Chapter 818
Ron noticed that after the light spheres entered the bodies of Alex and the others this time, their transformation differed from before. Their aura nodes had opened.
"All four of them have become Nen users," Ron observed. "And not only that—they've quickly mastered Ten. But it doesn't seem like something they consciously learned. It's more like the technique forced itself onto them."
His gaze flickered slightly.
Alex's eyes lit up, and suddenly he turned toward a large tree in the distance. He threw a punch.
There were still over ten meters between him and the tree, yet as the punch was launched, his arm extended rapidly, stretching until it reached the tree trunk and struck it directly.
Crack!
The trunk snapped in two.
Nearby, Rondo reacted with a thought, and a blade materialized in his hand.
Shing!
With a flash of cold light, he drew it. The next moment, the corpse of a tiny insect dropped to the ground.
Ujir now held a gun.
Melissa, on the other hand, had summoned a staff.
Ron's expression grew strange.
Clearly, after defeating the warriors from Black River Village, Alex and the others had won their third Grand Martial Duel and received their "reward"—the awakening of Nen. Not only did they instantly acquire the basic techniques, but they also immediately developed their own unique Nen abilities.
And their speed in doing so surpassed even that of the Chimera Ants when their aura nodes were forcefully opened.
But that wasn't what made Ron's expression turn strange.
It was their abilities.
Alex's power was strikingly similar to the rubber fruit from One Piece—not identical, but undeniably reminiscent.
Rondo's conjured blade and swordsmanship mirrored Zoro's style.
Ugil's equipment clearly invoked Usopp.
Melissa's staff hadn't revealed its full ability yet, but it was likely a support-type weapon.
Then Melissa raised her staff, and a bubble of stormy clouds appeared above it.
Ron's eye twitched.
This staff… it was almost identical to Nami's Clima-Tact.
"A Hunter-world version of the Straw Hat crew?"
"This Grand Martial Trail… it even feels a little like the Grand Line."
"Could Alex actually become the new king of Minpo?"
The coincidences were too amusing.
Alex walked up to Ron again.
"Can we join you now?"
Ron shook his head. "Your strength still isn't enough."
Alex froze for a moment.
"Still not enough?"
"No."
"Okay then. We'll get stronger as fast as we can!"
He didn't seem discouraged—in fact, he looked even more motivated. It was clear that earning Ron's approval had become his goal.
"By the way, do you have abilities like ours?" he asked, pointing to his arm.
"I do," Ron said with a nod.
"What kind?"
"Want to see it?"
"Yes."
"We call it Nen," Ron explained. "My ability is to create Nen beasts."
As he spoke, he activated his Hatsu. A figure appeared beside him—Uchiha Sasuke.
"Can you see him?"
Alex stared at Sasuke in amazement. "Yeah. Is this your ability? He looks just like a real person!"
"If you trust me," Ron said, "you can share the details of your powers, and I'll offer you some advice."
"Of course! Mine lets me control my body and make it rubber-like," Alex replied. "My physical strength and flexibility are way up. It also seems like I'm immune to electricity."
It was even more similar to the rubber fruit than Ron had expected.
Next was Rondo. "My ability conjures blades. Different blades have different effects. I already specialize in swordsmanship, so it suits me well."
Melissa added, "My weapon can generate storm clouds and cause rainfall."
Ujir didn't speak—he simply raised his gun.
Ron felt an idea begin to form.
"Got it. Once I've thought through some advice, I'll let you know. For now, continue your plan."
He found the whole situation oddly fascinating. If Alex and the others were so reminiscent of the Straw Hats, then maybe he should draw One Piece into this world himself. Partly because it amused him—but also because it could serve as groundwork to enhance the Nen beast he would eventually create using Minpo's traits.
Propagation was a double-edged sword in the human world.
The more widespread something became, the greater the potential strength he could draw from it.
But with that came the risk of information leakage.
And for a Nen user, intel was everything.
So when it came to propagation, Ron had to be extremely cautious.
But once he reached the Dark Continent, that would change entirely.
His enemies there would be the continent's lifeforms—not people from the human world with internet access.
Those beings wouldn't know anything about human comics.
So at that point, wide dissemination would offer only benefits, without the risk of compromising his identity or techniques.
After a battle, Ron looked at the crystal sphere in front of him and saw that the progress bar had increased by one percent.
He pulled out a map—covered in densely packed red dots, each annotated with specific data.
These were the intelligence reports Chii had gathered across Minpo during this period.
The Grand Martial Trial was structured from the bottom up, divided into many ranks. Combat was limited to those within the same rank. Even among fighters at the same level, the difference in strength could be enormous.
The top-tier factions still hadn't moved. They were waiting—waiting for the challengers to rise up.
"Based on this ranking system, Alex and the others didn't even qualify before. Now, they've just barely stepped into Rank 1."
"Next up will be real battles between Nen users."
Ron began narrating the plot of One Piece from memory, feeding the details into an AI trained by Chii to handle the manga's initial illustration.
Once the AI finished the base sketches, Ron would revise them using his memory to make sure they matched the original story as closely as possible.
Soon, the third Grand Martial Duel for Alex and the others would begin.