Chapter 38 – The Proposal to Yamato
After some time waiting, the clone finally returned, bringing Jack Sparrow's compass. Arthur took the curious object, staring at it intently. Then he had an idea: to test the Devour ability on the compass. After all, if he managed to absorb the item's power, all his clones would be able to use it too — which would make the search for Devil Fruits and pure gold much easier, since there was only one compass.
Without wasting time, Arthur activated Devour. The compass glowed intensely for a few seconds, emitting a faint mystical hum, and then vanished in his hands, converted into pure energy.
To test if it had worked, Arthur closed his eyes and thought of Kaido. Immediately, he felt as if an invisible map appeared in his mind, pulsing in his consciousness and pointing directly to where the beast emperor was.
"It worked…" he murmured with a satisfied smile.
Arthur then looked at his clones and said enthusiastically:
"Well, the power worked. Now it's time to get to work! Let's go!"
The clones grumbled, huffing like lazy workers on a weekend, but activated the Jumper's teleportation power and disappeared one by one to carry out their missions.
With the clones gone, Arthur decided to use the time to do something else important: meet Yamato.
He looked at Black Maria, who had been at his side from the start.
"Wanna come with me to meet Yamato?"
"Alright, let's go," Maria replied with a slight smile.
Following the direction pointed out by the compass now integrated into his mind, Arthur and Maria quickly traveled to a distant forest, where the signal indicated Yamato was.
They found her in a clearing, stomping her foot and loudly complaining about her "idiot father" who wouldn't let her go on adventures freely.
Arthur approached by flying, stopping in midair above her head, and then called out:
"Hey, Yamato!"
Yamato heard the voice and looked up, surprised to see a boy floating in the air.
"Hey! Why are you up there? Are you someone my father sent?"
She jumped forward confidently, taking a battle stance with her club covered in Haki, staring at Arthur suspiciously.
Arthur landed softly on the ground next to Maria.
"My name is Arthur. And this here beside me is Black Maria. And no, I'm not one of your father's subordinates."
"Then… why are you here?"
Arthur gave a slight smile.
"I just thought you were pretty… so I came to invite you to be my girlfriend."
He said it with such a calm and carefree smile that it caught Yamato completely off guard. Her cheeks flushed red like a tomato.
"W-what?! I'm not gonna be your girlfriend! I'm Oden! My goal is to free Wano from Kaido!"
Arthur laughed and crossed his arms.
"What if we make a deal?"
Yamato raised her eyebrows, suspicious but curious.
"What kind of deal?"
"Simple: I help you defeat Kaido and free Wano… and in exchange, you become my girlfriend. How about that?"
Yamato looked at him like he was crazy.
"You can beat Kaido?"
Arthur shrugged confidently.
"I can show you."
"Then prove it!" Yamato shouted, planting her feet firmly. "Let's fight! If you can beat me… I'll accept the deal."
Arthur smiled even more. Black Maria crossed her arms and watched them with a mix of amusement and curiosity.
"Alright, Yamato… Let's see what you've got."
The forest went silent. Only the sound of rustling leaves could be heard as tension filled the air.
Yamato dashed forward with speed, her club covered in Armament Haki. The impact of her first strike was powerful, tearing through the air with a deafening roar. Arthur dodged with a light movement, as if just taking a dance step. Then, he countered with a precise punch against the club. The energy from the impact ricocheted strongly, launching Yamato backward, smashing through several trees with the sound of cracking wood.
She quickly stood up among the branches and trunks, panting with both anger and excitement. Her eyes gleamed with adrenaline.
"That was good! But it's not over yet!"
Yamato leapt again, spinning her club with precision and force, trying to corner Arthur with a flurry of attacks. Each strike created small craters in the ground, cracking the earth and shaking nearby trees. Even so, Arthur dodged lightly and calmly, as if he were testing her reflexes.
Observing Yamato's strength and determination, Arthur thought to himself: "She's truly worthy of the One Piece world… only 12 years old, and she's already causing this much destruction."
In the midst of another powerful strike, Arthur spun midair and murmured:
"Yamato… how about giving up? You've already seen my strength."
"No way!" she shouted, panting but smiling. "I don't give up that easily!"
Arthur smiled. He remembered that Conqueror's Haki users were incredibly stubborn by nature. He focused, activating his super speed, and in an almost invisible movement, appeared behind her.
With surgical precision, Arthur landed a single strike on a pressure point in her shoulder. Yamato let out a short gasp and passed out in his arms.
Black Maria slowly approached, crossing her arms.
"And now?" she asked, watching the unconscious girl.
Arthur looked down at Yamato in his arms and sighed.
"Well… let's wait for her to wake up so we can talk calmly. What a stubborn woman."
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