Under the faint moonlight, Red walked to the stern of the small sailboat.
Under the glow of the moon, the sea shimmered with layers of pale golden ripples.
Gazing at the water below, a radiant blue glint once again flickered in Red's eyes.
He silently muttered toward the sea below: "Surf!"
Swoosh—
A burst of invisible Pokémon energy suddenly surged out from Red's body, drifting into the nearby seawater.
Instantly, all seawater covered by the energy seemed to come alive, surging upward with incredible force.
In the blink of an eye, a massive wave rose before Red.
However, under his control, the wave did not crash forward like last time; it held its shape and did not fall.
While maintaining the wave with Pokémon energy, Red began muttering to himself thoughtfully: "Controlling nearby water sources with Surf uses far less energy.
"A wave of this size now consumes just a fraction of what it used to! And it's way more controllable, too!"
His eyes sparkled a deep blue again as he suddenly increased his energy output.
The sea churned and gathered even more.
The wave in front of him grew larger and larger.
In less than 30 seconds, a massive wave, over ten meters high, rose behind the Straw Hats' ship, moving forward with it while keeping a safe distance.
Such an eerie sight would've left any ordinary navigator stunned.
"Just as I thought!"
"When I control nearby water, Surf changes from a one-time attack move to a continuous water-manipulation skill!"
"The downside is, I have to form it as waves—it's not true waterbending."
"And without concentrated Pokémon energy, the wave's impact force is greatly reduced. I have to rely on the natural power of the ocean."
"Still… that's pretty strong, right!!?"
Red's eyes glinted again.
At that moment, he could already imagine the terrified faces of future enemies—those who try to chase the Straw Hats across the sea, only to be blocked by the ocean itself.
And as Red progresses further in the game and earns more badges, his power will only grow stronger!
Eventually, maybe he could be like Whitebeard—raising a hand to summon waves that tower ten thousand feet high!
And that wasn't all.
With a flip of his wrist, the enormous wave instantly split in two, then again, and again—until it became dozens of small waves, each only half the ship's height.
Under Red's control, the waves all gathered near the ship, pushing it forward.
In an instant, the sailboat's speed more than doubled.
Feeling the sudden gust of sea wind hitting him, Red had only one thought:
'Oh no! I'm becoming the team's transport guy!!!'
The Next Morning
Bathed in the first rays of sunlight, Luffy and the others gradually awoke from their sleep.
When they stepped out onto the deck, they were surprised to find Red sitting cross-legged near the stern, meditating with eyes closed.
Luffy immediately ran over, curious: "Huh? Red, what are you doing out here!?"
As someone who spent the most time with Red, Luffy knew the guy didn't sleep in—but he was definitely not an early riser either.
Especially considering they'd all been adventuring in the game world late into the night.
Upon hearing Luffy's voice, Red seemed to awaken as if from a dream. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Ah~ Luffy, it's you!" Red greeted him with a smile, then withdrew the primal energy that had been nourishing his whole body.
Looking at the whitening sky, he stretched and yawned: "Morning already? That night sure passed fast."
"So…" Zoro and Nami came over, equally curious. "What were you doing all night?"
"Oh, that…" Red grinned and leaned against the ship's railing, pointing down.
"You'll understand if you look at this."
"Hm!?" The three blinked, then looked down where Red pointed.
The next second, all three of them widened their eyes in shock.
They saw countless waves at the hull's base, behaving like they were alive, like a swarm of hardworking Paldean Pokémon, frantically pushing the ship forward.
Nami suddenly realized: "No wonder the wind felt so strange this morning…"
"Is this your new ability, Red?!"
Though surprised, none of them were too shocked, Red was always pulling off amazing feats.
Aside from a bit of surprise, they were mostly curious.
"That's right," Red admitted with a smile, then raised his hand and showed them what it meant to be the true Sea King.
Swoooosh—
A flash of deep blue lit up in his eyes.
In that instant, the previously steady ship trembled slightly.
Then, to their amazement, Luffy and the others saw their ship lifted high by a massive wave, like a pro surfer riding a tidal surge.
Seeing the three of them gape with mouths shaped like "O"s, Red introduced:
"This is my new ability, called Surf!"
"With this at our side, during future sea battles…"
"We'll be unbeatable!!!"
Red's confident smile radiated a unique kind of charm.
"So cool, Red!"Luffy shouted, eyes shining with excitement.
He was increasingly glad he'd brought Red along on this voyage.
"Thanks for the praise!"
Red accepted it without hesitation, then waved his hand and returned the waves to their original form.
He only wanted his crewmates to understand his abilities so they wouldn't run into any unnecessary trouble later on.
As for the waves currently pushing the ship…
Even though Red didn't want to be the designated ride-hailing guy, once he realized his recovery speed was fast enough to cancel out most of the energy cost of Surf…
He could only resign himself for the sake of progress.
"Oh, right—Nami."
Red suddenly asked: "Can you tell where we are now? How long until we reach Syrup Village?"
"Let me check…" Nami reached into her chest's 'pocket dimension' and pulled out a sea chart, then used some equipment Red didn't recognize to take readings.
It didn't take long before she concluded:
"If we can keep up this speed, we should reach Syrup Village around 3 PM today!"
"Really? Then my efforts last night weren't wasted."
Red smiled, then turned to Luffy and Zoro:
"Alright, it's a new day!"Luffy's Armament Haki has started to show results."Luffy, your task now is to keep practicing. You should at least be able to fight one full battle using it."
"Zoro, you keep training at your own pace."
"Once Luffy's Haki is more stable, let him help guide you, too."
"But don't expect too much, based on what you've seen, I'm sure you can guess how 'great' of a teacher Luffy will be. So it'll still come down to your own hard work."
"Also, your swordsmanship training…"
As the new day began, Red, using his knowledge of the anime, began assigning training plans to Luffy and Zoro.
Just then, a News Coo wearing a beret landed on the railing and let out a loud squawk, interrupting Red.
"Huh? Is that today's paper? Nami, can you pay for it?"Red pointed to the bird.
He had no interest in money.
So after Nami sincerely joined the Straw Hats, Red had handed all financial authority on the ship over to her.
"Sure~"
Nami replied, pulled out some Berries, and bought the paper.
But before she could even unfold it, a new wanted poster slipped out from between the pages.
On the poster was a photo of Luffy, grinning wildly at the camera.
"Huh!?"
Everyone was momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the bounty.
Red reacted first, stepping forward and picking it up with a laugh:
"Luffy, you're wanted now!?"
"You're gonna be famous worldwide!"
"Huh!? Really!? For real!?"
Luffy jumped over excitedly, eyes wide as he looked at the poster in Red's hand.
On the brand-new bounty poster, bold letters read:
[Straw Hat] Monkey D. Luffy
Extremely Dangerous — Dead or Alive!
Bounty: 50,000,000 Berries