Chapter 2: Katana Devil?
"What the— so weak? All that size for nothing."
Reiner sighed, looking disappointedly at the flame in his hand.
"I thought I could collect an elite mob, but damn, just a little piece of trash!"
Reiner's Devil Fruit was the **Zoan, Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Necrolord**.
Besides enhancing his physical abilities and providing three transformation stages, it allowed him to acquire others' 'body templates' through contact, using them to create undead beings.
The undead's stats were identical to the template, and while they couldn't inherit Devil Fruit abilities, they retained certain characteristics and techniques.
Unfortunately, the stronger the target, the longer the collection process took, and he couldn't collect templates from those significantly stronger than himself.
Otherwise, before setting sail, he would have definitely whipped up an immortal Garp Plus.
"Guess I'll wait for Zoro's template. Been craving his body for a long time."
Reiner refocused his thoughts. Seeing that no one at the training ground seemed to have noticed what happened, he turned and walked into the Marine base building.
After wandering around and retrieving Zoro's swords, he called Luffy and Zoro, and they made their escape.
---
Inside a tavern in town.
"*Burp~~*, yeah, lasting a month was definitely too much to ask."
"Speaking of which, are you both Devil Fruit users?"
Zoro leaned back on the sofa after finishing his meal, chewing on a toothpick as he asked.
Luffy stretched his cheek and grinned proudly, "That's right! I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, I'm a Rubber Man."
"Okay, that one's relatively easy to understand."
Zoro nodded, then turned his gaze to Reiner. "Your ability seems a bit... creepy, though?"
"It's not that complicated, really."
Reiner tapped the ash off his cigarette, stood up, and placed a hand on Zoro's shoulder. "Don't move for a sec."
As he spoke, an azure flame emerged from his palm and covered Zoro's entire body.
"What is this!?"
Zoro was startled and instinctively tried to pull away, but realizing the flames had no heat, he calmed down.
After about three minutes, the blue flame receded back into Reiner's hand, forming a dancing spark.
"His overall stats are actually comparable to Luffy's? And his arm strength is even higher!"
Reiner marveled at the information contained within the flame.
But then he reasoned it out – Zoro had trained rigorously since childhood, so it made sense his physical condition was close to Luffy's.
He couldn't help but give Zoro another look. *Truly a swordsman*, he thought. *That terrifying wrist strength... in the East Blue, probably only Arlong could match it.*
Reiner already had plans for Zoro's template. With a thought, the void crack reappeared.
A black figure slowly stepped out from the void.
It stood just over two meters tall, powerfully built, wearing a black hat, a black suit, and a black trench coat draped over it.
If you didn't look at the head, it cut a mysterious and handsome figure in black.
However, hidden beneath the hat was a ferocious and terrifying face with a gaping maw full of sharp teeth. A long sword pierced through its forehead, jutting forward.
Both its hands were also long swords, the tips glinting coldly as they dragged on the ground. There were no hilts; instead, the swords merged directly into its arms.
That's right. Reiner had modeled this after the 'Katana Devil' from Chainsaw Man. Although only the appearance was similar, Zoro happened to use a three-sword style, making the template's compatibility super high.
"What the hell is that thing!?"
Zoro exclaimed upon seeing the Katana Devil. "Wait a second, don't tell me you just made that thing out of me somehow?"
"Woahahaha~~, so cool!" Luffy shouted excitedly, eyes sparkling.
This was the reason Luffy had been so fervently inviting Reiner onto his crew ever since he first witnessed Reiner's Devil Fruit powers back then.
Who knows how his brain developed, but the weirder something was, the more attracted he was to it.
"That's right!" Reiner admitted directly.
"I'm a Devil Fruit user. By doing what I just did, I can acquire someone's physical data and use it to create undead."
His ability could create all sorts of undead, but they couldn't deviate too much from the template's characteristics. Using a dog's template to create a humanoid skeleton would result in something that couldn't even stand properly.
Creating undead based on a matching template maximized their potential strength.
Reiner retracted the Katana Devil. "Luffy, where are we headed next?"
"I don't know!"
Luffy declared it without a hint of shame, grinning broadly. "Why don't you decide, Reiner? I don't know any places anyway."
Reiner: "..."
Zoro: "..."
"Is this captain really reliable?" Zoro muttered under his breath, speechless.
Reiner, however, remembered from the original story that Luffy would next go to the town where Buggy's base was, meeting Nami there, but he didn't know the town's name.
"Well, just point to one on here."
Reiner spread out a map and pointed to a spot.
"We are here right now. Just pick any place nearby, and that'll be our course."
Reiner decided to rely on Luffy's miracle luck. If they didn't run into Nami, they'd just head straight for Cocoyasi Village later.
Zoro: "???"
Zoro slammed his hand on the table, utterly shocked. "Hold on! Your 'logistics' role doesn't seem quite right either, does it?"
Reiner chuckled dismissively. "Don't get so jumpy. There's nothing wrong with letting the captain decide the route."
"Normally, that would be true!" Zoro paused. "But are you guys *normal*?!"
Reiner awkwardly took back the map and looked where Luffy's finger had landed.
"Syrup Village, huh?"
Reiner pondered for a moment, vaguely recalling that this was Usopp's hometown.
Perfect, he could go collect Kuro's template.
---
Soon, the trio, having eaten and drunk their fill, left the restaurant and headed to the port.
"This is the ship you mentioned?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"A pirate ship?"
Zoro looked at the small sailboat moored at the dock, tied to a wooden post with rope. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
He briefly contemplated the feasibility of cutting Luffy down right now, then sighed. "Ah well, I should have seen this coming."
Truthfully, this was already much better than the tiny raft Luffy had originally planned to use. At least it had a cabin for shelter from wind and rain. Reiner had saved up money to buy even this.
Being logistics on Luffy's crew really meant being both a father and a mother.
---
Meanwhile, in Orange Town, where the Buggy Pirates were stationed, a chase was unfolding in the streets.
"Stop, damn it!"
"You little thief! Don't run!"
A young woman with short orange hair, a delicate face, and a shapely figure taunted them as she ran, "Catch me if you can, idiots!"
The young woman's name was Nami, a thief specializing in robbing pirates. Today, she had infiltrated Buggy's base and stolen his map of the Grand Line.
The pirates chasing her were Buggy's subordinates. They were relatively lucky to have found Nami first; catching her would be a great achievement.
But...
"Damn it! How can she run so fast!"
"If we don't catch her, the Captain's gonna be furious."
Seeing the young woman slowly increase the distance between them, the pirates grew increasingly anxious. That sea chart was a treasure highly valued by their captain.
If they failed this mission, they would definitely end up as target practice for his special cannonballs.
"Damn it, stop right there!"
Chasing her all the way to the port, the pirates could only watch helplessly as Nami jumped onto a small boat and slowly sailed away from the coast.
"Bye-bye~" Nami waved cheekily back at the port, maximizing their frustration.
Watching Nami gradually disappear over the horizon, the pirates' faces filled with despair.
"We're totally screwed~~"
"It's over"