else..."
"You all shouldn't want to miss it either, right!?"
Gulp~
Under Red's blazing gaze, Usopp and the others silently swallowed.
Originally, they were still shocked by how Red could talk about something as absurd as going "to the moon" as lightly as visiting relatives during a holiday.
But when they heard what Red had discovered afterward, they were directly shocked into a daze.
Not everyone among the Straw Hats held such burning anticipation toward space adventures.
For example, Uta's greatest wish right now was to let her singing bring joy to more people.
But aliens were still people.
If it was really like the joke Red had made during a meal before, and her singing voice would one day spread throughout the entire sea of stars through all kinds of strange and wonderful devices...
Just thinking about it felt incredibly cool!
At that point, she would be the number one songstress of the starry sky!
And if that were paired with the power of the Sing-Sing Fruit, who knew how terrifying it would be!?
The mere Demon of Song · Tot Musica?
It was nothing more than a mental-power aggregate produced when several previous Sing-Sing Fruit users researched songs and lost control, falling into obsession...
It had better not come trying to compare itself to the number one songstress of the starry sky!
Thanks to research squeezed in by the Scientific Research Corps whenever they had free time, the Straw Hats had long since learned everything about the Demon of Song · Tot Musica.
It looked like a powerful and unsolvable existence, but in truth, it was only bullying the pirate world for not having methods specialized in training mental power.
In front of the Straw Hats, who possessed a large number of powerful Psychic-type users, it was nothing but a minor trick.
After they understood it, they simply filed it away in the Devil Fruit archives, where it became a paragraph of text in the detailed introduction of the Sing-Sing Fruit.
"Awesome!!!"
After hesitating for quite a while and finally understanding what was going on, Luffy slammed the table and suddenly stood up in excitement. He leaned toward Red and looked at the Vivre Card in Red's hand with an excited expression.
Knowing that although Luffy was usually unreliable, he had never once dropped the ball at a critical moment, Red also smiled faintly and directly handed the Vivre Card in his hand over to Luffy.
Feeling the faint force of the Vivre Card trying to break free, Luffy's eyes instantly burst with radiant golden light.
"So that means, Red, we can already go explore the universe right now and come into contact with other living things out there, right!?"
"You could say that, yes~"
Red first admitted it, but then his tone changed.
"But before that, we have to properly deal with everything related to this planet."
"Don't forget, the world we live in is still facing the disaster of the great flood that is about to arrive!"
"Before we completely resolve these matters, we can't just abandon everything and leave."
"Uh~ You're right."
Forcefully cooled down by Red, Luffy blinked, then finally nodded in agreement.
But immediately afterward, a bright smile appeared on his face.
"But I believe you've already taken care of all those things, haven't you, Red!?"
"Hey, don't push everything onto me~"
Red rolled his eyes at Luffy in annoyance, only to receive the other party's completely accustomed smile in return.
Relying on Red had long since become a habitual problem among the Straw Hats.
But so what?
Their companion was so reliable that other people could not rely on him even if they wanted to!
Luffy once again cast an expectant gaze toward Red.
He believed that since Red had organized this meeting, it meant he had already arranged everything perfectly!
(End of Chapter)