Lucci compared it to his own devil fruit, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
"We are both Zoan fruit users... But look at that..."
Impulsive!
When he ate his devil fruit back then, he was too impulsive. If he had waited, he could have gotten a Mythical Zoan at the very least, or even an Ancient Zoan with better hand-to-hand combat capabilities.
Thinking of this, Lucci shook his head helplessly and turned to the two people beside him.
"I have no chance, but you two have not yet obtained your own devil fruit ability. Do you want to consider finding a suitable devil fruit?"
"There are many swordsmen who have eaten Devil Fruits in this sea."
Zoro did not hesitate at all and shook his head firmly. He put one hand on the three swords at his waist and looked at him arrogantly: "But even without that kind of thing, I can become the strongest in the world!"
"Besides, a swordsman who relies on external power to improve themself is betraying both their sword and their will."
Lucci glanced at Zoro with a strange look on his face: "Are you poking the captain's back?"
"I'm not! Don't talk nonsense!"
Zoro's face turned red, and he quickly argued: "The captain is carrying more than just swordsmanship. To accomplish what he wants to do, swordsmanship alone is far from enough."
"That's a nice word."
Sanji smiled faintly, stretched out his hand to put out the cigarette butt in his mouth, and murmured: "I already have a Devil Fruit in mind. Only with that devil fruit can I achieve some of my dreams."
"That's the Clear-Clear Fruit."
The two were stunned for a moment, looked at each other, saw the understanding in each other's eyes, and said in unison: "Are you going to use it to do something strange?!"
"For example..."
In the middle of his words, Zoro's eyes lit up: "Entering the women's bath—"
Sanji hurriedly raised his hand to cover Zoro's mouth, and the other hand reached out to Lucci, but the latter dodged it nimbly.
Lucci laughed: "With your personality, you will definitely try to enter the women's bathhouse!"
"Absolutely!"
"Shut up!"
Sanji shouted and blushed for a moment, especially when he saw the two people whispering beside him and Zoro with a smirk on his face.
After the three of them had a fight, they set their sights on the battlefield in the distance.
Unexpectedly, after Kuro's earth-shattering attack just now, the battlefield instantly became quiet.
Kuro quietly floated in the air, his eyes indifferent.
The sharp blades on Sickle Weasel's arms could easily cut through his bone armor, and naturally, they could just as easily slice through his throat.
In that brief moment, if Kuro had been his enemy, he would already be dead.
Even his Observation Haki, which he had relied on to keep up with Kuro's speed, was now completely useless.
Gin felt like he had returned to that battle in Raven Harbor, unable to track his opponent's movements with the naked eye. The difference now was that this time, he was facing Kuro, who had fully mastered the Pussyfoot Maneuver.
This could no longer be called a battle.
It was a one-sided beating.
"The gap is too big."
"I give up."
Gin sighed and said: "Your current strength should be close to the captain, right?"
"If you are talking about Gawain during the East Blue period, then I am confident that I will not lose to him."
"What about the current captain?!"
Kuro stretched out a finger: "One sword!"
"One sword will cut me and the Whisky Peak behind me in half!"
Gin looked at the finger that Kuro stretched out; his pupils trembled, and he murmured: "This joke is not funny at all."
"I'm not joking. Gawain's strength should already be on par with the strongest people in this world."
"Heh."
Gin laughed dryly and was speechless for a while.
The crowd beside him also quieted down instantly after hearing this but burst into cheers after a few seconds.
"The captain and the deputy captain are such powerful monsters; we can't fall behind!"
"That's right, at least we can't hold them back; I decided to practice for an extra hour tonight!"
"An hour? Are you on vacation? We start with an all-nighter, everyone, an all-nighter!"
"Uwoooooohhhhh!"
A shout of cheers filled the scene.
Rather than being discouraged by Gawain and Kuro's overwhelming strength, the crew felt even more exhilarated.
They couldn't wait to get back to the ship and squeeze in some extra training.
Even Chopper, who had just finished tending the wounded and returned to Nami and Kalifa's side, couldn't help but get fired up. His body swelled, transforming into his nearly three-meter-tall Human-Beast Form.
"Ohhhh!"
"Getting stronger!"
"Getting stronger is the only way to... Hahaha!"
Kalifa smiled slightly and directly pinched the ticklish spot under Chopper's arm.
Chopper instantly lost all resistance, and his body shrank back to his small, adorable form.
"Eeeeek!"
Ignoring Chopper's struggles, Kalifa scooped him up and ruffled his fur mercilessly before turning to Nami.
"Nami, you don't have devil fruit ability yet. Is there anything you want?!"
"Me?"
Nami was slightly stunned, her eyes a little lonely.
Her talent has long reached the end, and her current strength may be stronger than that of ordinary crew members on the ship, but it is also extremely limited.
Forget fighting against the monsters of the Grand Line; just protecting herself with her current strength was already a struggle.
She knew her role was to navigate the crew and guide them forward, but watching her crewmates grow stronger and stronger, she couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.
And when it came to quickly increasing strength, there was no method more effective than eating a Devil Fruit.
Now, witnessing Kuro's power firsthand only intensifies her desire to find suitable devil fruit. Even if it meant being cursed by the sea and never being able to swim again…
But compared to being able to fight side by side with her companions, that's nothing.
"Just what kind of devil fruit can make me a navigator more capable and have good self-protection ability?"
Kalifa analyzed: "There are plenty of powerful devil fruit abilities out there, but if you want one that aligns with your role, the choices become much more limited."
"There is also a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia on the ship; you can take a look."
"Yeah."
Nami responded, raising her head and letting the sea breeze blow on her face.
At this moment, the blue sky is clear and cloudless, with only a few seagulls flying in the sky.
With the end of the battle between Kuro and Gin, the biggest main course of this ranking battle has also ended.
The subsequent battles are basically ordinary members on the ship fighting each other.
Facing the injured Zoro, although Sanji was harsh in his words, he did not take advantage of the danger to challenge Zoro.
He said some nonsense, such as: "I have no interest in the disabled Mosshead."
"It doesn't matter to me if I'm not in the top three."
"I will definitely beat Lucci next time."
Whether anyone believed him was another matter, but Zoro couldn't help smirking.
And so, the second-ranking battle within the White Knight Pirate officially concluded.
Kuro and Gin retained their first and second ranks, respectively.
Lucci surpassed Zoro and secured the third position, making the trio, aside from Gawain, the strongest fighters in the crew.
Zoro and Sanji followed in fourth and fifth, slightly weaker than Lucci but not by much.
The biggest surprise was Van Augur, who jumped to sixth place, followed by Chopper and Kalifa at seventh and eighth.
The Nyaban Brothers and others who remained in the East Blue were pushed further down.
Having missed out on the high-intensity battles of the Grand Line, their combat ability was starting to lag behind.