Bellamy raised his binoculars again, carefully examining the fellow who had thrown the cannonball. A short stature, beer belly, a huge, grog-blossomed nose, and a terrible hairstyle. If Bellamy's appearance was fierce, then this guy was just plain ugly.
"This fellow… let me think." Ugly to such a remarkable degree, he should have some impression of him. "I remember now! It's Foxy, the user of the Slow-Slow Fruit!"
No wonder. Bellamy had a sudden realization. "No wonder he has such a bizarre ability. It's actually this waste of space."
The Slow-Slow Fruit was definitely a heaven-defying level fruit. In the world of One Piece, only two fruits involving the domain of time had ever appeared. One was Kozuki Toki's Time-Time Fruit, which could traverse time to reach the future. The other was Foxy's Slow-Slow Fruit. One had to understand that slowing time to a certain degree was practically no different from stopping time altogether. If this fruit fell into the hands of a strong individual, it would be the foundation of invincibility. But in the hands of a wastrel, its abilities were practically a joke.
"This guy's bounty, I remember it's less than 30 million." Although a bounty didn't fully represent strength, looking at it from this angle, one could still see just how much Foxy was wasting this fruit.
Bellamy thought for a moment and decided not to immediately step in to help Drake. Foxy was merely relying on his fruit's ability to gain a slight advantage; he believed Drake could handle this fellow on his own.
"The effect of this ability is very obvious: emit a light wave, slowing down the flow of time within an area."
"Drake should figure it out soon, right?"
In fact, the instant Drake was hit, he immediately put his guard up completely. For an opponent to use such an incomprehensible move right off the bat, nine times out of ten, they were a Devil Fruit user. Drake had a deep understanding of how bizarre and domineering Devil Fruits could be.
"Transformation: Allosaurus-Man!" This half-dragon, half-man form was Drake's most commonly used and also his strongest form. In this state, he possessed both the immense power and robust physique of an Allosaurus while retaining the agility and maneuverability of a human body.
"Shave: Dragon Flash!"
Instantly completing his transformation, Drake whipped his dinosaur tail and launched a desperate charge through the air. Foxy, standing on the ship's bow, showed no panic at this sight, instead smiling mockingly. "Newcomers these days really have no manners."
"Is this how you greet a senior?" Foxy extended his hands and unleashed his special ability towards Drake's direction.
"Slow-Slow Beam!"
An invisible, colorless, special light wave shot out from the front of his palms. The void enveloped by the light wave appeared unchanged. However, the moment Drake's body entered this area, it was as if he had plunged into a quagmire; his entire being slowed down.
"Not good!" Drake almost instantly realized something was wrong. "What happened?" The surrounding world suddenly seemed unfamiliar; this feeling was far too bizarre. "Why has the airflow suddenly sped up?" Drake hadn't yet realized it wasn't the air that had sped up, but him who had slowed down.
The instant he was hit, Drake's Moon Walk and Shave immediately became unsustainable. The more than five-meter-tall Allosaurus-Man promptly fell from the sky. Fortunately, his frenzied charge had already brought him right in front of Foxy, so at least he didn't fall into the sea.
"Boss, how did the First Mate fall?" Seeing Drake at a disadvantage, the companions watching from the side instantly became restless.
" He got hit by a dirty trick, but it's not a big problem.' As long as he didn't fall into the sea, it wasn't a major issue. With Drake's physical defense, a piece of scum like Foxy couldn't do anything to him.
And indeed, it was so. The moment Drake fell, Foxy immediately charged forward, fists flying. "Adadadada! Nine-Tail Rush!"
Drake, struck by the Slow-Slow Beam, seemed to see countless fist shadows assailing him from the void. Almost instinctively, he wanted to activate Iron Body to defend. However, Foxy's fists were surprisingly fast; before Drake could make any move, innumerable fist shadows bombarded his body.
"Adadadada!"
"Go to hell!"
After a torrential barrage of blows, Foxy stopped, panting heavily. "It's over."
"Easily dealt with." Foxy smugly put his hands on his hips, proudly puffing out his large belly.
"Captain, a thousand years to you!" his subordinates immediately chimed in with all sorts of flattery. "Lord Foxy is invincible!"
"Heh heh heh heh."
Foxy was thoroughly enjoying this round of bootlicking when, just at that moment, an unfamiliar voice suddenly interrupted his smugness.
"Was it your ability that slowed my perception?" Such high speed, yet completely lacking in killing power. Drake had already determined that a Devil Fruit ability must have affected his perceptual judgment.
"Huh?" Foxy quickly turned his head, only to find that the enemy he thought he had already dealt with was standing there completely unharmed.
"How is this possible!"
"I clearly hit you hundreds of times! Why are you completely fine?!"
After so much time, the effect of the Slow-Slow Beam had already worn off. The instant Drake returned to normal, he immediately launched a second attack.
"Shave!"
"Finger Pistol: Raptor Claw!" This time, he gave Foxy no chance to use his ability, striking him with a dinosaur claw almost at point-blank range. The moment the ferocious dinosaur claws grabbed Foxy's body, the incomparably explosive finger power erupted fully. Foxy's body, like tofu, was instantly shattered into several pieces. Countless sprays of blood shot out, dyeing the entire deck crimson.
Bellamy watched this scene and nodded with considerable satisfaction. "Truly worthy of being my first mate."
"Well done." As a first mate, his job was to alleviate the captain's burdens. How could such small fry warrant his personal attention?
"However, this fruit is a bit problematic.' If Foxy died, the Slow-Slow Fruit would reincarnate somewhere in the world. If some small fry ate it, it wouldn't matter. But if a Vice Admiral-level expert ate it, a new Admiral-level powerhouse would soon appear in this world. The ability of the Slow-Slow Fruit was too simple and crude. It required almost no in-depth development; even a piece of trash like Foxy could make Drake suffer a hidden loss.
As far as Bellamy knew, users of the Slow-Slow Fruit could release something called "Slowpoke Photons." Once irradiated by these photons, whether it was a living being, liquid, or gas, it would lose a certain degree of speed while its energy remained unchanged. The most heaven-defying aspect of this ability was its capacity to influence the flow of time to a certain extent.