Chapter 173: [173] : Exposure! An Exaggerated Background! A True Man, Kuma! Loading the Paw-Paw Fruit!

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“Nika??”

Kuma’s emotions surged with unprecedented intensity…

Even though Kuma’s body was now mostly mechanical—he could barely even be called a person anymore—and soon, his consciousness and very life would be completely erased by the World Government, reduced to a pure mechanical tool—

—Even so, Kuma’s body began to tremble intensely.

Simply because—that name, ’Nika’ held too much significance for Kuma…

Kuma’s father was a Buccaneer, a race with Giant’s blood, considered natural-born slaves by the Celestial Dragons.

Kuma himself was a half-blood, born from his father and a human woman.

After the Celestial Dragons discovered their Buccaneer identity, Kuma and his father became their slaves.

During those days of slavery, Kuma’s father told him the legend of Nika!

The Warrior of Liberation from 800 years ago, who freed countless slaves and was hailed as the Sun God, Nika.

For Kuma, then a slave of the Celestial Dragons, this story was like a fantastical dream, a source of immense yearning.

The Buccaneer race had always revered Nika. Thus, the legend of Nika was passed down, deeply embedding itself in Kuma’s heart. Unfortunately, the sound of his father telling him the legend of Nika annoyed a Celestial Dragon, and Kuma’s father was killed for it—

Later, during the God Valley Incident, Kuma, along with Ivankov and Kuma’s eternal source of pain, Ginny, became prey in the Celestial Dragons’ ’Human Hunting’ tournament…

During that hunting tournament, the sudden intrusion of the Rocks Pirates completely changed Kuma’s destiny.

In the ensuing chaos, Ivankov obtained one of the tournament’s prizes, the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon—while Kuma obtained the Paw-Paw Fruit.

Though Charlotte Linlin later stole the Azure Dragon fruit from Ivankov, Kuma successfully ate the Paw-Paw Fruit—

—Relying on the Paw-Paw Fruit’s power, Kuma saved over 500 slaves.

And using that same power, Kuma, Ivankov, and Ginny successfully escaped from God Valley, beginning the happiest period of Kuma’s life.

During this time, Ginny even proposed to Kuma.

But Kuma, knowing the Buccaneer race was considered natural-born slaves by the Celestial Dragons, knew that if his bloodline were discovered, his children would also become slaves.

Not wanting to burden Ginny, Kuma refused her proposal.

Later, Kuma saw news reports about Monkey D. Dragon, then leader of the ’Freedom Fighters’ (the precursor to the Revolutionary Army).

Seeing Dragon carrying out liberation movements across the world, Kuma was reminded of the legend of Nika, and felt he had found his life’s purpose.

Thus, Kuma, along with Ginny and Ivankov, joined the Revolutionary Army, eventually becoming an officer. During these liberation movements, Kuma and Ginny often operated separately. During this time, Ginny was captured by a Celestial Dragon and forcibly taken as his wife, later giving birth to Jewelry Bonney.

Two years after Ginny was taken, Kuma received a message from her, saying she had contracted a strange disease and been discarded by the Celestial Dragons, but begged him not to come looking for her.

Kuma, guessing Ginny would return to the Sorbet Kingdom, used his Paw-Paw Fruit ability to rush there.

Upon arriving, Kuma found Ginny, her body encased in stone-like scales, already dead. He was grief-stricken, but promised Ginny he would care for Bonney, thereafter raising Bonney as his own daughter…

Kuma then spent his days juggling caring for Bonney and his liberation activities. Unfortunately, he discovered Bonney had also contracted the same disease as Ginny—Sapphire Scales—a disease that, according to doctors, was fatal before the age of ten.

During this period, Kuma also liberated the Sorbet Kingdom, hailed as a ’One-Man Revolution’.

But the king of Sorbet Kingdom collaborated with the World Government to capture Kuma. Kuma, using his Paw-Paw Fruit, destroyed the entire arriving fleet.

From then on, Kuma received a high bounty and the epithet ’Tyrant’.

Kuma continued searching for a cure for Bonney’s disease, eventually learning about Vegapunk from Dragon.

Using his Paw-Paw Fruit, Kuma met Vegapunk.

To cure Bonney, Kuma made a deal with Vegapunk: Vegapunk would cure Bonney, and in return, Kuma would participate in Vegapunk’s research experiments.

Kuma also named the humanoid weapons Vegapunk created based on him ’Pacifistas’, another influence from his dream of Nika’s liberation.

Unfortunately, Kuma’s conversation with Vegapunk was bugged by Saturn Saint of the Five Elders.

Under Saturn Saint’s threats, Kuma became one of the Seven Warlords, and his body was to be fully converted into a humanoid weapon for the Navy, ultimately sacrificing all thought and self. He was forbidden from seeing Bonney again before the modification was complete.

Learning these conditions, Kuma—who had thought he only needed to provide blood for cloning—was not filled with fear or anger, but joy and tears.

The original conditions had seemed too simple; such harsh terms gave Kuma more confidence that Bonney would truly be saved!

Kuma requested that after Bonney was cured, she be allowed to grow up peacefully in her own country—

Saturn Saint agreed.

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Before Luffy set sail, Kuma, through conversations with Dragon, had guessed Luffy was Dragon’s son.

He had used his Paw-Paw Fruit to observe Luffy’s training from a distance, writing letters to Bonney all the while—wanting to use his final moments of consciousness to write down a lifetime’s worth of affection for Bonney.

Tragically, all those letters were destroyed by World Government agents monitoring Bonney… And Bonney lived in the pain of losing the man she considered her father.

Now, with his consciousness on the verge of being completely erased, only two things remained that Kuma couldn’t let go of:

Bonney, whom he regarded as his daughter—and the legend of Sun God Nika.

Kuma had once thought Dragon was the Nika of this era. But though Dragon was powerful, he didn’t display the legendary powers of Nika.

But now—Sky Sovereign Rowen had spoken of Nika’s existence.

How could Kuma not be emotional, not be utterly incredulous?

This man, Sky Sovereign Rowen, had dimensionally crushed Marine HQ in terms of intelligence—and he possessed deep knowledge of the World Government’s structure, knowing about the Five Elders and the God’s Knights.

Rowen held many secrets far beyond his years!

The existence of Nika, coming from Rowen’s mouth—held extremely high credibility.

“Do you know where Nika is??” Kuma asked, his entire body trembling as he looked at Rowen.

“Nika… Isn’t he right before your eyes?” Rowen replied, looking at Kuma with a smile.

Rowen, of course, knew everything about Kuma. Though his memories of Earth were somewhat distant, as an Awakened Ultimate Human, Rowen could easily recall past memories perfectly.

Kuma, who cherished Bonney—the child born from his beloved’s forced union with a Celestial Dragon—as his own daughter, willing to sacrifice himself, be modified into a mindless weapon, to save her… whose final words were “Happy Birthday, Bonney”—was hailed by countless fans as a true man.

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Rowen greatly admired this man.

Rowen knew of Kuma’s devotion to Nika. To tell Kuma of Nika’s existence before his consciousness was completely erased—was a form of pirate romance.

“Nika… is you?? No, that’s not right!” Kuma instinctively thought of Rowen, but then dismissed it.

Rowen—the World’s Strongest Devil Fruit user, the man who could steal everything, the World’s Most Dangerous Man—was certainly as mysterious as the legendary Nika, perhaps even more so!

But he was very different from the legend of Nika…

Nika was a warrior of liberation who brought laughter to others. His form and powers weren’t like Sky Sovereign Rowen’s, capable of using unlimited Devil Fruits.

Sky Sovereign Rowen was hailed as the World’s Most Vicious Ability User—not a Warrior of Liberation like Nika.

“Of course, it’s not me,” Rowen stated, then, along with the rest of the Straw Hat crew, looked towards Luffy.

“Shishishi! Even though Rowen says I’m Nika, I still don’t really get what’s going on—” Luffy replied, sensing Rowen’s different attitude towards Kuma, dropping his own hostility and grinning.

“Nika… is Straw Hat??” Kuma’s entire body trembled.

The legendary Nika—had a rubbery body!

So, it was the Gomu-Gomu Fruit??

And Kuma knew—Straw Hat was Dragon’s son.

Dragon—whom Kuma once believed was doing the same work as Nika, liberating various places.

And Dragon’s son—was the true Sun God Nika??

How… how incredible!

Kuma wanted to cry, but as a cyborg, he no longer had the right to weep.

“Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika—is the true name of the Gomu-Gomu Fruit. A name concealed and changed by the World Government to hide Nika’s existence. Only by digesting enough ’Desire for Liberation’ can this Devil Fruit Awaken. Luffy will then descend upon this era—as the Sun God,”

Rowen explained, seeing Kuma’s expression, and smiled.

The son of the man Kuma once followed, believing he was doing the same work as Sun God Nika—turned out to be the real Sun God Nika, whom the Buccaneers had awaited and revered for centuries…

This truly was the romance of the One Piece world.

“Desire for Liberation… I see,” Kuma now believed it completely.

No wonder Rowen chose to join Straw Hat’s crew.

So, what Monkey D. Luffy ate—was the incarnation of Nika—Once Awakened, he would be Sun God Nika!

“To know of Nika’s existence before my consciousness completely disappears… is truly a great fortune,” Kuma managed to curve his lips into a semblance of a smile. As a full cyborg now, even this simple action was difficult.

“Monkey D. Luffy,” Kuma said, turning to Luffy.

“Hm?” Luffy looked back at Kuma.

“My true identity—is an officer of the Revolutionary Army. The leader of the Revolutionary Army is your father, Monkey D. Dragon. He is the man I respect most,” Kuma revealed this bombshell.

“EH???” Everyone hearing this stared wide-eyed, gasping in shock.

“I have a father?” Luffy blinked. He also understood now why Rowen hadn’t attacked this Warlord. ’So he’s one of my dad’s subordinates.’

“What’s wrong, everyone?” Luffy asked, looking at the shocked crew.

“I-Idiot! You don’t know the name Dragon??” Sanji’s eye twitched.

“Your father is very famous!!!” Nami exclaimed, equally shocked.

“Grandfather is Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp… Father is Revolutionary Leader Monkey D. Dragon… Pirate role model is Emperor Red-Haired Shanks! OI, Luffy! Your background is too damn exaggerated!” Usopp couldn’t help but yell, his eyes nearly popping out.

“You forgot one thing,” Zoro commented, smiling at Usopp.

“He’s also—the idiot acknowledged by Rowen.” Zoro grinned fiercely.

“That’s right! What an exaggerated background!” Usopp nodded repeatedly. Rowen was now a new Emperor of the seas, on the same level as Shanks!

“I don’t get it… but none of that matters! I’m the man who will be King of the Pirates! Just remember that!” Luffy grinned at Kuma.

“I see.” Seeing Luffy’s infectious smile, Kuma’s own forced smile became much more natural. He seemed to understand now why both Nika and Sky Sovereign Rowen chose this man.

“Since even you are so certain… it seems Nika will really descend upon this era,” Kuma smiled.

——

—[Using the bond of faith between the Buccaneer race and Nika as a conduit—Loading Paw-Paw Fruit ability!]—

—[Paw-Paw Fruit ability—Equipping Complete!]—

——

The Paw-Paw Fruit ability—that BUG-level Devil Fruit—was now obtained by Rowen.

“Paw-Paw Fruit… A good ability,” Rowen commented, casually patting Luffy.

FWOOSH!

Some of the latent injuries Luffy had accumulated during his training were instantly repelled from his body.

“Whoa! So light!” Luffy exclaimed, feeling the change in his body.

“P-Paw-Paw Fruit??” Kuma, witnessing his own ability used on him by Rowen, in this unbelievable, up-close manner, was so shocked his sunglasses nearly fell off.

“Don’t be surprised. As long as you and the Buccaneer race still believe in Nika, I can obtain your power,” Rowen smiled.

The One Piece power system was based on spiritual power at its core. Whether Devil Fruits or Haki, both were manifestations of spiritual power.

With a sufficient spiritual power conduit—the Strongest Trait System could load all of a target’s powers.

This was also how Rowen could directly use spiritual power to help his comrades train their Haki and Devil Fruit abilities—

—The Paw-Paw Fruit’s ability was now Rowen’s… Likewise, all the locations Kuma could repel people to—were also replicated for Rowen.

All those locations, excellent for training, were now known to Rowen, and he could send his comrades there anytime with the Paw-Paw Fruit.

“Unbelievable,” Kuma murmured.

Though he still didn’t understand the exact principle, from these few words, Kuma could sense the scary and incredible nature of this man…

“Kuma… Would you like to witness Nika’s appearance with your own eyes?” Rowen asked, dropping another bombshell on Kuma.

Kuma was completely stunned.

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