(send power stones please)
Hancock's cry drew Saint Charlos's attention.
He glanced in Chenos's direction—just once—then immediately lost interest. Without the slightest concern for whether Chenos lived or died, he continued hugging his wife and walked back into his room.
Hancock instinctively looked to the others for help.
What she received in return were only cold, indifferent gazes.
Just as despair threatened to overwhelm her, the CP0 agent carrying a sword walked over.
"He's fine. He's just passed out from exhaustion," he said calmly.
"This is when he's at his weakest. Protect him."
With that, he turned and left, not lingering for another second.
For Hancock, that single sentence was already more than enough.
She bowed slightly toward the CP0 agent in gratitude, then returned to her sisters' side. Together, they supported Chenos as they made their way back to the cage, while Hancock stayed alert, watching their surroundings with vigilance.
Back in the cell, Hancock immediately had her sisters help Chenos to their usual sleeping corner. After draping a cloak over him, she stood in front of Chenos and her sisters, eyes sharp, guarding against anyone who might approach.
In Mary Geoise, there was no such thing as a safe place.
If not for Chenos, they wouldn't even have dared sleep properly.
Meanwhile, Chenos himself was undergoing a strange and wondrous transformation.
Inside his body, the power of his Devil Fruit had begun to act on its own.
Absorption and rebound cycled endlessly.
Rebound damaged his body.
Absorption instantly healed that damage.
Over and over again—
injury, recovery, injury, recovery.
His muscles, his cells, his entire physique were being forged in this relentless loop.
Before long, a pitch-black, oily substance began to seep from his pores. It spread rapidly, coating his entire body until he looked as though he were encased in black armor.
This time, Chenos had truly turned misfortune into fortune.
In the previous battle, he had pushed his Devil Fruit to its absolute limits, using its abilities again and again without restraint. In response, the fruit had finally acknowledged him as its master.
That acceptance meant one thing—
Stronger power.
The upper limit of both his absorption and rebound increased dramatically.
If his previous limit had been 1, then after this transformation, it had risen to 3.
This wasn't a simple numerical change.
It meant his defense and rebound power had effectively tripled.
If the current Chenos were to face those five opponents again, he wouldn't be sent flying even once. They wouldn't be able to break through his defenses at all.
The next morning, Chenos woke up feeling unbelievably refreshed.
But the moment he opened his eyes—
Everything was black.
"…Did I go blind?"
The thought hit him like a hammer.
He immediately remembered passing out the night before. Had someone taken advantage of that moment and blinded him?
Panicking, Chenos tried to sit up.
The instant he did—
The black "armor" covering his body shattered into countless fragments and scattered across the floor.
Along with it…
His clothes disintegrated as well.
In the blink of an eye, a completely naked Chenos stood in the middle of the cage.
"AHHH—!!!"
Hancock screamed, spreading her fingers to cover her face—
while still peeking through the gaps.
Chenos stared at her, speechless, black lines practically forming across his forehead.
With no other choice, he walked over to the other slaves in the cage. After some "friendly negotiation," a slave of similar build decided to generously donate his clothes in exchange for newly formed "friendship."
Once dressed, Chenos finally noticed several lifelike human-shaped stone statues inside the cage. Judging by their expressions, he could roughly guess what had happened overnight.
He walked over to Hancock and spoke sincerely.
"Thank you."
Hancock glanced at Chenos—who, for some reason, now seemed even more handsome—then immediately lowered her head, too embarrassed to meet his eyes.
"B-bet… mutual help is… n-normal…"
She had almost said "between husband and wife," but caught herself at the last second and hurriedly changed her words.
Chenos smiled and gently rubbed her head.
Just as he was about to tease her a little—
The sword-bearing CP0 agent appeared at the cage entrance.
"Come on. Today's training."
"Got it."
After saying goodbye to Hancock, Chenos left the cage and followed the CP0 agent to the training grounds.
Once they arrived, the CP0 agent didn't start training right away.
Instead, he stared at Chenos for a long time—so long that Chenos began to wonder if something was stuck on his face.
Just as Chenos was about to check—
"You're too weak," the CP0 agent said flatly.
"…Huh?"
"You're weak. The pirates you fought yesterday were only worth ten to twenty million Beli—small fry."
"And yet you pushed yourself to the point of unconsciousness."
"If Charlmark Saint hadn't lost patience and shot that boxer himself, and if that man had just been a bit braver and kept attacking you—"
"You'd be dead."
Chenos's face twitched.
Oi, oi.
Arlong only had a twenty-million bounty too, you know?!
But… from a CP0 perspective, that really was small fry. In the New World, that level barely qualified as grunt work.
Still—
I was an ordinary guy just a few days ago!
I already one-vs-five'd a bunch of ten-million pirates—what more do you want from me?!
The CP0 agent continued mercilessly:
"Since you're weak, your training volume doubles."
"Today's targets:
5,000 push-ups
5,000 squats
5,000 sit-ups
1,000 lifts with 100-kilogram weights"
"Finish all of it before you leave."
"…Huh?"
Chenos froze.
Was this even humanly possible?
And in one day?!
Are you trying to turn me into some kind of muscle demon?!
I'm still a kid, damn it!!!
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