Chapter 250: Perona Scared Stupid

Since this was a defense test, Perona made no move to dodge, letting Robin's palm strike come straight at her. After being reinforced with Armament Haki once before, Robin's strength had grown considerably, and even without actively using Haki on this attack, the power behind that palm was nothing to underestimate.

A whooshing sound cut through the air as a massive hand came slicing toward Perona.

"That's one huge hand!"

The onlookers gasped the moment it appeared. But before the thought had even fully formed in their minds, Robin's strike had already landed.

"Bam!"

The giant palm crashed into Perona right on schedule, the impact so powerful it sent a shudder through the entire castle. Everyone held their breath, worried for Perona standing there in the middle of it all. She was a mage, after all, with a body about as fragile as they came.

But just as everyone braced for the worst, Perona emerged from the middle of that massive strike completely unharmed. The hand hadn't even touched her. A shimmering barrier had sprung up around her body, stopping it cold before it could make contact.

It was the shield defense of the Ever-Changing Lolita Dress.

"I'm fine!"

Perona had been startled herself for a moment, but seeing that she was completely untouched, her excitement burst out immediately.

"What incredible defense, that's amazing!"

"How is this dress even this strong?"

"This is crazy..."

The onlookers, who had been genuinely worried for her, broke into excited chatter the instant they saw her standing there unscathed in the middle of that attack. Even Moria, off to the side, couldn't help but throw in his own praise.

"Hehehehehehe, what an incredible dress. Looks like your luck really paid off, Perona!"

"Thank you, Lord Moria! Yeah, this outfit is amazing!"

Perona was thrilled beyond words. The dress had exceeded every expectation she'd had for it.

"Not bad defense at all. I'd guess an attack from anyone with a bounty under a hundred million Berry wouldn't be able to break through that shield."

Watching Robin's strike land and seeing Perona standing there completely untouched, Amon nodded to himself. The dress's defensive capability really was impressive. He was confident that any pirate with a bounty below a hundred million wouldn't be able to crack that barrier.

"Really? Thank you, Captain Amon!"

Perona was overjoyed, and without even noticing, the way she addressed Amon shifted. Where she'd been calling him by his name, following Robin's lead, she now called him Captain Amon instead. It was a small change on the surface, but it meant something underneath. When she'd called him by his name, it had mostly been out of curiosity about the interesting things around him, without any real sense of loyalty behind it. But now, having witnessed just how extraordinary he truly was, her devotion to him was growing deeper by the moment.

"Of course it's real. Your captain's biggest flaw is that he's far too honest for his own good!"

Watching her excitement, Amon reached out and flicked her nose, teasing her half seriously. He really was honest, at least when it came to this. It had never once crossed his mind to skim anything valuable off what came out of a jar for himself. Most people, faced with something this incredible coming out of someone else's hands, would have found some excuse to claim it for themselves.

"Mm-hm, Captain is the best! I love this outfit more and more!"

Perona ran her hands over the Ever-Changing Lolita Dress, utterly unable to bring herself to take it off.

Watching her, Amon smiled faintly and pulled out the second item.

"You like this dress that much? Then I guess I can just toss out this teddy bear, huh?"

He made a show of winding up to throw it away.

"Wait! I completely forgot about the big teddy bear! Captain, don't!"

The moment Perona remembered the bear, she lunged to stop him. She loved teddy bears just as much as anything else.

"Ha, just messing with you. There's no way I'd throw away our adorable big teddy bear."

"Although, calling it adorable might not be quite right. This thing is actually incredibly powerful."

The bear could summon Tibbers, after all, and that was no ordinary trick.

"Incredibly powerful?"

Amon's words left Perona confused. Wasn't it just a regular teddy bear? What could possibly be so impressive about it?

"That's right, this bear is seriously strong. Come on out, Tibbers!"

Seeing her puzzled expression, Amon just smiled without explaining further and summoned Tibbers right there on the spot. As the system's owner, he was able to use any item pulled from a jar himself.

The moment he spoke, a burst of red light flared to life. Under the bewildered stares of everyone watching, the light slowly gathered and condensed into a towering figure, its true form gradually taking shape.

It was a massive bear, several times taller than a grown man. Its build was fearsome, thick with powerful, rippling muscle, and its eyes burned a deep, flickering red that sent a chill down every spine watching.

The bear looked nothing like the small plush toy it had been moments earlier, especially with that wild, ferocious look in its eyes, as if it might tear into anyone nearby at any moment. A few of the more faint hearted crew members nearly wet themselves the instant they laid eyes on it.

Perona stared at the summoned Tibbers, her voice trembling with disbelief. "A..Amon, is this really the same teddy bear I was just holding?"

When the bear had first come out of the jar, it had been barely more than a few inches tall. Who could have guessed it would transform into a towering, three or four meter tall beast in Amon's hands?

The bear also radiated an odd heat, flames licking faintly across its body, and the crew members standing closest, the weaker ones especially, could feel themselves practically getting scorched just from proximity.

"Yep, this is the same teddy bear from before," Amon confirmed with a nod.

"It's really the same one?!" Perona stared blankly at the massive creature that had just appeared, unable to believe such a small jar had produced something this monstrous.

"Ti... ber..."

Tibbers let out a low, guttural growl from deep in his throat, glancing around in confusion before finally settling his gaze on Perona. Slowly, he lowered himself before her, taking on a posture of complete submission.

It was clear that Tibbers had already recognized Perona as his master. Even though Amon had been the one to summon him, the system generally defaulted ownership to whoever had opened the jar in the first place.

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