Before long, a few warships emerged on the horizon, opening fire simultaneously on the two pirate crews engaged in battle. The sea in that direction erupted into chaos, resembling a fiery inferno.
Conis turned her head and looked at Ron, asking, "Will we become pirates one day?"
"Hmm… I'm not sure. Are you afraid? If you want to go back, I can take you…"
Ron's words were cut short as Conis, standing with the cloud fox, Su, on her shoulder and holding a telescope, shook her head. "I'm not afraid, nor do I regret coming to this sea. On the contrary, I'm grateful to be here, traveling with you. I'm just worried... worried that my weakness might hold you back…"
Hearing this, Ron paused, the large dumbbell he was lifting halting mid-air. He opened his eyes and turned to Conis with a smile. "So, that's what it's about? Well, that's easy to fix. You just need to get stronger, right?"
She glanced at the massive dumbbell in Ron's hand. "No matter how much I train, I could never be as strong as you, could I?"
"There's more than one path to getting stronger."
Ron hoisted the large dumbbell onto his shoulder and looked at her with a grin. "For instance… how about finding you a Devil Fruit?"
Conis was taken aback. "A Devil Fruit? But aren't those rare and precious treasures?"
"Logia types like Enel's or Zoan Mythical types and Ancient Zoans might be hard to find, but Paramecia types and regular Zoan fruits shouldn't be too difficult," Ron said, bending over to place the giant dumbbell on the deck. "From what I can tell, a Paramecia-type would suit you better."
"I'll keep an eye out during our travels."
Despite his words, by the time they reached the inland areas of Arabasta, Ron and Conis hadn't come across any Devil Fruits on the pirate ships or islands they encountered along the way. Information on Devil Fruits was scarce and often monopolized by powerful factions or consumed as soon as they appeared. Finding reliable sources of information might require delving into underground channels.
Searching aimlessly across the vast seas proved to be quite difficult. However, Conis wasn't worried. After familiarizing herself with the world's common knowledge, she began learning navigation and ship handling skills from Ron. By the time they reached Arabasta, she was adept at steering the ship.
The Traveler anchored at the shore. Ron, clad in a black cloak, and Conis, draped in a white robe that concealed her wings, disembarked together.
"So, this is Arabasta, the great superpower of the first half of the Grand Line…"
Holding the cloud fox, Conis gazed ahead with excitement. According to books, this nation was established by the descendants of one of the twenty kings who formed the World Government 800 years ago. Known as the Sand Kingdom, its standing army exceeded 600,000, and its territory was likely more than ten times the size of Sky Island.
The moment Ron stepped onto Arabasta's soil, a prompt echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Location detected — Arabasta. Sign-in available. Would you like to sign in?]
[Ding! Sign-in successful. Reward obtained: +10 Vitality Points.
Additional reward: Special Item — Endless Wine Jug.]
With great anticipation, Ron examined the effects of the special item, only to find a brief description: [Contains an endless supply of alcohol. Refreshes daily. Never depletes.]
Looking at the heavy Endless Wine Jug in his hand, Ron's face darkened.
"It really has no other effects? It just produces alcohol?" he muttered. "Do I look like I need help buying drinks?!"
The wine he had purchased at Sabaody Archipelago still hadn't been finished, and there was plenty more in his system's inventory. Shaking his head, Ron placed the jug back into the system space via the King's Treasury.
Just as he completed this, a commotion sounded from the water near the ship. Both Ron and Conis turned to look.
Several creatures, appearing cute but with shells resembling tortoises on their backs, emerged from the water and made their way onto the shore, blocking their path.
"What are these...?" Conis asked curiously.
Ron chuckled and explained, "These are Arabasta's native Kung-Fu Dugongs."
He focused on the lead dugong, which waved its fins at them and made a series of grunts.
Understanding the animals' speech, Ron, with his talent for languages, translated, "It says, 'If you want to come ashore, prove yourself by defeating me. If you can't, it means you're a weakling and should crawl back the way you came...'"
As he translated, Ron's gaze narrowed at the bold creature.
"Bold of you to say that."
Conis rubbed her forehead, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "Ron, normal people in the Blue Sea shouldn't be able to understand animals, right...?"
Before she could finish, there was a loud thud. The boastful dugong lay sprawled out before Ron, eyes swirling, with a large bump on its head.
Ron retracted his fist and looked at the downed creature, chuckling. "Care to be bold again, huh?"
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