Chapter 220: The Poker Card Pirate Crew
After getting to know the full crew of the Dawn Pirates, Kuina went silent. Among the male members, there were Chiron , Mont Blanc Cricket, Lant, Deidara, Gin , and with Eric , that made only six.
As for the female members... one, two, three, four, five, six... ten in total, not including herself. Excluding the Nine Snake Pirates, which is a crew made up entirely of women, there wasn't a pirate crew with such an exaggerated male-to-female ratio as the Dawn Pirates.
And when thinking about Esdeath, Kurumi, and Akame's ambiguous attitudes toward Eric ...
She felt that her purity, no, her chastity, was in serious jeopardy.
No wonder her father had that expression of wanting to say something before he left, now she completely understood!
Kuina, with her not-so-tall frame, instinctively shrank back even further.
"Ho la ho la ho la~" Perona's Otohimeal form floated forward, "Finally, someone shorter than me joined!"
"Clunk." Kuina, who was usually the little adult in the dojo, now had veins popping out on her face.
Eric scolded, "She's a partner, Perona, use the right words. You want to hit the gym again?"
Upon hearing "hit the gym," the previously excited Perona sank most of her body into the couch, leaving only her head exposed as she observed quietly.
Kuina, curious, watched Perona and asked, "How does she do that?"
"That's the power of a Devil Fruit." Eric explained, "Using a Devil Fruit gives you extra abilities, but the side effect is that you can't swim."
"So, that means," Kuina quickly understood, "Eric , you became a land duck too?"
"I've never been able to swim, so it doesn't matter."
"Then how could you go out to sea and be a pirate?"
"Because I have Akame."
Kuina: "You can't even sail a boat?"
"Because I have Akame."
Kuina: "You can't even cook?"
"Because I have Akame."
"..." Kuina turned to look at Akame, "Akame, can we throw Eric into the sea?"
Akame shook her head, "No, we can't."
"Hahaha..." Eric , with his hands on his hips and his nose stretching out like Kinoko's, proudly said, "Akame will be with me forever! Our bond is too strong for you to break easily."
"Hmph!" Kuina puffed her cheeks in frustration, like a frog.
"You didn't come out to sea just to pick on me, did you?" Eric stood up. "Come on, I'll teach you how to use Haki. If you can't learn faster than Zoro, he'll make fun of you."
Eric stood up and led Kuina to the training room.
"How did Zoro learn Haki?" Kuina asked in surprise, "No one in Shimotsuki Village knows Haki!"
"I wrote down the basic methods of training Haki and gave it to him. I told him to start learning when he turned thirteen, but..." Eric spoke without looking back, "He probably won't wait until then, and will start training Haki right away."
Kuina quieted down. If it were Zoro, he would definitely do that!
The two of them were like runners in a marathon, with Zoro always behind her, his heavy breathing in the background, urging her to keep practicing and getting stronger.
The tomboyish Kuina finally remembered the phrase she often heard: "Kuina, come duel with me!"
Zoro's words didn't come into Kuina's ears out of thin air but echoed in her heart. Her heartbeat quickened, blood flowed faster, and her body began to warm.
Eric suddenly stopped, turning back to look at Kuina, whose face was flushed.
Kuina hid her thoughts, lowering her head and softly asking, "What's wrong?"
Noticing the change in Kuina's heartbeat, Eric didn't point it out. He turned and continued leading the way, "It's nothing, when you meet Zoro again, let him be amazed by your strength."
"By the way, although women are generally weaker than men, there are monsters like Big Mom who don't follow the rules."
"Big Mom?" Kuina asked curiously, "She's a woman, right? Is she strong? I heard from my father that you fought her in the New World, and you were even given the title of the fourth 'Emperor of the Sea'."
"My 'Emperor' title is just a name, a joke in the eyes of the other three. In terms of both strength and influence, I'm no match for those veteran pirate crews."
"Let's not talk about those distant matters, let's talk about you, Kuina." Eric paused. "Have you thought about eating a Devil Fruit to improve your physical abilities and make up for the gap in strength between men and women?"
Eric didn't need to look back to feel Kuina's determined gaze. She said, "I want to rely on my own efforts and become the world's greatest swordswoman."
"Is that so... you really are a tomboy with real spirit."
"I'm not a tomboy!"
Amidst Kuina's chase, the two of them entered the training room for Haki training.
...
"Kurome, want some candy?" In the break room, Eric had bought a batch of high-quality candy from the system store and handed it to Kurome.
"Yes! Thank you, brother-in-law." Kurome happily accepted.
Crunch crunch She started eating.
"This is so good! I've never had such delicious candy." Seeing Kurome enjoying herself, Akame also came over.
Normally, if anyone else approached, Kurome would say, "I won't share this with you," but now, she willingly shared the snack with her sister.
"Sisters sure have a good relationship..."
[Beep... Kurome's favorability has greatly increased, the bond level goes from 2 (Close Friends) to 3 (Trusted Friends), and 2 bond points are gained.]
'Licking the girl is so easy...' Eric thought to himself, giving Deidara, who was playing with mud, a stern glare.
Deidara: "?"
With the bond points accumulated from Akame and others after a year of interactions, Eric had reached 31 bond points.
'Let's add more when we meet Whitebeard.' Eric was about to speak to these idle people when...
"Captain, we've spotted a fleet of pirate ships ahead." Chiron reported through the loudspeaker, "From the pirate flags, it's the Poker Card Pirate Crew."
Hearing that enemies were approaching, the bored crew rushed to the deck like wild horses.
Seeing only Akame and Kurome eating snacks in the break room, Eric muttered, "It's not like we're waiting in line for food at the cafeteria, what's with the rush?"
Akame looked up and asked, "Is it time to eat?"
"No, didn't we just finish lunch? It hasn't even been two hours, and you're hungry again?"
Gurgle~ Akame's stomach answered for her.
"..."
Eric facepalmed, "Go to the storage room, you can eat whatever you want."
"Okay!" With Eric 's permission, Akame happily ran with Kurome to the storage room.
Outside, the Poker Card Pirate Crew's flagship had arrived next to the Undaunted.
Sweetheart Queen was still lounging in the round bath on the bear head of the ship's bow, happily soaking.
Noticing people aboard the Undaunted, Sweetheart Queen shifted her seductive pose, looking down lazily at them and asking, "Do you guys need something?"
"No, just wanted to show you my art." Deidara's hands released two clay birds from his palms.
"I'm not interested in your art." Sweetheart Queen replied disinterestedly, but when she saw Kurumi, she became intrigued.
"What did you say?!" Deidara's mood began to unravel. Anyone who disrespected his art would feel his wrath, and he'd make it explode.
"Well then, let's play a guessing game." Suddenly, a plump meatball bounced out, and Poojack jumped onto the bear's head, "First question: Who is going to become the world's Pirate King?"
(END CHAPTER)
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