After what felt like an eternity, Kyoma was finally saved by Rayleigh, who couldn't bear to watch him suffer any longer.
At this moment, he was leaning against the wall with disheveled clothes, breathing heavily and raggedly, and eyeing the deceptively strong girl in front of him with extreme caution. He feared that she might accidentally crush his ribs with her monstrous strength once again.
The girl knew that she had done something wrong.
Too guilty to look Kyoma directly in the eye, she turned her head away and whistled as if nothing had happened.
But she was obviously not a patient person.
After a short while, she was distracted by the ants passing by her feet. She squatted down, stretched out her finger, and started poking at the insects.
Seeing her innocent demeanor, Kyoma and Rayleigh looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
"Hahaha"
'Well, if I can keep such a companion around, I'll be blessed in the future,' Kyoma thought to himself.
After sighing several times internally, Kyoma regained enough strength to speak.
He stood up and looked at Rayleigh standing beside him, speaking in a very serious and sincere tone.
"Rayleigh-san, thank you for rescuing me and bringing me here. If there is anything I can do for you in the future, please let me know."
Kyoma was truly grateful to Rayleigh.
If it weren't for his strength, not only would the 10 million Berry required to activate his ability have been far out of reach, but he himself might have become an auction item and been sold off to some unknown buyer.
It could be said that Rayleigh had single-handedly turned his life as a transmigrator from a hellish start into a dream start.
"It's just a small matter. I sensed that you had something different from the others I saw there, so I invited you to come out with me. I didn't expect that I would witness such an interesting and unique ability."
Having said that, Rayleigh looked at Kyoma's body with a meaningful expression.
This young man, whom he previously estimated couldn't even beat the ordinary citizens of the Sabaody Archipelago, had become many times stronger in less than half a day.
Moreover, he could see that Kyoma's body wasn't temporarily strengthened like when a Zoan-type fruit user first transformed.
Rather, the body itself had been genuinely enhanced, as if he had been training intensively for several years out of thin air.
'Today's young people are really something else,' Rayleigh mused to himself.
Suddenly, a red light flashed across the corner of Rayleigh's eyes, and he sensed that something interesting seemed to be happening in the auction house hall.
So he smiled and looked at Kyoma and the girl.
"Kyoma, are you interested in going to the auction house lobby to join in the fun? There seem to be a few young people there who are as intriguing as you. Perhaps they could get along well with you two?"
'Auction house lobby?'
Kyoma recalled the mermaid in the water tank he had seen in the dungeon, and at the same time, the plot of the original story he had read in his previous life flashed through his mind.
The mermaid Camie was captured, and the Straw Hat Pirates had gathered at the Human Auction House to save their friend.
Then they had a conflict with the Celestial Dragons. Luffy beat up a Celestial Dragon in anger, and the Marines surrounded the auction house.
It even attracted Admiral Kizaru.
So this place would soon become extremely dangerous.
If he followed Rayleigh to the hall at this time, he might accidentally get involved in the trouble that the Straw Hat Pirates would encounter.
And with his current strength, if he really participated in the battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and Kizaru and the Pacifistas, he would probably not survive more than a few seconds even with Kagura's protection.
"No." Kyoma shook his head slightly and touched his empty stomach.
He hadn't eaten anything during the entire day he had been captured.
"What I want to do most now is have a good meal, take a hot bath, and get a good night's sleep."
"Okay." Rayleigh nodded.
On the side…
Hearing this, Kagura's eyes lit up. She didn't bother playing with the ants anymore.
Instead, she grabbed Kyoma's hand and prepared to drag him outside.
"Eat! Eat!"
"Wait a minute, don't be in such a hurry." Feeling the terrifying force pulling at his arm again, Kyoma felt like he had an overexcited dog straining at the leash.
He struggled to speak and stop her momentum.
"I haven't said goodbye to Rayleigh-san yet."
****
A few minutes later, Kyoma and Kagura walked out of the auction house one after the other.
Outside the door was a unique island that Kyoma had not had time to appreciate and take in after transmigrating.
The 79 enormous Yarukiman mangroves interweaved together to form the 79 islands of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Under each tree, there was a special resin secreted by the roots.
As the temperature rose, the resin turned into bubbles and left the ground.
Under the sunlight, countless bubbles rose into the air and emitted colorful, shimmering light.
The light was bright and brilliant, but Kyoma, who had not seen daylight in a long time, could hardly open his eyes.
He could only appreciate the scenery through the gaps between his fingertips.
Maybe it was because he now had some traces of the Night Rabbit bloodline, but when the warm sunlight shone on his body, Kyoma felt a little uncomfortable.
"Here."
At that moment, an umbrella was placed against his hair and propped up above his head.
Kyoma turned around in surprise and found that it was Kagura.
The girl was standing on her tiptoes with great effort, holding the umbrella high in her hand.
Even so, with her height, she could only just manage to cover his head with the umbrella.
Kyoma found it endearing, so he grabbed the umbrella with one hand and held it over both their heads easily.
He spoke as they walked.
"How did you know I would feel bad?"
"Hair."
Kagura followed his pace and walked side by side with Kyoma.
She looked up and pointed at his hair, her voice sounding inexplicably happy.
"Your hair has become the same color as mine."
"What?"
Hearing this, Kyoma was a little surprised.
Since there was no mirror available, he had to pull the loose hair on his forehead down to his eyes. Fortunately, the length was sufficient.
He stared with eyes wide open, and found that his hair was no longer black, but a lighter orange color similar to Kagura's.
'Wow, this has become quite the fashion statement, but it looks pretty good.'
And when he became famous in the future, maybe he would be called "Orange-haired Kyoma" because of his hair color.
However, this didn't sound as imposing as "Red-haired Shanks."
*Growl*
Kyoma's thoughts were interrupted by the growling of Kagura's stomach.
"Kyo-chan, I'm so hungry." Kagura touched her stomach, raised her head, and looked at Kyoma pitifully.
"Please bear with it for a while. We need to get as far away from this place as possible."
After being hungry already, and with the strengthening of the Night Rabbit bloodline, Kyoma's hunger was no less than Kagura's.
But he knew very well that the news of Luffy and the others harming the Celestial Dragon had probably already reached the Marine Headquarters.
At this moment, not only were the Marines stationed in the Sabaody Archipelago rushing here, but Marine Admiral Kizaru was also on his way.
"Wait, what was that weird nickname you just used? It would be better to call me Boss as you did before." After walking for a while, Kyoma finally realized that something was off.
"But Kyo-chan sounds really nice. Don't you like it?"
"Who would like to be called like that? Anyway, you should just call me by my name, Kyoma."
"Got it, Kyo-chan."
"Sigh..."