It turns out that unless a man pushes himself to the limit, he will never know where that limit truly lies.
"Ah—!!!"
With a roar that sounded like someone finally clearing up three days of constipation, the massive dumbbell slowly lifted off the deck, rising into the air under Zoro's bulging, vein-popped arms.
However…
The moment didn't last long.
With a muffled thud, the entire ship trembled slightly.
Zoro lowered the dumbbell with great effort, then slumped over, panting in exhaustion.
But judging from the trembling in his eyes and the grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, he was clearly stunned by the fact that he actually managed to do it.
"I… I did it!" he laughed breathlessly.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
"Slow down! Luffy! We just bought this ship, and I'm planning to sell it later to recoup some money!!!"
Watching Luffy struggle to hoist the dumbbell up before quickly dropping it again, Arelon rushed over in distress to stop him.
It had to be said—when it came to raw strength, Luffy overwhelmingly surpassed Zoro.
However…
"Stop, stop, stop! LUFFY!!!"
Seeing Luffy about to lift the weight again, Arelon hurriedly stepped in to stop him.
"Huh? What's wrong, Arelon?" Luffy blinked in confusion.
"You're using it wrong!" Arelon waved her hand. "Didn't you hear me earlier?"
"This is a dumbbell, not a barbell. You're supposed to lift it with one hand."
Arelon grabbed Luffy's arm, gave it a light pat, and said, "Let go! Try lifting it with just one hand!"
"One hand? There's no way!"
Nami muttered under her breath at the side.
And then she watched, stunned, as Luffy used only one hand—his arm suddenly bulging, veins popping out on his face—as he let out the exact same roar as Zoro:
"Yaa—ah!!!"
RUMBLE…
The giant dumbbell slowly left the deck and hovered upward.
It wasn't as smooth as using two hands, but he still managed to lift it successfully.
"You… you've GOT to be kidding!?"
Both Nami and Zoro were completely shaken by the sight.
As a mysterious energy coursed rapidly through his body, Arelon instantly entered a cultivation state, allowing the strange power to nourish him.
On the other side, Nami sat at a desk with her chin resting in one hand, her bright eyes flickering.
Gazing at the faint moonlight outside the window, listening to the waves hitting the ship's hull, she seemed lost in thought.
Time passed in a blink.
In the next moment, dawn was near.
Nami had already fallen asleep.
Exhausted from training, Zoro and Luffy were both snoring loudly on the deck.
A large, damp patch of sweat on the floor proved just how hard the two had pushed themselves.
TAP… TAP… TAP…
Suddenly, footsteps broke the quiet of the night.
Arelon glanced at the two sleeping figures, a soft smile flickering in his eyes.
"They really are reassuring partners."
"In that case, I can't afford to fall behind either~"
He reached out, helping the two of them up one by one and sending them back to their rooms, then returned to his own bedroom.
"When it comes to actual cultivation, there isn't much I can help with."
"But when it comes to cheating the system… you can leave that to me!"
"Machine—start!"
With a single thought, a blinding white light flashed before Arelon's eyes.
However, this time, he did not directly enter the familiar Pokémon world.
Instead, a window popped out of the light.
It was the Pokémon storage box interface from the game.
And above the window, a line of black text appeared:
[Please choose the Pokémon to send into battle]
Below the text were two cartoon character icons.
One was Luffy wearing his straw hat…
And the other was none other than the green-haired Roronoa Zoro!!!
"I knew it! I totally guessed right!!!"
Seeing this scene, Arelon burst into excited laughter.
The conditions for someone to become a Pokémon were exactly as he had predicted.
His entire day of effort had not been wasted!
Without hesitation—and after saying a quick "sorry" in his heart to Luffy—Arelon immediately abandoned his old favorite and chose his new love!
The in-game CG began moving again.
A flash of light.
Arelon instantly arrived at the position he had last saved—
Inside the Pewter Gym!
And beside him was Zoro, still fast asleep.
"So after entering the game, consciousness stays in the same state as the outside world?"
"That's good to know."
"If they don't get enough rest, it might affect a lot of things later on."
Arelon murmured inwardly, but he didn't wake Zoro just yet. Instead, he opened the game interface and checked Zoro's information.
[Pokémon: Roronoa Zoro]
[Level: 38]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Serious]
[Type: Dragon / Steel]
[Ability: Pressure (Intimidates the opponent with a strong sense of urgency when gazing at them)]
[Moves: —, —, —, —]
[EXP: 0 / 4447]
[HP: 143]
[Attack: 117]
[Defense: 115]
[Sp. Atk: 140]
[Sp. Def: 100]
[Speed: 91]
"Dragon and Steel, huh?"
Looking at Zoro's type, Arelon immediately started analyzing:
"Steel makes sense—it's probably because Zoro is a swordsman and constantly uses blades."
"But Dragon… what's that about?"
"In Pokémon, Dragon is not only an energy type—it also represents a species."
"So…"
"Machine, are you saying Zoro isn't human!?"
Arelon grinned. Since he couldn't figure it out, he didn't bother dwelling on it.
Besides, Dragon was an extremely powerful type.
And paired with a charming man like Zoro, it was absolutely perfect.
Maybe that was the correct answer.
As for Zoro's ability, Pressure—it was neither good nor bad.
It could help in battle, but in Arelon's opinion, Luffy's regeneration ability offered far more potential.
And Zoro's stats clearly showed an extremely high potential for Special Attack.
He was only level 38, yet his Sp. Atk was 19 points higher than Luffy's at level 46.
From that alone, his future path was obvious.
"A Special Attacker, huh?"
"Hmm, that actually sounds pretty amazing."
"Special moves would fit well into sword techniques!"
After thinking it over for a while, Arelon finally crouched down. He pinched Zoro's nose and covered his mouth, beginning the wake-up call.
And it worked like a charm.
Within ten seconds, Zoro's brows furrowed as if he were having a nightmare.
A few seconds later, he jolted awake, breaking free from Arelon's prank and sitting up abruptly.
"Huff…! Huff…!"
"Ak… Arelon, what are you—"
He looked up, ready to question the smiling Arelon.
But then he realized—
Wait!
Wasn't he already on the ship?
Where… was this place!?
Why was he here!!?
Endless questions flooded his mind.
But Arelon simply extended a hand, helping Zoro to his feet as he said with an amused smile:
"Zoro, welcome to… my world."
~~--------------------------
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