39: Chapter 39: Kuro is defeated, Usopp joins the crew.Luffy and Kuro stood facing each other, weapons in hand.With a crash of a wave, Kuro charged at Luffy, raising his weapon to slash.Luffy raised his sword, blocking Kuro's attack, and easily laughed, "Show me your true strength.Let me see the power of a pirate with a 16 million bounty." Kuro calmly replied, "You'll see."
Kuro quickly retreated, using the Shadowless Step to attack Luffy again.Luffy calmly remarked, "Is this a cat-like, high-speed assassination technique?Interesting, but." Luffy leaped high into the air, unleashing "Storm Kick: Flame Blade Rain!" Countless blades formed from fire rained down from the sky.Kuro could only increase his speed, constantly using the Shadowless Step to dodge.Finally, Luffy's attack ended, but Kuro looked extremely disheveled."What, you're already done?" Luffy landed, looking at Kuro kneeling on the ground, panting.Kuro slowly rose, took a deep breath, and said, "It's still early.Next." "I'm about to unleash my ultimate move, called the Spoon.It's so fast that even I don't know what I'll hit!" Kuro moved swiftly, his speed now countless times faster than the Shadowless Step.Cracks appeared all over the sand around Luffy, but Luffy still shook his head and said, "Kuro, while your move is fast, it's still too slow in my opinion." Luffy slowly raised his head and took a deep breath: "Full Concentration.Water Breathing.Third Form.Flowing Dance!" Luffy moved at high speed, his steps flowing like water, dodging Kuro's attacks while simultaneously attacking him.
Gradually, Kuro couldn't hold on any longer, and his speed gradually slowed down.Taking advantage of this opportunity, Luffy used "Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash," slicing Kuro's weapon in two with a single strike and holding the sword to Kuro's neck.Kuro glanced at Luffy, then lowered his head, saying, "I've lost.Take my life." Seeing this, Luffy raised the sword and slashed it across Kuro's neck.Kuro, his eyes filled with resentment, fell to the ground."Captain Kuro!" Django, who had just woken up, cried out in grief.Luffy calmly said, "Take your captain away." Django glared at Luffy hatefully, then, along with the others, took Kuro's body back to the village.Luffy walked up to Usopp and said, "I have a suggestion, which I promised your father.He said that if I ever become a pirate, I must bring you here.What do you say?Are you willing to come with me?"
Looking at Luffy's smile, Usopp seemed to recall his father's words, and firmly said, "I'm willing, Captain Luffy." Hearing this, Luffy took out the Hawk-Hawk Fruit and handed it to Usopp, saying, "This is a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, the Hawk-Hawk Fruit.Although it's not a Mythical Zoan, right now, you have many enemies you can't even defeat in the weakest sea, the East Blue, let alone the Grand Line.So, whether you eat this Devil Fruit or not is up to you."
Usopp took the fruit without hesitation and ate it, closing his eyes to feel the power of the Devil Fruit.Luffy, on the other hand, brought up his personal panel to check his attributes.One Piece King System Host: Monkey D.Luffy Age: 17 Devil Fruit Ability: Gum-Gum Fruit/Human-Human Fruit.Mythical Zoan.Nika Form (Development Progress: 35%, Gear Second and Gear Third are unlocked)
Weapon: Panlong Staff (Upgradeable, skills not yet unlocked)
Pirate Coins: 30500
Skills: Water Breathing (Proficiency 9/10), Flame Breathing (4/9), Naval Six Styles (6/6)
Haki: Intermediate Armament Haki (2000/10000), Intermediate Observation Haki (2000/10000), Conqueror's Haki (Unawakened)
"Hmm, my strength is now unmatched in the East Blue.The next step is to improve the strength of my crew," Luffy thought to himself.