Chapter 40: The Fruit Within Reach...
The oden boat pulled up to the shore of Gold Island, its rich aroma hooking Lufia's attention like a fishing line.
She stared wide-eyed as old man Ganzo carried a pot full of oden off the boat, nearly drooling on the spot.
"Ralph! Ralph! You have to learn how to make this! Then we can eat something this delicious every day!"
Ralph felt a warmth in his heart.
This was Lufia—when something caught her interest, she supported it without reservation.
"Yeah, I'll study hard. I'll make sure you get oden that's just as good as old man Ganzo's someday."
Ralph made the promise with a smile while secretly calculating how to get the secret recipe from the old man.
Just as the atmosphere was happily shifting toward a food-focused storyline—
"BOOM—!!!"
An ear-splitting explosion suddenly roared from deep within the island.
Ralph's heart tightened as he immediately looked up and saw their Going Merry anchored along the distant shore.
Their crewmates had already landed on the island.
Eldoraggo's treasure hunt had begun, and it sounded like he'd encountered Nami and the others.
"That's that annoying voice!" Lufia recognized it too—it was the same one that had attacked them before.
Ralph told Lufia the others might be in danger, and he didn't hesitate for even a second.
"Old man, sorry, we'll talk about the oden another time!" Ralph spoke rapidly to Ganzo while grabbing Lufia's wrist. "Lufia, let's go!"
"Right!" Lufia reacted instantly, her body moving before her words finished. Her rubber legs already began gathering energy.
"Wait! I'm coming too!"
Tobio suddenly rushed over, his face filled with anxiety. "Woonan's treasure... They can't take Woonan's treasure!"
The kid was still hung up on that legend.
It was then that the previously silent old man Ganzo suddenly spoke, his voice low but carrying undeniable certainty:
"Tobio, there's no need to go. Woonan's treasure... it can't be over there."
Tobio froze solid, turning back to look at his grandfather in disbelief. "Gr-grandpa? How would you know...?"
The old man didn't answer immediately, his deep gaze instead turning toward the island's tallest flat-topped stone mountain.
Meanwhile—
"Soru!"
The ground exploded in a small crater where Ralph had been standing as he instantly vanished, rushing toward the source of the sound.
Lufia chose a more direct approach, using her rubber arms to grab high branches and swing through the trees like Tarzan.
Within just a few breaths, the two had crossed the sparse woodland and arrived at the scene.
The sight that greeted them filled them with rage.
Nami and Usopp were being chased by a bunch of low-tier pirates wielding guns, looking completely disheveled, while Eldoraggo—clad in golden armor and looking like some kind of lion—was sneering as he prepared to launch another shockwave.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
After Lufia announced her arrival to Eldoraggo, she leaped into the air and launched her attack.
Lufia's simple straight punch carried the force of a cannonball as it smashed hard into Eldoraggo's... golden breastplate!
The tremendous impact sent Eldoraggo stumbling backwards, his breastplate visibly dented, though he himself didn't seem particularly injured.
This golden armor's defense is no joke, Ralph thought with a frown.
"What?!" Eldoraggo was both shocked and furious.
Now! The moment his attention was diverted by Lufia, Ralph moved.
"Soru!"
His figure blurred, and when he reappeared, Ralph was directly in front of him.
The long sword at his waist had been drawn at some unknown moment, its blade flashing like a cold bolt of lightning as it precisely sliced along the depression left by Lufia's earlier punch!
"CRACK—SHATTER!"
The sturdy golden breastplate shattered like paper, instantly breaking into countless fragments that scattered across the ground. A massive gash appeared on Eldoraggo's chest, stretching from his right shoulder to his left abdomen, blood immediately gushing out.
"Argh!" He let out a pained howl, his eyes filled with terror.
If not for the golden armor absorbing most of the slash's force, that strike would have cleaved him in two!
"Who... who are you people?!"
Clutching his wound, he stared fearfully at Ralph and Lufia, who was nearby cracking her knuckles. He never imagined that this seemingly unremarkable Straw Hat crew would have one freak after another.
"We are the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Lufia loudly declared, her movements never ceasing as her two rubber arms stretched wildly backward, then twisted together like a giant braid.
"Now it's my turn! Gomu Gomu no... Heavy Hammer!"
The entwined arms shot out like living giant pythons, accurately grabbing Eldoraggo by the neck.
Then, using the elasticity of her rubber body and the torque from her waist, Lufia sent Eldoraggo spinning through the air in an arc before hurling him away.
"WHOOSH—THUD!"
Listening to the distant impact sound, Ralph estimated the guy probably wasn't dead.
Following the standard plot for this type of villain, he'd definitely pop up at the most critical moment to cause trouble, with vitality comparable to a cockroach.
Can't leave loose ends!
"Lufia," Ralph immediately called to her as she ran toward Nami and Usopp, "gather the others first! I'll go deal with these 'potential problems'!"
Lufia stopped in her tracks, tilting her head with a confused expression, clearly not quite understanding what "deal with" and "potential problems" meant.
But seeing Ralph's serious expression, she still nodded vigorously with a bright smile: "Okay! Go with peace of mind!!"
This unreserved trust made Ralph's heart skip a beat.
He took a deep breath and turned to chase after the direction Eldoraggo had been thrown.
When Ralph reached the crash site, he only found a freshly-made human-shaped crater containing nothing but a few bloodstains.
"He escaped?" Ralph frowned.
With such severe injuries, and after being thrown like trash by Lufia over such distance, he could still run away?
Is this the mysterious endurance unique to the world of One Piece?
He immediately activated his Observation Haki, attempting to detect Eldoraggo's presence and tracks.
The trail was clear—he had indeed dragged his wounded body away.
But after pursuing for some distance, the traces strangely disappeared in a rocky area, or rather, became extremely faint and difficult to follow.
"Did he escape the island entirely?"
Ralph muttered to himself, but quickly dismissed the thought, "No, following this world's tropes, he'll definitely appear at the critical moment when we're searching for the treasure."
Trying to flush him out early now would probably be futile.
What a troublesome plot inertia.
Ralph shook his head helplessly and abandoned the pointless search.
Forget it, let's just follow the script. Head to that flat-topped mountain, reunite with Lufia and the others, then wait for this guy to spawn on his own.
Destination: the island's tallest flat-topped stone mountain!
Climbing up the pitifully narrow path carved into the cliff face, the higher he went, the fiercer the mountain winds became, nearly blowing him off balance.
Even with the powerful leg strength granted by Soru, Ralph found the ascent extremely difficult. Every step had to be firmly planted, fearing he might be swept away by the wind if careless.
He had no idea how long he'd been climbing when he finally spotted a cave halfway up the mountain where he could rest.
According to the original plot, everyone should encounter Old Man Ganzo here and listen to him recount that buried past.
I wonder how much the storyline has changed due to my intervention. While thinking this, Ralph peeked into the cave—well now, everyone's here!
Lufia, Nami, Usopp, even that super-lost Zoro! Old Man Ganzo and Tobio were sitting inside too.
So they were just waiting for him?
"Ralph! You finally made it!" Lufia was the first to spot him, waving cheerfully.
"If even you seaweed-head could find the way, how could I possibly get lost?" Ralph habitually teased Zoro as he entered the cave.
Zoro, clutching his three swords, snorted coldly: "Hmph, I simply chose the most direct route."
Through Nami's exasperated explanation, Ralph learned that after defeating the mercenary swordsman Golass, Zoro had indeed gotten lost again.
After wandering through the forest for who knows how long, he finally had a "stroke of inspiration" and remembered the principle that "standing higher gives a better view." Thus he headed straight for the island's tallest flat-topped mountain, swinging his blades all the way to carve a perfectly straight path through the dense forest leading directly to the mountain's base...
This method of pathmaking was so typical of Zoro.
He fortunately encountered Lufia and the other two at the mountain foot, then climbed together, meeting the Ganzos along the way.
Ralph arrived just in time—Uncle Ganzo had just begun telling stories from his youth.
"...That Woonan fellow was restless since childhood."
Ganzo's voice carried the weight of years as he slowly recounted how he and Woonan grew up together, argued over differing dreams, nearly died at the cliff's edge, and how he deliberately fell into the sea to save Woonan—leading Woonan to believe he had died long ago.
The cave was quiet, filled only with the old man's voice and the howling wind outside. Nami and Usopp listened with red-rimmed eyes, and even Zoro's expression softened slightly.
Only Lufia, while moved, maintained her unique train of thought: "Eh? So Ganzo, did you actually die or not?"
"Thump!" Nami couldn't take it anymore, delivering a loving iron fist to Lufia's head while whispering furiously:
"Idiot! If he died, would we be getting this story from a ghost?!"
"Ah! Right!" Lufia clutched the bump on her head, suddenly enlightened, "So he didn't die!"
This goofball... Ralph couldn't help but facepalm.
However, precisely because of this relationship between Ganzo and Woonan, he clearly knew Woonan's treasure-hiding habit—he loved placing treasures in the highest locations.
The highest point of this island was undoubtedly the flat-topped mountain where we now stood.
After resting, the group continued their ascent toward the summit along the path Ganzo had indicated.
The closer they got to the peak, the stronger the wind blew and the more treacherous the path became.
Finally, they stepped onto the flat mountaintop. The summit was level, featuring only a crude stone hut that appeared utterly destitute—barely more than four walls.
"Is this... where the treasure is hidden?" Usopp looked at the shabby hut, his tone filled with skepticism.
Nami, however, was full of determination: "Whatever the case, let's go in and check!"
Just as they prepared to enter the hut, Ralph's Observation Haki was involuntarily triggered—a wave of malice rapidly approaching from behind and to the side!
An ambush?
Ralph instantly turned around and indeed saw that persistent Eldoraggo, standing at the cliff's edge with a ferocious expression, ready to launch a shockwave.
"You loud-mouthed lion face, finally showing up again?"
Ralph sneered, "Did you automatically respawn when you sensed we were getting close to the treasure?"
He called out to his companions behind him: "You go inside and search for the treasure! I'll handle this guy!"
Before the words faded, Ralph pushed off with his feet, executing "Soru" followed by a Leap Stomp, propelling himself into the air. His right foot, carrying immense force, slammed viciously onto Eldoraggo's distorted face!
Crack!
"Boom!"
Eldoraggo's half-formed attack was instantly interrupted. The "Face Stomp" sent him flying backward, tumbling directly off the dozens-of-meters-high cliff.
Meanwhile, Ralph, using the recoil from the stomp and fine-tuning with Soru in mid-air, leaped down after him.
Woonan's treasure? He had long known what it was.
For Ralph, the real treasure was this nearly-dead Goe Goe no Mi user!
The moment to verify the system's cruel mechanism had finally arrived.
Such a dark operation absolutely could not be performed in front of Lufia!
During the descent, Ralph continuously used Soru to kick against the cliff walls, slowing his fall. Eldoraggo, however, tumbled and crashed without any buffer, finally landing with a "thud" in a pile of rubble at the base of the cliff, clearly on the verge of death—barely breathing.
Ralph landed lightly beside him.
The wound on Eldoraggo's chest had completely split open from the violent impact, blood staining the ground widely. His eyes were glazed over, hovering on the brink of death.
It was time.
Ralph took out a gold coin, rolling it deftly between his fingers. The golden glint flickered repeatedly in the fading sunset light before Eldoraggo's pupils, which were gradually losing focus.
"See this golden flash?"
Ralph employed his basic Hypnosis ability, "When I count to three, we'll become 'friends.'"
Eldoraggo's gaze grew more dazed.
The greed for gold seemed to be the perfect catalyst for the hypnosis.
"One. Two. Three."
Eldoraggo let out a meaningless gurgle from his throat, his eyes completely losing resistance. The system prompt sounded in Ralph's mind.
[Ding! Detected target (Eldoraggo) has established a temporary "friend" relationship with the host due to hypnosis effect.]
[Host gains privilege: Can absorb target's "Goe Goe no Mi" ability through a specific fruit upon target's death.]
It worked! Just as expected!
But it was soon overwhelmed by the excitement of successful practice.
Damn.
A complex emotion surged in Ralph's heart.
Forcing a "friend" relationship through hypnosis, then killing to seize the fruit! This system is both buggy and cruel!
Suppressing a trace of discomfort, he was about to get up and search for suitable fruit nearby to complete the final step—
[Ding! Your friend "Eldoraggo" has died.]
[The Goe Goe no Mi ability has randomly attached to the nearest ordinary fruit with a suitable form. Please search for it yourself, Host.]
What?! Ralph snapped his gaze toward Eldoraggo, who had indeed completely stopped breathing.
Dead just like that? Weren't you quite resilient just now? Where's that tenacious vitality standard for Pirate King antagonists?! How could it vanish so abruptly? Ralph felt like vomiting.
"Wait... The system said it randomly attached to the nearest suitable fruit?"
Nearest? Suitable fruit?
Ralph scanned his surroundings—nothing but stones and dirt, with scarcely a blade of grass in sight. Where would fruit come from?!
Such a huge island, where the hell am I supposed to look?! He couldn't help but wail inwardly.
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