Chapter 232 » A New Companion!

Yusuke's face showed a helpless expression.

The next moment, he took several steps back.

Could Katchu be lying? He had just said he had his eye on the body of a young, handsome man — in other words, Yusuke's own body.

That was too close. He had almost fallen for its trap. If he had gotten any closer, it would definitely have stolen his body.

Katchu watched him retreat, aware that he had become wary and afraid. Despite explaining that he couldn't activate his Devil Fruit power anymore and thus couldn't steal bodies, it seemed Yusuke didn't believe him.

If this young man got scared away, it would be left alone forever on this lonely island, guarding his solitude day after day.

"Please, you have to believe me. I'm telling you the complete truth." Katchu said anxiously, afraid Yusuke would slip away and leave him alone again in this dark cave, "Don't be afraid — I won't steal your body. I can't activate my Devil Fruit power right now, so you're completely safe. I just want you to take me with you. Can I be your companion? I'm just too lonely being here by myself."

"What makes you want to join my crew? And what assures me my crew will accept you?" Yusuke asked directly, well aware of this Devil Fruit's extraordinary nature.

If Katchu could freely activate this Devil Fruit power, wouldn't letting him join be like inviting a wolf into their home? He could steal not only Yusuke's body but his companions' bodies too.

If it stole his body, wouldn't he inherit all of his abilities? If it used his body for evil, wouldn't that ruin his lifetime of building a “good” reputation?

Better safe than sorry. It was wiser to be careful with this doll before him.

So Yusuke kept his distance from Katchu. Perhaps this was all a trap — the Barbie doll acting pitiful and innocent to appeal to his sympathy and gain passage aboard the pirate ship.

Hearing about the Toru Toru no Mi power reminded him of another Devil Fruit — the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit). The two powers seemed similar.

With the Yomi Yomi no Mi, one's soul could return to their body after death. Even if the body became just a skeleton, they could still control it and move around. These powers, once manifested, were incredibly strong.

Brook was one such Devil Fruit user. Though his flesh had completely decayed, after eating the Revive-Revive Fruit, his strengthened soul returned to his body. Despite being nothing but skeleton, he could still function like a human.

Such Devil Fruit powers seemed quite frightening.

"I'm not as scary as you imagine. I don't want to kill any innocent people. Ever since the incident with my Devil Fruit power, I've been alone in this cave reflecting. I don't even know how much time has passed. But I've made up my mind — I will never carelessly steal anyone's body again. I was too selfish before, but I never killed innocent people. I only stole one person's body."

"When I was attempting to steal that person's body, the accident happened. From that moment on, my time seemed to stop. Until you appeared today, I thought I would just stay in this cave and let this doll's body rot until death. I never expected anyone to find me here, giving me the courage to live again."

Its tone was full of pity.

"When your body deteriorates and your life ends, your Devil Fruit power will inevitably resurface somewhere in the world. If it falls into the hands of someone with malicious intent, it could pose a serious threat to everyone." Yusuke recognized that encountering Katchu today was no mere coincidence.

He really didn't want such a Devil Fruit to fall into some corner of the world, to be eaten by those with evil intentions.

This doll before him — although he didn't know what it was like before — seemed to have quite a kind heart, based on their conversation.

If he took it with him and properly protected its body so it wouldn't rot quickly, then it wouldn't be able to continue stealing other people's lives.

Wouldn't that be doing something good for this world? Letting this terrifying Devil Fruit stay hidden forever inside this doll's body.

Yusuke decided to take Katchu with him.

"I will take you with me as our new companion. You'll join us on our adventures and see the world at our side. But understand this clearly — you must never break my trust. The lives of my companions are not yours to take. They are extraordinary people who I value deeply. If you ever try to harm them, I will not hesitate to leave you here to your solitude. Those are my terms." His gaze held unwavering resolve as he looked at Katchu.

Suddenly, its eyes lit up with excitement.

After thinking for a moment, Yusuke took an Animation Potion, similar to the Humanization one, and poured it over Katchu. A golden light spread out before him and…

It came to life!

The purpose of this potion was precisely to animate inanimate things to life, giving them freedom of movement and thoughts. Since the doll already had a soul, it only needed to be animated as if it had life.

Although the body was still a Barbie doll's body, it was now one of flesh and blood — no longer just a toy. Behind this revived doll, a pair of tiny wings had grown. It could now fly freely.

"Thank you so much! You've given me this lively doll body and you're willing to accept me as your companion. I've been waiting for just these words. I really don't know how to thank you enough. I swear to you, I will never steal anyone's body again. I'm very satisfied with my body now. I just want to have a body like this, to live on forever. That's all I need to be content! Thank you very much, Mas—" Katchu flew over to him, but its words were cut in the middle.

"You can call me Captain from now on." Yusuke could now clearly see every expression on its face. He opened his hands, letting it land in his palms. It wiped its tears while thanking him, "What an incredible discovery! Tell me - is Katchu your true name?"

"Yes, Captain. If you don't like this name, you can give me a new one — call me whatever you'd like." Katchu, crying tears of joy, looked at the kind-hearted, handsome young man before him.

At this moment, it had made up its mind to follow him for life.

Yusuke was also very happy to have gained such an adorable companion. Surely Nami and Vivi would be very fond of it when they saw it.

{T/N: Apparently there is an undescribed timeline here. I'm discovering it along with you. The MC lazily stole an existing identity in this world, and from a possibly altered timeline. So brace yourselves for the impact with me.}

"I have one more question. You mentioned earlier that you wanted to steal the body of a young man wearing a straw hat. Since it wasn't me, who was this person?"

Yusuke wondered if the straw hat-wearing young man could be Luffy.

If it really wanted to steal Luffy's body, wouldn't bringing Katchu to Luffy's side be like letting a wolf into the sheepfold?

{T/N: And he's possibly in Luffy's crew... or is Luffy in his?}

But then Yusuke reconsidered — if everything it said was true, this would have happened in the last century.

So who could this straw hat-wearing young man be? Could it be Shanks? That didn't seem right — although Shanks had always worn a straw hat before giving it to Luffy, his age didn't match the timeframe mentioned, he was too young.

Could it be that the straw hat-wearing young man was actually Gol D. Roger? After all, Luffy's straw hat came from Shanks, and Shanks's straw hat came from the Pirate King himself.

Tracing it back to its origin, this straw hat was something Shanks received from Gol D. Roger — perhaps when Roger was young?

With growing fascination, Yusuke realized that Katchu must have witnessed two centuries of history pass by.

"It's been too long, I don't remember very clearly anymore."