NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Its Still Here!
"That's Nika."
There was no doubt what that meant.
And yet...
Luffy was utterly dumbfounded.
He felt as if his intelligence had been trampled.
"What was I thinking?"
"I really just blanked out!"
"I was so focused on converting everything to Conqueror's Haki…"
"I completely forgot about Nika!"
Luffy laughed, a bitter chuckle.
He figured he must be the biggest fool in the world.
"Sigh!"
With that, Luffy shook his head, helpless.
What was done was done. There was no point in looking back.
All he could do now was move forward.
"Just keep moving forward," he murmured to himself, taking a deep breath.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, his attention shifted to the sensation of his Conqueror's Haki.
He felt as if his world had been turned upside down.
That sensation…
It was indescribable, something words couldn't capture.
"Aha!"
Luffy felt an extraordinary lightness in his body.
It was as if everything around him had subtly changed under his gaze.
"What… is this feeling?"
"It's like…"
"Everything has transformed."
He muttered as he picked up a small, solid stone.
In the past, a stone would just be a simple stone to him.
But now...
For some reason, Luffy felt as if the stone was more than just a lifeless object—it was almost… alive.
Yes, that's right.
And it wasn't an exaggeration.
In truth, Luffy had long understood that everything in this world had a spirit, a form of life.
There was no question about it; all things have a soul.
He observed the stone closely, feeling its energy.
Gently, he raised it to his cheek.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
There was a faint sound, like something whispering from within the stone.
Of course, Luffy couldn't quite understand it.
But…
Old Luffy would have never been able to hear something like this.
"Is this… listening to the voice of all things?"
It seemed to him that it might be something like that.
In the anime he'd watched, he always assumed Luffy would only develop this ability after two years of training.
By that time, his Conqueror's Haki had far surpassed fifty.
Yet…
Here he was, with fifty points, and he could already faintly sense the voice of all things.
And…
In the future, Luffy's ability to hear the voice of all things was never clearly defined—whether it stemmed from Conqueror's Haki or something else entirely.
Whatever the case...
Right now, Luffy had developed a similar ability.
The sensation was simply indescribable.
Reflecting on his memory of his future self in the anime, Luffy recalled the intensity of Conqueror's Haki back then.
If his current level was twenty…
Then, by that point, it had to have been at least eighty or more.
That was his assumption.
The comparison wasn't perfect, but still...
There was no way future Luffy's Haki was limited to just fifty points.
Which meant that, even with the same fifty points, his Conqueror's Haki now was far beyond what he once knew.
This suggested that the system's enhancement was far from ordinary.
It was possible...
The Haki granted by the system was of an even higher caliber.
Crack!
The stone broke apart in his hand.
It was the result of Luffy purposely using his Haki.
He noticed that his Haki could penetrate the stone silently and destroy it from within.
He was amazed.
"Incredible!"
"Terrifying!"
Luffy nodded, recognizing the system's power.
"System!" he called out.
"What exactly did you do with my Conqueror's Haki?"
"Why does it feel so much stronger than anyone else's?"
[Ding!
Hello!
The system's power includes optimization.]
With that single statement, it explained so much.
Luffy nodded, acknowledging the system's strength.
Of course.
That was a good thing.
After all...
Who wouldn't want a stronger power?
That was a given.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
In that instant, Luffy broke out in laughter.
Suddenly.
He didn't feel sad or upset anymore.
"Hm?"
Abruptly, Luffy's eyes widened.
Because...
He wanted to use his Haki to try and see into his body.
And...
Somehow, he sensed something strange within.
"There's… something inside me?"
He was dumbfounded.
He had only tried it out of curiosity.
But it had worked.
His Conqueror's Haki allowed him to inspect his body and mind.
It was truly incredible.
"That's…"
He sensed a mysterious, hidden power inside him.
"Nika's fruit!"
He confirmed the feeling.
Relying on his memory, he could clearly feel that the aura he sensed was undoubtedly connected to the Nika Fruit.
"So…"
"The Nika Fruit wasn't completely erased."
"Even though I can't use its powers now…"
"Still…"
"The essence of Nika is there."
"It's like it's become a seed."
Luffy nodded.
He felt that Nika's power remained closely tied to him, despite the system's apparent transformation of the fruit's abilities. Only the surface-level elasticity had been altered; the inner power was still intact.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
In that moment, Luffy's joy was boundless.
The shadows in his heart had finally lifted.