"Brother, hit me once and see." Johnny ran a hand over his hardened torso. To test his defense, he wanted his partner to take a swing.
"Johnny, are you sure?" Yosaku was gnawing on the club. Hearing that, he flexed eagerly. He was bursting with energy and had nowhere to spend it. A request to get punched was a first.
"I'm sure. Hit hard." Johnny nodded, swollen with confidence.
"Alright, here I come." Yosaku tossed the club, rolled his shoulders, and shouted. Power surged as he triggered his fruit and unleashed a rapid combo of turtle punches.
Boom. The fist slammed into Johnny. A dull thud rippled from the impact. Yosaku shook out his hand. Johnny did not budge.
"What defense!" Johnny lit up. Iron Body's toughness far exceeded his expectations. He had braced for pain, yet he felt nothing. Yosaku, on the other hand, winced and pulled his hand back, which made Johnny ecstatic.
"Hehe, well, you did open a real treasure now, didn't you?" Amon grinned. The suspicion from earlier was gone. Both boys now looked at him with open admiration.
"It's amazing. What about the last item, those little red crystals?" Johnny pointed at the scarlet shards.
"Ahem, they are a forging material. You probably cannot use them yet. Keep them for later. Who knows, you might need them if a weapon blueprint turns up."
Red small crystals were usually for quests or crafting in games. In reality, they seemed useless, but you never knew.
"In that case, I don't want them. You keep them. No use for me."
"You don't want them? Alright, I will hold onto them." Amon did not mind. They were light and out of the way.
"In that case, we won't keep you from doing business. We're going to show Zoro our new tricks."
Fresh from their pulls, they could not resist swaggering over to Zoro.
"See you." They had helped him tick off three sales. Amon had a good feeling about the pair.
"Bye"
They headed toward the dojo.
...
As Johnny and Yosaku hurried off to flex for Zoro, Zoro and Kuina were already leading Dragon and Koushirou through the streets to find Amon.
"Zoro! Zoro!" The two had barely left Amon's stall when they spotted Zoro and waved enthusiastically.
"Zoro, you know them?" Koushirou smiled at the greeting across the way.
"I do. They're my friends. We can ask if they've seen Mr. Amon." Zoro nodded and remembered his two friends. "Johnny, Yosaku, have you seen a jar merchant?"
"That's exactly what we wanted to talk to you about." They had come precisely to show off.
"You saw him? Great." Zoro perked up at once.
"Not only did we see him, we just pulled a bunch of treasure. We were on our way to show you."
"Oh? What did you get?" Zoro's curiosity rose. Dragon and Koushirou exchanged a glance, interested to see what else these jars would spit out.
"I pulled a Devil Fruit. I'm a user now. How do I look." Yosaku transformed into a husky on the spot.
"I got Iron Body from the Marine Six Styles. My body is hard as steel. Zoro, hit me once and try."
Johnny activated Iron Body and invited the strike.
Another Marine Six Style. Dragon and Koushirou heard that and surprise flashed in their eyes.
"Johnny, you sure?" Zoro had not expected the request.
"I'm sure. Use a weapon. I guarantee you cannot hurt me."
He had tested fists. Now he wanted to see if he was truly blade proof.
"Then I'll try." Zoro drew a common katana and cut at Johnny.
Clang. The edge struck with the ring of steel on steel. Johnny stood unharmed. The katana edge, however, curled.
"So it is Iron Body from the Six Styles." Dragon stared at Johnny's skin and fell into thought. His curiosity about Amon deepened. What kind of man could make people learn techniques out of thin air.