Chapter 119: A Place at the Table
“Asura, you...”
His pupils sharply contracted. At that moment, when Marco saw Chu Yi suddenly shed the bandages that had wrapped his entire body and stand before him unharmed, his expression...
It was as if he had seen a ghost!
He still remembered when Whitebeard first brought Chu Yi aboard the Moby Dick. Despite wielding the terrifying healing power of the Resurrection Flame, Marco deeply felt that Chu Yi’s injuries were beyond any human’s ability to heal.
Even then, Chu Yi’s condition exceeded Marco’s expectations.
Not only had Chu Yi not died, but he had endured for several days, his body still showing signs of life.
Yet, even so, Marco had not believed he could heal Chu Yi.
But upon Whitebeard’s repeated urging, Marco, with nothing more than a hope to try, attempted to save the man Whitebeard wanted to bring back to life...
In an instant!
Chu Yi stood before Marco completely unharmed!
This... this...
Was nothing short of a miracle!
As Marco’s mind went blank, frozen, his finger trembling as he pointed at Chu Yi, the latter, though having expressed some gratitude after waking, still dwelled on that day in his thoughts.
The day Zephyr landed that earth-shattering blow!
The memory in his mind was so vivid that Chu Yi could clearly see Zephyr’s strained expression as he threw that punch, even the bruise on Zephyr’s arm.
Reflecting carefully on that fierce battle, Chu Yi was now certain that the Zephyr he had faced was not at his peak.
The reason lay precisely in that bruise!
Haki was the latent potential of humans. Those who could awaken Armament or Observation Haki had undoubtedly pushed their potential to the extreme.
Chu Yi had attempted to awaken multiple times but failed to fully manifest Observation Haki, primarily due to insufficient accumulation and experience.
Great warriors like Whitebeard, Rayleigh, and Zephyr had built their strength gradually, through countless years of rigorous training and relentless accumulation. Once reaching a certain threshold, it often only took a single opportunity for them to naturally awaken Haki.
Chu Yi’s path, however, had been too smooth.
All he needed was to gather the right material and undergo a single awakening.
Snap!
Chu Yi’s physical abilities improved, but lacking that arduous accumulation and struggle meant his journey to awakening Haki was slower and the opportunities more demanding.
Of course, this was beside the point. What truly mattered was that bruise on Zephyr’s arm.
Since Zephyr had awakened Haki, it meant his body’s potential had been developed to an extraordinary degree. How could such a physically formidable man bear a mere ordinary bruise?
Even lesser warriors, such as Zoro early in his pirate days, would require considerable time to heal from similar wounds.
Yet, the bruise on Zephyr’s arm seemed branded onto his flesh...
From that single mark, Chu Yi deduced that whoever had inflicted it had to be among the very pinnacles of the sea’s warriors.
And despite such a grievous injury, Zephyr had still delivered that earth-shaking punch, nearly costing himself his life...
Every time Chu Yi recalled that perilous moment, cold sweat trickled slowly down his forehead.
“Truly... a life-or-death crisis!”
“When Zephyr threw that punch, if it weren’t for the repeatedly reforged Diamond Fruit ability reinforcing the defenses of my Asura Susanoo, I wouldn’t have had even a thousandth of a second to use ‘Gale Step’ to narrowly evade his fist and avoid a fatal blow.”
“And...”
“Thanks to Whitebeard!”
“If Whitebeard hadn’t arrived just in time to whisk me away the moment Zephyr’s fist struck my shoulder, the destructive force that had invaded my body through that punch...”
“It would have killed me!”
Thinking this, Chu Yi sighed deeply.
Because the injuries Zephyr dealt him were far from easy to heal!
Indeed.
The Chu Yi standing before Marco appeared whole and unscathed, but that was merely an illusion.
Marco had been stunned by Chu Yi’s sudden recovery, his mind blank, oblivious to any abnormalities.
But as Marco snapped back to reality...
“Huh?”
Frowning slightly, Marco asked with curiosity, “Asura, are you maintaining your Devil Fruit power? Why... why haven’t you returned to your original form?”
I wish I could restore it, but...
I just can’t!
Chu Yi sighed deeply, coming back to himself from the traumatic battle. He smiled bitterly and asked, “Marco, do you know why my wounds healed so instantly?”
“Is... is it because of the Resurrection Flame?” Marco replied uncertainly.
“Partly, but not entirely.”
Summarizing his feelings, Chu Yi slowly explained, “Zephyr is strong. Truly incredibly strong! Even injured, there was still a significant gap between us. No matter how many times I revealed my trump cards to try and turn the tide, in the end... I still lost!”
“That last punch he threw nearly killed me. If it weren’t for my Devil Fruit being somewhat special, and your Resurrection Flame activating my fruit power to absorb most of the damage, I’d already be dead. But what I never expected was...”
“Marco!”
Chu Yi took a deep breath, paused for a long moment, then continued, “Do you know? When my Devil Fruit power took the brunt of the damage, it temporarily... temporarily disappeared!”
“What?”
As soon as Chu Yi finished, Marco exclaimed in shock, “You’re saying your Devil Fruit power disappeared? That can’t be!”
At that moment, Marco longed for Chu Yi to deny it, but Chu Yi’s silent nod plunged Marco into complete silence.
Since setting sail, Marco had only known about Seastone’s ability to suppress Devil Fruit powers. He had never heard of a Devil Fruit user losing their power temporarily due to severe injury.
Now, Chu Yi’s power was gone—or at least temporarily unusable—a concept that utterly overturned Marco’s understanding.
Just then, as Chu Yi and Marco fell into a heavy silence in the room, the atmosphere grew tense and oppressive...
Suddenly!
A towering, muscular figure appeared slowly behind Chu Yi.
When that broad hand gently rested on Chu Yi’s shoulder, accompanied by a hearty laugh, Whitebeard’s voice echoed through the stifling room!
“Kid, just your Devil Fruit power disappearing?”
“No worries!”
“As long as you’re alive, there’s a place for you in the Whitebeard Pirates!”