"…And another thing, brat—take good care of my granddaughter-in-law and let me hold a great-grandson soon!"
Creed had still felt a bit of reluctance and emotion, but Garp's last shouted line drifting over the sea made both his and Ain's faces flush red.
For that, Creed was a little speechless.
You think I don't want that? The timing just isn't right yet…
At this moment, Redfield hurriedly shouted orders to Brook and the others to push the Creed to its maximum speed.
Meanwhile, Robin and Perona quietly pulled Ain off to the side, whispering away. Ain's face only grew redder and redder, her head shaking like a rattle drum.
Obviously, they had heard Garp's words and assumed Ain and Creed had already "done something." Out of the concern and curiosity any good girlfriends would have, they asked a few extra questions—only to send Ain fleeing back to her room with her face buried in her hands.
As for their eyes sneaking hopeful, probing glances toward him, Creed could only pretend he didn't see a thing.
What a mess…
He had indeed imagined a future where he and Ain lived together. In that sense, Garp's words earlier had set his thoughts wandering a little.
But with the urgent situation right in front of him, he didn't have the luxury to dwell on it.
Garp and Zephyr showing up with a force today might look a little nonsensical on the surface, but he understood very well what lay behind it.
Next, the Marines would almost certainly go to war with his side.
When that happened, both sides would stand on their own ground, and all personal ties and bonds would be pushed aside.
Even if he was very close to Garp and Zephyr, they would still stand with the Marines.
In the original timeline, even when Ace was executed and Luffy's life was hanging by a thread under an admiral's attack, they still wouldn't truly step in to stop it.
Even so, they had already done everything within their power today. For that, Creed was still grateful.
"The Celestial Dragons and the World Government really do see me as their number one enemy—the threat they fear the most… Hm? How did that guy end up following us? And not just him!"
A moment later, his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) picked up certain movements, surprising him slightly.
But he didn't bother to put those "tagalongs" in his heart. What he did do first was open the three purple treasure chests he'd just obtained.
"Hope I can get a Devil Fruit Ability Extraction Card out of these."
Creed prayed.
The more powerful abilities, the better. He would never think he had too few of them. Whether he was going up against Shiki, Kaido, or the powerhouse-filled Marines, he could never have too many trump cards!
After the Creed escaped, Zephyr and Garp quickly regrouped.
"Why were you so reckless? You show up and immediately start smashing things and throwing attacks, and now you've scared my student off. I was planning to reminisce with him and share a few drinks—who am I supposed to drink with now?"
Staring at the Creed disappearing into the distance, Zephyr was in a very bad mood and poured his complaints all over Garp.
"Hmph! He might be your student, but he's also my grandson and granddaughter-in-law! Worst-case, I'll drink with you."
Garp snorted dismissively.
"In that case, you're treating."
Zephyr was not about to let this rare opportunity slip.
"What, I drink with you and I still have to pay? What kind of logic is that? No way, no way!"
Of course Garp refused. He was only a vice admiral on paper; his salary was quite a bit lower than Zephyr's. On top of that, he loved treating his subordinates and eating and drinking like a king on a daily basis. He usually didn't have much left in his pocket and was often a bit strapped for cash.
So whenever he could mooch off Zephyr, he did. After all, his thick skin was among the top in the entire Navy.
"Hmph! If you hadn't chased Creed off, he'd be the one treating. Now tell me you shouldn't be the one to pay."
Zephyr's reasoning made Garp wave his hand in resignation. "Alright, alright, I'll treat—huh? What's that?"
Garp suddenly noticed a strange black speck at the edge of the sky, moving quickly.
"Doesn't look like a cloud… more like an island? Don't tell me that's one of those legendary Sky Islands?"
Zephyr muttered, then waved his hand. "Whatever it is, who cares. Let's go drink."
The two gathered up the forces from this operation, only to realize something with a start: Trafalgar Law was gone.
…
"Ding! Opened one purple treasure chest. Gained: one SSS+ Ability Upgrade Card."
"Ding! Opened one purple treasure chest. Gained: one Devil Fruit Ability Awakening Card."
"Ding! Opened one purple treasure chest. Gained: one Devil Fruit Ability Extraction Card!"
As the system prompts rang out in his mind, Creed couldn't help clenching his fist and saying, "Yes!"
Aside from the SSS+ Ability Upgrade Card, the other two purple chests had also produced treasures.
Both the Awakening Card and the Ability Extraction Card were top-tier items.
With these, he now had a chance to obtain Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability—and possibly awaken it in one go!
"…Need more flowers…"
"Hm? Which ability should I use the SSS+ Ability Upgrade Card on?"
He pondered. To be honest, for someone who could extract SSSS-level abilities, SSS+ abilities didn't quite catch his eye anymore.
Besides, SSS+ abilities were the one thing he wasn't lacking. If this Upgrade Card were SSSS- level or higher, that would be ideal—he already had several abilities he wanted to raise to SSSS-.
"Right!"
Suddenly he remembered an ability: Super Vitality.
This ability from the water bear—tardigrade—was still only at S+ rank. Creed had already experienced the potency of the other tardigrade ability, Super Regeneration, so there was no way he would underestimate this one.
"System, use the SSS+ Ability Upgrade Card to raise Super Vitality to SSS+."
Creed immediately burned the Upgrade Card, boosting Super Vitality all the way to SSS+.
"Hm…?"
"So this is vitality?"
The moment Super Vitality rose to SSS+, Creed felt a few obvious changes: it was as if infinite strength surged through his whole body, and in an instant he entered a mysterious state.
An enhancement from the very source of his being.
However, this mysterious state only lasted for a single instant, which greatly surprised Creed.
He had climbed all the way up to SSSS-level strength, yet he had never experienced such a strange, almost "heaven-and-man-as-one" sensation before.
"Maybe this is important for me to step into SSSS+…"
Creed mused inwardly, then noticed that his basic stats had also undergone some changes.
Behind his SSS+ endurance stat, a symbol had appeared—the same symbol as before: a "?" mark!
"That means my endurance stat is about to break through!"
Creed was overjoyed.
Just one last step!
But right then, an uninvited guest behind them suddenly closed in on the Creed by relying on their Devil Fruit ability, putting Redfield and the others on high alert.
"Hm? What's he trying to do?"
Creed had no choice but to pause his research and look toward the man known as the Surgeon of Death, who had given chase. He wanted to see what Law was after.
But what piqued his curiosity even more was the one up in the sky.
If things went badly, another Four Emperors-level battle might be about to erupt!
(End of Chapter)
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