"The past and the future?"
Red chuckled lightly, then admitted openly, "To be precise, what I saw were fragments of the past, and a future that has already been changed!"
"Huh..." Zoro paused for a moment, then muttered in a daze, "Well, that's still pretty amazing~"
Nami, hearing this, also showed a shocked expression.
Seeing the future?
Could someone really… do something like that? For some reason...
Even though she had only joined the Straw Hat crew for just over a day, her worldview had already shattered multiple times.
So much so that Nami was starting to doubt whether the pressure from Arlong had messed up her mind and made her hallucinate.
On the whole deck, only Luffy remained completely clueless.
"Huh? What are you guys talking about?"
He tilted his head, feeling like there was a thick wall—called a brain—between him and his crewmates.
Zoro choked up and quickly turned his attention to Luffy, then asked Red incredulously:
"So... all that stuff you said to Buggy, was it all about what's going to happen in the future?!"
"Luffy's future... he'll really overthrow the World Government?!"
"Who can say for sure about the future?"
Red smiled casually, "After all, the moment I observe the future, the future itself begins to change."
"But one thing that won't change is…"
"As long as Luffy keeps growing, he will become the World Government's number one target!"
"Because he ate such a special Devil Fruit!"
"What do you mean? Are you saying the fruit Luffy ate has some special significance?" Zoro asked, catching the key point.
Even Luffy tilted his head in curiosity and looked toward Red.
"Yeah, Red?"
"Didn't I just eat the Gum-Gum Fruit? What's so special about it?"
"Heh."
Red chuckled, stretched out a hand, and tugged on Luffy's cheek as he explained to everyone:
"Gum-Gum Fruit? That's just the World Government's cover story to hide the truth!"
"The fruit you ate—its true name is the Mythical Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit: Model Nika!!!"
"Eh?! Zoan? Mythical? Human? Nika?!"
Hearing this bunch of confusing terms, Luffy blinked in utter shock.
He had been calling it the Gum-Gum Fruit for almost ten years, and now Red was suddenly telling him it wasn't even that...
It wasn't even a Paramecia-type!!
Though Luffy still didn't understand what "Mythical Zoan" meant, just these two facts alone made his head spin.
Compared to the dumbfounded Luffy, Zoro and Nami were even more stunned.
"Wait!" Nami suddenly shouted, "Why would the World Government do this? What truth are they trying to cover up?!"
At that moment, Nami felt a chill run down her spine.
She just wanted to join a fledgling pirate crew, and suddenly she's involved in a conflict with the World Government?
Not long ago, she was still being extorted by the Arlong Pirates!!!
But in response to Nami's distress, Red gave an even more shocking answer.
"I think... the reason the World Government is so afraid of this fruit's power... might be because 800 years ago, their greatest enemy—Joy Boy—was the original user of the Nika Fruit."
"And according to legends passed down through the ages..."
"Every person who awakens the Nika Fruit becomes the greatest threat to the World Government!"
"..."
"..."
When Red finished speaking, the whole deck suddenly fell silent.
A long while later...
Luffy flicked a big booger off his nose and asked in confusion:
"Who's Joy Boy?"
"Hahaha..." Red burst out laughing, "Actually, I don't know either..."
"But hey, who cares!"
Then he turned to Zoro and Nami again:
"So, my dear crewmates, any more questions you want to ask?"
"..."
Zoro and Nami looked at each other.
After a moment, Nami asked again:
"So Red, you know us so well... because you've seen fragments of our past?"
"That's right." Red's smile softened. "It's because I've seen your past... that I believe even more—"
"You're the most suitable people to become my companions."
"Heh~" Zoro grinned arrogantly and said, "You really know how to pick people."
"So, in the future, do I become the world's greatest swordsman?"
"That, huh?" Red didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Luffy and asked: "Luffy, want to know if you will become the Pirate King? I can tell you right now!"
"No way!"
Luffy puffed his cheeks and quickly rejected the offer:
"I don't want to know the result in advance! That'd ruin the fun of the adventure!"
"Mm-hmm~" Red looked back at Zoro, smiling: "So Zoro, still want to know the answer?"
"Interesting," Zoro smirked, but didn't ask again.
But then he added playfully:
"But…"
"If I don't become the world's greatest swordsman, then that means you failed as my trainer."
"Fair enough." Red's eyes twinkled.
Seeing that they had no more questions, he made a suggestion:
"Alright, it's getting late."
"We've got a new adventure waiting for us tomorrow~"
"Let's call it a night for now."
"Maybe you still have a lot of questions—but trust me, with time, all those doubts will be answered in our future journeys."
"Luffy, get ready. I'll take you into the game world in a bit!"
"YOOOSHA~!!! I'm ready!!!"
Luffy laughed out loud and dashed into the ship.
Red followed right behind.
In an instant, the deck became quiet and still.
Bathed in moonlight, Zoro rested one hand on his sword hilt. Speaking as if to Nami, or maybe just muttering to himself, he softly said:
"Looks like I've boarded one heck of a ship."
Saying that, he didn't head for the cabin, but instead walked to the training area on the deck.
After a short warm-up, he hoisted a massive dumbbell onto his shoulder and began training, one lift after another.
"Yeah."Seeing this, a soft, beautiful smile curved Nami's lips.
She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but after hearing all that stuff from Red—about Joy Boy and the World Government—she no longer felt like the Arlong Pirates were a real threat.
The weight on her heart suddenly lifted.
Red probably didn't realize it himself, but his words had completely healed all of Nami's inner wounds ahead of time.
A few minutes later.
Pokémon World – Exit of Mt. Moon Cave.
"Shishsishi~ POKÉMON WORLD..."
"LUFFY'S BAAAAACK!!!"