Chapter Ninety-Two: An Invitation from the Four Emperors

A chime rang out.

The system notified him that the awakening material he had purchased had been placed in storage, and he quietly used that newly acquired material to complete his seventh awakening.

After the awakening, it was not only the increase in physical strength that left Chu Yi entranced through all these successive awakenings; the power that came with it, the instant the awakening was complete, had actually merged directly into his own origin fruit, the Human-Human Fruit, Asura Form. That alone made Chu Yi more certain than ever that his choice had been right.

The road ahead of him...

This truly was the path he should be taking.

But...

When he looked at the balance left in the system shop, only one hundred thousand belli remained, and Chu Yi could not help grinding his teeth in a wave of searing pain.

"Just a silver-grade awakening material, and the system shop is already this merciless. The hundreds of millions of belli I got from those Celestial Dragons are gone just like that!"

"Forget it. Wealth can be amassed, and if power can be bought with money, then probably only this system shop can do it. Blacker or not, so be it."

"Besides, for now, aside from a few necessary awakening materials, as for the rest..."

"I really am not lacking them."

After that pang of regret, Chu Yi slowly lowered his gaze to his storage, and seeing the awakening materials neatly arranged inside, his mood finally eased somewhat.

If one had to say Chu Yi's trip to Fish-Man Island had been worthwhile, that would truly be an understatement.

At this moment, aside from the awakening materials already stored away, there were the Sweet-Sweet Fruit material from Hancock, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit material from Smoker, the Diamond Fruit material of Diamond Jozu, the precious Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit material of Phoenix Marco, and, in addition, the Magma Fruit material of Akainu, all neatly laid out in Chu Yi's storage.

As for Jozu's awakening material, Chu Yi had obtained that by completing a mission.

But how had he obtained Marco's and Akainu's fruit materials?

It turned out that when Chu Yi overcame his inner demon and came to understand what it meant to let go and to gain, he had not simply returned the swallowed fruit power to Marco. Instead, he lightly cut across Marco with the Asura Blade, smoothly completing the awakening material mission for Marco, and only then did he return Marco's fruit power.

In this way, the Phoenix Fruit material naturally entered his storage because Chu Yi had completed the awakening material collection mission.

And the Phoenix Fruit material did not disappoint Chu Yi either.

It was, without a doubt, the second diamond-grade awakening material he had obtained since the Multi-Shadow Clone awakening material.

As for Akainu's awakening material...

When Akainu had closed in on him, Chu Yi received the awakening material collection mission. The objective was for Chu Yi to withstand Akainu's attack head-on by using the Magma Fruit.

Just then, as the third ripple gradually surfaced in Chu Yi's Asura Eye, he relied on the terrifying defense of the Asura Golem to block Akainu's magma-fueled strike.

Thus...

He obtained the platinum awakening material, the Magma Fruit material.

If Chu Yi wished, he could use the Diamond Fruit material, the Phoenix Fruit material, and the Magma Fruit material, three highly capable awakening materials, to leap directly from seven awakenings to a terrifying ten.

However, Chu Yi did not do that. Instead, after browsing through the awakening materials in his storage one by one, he quietly created shadow clones and began cultivating.

Accumulation.

Without a doubt, Chu Yi intended to give himself some time to digest what he had gained. Only after he had fully consolidated the foundation of his successive awakenings would he give himself that leap forward.

Clearly, the words Mihawk had said earlier had truly awakened Chu Yi and made him understand the road ahead even more clearly.

So he cast Mihawk a deep glance, and at that moment, Chu Yi truly wanted to say "thank you" to him.

But when he thought of Mihawk's personality, Chu Yi gave up on the idea.

After all, saying "thank you" to Mihawk would be far too formal.

Soon after.

Once Chu Yi had completed his seven awakenings and begun cultivating with shadow clones, he chatted idly with Mihawk for a while. Before long, Tiger and Jinbe returned to his side.

"Kid, kept you waiting, huh!"

Back in front of Chu Yi, Tiger sat down cross-legged, familiarly draping an arm over Chu Yi's shoulder as he laughed. "I've got something to talk to you about. There's no one else here, so I'll just say it straight."

"Ha, Tiger, since when did you get so wordy?"

Seeing Tiger and Jinbe go off to talk privately, Chu Yi had already guessed what Tiger meant.

So when Tiger finished speaking, Chu Yi's gaze fell on Jinbe ahead of him, and he smiled. "Jinbe's strength is good, and as for his character..."

"I don't know yet. But since you recommended him, Tiger, then his character must be decent."

"So as the captain, I'll reluctantly allow Jinbe to join our pirate crew!"

Reluctantly?

Hearing such infuriating words from Chu Yi, Jinbe huffed inwardly. If not for Big Brother Tiger suggesting I join, who in the world would want to join some Sky-Slaying Pirate Crew?

Though unwilling in his heart, Jinbe was very honest with his words.

His expression changed only slightly before he took a deep breath and said, "Kid, what Big Brother Tiger just told me moved me a great deal, so there is no other reason for me joining your pirate crew. I just want to follow Big Brother Tiger and see what the world outside is really like."

"Mm... I'm very grateful that you're willing to let me join your crew. So from now on..."

"From now on, we're comrades!"

Standing up, he directly pulled Jinbe over to his side.

Chu Yi, in his easygoing manner, threw an arm around Tiger and Jinbe's shoulders, unconsciously narrowing the distance between the three of them and even drawing a faint sidelong glance from Mihawk.

But just as Chu Yi was about to get properly acquainted with Jinbe and see whether the "Knight of the Sea" from the pirate original truly carried such boldness even in his youth...

Whoosh!

A gale swept by.

Marco, in the form of the Phoenix, descended before Chu Yi amidst a wash of azure flame, then hurriedly stuffed a Den Den Mushi into Chu Yi's hand and said, "Hey! Kid! Th-that... the old man wants to talk to you for a couple of words!"

The old man?

Whitebeard!

Hearing that Whitebeard wanted to speak with him, even though Chu Yi had already crossed blades with Aokiji and Akainu, beneath his calm expression, his heart still stirred with a touch of excitement.

Whitebeard...

That towering man who would preserve his pride even in death.

That uncrowned king of the seas, the man hailed as the strongest in the world!

Merely recalling Whitebeard's many titles from the pirate original was enough to stir a faint fighting spirit in Chu Yi's eyes.

But what Chu Yi had never expected was...

Just as he took the Den Den Mushi and was about to introduce himself before Whitebeard, Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh and then said something that froze Tiger, Jinbe, Marco, and even Mihawk all at once where they stood.

"Ku-lala-lala!"

"Hey! Are you the rookie nicknamed 'Asura'? Any interest in joining our Whitebeard Pirates and serving as the new combat division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?"