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"What's so impossible about it?" Dragon-Elephant Five said with a hee hee grin.
He had never really taken Mr. 1's challenge seriously in the first place.
"Again!"
Mr. 1 took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. Crossing his hands, he charged forward once more, but when a flash of blade-light narrowly grazed past Dragon-Elephant Five's body by the slimmest margin, Mr. 1's heart sank.
This time, he understood.
The grinning man before him seemed capable of predicting his attack trajectory in advance. Every one of his moves had been completely seen through.
"Kid, I can read your thoughts, you know." Dragon-Elephant Five laughed.
"Mind reading?"
Mr. 1's expression turned ugly as he continuously swung both hands.
He was a swordsman who had eaten the Supa Supa no Mi (Dice-Dice Fruit), allowing him to freely extend blade-like weapons from his body. His combat strength was astonishing. It could be said that his Devil Fruit ability had practically transformed him into a battle machine; every part of his body was a weapon.
But after attacking for a full minute, he still hadn't landed a single hit.
"Unless you stop thinking entirely, there's no way you can hit me." Dragon-Elephant Five spoke casually. "And if you can't hit me, the consequence is that you can only take a beating passively!"
Suddenly, Dragon-Elephant Five's figure vanished.
"Soru!"
Almost instantly, cold sweat poured down Mr. 1's back. At that moment, it felt as though even his heart had stopped beating.
"Rankyaku!"
With a twist of his thigh and a fierce downward kick, a blue slash descended abruptly from behind Mr. 1. The sharp force instantly shredded the monk-like robe covering his body.
Clang!
But after the slash landed, what rang out was the metallic sound of steel colliding.
Mr. 1's ability allowed him to turn any part of his body into blades and swords. His entire body was as hard as steel.
"Not bad, that's quite a useful Fruit ability." Dragon-Elephant Five praised him, then stretched out both hands and let out a cold laugh.
"But it's useless!"
"Busoshoku!"
Jet-black energy wrapped around his arms, spreading in an instant. At the same time, his body disappeared once again.
A whirlwind appeared on the deck.
In the blink of an eye, Dragon-Elephant Five arrived right in front of Mr. 1. His terrifying speed made Mr. 1's pupils contract sharply in disbelief.
"Alright, stop."
Just as the pitch-black fist was about to smash into Mr. 1's face, a voice suddenly rang out.
Whoosh!
The gale made Mr. 1's cheeks sting painfully. His eyes trembled as the fist rapidly enlarged in his vision before finally stopping.
"Heh heh, Boss Crocodile." Dragon-Elephant Five chuckled and looked toward Crocodile.
"Looks like you six have grown quite a bit over these past four years," Crocodile said calmly.
"Teacher Rayleigh nearly tortured us to death."
At the mention of this, Dragon-Elephant Five immediately showed a fearful expression.
He quickly withdrew, retreating together with the other five.
Mr. 1's face looked grim.
He hadn't expected that, despite believing himself powerful enough to secure a foothold in the Grand Line, he would be defeated so easily.
From that final punch, he had a premonition, if it had truly landed on him, his fate would not have been pleasant. Even his steel-like body probably wouldn't have been able to endure it.
"Only by recognizing the gap between yourself and your opponent can you grow." Crocodile walked behind Mr. 1 and spoke indifferently.
"How big… is that gap, exactly?" Mr. 1 felt dispirited.
It would have been one thing if he could at least see the gap, but even after the battle ended, he still had no idea how strong his opponent truly was, nor where exactly he himself was lacking.
Crocodile didn't answer. Instead, he turned to look at Rojen, who had been watching the show from the side.
"Mm, Daz Bonez, right? What do you think?"
Rojen looked a little troubled. After thinking for a moment, he finally spoke.
"Mm, let me give you a simple example."
Rojen gestured with both hands, drawing out two parallel lines.
"If your strength is at the Grand Line level, then Fifth here is at the New World level! You two aren't even on the same plane of strength. You're still very weak."
Daz Bonez's expression became even uglier. That kind of explanation dealt quite a blow to his pride.
"Want to get stronger, kid?" Rojen's voice suddenly rang out again.
"Yes!" Daz Bonez answered without the slightest hesitation, straightforward and decisive.
"If you want to get stronger, then start as a trainee crew member." Rojen smiled. "Your Fruit ability is excellent. One day, you'll definitely become a powerhouse."
After giving him that final compliment, Rojen turned around and leisurely walked away.
Daz Bonez looked at his departing figure with hesitation on his face.
Psychologically, he was a proud man. In his entire life, the only person he truly admired was Crocodile. As for the others on this ship, he wasn't familiar with them at all, so naturally there was neither respect nor awe. But that battle just now had clearly shown him an entirely different world.
A man who looked no different from ordinary people had exploded with unimaginable power in an instant and defeated him with ease.
"I'm just an ordinary human too!"
He suddenly clenched his fists tightly, then strode downstairs.
Rojen's words echoed repeatedly in his mind. The more he thought about them, the angrier he became, almost as if possessed. In the end, he walked over, grabbed a broom and mop from the storage room, and started cleaning.
'So what if I'm just a trainee crew member? Damn it, I'm doing this!'
Chaporos watched this sturdy guy silently bury himself in work without saying a word and found it hilarious, bursting into laughter with a puchi sound.
"What are you laughing at? You ugly-looking weirdo, with a face like that, and you still dare laugh at me?"
Hearing the laughter, Daz Bonez immediately started cursing angrily.
"You dare insult me? You've got some nerve!" Chaporos's face turned green as he stood up and shouted.
"Do you know who I am? I'm a Celestial Dragon!"
That single sentence made everyone on the ship turn to look at him, surprise filling their eyes.
Daz Bonez also instantly shut his mouth, intimidated by the other party's status as a Celestial Dragon.
Smack!
But in the next second, Trens smacked him on the head, making him cry out in pain.
"What are you doing, Trens?!" Chaporos shouted.
"You go work too!" Trens handed him a mop, signaling for him to do labor as well.
"But I'm a Celestial Dragon!" Chaporos protested.
"Right now, you're just a trainee crew member. Hurry up and get moving!" Trens said impatiently.
'This brat, four years later and he was still just as arrogant as ever.'
"Damn it! Don't Celestial Dragons get special treatment? Shouldn't I be promoted directly to official crew member?" Chaporos angrily took the mop, glared unhappily at Daz Bonez, and also started working.
Nearby, Lordling smiled as he looked at Robin, who stuck out her tongue playfully.
"I'm still young, so I probably don't have to, right?"
"Mm, no need. Ladies have privileges."
Lordling said with a smile, then asked Rojen while speaking.
"Isn't that right, Captain?"
"Yes!"
Rojen waved his hand and shouted back with a grin.
"Damn!"
Bent over and working, both Daz Bonez and Chaporos raised their middle fingers, showing their intense contempt.
Their actions immediately triggered laughter from the entire ship.
In the corner, Nalene quietly flipped through a magic book, occasionally glancing up at everyone, her expression calm and composed.
(End Of This Chapter)
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