Chapter 125: The Social Death Scene
"Eh?" Standing at the ship's railing, feeling the breeze, Eric accidentally spotted the train tracks hidden beneath the sea.
"The tracks are almost completed, it looks like the sea train is about to be finished..."
Watching the tracks swaying with the waves, Eric thought about Tom and his two apprentices.
"I wonder, if Mr. Tom were caught, would Iceberg call me for help?"
Eric wasn't sure whether his involvement in helping Tom and his apprentices build the tracks had sped up the completion of the sea train tracks, which might have affected Tom's trial date.
He remembered that the former CP5 commander, Spandam, had only found Tom a few days before his trial on the judicial ship, threatening him to hand over the plans for Pluton. If the trial had been advanced by more than ten days, then by rights, the incident where CP5 agents stole Franky's warship and attacked the judicial ship would never have happened.
Then Franky wouldn't have been forced to become a cyborg after trying to stop the sea train and being severely injured, all in an effort to save Tom.
And Franky might not have given up his dream because of his mistakes. He might have finished building his dream ship early and set sail. If he never crossed paths with the Straw Hat Pirates…
"Well, I can't control the course of history. I just need to do what my heart tells me." Eric laughed freely. Aren't pirates supposed to long for freedom and do what they love? If I hesitate, how can I compete with the strong on the vast ocean?
If I do that, I may never even become a pirate legend, let alone the Pirate King!
A surge of energy erupted from Eric 's body. It wasn't the Conqueror's Haki, but a more mysterious kind of power.
Eric 's mind underwent a sudden breakthrough, and even his senses felt different.
The seagulls flying behind the Eternally Fearless, the fish swimming in the sea, and the waves breaking at the bow—all of them seemed to undergo a dramatic change in Eric 's perception.
The animals and details he usually didn't notice seemed to be Speaking, telling him something. Though Eric couldn't understand it now, he was sure he would eventually.
"Eric , it's you."
Suddenly, he heard someone call his name from behind. Eric turned around and saw Scáthach walking over, wearing a completely different outfit from her usual tight-fitting clothes—a casual one.
Then, even Esdeath came out of the cabin.
"Hmm? It's Eric 's presence, huh? I felt a surge of Haki just now, and I thought it was an enemy," Esdeath said as she walked over confidently.
'Hmm?' Eric looked at his status panel:
[Observation Haki: Level 3]
[Conqueror's Haki: Level 3]
Hmm, Eric realized again how important one's mindset was in the pirate world. Just a small change in his hidden thoughts had significantly improved his Observation and Conqueror's Haki.
"Eric 's aura feels different now. If I were to describe it, it's like..." Scáthach observed carefully as she deliberated, "Previously, Eric was like someone who just drew their sword, holding it in hand but not daring to strike. There was a sense of hesitation."
"But now, he feels like a master of Iaijutsu—his sword sheathed but ready to strike the fatal blow at any moment."
Esdeath rested her hand on her chin and concluded, "The sword is sheathed but sharper."
"Nice."
Scáthach nodded in agreement. Before Eric could feel happy about the improvement, the next comment made him uncomfortable.
"Now, Eric is definitely worth a challenge."
"Indeed, who's first?" Even Esdeath agreed, and without asking the person involved, she decided the duel.
"..." Eric could only look at the two women in disbelief as they decided the order of the challenge with a game of rock-paper-scissors.
While Eric 's physical strength was no worse than theirs, his hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship were still much weaker than Scáthach 's and Esdeath's.
And so... he got beaten twice.
...
[After spending a month with Scáthach , gained 1 Bond Point.]
According to the system's announcement, they arrived at Carnival City.
Eric tugged at his collar and uncertainly asked, "Are we really not going to be noticed with this disguise...?"
Eric 's outfit now included only sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a fake mustache—his disguise was exactly like the ones seen in anime.
It made one want to ask: 'Are your eyes covered in cow dung? How could you not recognize such a lousy disguise? It's an insult to intelligence!'
"Don't worry, I used Rune Magic to alter your appearance and added cognitive barriers. No one will recognize you." Scáthach confidently assured. Not only Eric , but everyone on the wanted list had their appearance temporarily changed by Scáthach using Rune Magic.
However, the alteration was limited; anyone who knew them would recognize them immediately, which made Eric uneasy.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. Even if we're discovered, Akainu is probably recuperating in the hospital. I saw in the news that Aokiji just returned to the Navy Headquarters, so they won't be able to catch up with us in the short term. There's only one admiral left, Sengoku..."
'Haha, suddenly I feel sorry for Akainu...'
"What's up, why are you laughing to yourself?" Akame innocently asked. "You look like an idiot."
"..." Eric 's face stiffened.
"Hahahaha!" The others burst into laughter, drawing the attention of nearby tourists.
Eric hung his head, pleading softly, "Akame, can you please be a little more considerate? You're really hurting my fragile heart."
"But I'm just Speaking the truth."
'That's exactly why it hurts!' Eric screamed inside his head.
Looking at Akame's wide-eyed, innocent expression, Eric completely surrendered to her cuteness, lowering his head in defeat. "Alright, I'll try to act normal from now on."
"Yes." Akame said seriously, "Sometimes Eric acts really abnormal, especially late at night. A few times I've seen him doing strange gestures while shouting 'Raichen' and running around the room..."
"..." Eric never thought he would be caught using his impersonation of Kakashi's Chidori, and now Akame publicly exposed him, it felt like his little dirty secrets were being aired in front of everyone.
"Also, a few times, he raised his arms high, talking to himself, shouting 'How many floors can a bag of rice carry?' while moving iron objects in the air using magnetism..."
"...That... that was me practicing my Devil Fruit ability..." Eric 's voice shrank.
Even his impersonation of Pain was found out! Using magnetism to control iron objects to simulate the Repulsion and Attraction powers...
His Observation Haki didn't detect a single person! Was this what a true assassin's concealment was like? Are you sure I'm not dealing with someone from the Assassin class?
At this moment, the only thought in Eric 's mind was: 'Ah, I'm going to socially die...'
"And then after doing push-ups in the bedroom, he stared at the mirror, flexing his biceps, muttering: 'I'm bald, but I'm stronger now.'..."
Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned toward the top of Eric 's head.
At this point, Eric could only weakly defend himself: "I'm not bald..."
Da Vinci patted Eric 's shoulder with a solemn expression: "I'll start researching hair growth medicine right away, Captain, please don't despair."
'So I'm not bald!!' Eric could only shout in his mind. No one was going to believe him now.
Because the one saying it was the innocent Akame, who was known for never lying.
Eric had no way to argue and had been completely defeated on the spot!
Akame suggested, "From now on, please don't do these things too late, it might disturb everyone's rest."
"I-I got it, I won't do it anymore." Eric quietly agreed.
'Hmph, even though I was wrong, I'll secretly practice during the day from now on.'
(END CHAPTER)
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