Vivi had an embarrassed expression on her face and slowly held up Karu's bounty poster, saying.
"Karu's bounty is… 100 Berries!"
"…"
At this moment, Smoker's voice also slowly drifted into Chopper's ears.
"The Government thinks that duck looks a bit more dangerous than you, so they specifically doubled the bounty!"
The air fell silent once again.
Then… came the sky-piercing wailing.
"Waaahhh…"
"Waaahhh…"
…
While Chopper was sitting aside, grieving alone, Luffy looked at Smoker and asked.
"You said you had something to tell us just now?"
Smoker nodded upon hearing this and said.
"I've made my decision."
"From now on, I won't pursue you anymore!"
The others immediately showed joy upon hearing this.
But before they could say anything, they heard Smoker grit his teeth and continue.
"But… I won't let you off."
"Next, I will take Tashigi to the most hostile Marine branch to improve my strength."
"When we are strong enough one day, we will definitely come back to catch you."
"Remember this, Straw Hat!"
"I have staked my name as 'White Chase' Smoker, so… I will absolutely not give up until I catch you!"
Tashigi also gritted her teeth at this moment, glaring fiercely at Roronoa Zoro, and said firmly.
"Roronoa Zoro, I will definitely surpass you!"
"I will absolutely… reclaim the famous swords in your possession."
Zoro's scalp tingled when he heard Tashigi's voice, and he immediately hid behind Sanji.
The person he feared most was this woman.
Luffy, at this moment, looked at the determined Smoker, feeling very speechless, and said.
"You came just to tell me this?"
Smoker's expression softened upon hearing this, returning to calmness, and he slowly said.
"When you first arrived in Alabasta, I requested reinforcements from Marineford."
"Now, 30 warships have arrived near Alabasta."
"In about 3 hours, this river will be completely blockaded."
Upon hearing this, a wave of panic immediately swept through the ship.
"30 ships?!"
"If 30 warships surround us, the merry go will definitely be blown to pieces."
"This is bad, Luffy! We need to leave quickly!"
Luffy frowned and asked in confusion.
"Why are you telling us this?"
"Don't you want to catch us?"
Smoker took a puff from his cigar and said.
"When I requested support from Marineford, I thought you wanted to destroy this country."
"But after watching that live broadcast, I feel…"
Smoker's voice deepened slightly.
"If I were to capture a group of heroes who saved this country here, I might regret it for the rest of my life."
"So, consider this information as my thanks for you saving Alabasta."
"Next time we meet, I definitely won't let you off."
"Tashigi, let's go!"
With that, Smoker stood up and leaped onto their Marine warship.
Watching the warship slowly sail away, the Straw Hat were all a bit stunned.
"That Smoker… he doesn't seem so bad after all!"
"Yeah! He actually helped us!"
"I don't dislike him as much anymore."
"I say… there's no time to think about anything else now, we need to set sail quickly, if we're any later, we won't be able to leave this river."
Nami suddenly yelled, and everyone on the ship immediately sprang into action, taking their positions.
"Luffy, what can I do?"
Vivi came to Luffy's side, her eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.
Becoming a pirate officially for the first time made Vivi extremely excited.
Luffy's gaze swept around the ship, finally landing on the empty lookout post on the mast.
He turned his head and said to Vivi.
"From now on, you'll be the lookout on this ship!"
"Provide us with observed information as soon as possible."
Vivi's face immediately lit up with joy, and she nodded excitedly.
Then, she very formally saluted, mimicking the soldiers of her kingdom.
"Yes, Captain!"
Seeing Vivi's excited and serious expression, Luffy couldn't help but smile.
Although Vivi often looked worried when her heart was set on her country, she was very lively once she truly relaxed.
Just then, Luffy suddenly felt a brush against his leg.
Then, he heard a cry.
"Quack!"
Looking down, Karu also had a serious expression, seemingly asking Luffy what he could do.
Luffy's gaze swept around again, but he found that there didn't seem to be a suitable position for a duck, so he said to it.
"You'll be the quartermaster on this ship! If you see anything within your capabilities, just do it."
"If you don't know what to do, just follow Chopper; only he can understand what you're saying. If there's anything that needs help, just have Chopper tell you!"
"Quack!"
Karu quacked, seemingly satisfied with this arrangement, and then went to find Chopper.
Everyone took their positions and got ready.
Then, Luffy's loud shout rang out from the merry go.
"going merry… set sail!!!"
…
Because Smoker had given them a heads-up, Luffy and his crew proceeded at full speed the entire way.
They successfully left Alabasta before the Marine warships formed a blockade.
Heading towards the next island indicated by the Log Pose.
…
On the calm sea, the merry go sailed slowly.
All of the Straw Hat were gathered on the deck, each looking tense and serious.
"Are you ready?"
Luffy looked at the nervous Vivi and asked.
Vivi's expression was tense and expectant, and she nodded.
"I'm ready!"
Then, Luffy activated his heaven-defying comprehension, helping Vivi fully develop her own talent to attract a Devil Fruit suitable for her.
Luffy already had ideas for Nami and Nojiko's Devil Fruits.
However, those two fruits were currently eaten by others, so he had not helped them attract Devil Fruits with heaven-defying comprehension.
As for Vivi, Luffy hadn't thought of any Devil Fruit suitable for her yet.
So he decided to directly apply his heaven-defying comprehension to her, pushing her potential to the limit to see what Devil Fruit it could attract.
After being endowed with heaven-defying comprehension, Vivi closed her eyes tightly and began to sense carefully.
She explored her talents and potential in her mind.
At this moment, Vivi's mind involuntarily recalled the scene of Pell secretly taking her flying in the sky when she was a child.
The memories of that time were as clear as if they had happened yesterday.
And the feeling of flying with the wind in the sky also made Vivi feel like a spring breeze, incredibly comfortable and enjoyable.
After this memory ended, Vivi's mind then brought up countless days and nights spent in Alabasta.
The land of Alabasta was predominantly desert, almost every day was hot, and fires were often caused by the unbearable heat.
And in Vivi's mind at this moment, those blazing flames that ignited appeared.
Just as various scenes appeared in Vivi's mind, on the merry go.
Luffy and the others waited quietly.
At this moment, some wooden fragments suddenly fell from the sky.
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn, and they looked at the fragments falling onto the ship, all puzzled.
"What is this? Is it raining wood?"
"The Grand Line is truly unpredictable! It even rains wood fragments; it's truly a magical sea area."
As Usopp and Sanji continuously exclaimed, Nami suddenly shrieked, baring her teeth.
"Raining my foot! Look up at the sky."
"A ship is falling."
Hearing Nami's cry of surprise, everyone except Vivi looked up at the sky.
Immediately, everyone's pupils constricted, their faces filled with astonishment.
Above the merry go, an incredibly huge, yet dilapidated sailing ship was plummeting rapidly.
Various wooden debris, boxes, barrels, and even skulls from that sailing ship drifted towards the merry go.
The entire deck immediately fell into chaos.
"Waaahhh… Turn the rudder, turn the rudder quickly!"
"What on earth is going on? Why is a ship falling from the sky…"
"It's going to fall!"
"Hold on tight to the ship, waves are coming!"
Boom!
A violent crashing sound erupted, stirring up an incredibly huge wave.
The merry go rode the giant wave, swaying violently as if it were about to capsize.
And the people on the ship continuously cried out in alarm.
"Ahhh…"
"Wuwuwu…"
After a violent shaking, the merry go finally slowly calmed down.
The people on the ship still looked terrified, sweat beading on their foreheads.
Chopper, Usopp, and Karu were hugging each other tightly, trembling with fear.
During the giant wave, Luffy had been holding Vivi, who had not yet regained consciousness, to prevent her from falling out.
Now that peace had returned, sounds of confusion immediately filled the ship.
"Why would a ship fall from the sky?"
"There's nothing in the sky now!"
"How strange!"
Gurgle…
As the people on the ship expressed their confusion and surprise, something on the deck suddenly rolled.
Everyone looked over at the sound and saw a fruit with patterns resembling green flames rolling to Vivi's feet.
It seemed to have fallen with the ship just now.
And at the same time, Vivi slowly opened her eyes.
A prompt also appeared in Luffy's mind.
"You possess heaven-defying comprehension. Through the transmission of comprehension, your recipient is exceptionally gifted, and the 'Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Luan Form' has been attracted."
"It worked!"
The moment they saw the fruit, excited cheers simultaneously erupted on the ship.
Everyone temporarily ignored the ship that had just fallen, turning their attention instead to Vivi and the Devil Fruit.
Luffy picked up the Devil Fruit, rinsed it in a nearby bucket, then handed it to Vivi and said.
"Although I don't know what abilities this fruit has, it's a Mythical Zoan fruit, so I'm sure it won't be weak."
"Vivi, eat it!"
Vivi took the fruit and nodded, excitement in her eyes.
Although she didn't understand this Devil Fruit either, there seemed to be a magical feeling, making her believe that this fruit would grant her the abilities of flight and fire.
Under the expectant gazes of everyone, Vivi took a bite.
"Ugh…"
The same scene as when Usopp took his bite.
Vivi couldn't help but retch, her expression pained.
Luffy saw Vivi forcing herself to eat more and knew she didn't understand Devil Fruits, so he said.
"Alright, you don't need to eat any more, that's enough."
"Quickly try to sense what abilities this fruit has!"
Hearing Luffy's words, Vivi nodded and began to perceive carefully.
At the same time, Luffy once again bestowed heaven-defying comprehension upon Vivi, helping her understand the fruit's abilities more comprehensively.
And as Vivi carefully perceived, a prompt also appeared in Luffy's mind.
"You possess heaven-defying comprehension. Through the transmission of comprehension, your recipient has fully mastered the abilities of the 'Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Luan Form'."
"Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Luan Form: The user can transform into the ancient Eastern divine bird, the Azure Luan, possessing two basic active abilities: Flight and Flame Manipulation. One passive ability: Rebirth Through Fire."
"Flight: Extremely fast flight speed, capable of traveling a thousand li in an instant (approximately 1 kilometer per second)."
"Flame Manipulation: Can manipulate and release flames for attack. Since the Azure Luan divine bird feeds on endless karma fire, the user can strengthen or heal themselves by devouring and absorbing fire elements."
"Rebirth Through Fire: When the user's life force reaches its limit, this ability will be activated, leading to rebirth through fire, transforming into a phoenix, with all attributes greatly enhanced. Each activation will put the user into a weakened state after the ability ends. In the weakened state, the ability cannot be activated, and the next activation requires the body to fully recover."
After reading the introduction to this Devil Fruit's abilities, Luffy couldn't help but exclaim in his heart, "As expected of a Mythical Zoan!"
Not only is its flight speed incredibly fast, but it also has two lives, and its second life significantly boosts its strength across the board.
Additionally, this Devil Fruit is practically the bane of fire-attribute ability users; any fire they use can be absorbed to strengthen the user.
In short, fighting fire-attribute ability users makes the user stronger and stronger!
After Luffy told the others on the ship about these abilities, everyone was astonished.
Nami's eyes even turned into stars in excitement as she eagerly said,
"Vivi, quickly transform into your Azure Phoenix form and show us!"
The others also looked incredibly expectant, focusing their gazes on Vivi.
Upon hearing this, Vivi leaped up on the deck.
Whoosh!
The wind howled.
Everyone felt a strong gust of wind and instinctively closed their eyes.
When they opened them again, they all saw it.
Above the merry go, a bird, entirely azure-blue and resembling a phoenix, soared rapidly through the sky.
She was covered in azure flames, moving so fast that ordinary people could barely track her with their naked eyes.
And where she flew, she left behind specks of azure flame in the air, sparkling like starlight.
"So fast!"
"So beautiful!"
"So strong!"
These were the collective exclamations of everyone on the ship upon seeing Vivi transform into her Azure Phoenix form.
If Vivi's previous strength didn't quite match her 100 million Berries bounty, now, a 100 million Berries bounty simply couldn't match her strength.
A Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit is just that powerful!
...
After helping Vivi obtain the Devil Fruit, Luffy also tried to help Karu, to see if he could acquire a suitable Devil Fruit.
But for some reason, nothing happened.
Luffy could only guess that a suitable Devil Fruit might have already been eaten by someone else.
However, since he wasn't sure which Devil Fruit it was, he decided to leave Karu for now.
Above the merry go, Vivi was adapting to her new abilities.
Meanwhile, on the deck, Nami suddenly let out a startled cry.
"Ah!!!"
The sharp female voice pierced the sky, startling even Vivi high above.
"What's wrong, Nami?"
Luffy shifted his gaze from Vivi in the sky to Nami and asked.
Nami looked worried and said,
"What should we do?!"
"The Log Pose is broken!"
"The pointer is stuck pointing straight up!"
Luffy immediately understood what was happening upon hearing this.
Looking at Nami's stunned expression, Luffy smiled and said,
"The Log Pose pointing upwards means our next destination is Sky Island, right?!"
Upon hearing Luffy's words, a chorus of exclamations immediately erupted on the ship.
"Sky Island?! What's that? An island floating in the sky?"
"Come to think of it, that ship and those bones earlier both fell from the sky!"
"But looking at the sky now, there doesn't seem to be anything like an island!"
"That's impossible! How can an island float in the sky? The Log Pose must be broken!"
Nami adamantly insisted that the Log Pose was the problem.