Chapter 32: Improvement
"By the way Zack, how much have you improved?" Suddenly, Zoro picked up a topic and asked.
"Hehe! Why don't we test it? I am dying to know my current strength as well." Zack put the final piece of meat in his mouth and stood up.
"Me! Me! Zack, fight me! I want to try something new." Luffy suddenly jumped up and raised his hands.
Seeing Luffy's innocent smile, Zack couldn't help but shudder. He didn't know what kind of new trick Luffy has trained but he knew it would be really hard to counter.
But, he was also excited about this. He wanted to know just how much he has improved.
Both of them walked back to the deck and stood in front of each other. Zoro couldn't help but sigh. He originally wanted to face off against Zack but he couldn't defy his captain's order either.
They all moved around them while Nami shouted.
"You two, if you break the ship, you will pay One Million Berries."
Zack and Luffy suddenly felt like a heavy mountain pressing them to the floor.
"Hehe, Zack, be careful and block my strike with everything you've got!"
"Alright then! Let's see how much my defenses have improved." Zack got it confident as he placed his forearms in the shape 'X' in front of him.
He patiently waited for Luffy's attack.
At this moment, Luffy clenched his fist and calmed down. He raised his fist in front of him and closed his eyes. He raised his right arm and bites his thumb.
'Wait, is that Gear Third? Luffy is going Gear Third right now?' Zack panicked at this moment but Luffy's arm didn't turn into a giant arm. Rather, his arm only grew to the size when he used Bounce Man.
At this moment, he suddenly noticed a strange change in Luffy's arm but before he could figure it out, Luffy extended his arm and charged his fist toward Zack.
Bang!
The punch struck Zack's forearm so hard that it almost broke him. But, his body flew toward the sky and landed on the sea several hundred meters away.
"You idiot! Why did you have to use so much strength?" Usopp slapped Luffy's head and shouted.
Sanji jumped and rushed to retrieve Zack.
"Is this my strength?" Luffy looked at his fist with confusion. He couldn't help but look at Zoro.
"Zoro, do you think Zack got weaker instead of getting stronger?"
"Sigh!"
Zoro sighed as he walked toward Luffy. Suddenly, he unsheathed one of his swords and slashed at Luffy.
Luffy instantly saw it and raised his fist. When Zoro's sword struck Luffy's arm, Zoro's hand got shaken for a moment.
"Oi Zoro, what are you doing? Luffy is vulnerable against a sharp object." Usopp instantly shouted from the side when he saw Zoro attacking Luffy.
Ding!
Zoro's hand opened and the sword fell to the ground. Luffy didn't have the injury because Zoro used the blunt edge but looking at Zoro's hands that were shaken for a moment, Luffy frowned.
Zoro was also shocked. he quickly controlled his hands and picked up his sword. He put it back inside his sheath and looked at Luffy.
"What did you just do? How come your strike got so powerful?"
Luffy rubbed his head and said "Didn't you train what Zack give you? That move called Tekken."
"It's Tekkai." Zoro corrected him and sighed.
"I am training it but I am pretty sure that it should be making your attack stronger. And, why is your hand inflated?"
"Oh, this! When I was training Tekkai, I found it very similar to the Contraction to the point I didn't even realize whether I was contracting or training Tekkai."
"So, I merged them. But then, my body shrunk. I was so mad and didn't know what to do. Zack was also training. During that time, Sanji asked me to use Gomu-Gomu No Ballon so that he could kick a giant bird for lunch."
"At that time, an idea came to my mind. If I inflate my body and then contract it, wouldn't it return to normal size? Unfortunately, it didn't work, my arm remains bigger."
Seeing his sad expression, everyone opened their mouth wide. They couldn't believe he found such an easy way to get stronger and is still pouting about some simple side effect that didn't even matter.
They wanted to beat him up. At this moment, Sanji returned to the ship half-drowned. At this moment, Sanji was seriously panted to the point he collapsed on the floor.
"Sanji!" Everyone shouted as they didn't understand why he passed out.
Five Minutes Later,
Sanji slowly opened his eyes and found himself getting stared at by everyone.
"Did I pass out?"
"You did. I didn't expect you to get weaker by training." Zoro nodded his head.
"It's not me who got weaker. It's his body that was heavier." Sanji shook his head and pointed his finger at Zack who was still lying unconscious on the floor.
"Tch! Don't make excuses. I lifted him easily this morning. He was definitely heavier than before but nothing to exaggerate." Zoro snorted.
"No, I am not mistaken. He was truly heavy, almost as heavy as a ship. I don't know why but it was true." Sanji made a serious expression as he spoke.
"Umm…. Guys, if you haven't noticed it yet, can you look at the sky?" Vivi pointed her finger exactly at those cards that seemed wet.
Everyone raised their heads at the cards with confusion.
"Do you lose your Devil Fruit powers after coming in contact with sea water?" Zoro turned his head at Valentine and asked.
She shook her head and said "Nope! Although we can't swim, we don't lose our abilities. It's just that we can't swim and thus, we drown."
"Maybe it was because he was underwater which made his body like a rock. And, because he was wet, his abilities also got wet." Nami presented her idea.
"Well, we don't know what happened but it was a good thing that I reacted on time." Sanji shrugged his shoulders and sighed a breath of relief.
"Alright, Zoro, help him get to bed. He needs to finish his training tomorrow. So, he needs to return to his peak." Nami commanded Zoro as she went to the cabin.
Zoro felt bad for doing this job. But, before he put Zack on the ground, he used Zack to practice for half an hour. After that, he walked out of the room and went to the cabin.
He went near the freeze and saw a few bats. He turned around and walked in front of Sanji.
"You plan to stay behind?"
Sanji narrowed his eyes and snorted.
"Humph! Don't cry when I break all of these bats on your head."
Putting his apron on the side, he and Zoro walked out. Seeing them leaving, Usopp thought for a moment and looked at Nami.
"Nami, can you help me train as well?"
"Huh! Hell no! I am not going to let you hit me." Nami disagreed instantly.
"Luffy, what about you?" Usopp turned his head at Luffy and asked.
"Alright then!" Luffy nodded without hesitation. Luffy picked up a bat while Usopp sat on the ground.
Bam!
A few seconds later, Luffy smashed the bat on Usopp's head.
"Vivi, let's go and sleep!" Nami pulled Vivi away. She didn't want Vivi to get involved in this. She was afraid that Vivi will insist on training this and they would need to smack each other's heads.
Four people fell asleep while four people kept training. The night was a bit chilly but the constant smashing of heads kept them active.
Straw Hat Crew trained that night while the next morning, Zack started training with Valentine. Since this training had no limits, Zack decided to let Valentine beat him up from morning to dawn.
He managed to block her attack but this time, she not only had control over her movement but also can stand while having that much weight on her body. Surprisingly, it wasn't just Zack who improved.
Her body was getting stronger as well. Her devil fruit allows her to increase the weight of her body. The reason why she doesn't fight hand to hand is that she can't stand her body weight increasing by thousands of kilograms.
But, this time, Zack's cards were enabling her to stand without facing any pressure while still having that much weight on her body. She kept punching from different making it harder for Zack to deflect.
So, at the end of the dawn, they finally stopped and those cards returned to Zack's body. Three large purple bumps appeared on his face, his body was covered with bruises and he was barely standing.
While it seemed like Valentine wasn't exhausted just a few minutes ago, as soon as the cards entered Zack's body, she suddenly lost her consciousness and fell down.
Zack although feeling weakness all over his body stood up and took her to the bed. He collapsed next to her and Nami entered the room. Seeing his condition, she couldn't help but sigh.
Her world was truly cruel. She has seen Zack getting beaten from the moment they came together. And until now, he was still getting beaten to get stronger.
She walked closer to him and rubbed his cheek with a smile on her face. At this moment, a certain someone also saw this from outside but didn't enter the room.
Nami tried to pull Zack back to the bed. At this moment, she suddenly lifted Zack so much that she almost threw him up.
'What? What is going on? His body should've been heavy, right? Why is it light now? This feels, even more, lighter than before.'
Suddenly, her eyes shrunk as she thought.
'Don't tell me he failed the last training and lost his strength?'
At this moment, she started panicking. She thought of waking him up but after thinking for a while, she decided not to. She walked out of the room and let them sleep.
...….
Somewhere on the Alabasta,
"So, these are the brats coming for my head. Bounty doesn't seem bad for newbies but..." A man wearing a black furry coat with a cigar on his mouth and his one hand that had a metal hook instead of an actual hand.
"If you can't even get through those losers, you don't deserve to fight me."
"Miss Sunday, have you notified them?"
A lady standing behind him wearing a white hat nodded her head.
"Yes! They said that not only they will kill straw hats but also bring back Valentine."
"There is no need to. Baroque works don't require losers. Tell Mr.3 to kill her as well." Mr.0, Crocodile, one of the seven warlords of the sea spoke with a cruel tone.
"Yes, boss!" Nico Robin nodded her head and left.
Crocodile looked at the table where Luffy's and Zack's bounty poster were placed. The window was barely passing some light but a glint appeared in his eyes as he muttered.
"Just a few more days. Once I get my hands on that devil , I will be invincible in the seas. And…."
His eyes shifted at those bounty posters as he sneered "Nobody is going to stop me."
...…
At this moment, Straw Hats were sitting in the cabin with a bit heavy atmosphere. Except for Luffy who was completely unaware of anything, everyone seem quite serious.
Creek!
Suddenly, the door opened and Zack walked in.
"Sanji, do we have something to eat? I am really hungry."
He didn't even need to get a reply. Sanji stood up and started cooking some fried rice. In the meantime, Zack sat with other Straw Hats. He wasn't an idiot like Luffy.
He quickly noticed the atmosphere and asked "What happened? Is something wrong?"
Hearing his questions, Zoro, and Usopp turned their heads at Nami. In the crew, Zack only hears from Nami. So, they wanted Nami to tell this news to him.
"Zack, the next time, can you not use your devil fruit to practice?" Nami asked.
Hearing their words, Zack was startled and he quickly bowed his head.
"I am sorry for making things difficult. I won't train with my devil fruits unless I gather enough luck. Don't worry!"
Hearing his words, they sighed a breath of relief as Zoro spoke.
"Then, it is good. Unlike Luffy's devil fruit, yours seem quite extraordinary. You can bet on anything but if you lose the bet, it will devastating. Right now, you only lost your strength when we are still way early in the Grandline. If you hadn't lost your strength later, we wouldn't even know what kind of situation you would've faced."
At this moment, Zack stared at Zoro with confusion as he asked "What do you mean by losing strength? When did I lose my strength? I don't feel like I've lost my strength. Is something wrong?"
When they heard Zack, everyone looked at him with confusion and turned their eyes to Nami.
Nami coughed out and looked at Zack.
"Didn't you fail the last test and lost your strength? Previously, you seemed truly heavy but this last night, you were quite light just like your previous weight."
Zack smiled and shook his head.
"I haven't lost my strength other I would've felt it. If you guys don't believe it, we can check it. If I remember correctly, there is a strength measuring unit known as Doriki."
"It is only used by World Government. Doriki can't measure one's strength when it comes to power fruits so it is quite irrelevant in the seas but some special people from World Government train their body to the superhuman level without devil fruit and their strength is measured by Doriki."
"If I have to assume your current Doriki, Zoro's doriki should be around 2000 right now. Of course, putting aside the power of your swordsman. And Luffy's Doriki should be around 3500."
"While we can't put devil fruit abilities to measure doriki, if it is related to the physical changes, we can't ignore it. Luffy's whole body has the advantage of the rubber which means as long as it is not a sharp object, his endurance can be quite high and alongside his strength."
"Sanji's Doriki should be around 2000 of that's excluding the fact that he has learned Soru now. And, my Doriki before three days of training was around 1500. Zoro, how about we spar? I want to know my strength."
"Food is ready!"
Sanji suddenly puts the food in front of Zack and said.
"First eat and then spar. I also want to compare my speed with you."
Zack gleefully smiled when he saw the food but suddenly saw a hand stretching to it. Before he could do anything, Sanji's foot smashed Luffy's head. At this moment, Zack was quite surprised.
Sanji moved his foot so fast that he couldn't even see the shadows properly.
"You… Did you use merge Soru into your normal movements?" Zack asked. This was only his thought but if it was true, he didn't know what to say.
Just mastering Soru is already hard, changing it to use it for normal movements was even harder.
Sanji brightly smiled and said, "You aren't the only way who improved in three days."
"Zack! Zack, can I also spar with you?" Luffy raised his hands excitedly when he found that he could no longer eat that.
"Captain, I don't want to fall into the sea once again." Zack speechlessly stared at Luffy. He knew Luffy was a Battle Genius. He might be an idiot to others but when it comes to creativity and improving his strength, Luffy was absolutely a master at that.
He couldn't believe Luffy managed to use the Gear Third Technique to increase the potential of Tekkai. Normally, when you use Tekkai, your muscles turn stiff.
But for Luffy, it was no different than contraction. So, instead of training Tekkai in his normal muscle, he put air into his muscles and then use Tekkai to increase the muscle mass.
(One Piece logic)
"I won't use that move. I just want to test a new move." Luffy's excitement washed away as he pouted.
Zack almost fell down.
'New move? He created another move. Damn it! Won't he beat down Crocodile in a single punch? Haaaaa! What did I expect? The only reason why Luffy didn't improve a lot during the first arc was that nobody guided him.'
'But this time, I gave him both Soru and Tekkai. He must have used his imagination to do whatever he wanted.'
'Damn it! I feel like no matter how good my devil fruit might be, compared to his, it still feels nothing.'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone