A few minutes later.
Creak!
The door was pushed open.
Robin subconsciously raised her head and saw Gawain, shirtless and wearing a casual coat, standing at the door.
His exposed skin was covered with bloodstains, but it did not look dirty.
Instead, it had a sense of ferocious wildness.
"Woke up?"
Gawain smiled and said: "An admiral from the Marines has entered the scene, the Baroque Works has been uprooted, Crocodile has been arrested, and what awaits him, if nothing unexpected happens, should be permanent imprisonment."
"Execution is out of the question."
"Sand-Sand Fruit is pretty good even among the Logia Devil Fruits. Once it's released to the sea, a powerful pirate can be created in a few years."
"If they execute every prisoner they caught, this world would turn into something difficult to live in."
"I will keep my promise."
"Do you..."
"I do."
Robin put down the book in her hand and looked at Gawain tenderly.
Gawain was stunned and didn't react for a while.
He originally thought that he would have to spend some time talking, but things actually went much more smoothly than he expected.
"What?"
Vivi arrived behind Gawain without knowing when and forced her head into the door. Then she looked at Gawain and then at Robin; the gossipy spirit in her heart burned intensely at this time.
"Is Mr. Gawain flirting with other women again?"
"I heard from Nami that there's a Kalifa on the ship and a Gaza in the East Blue, umm!"
Gawain was so upset that he raised his hand to cover Vivi's mouth: "What's all this mess?"
"Hehehe."
Robin held her face with one hand and looked at the two of them with a softer look.
She didn't know the situation inside the White Knight Pirate, but just based on this scene, it was enough for her to judge that it must be warmer there than Baroque Works.
Robin looked at the two people playing in front of her with a playful smile on her face: "Who can say for sure about that kind of thing?"
"What about you, Princess Vivi?"
As the sound landed, the ward fell silent in an instant.
Vivi's pretty face flushed slightly. She looked at Robin blankly, then looked at Gawain with a frown on her face. For a moment, she even forgot her purpose for coming here.
"What are you doing here?"
Gawain's mouth twitched. He simply let go of Vivi and turned to look at Robin.
For the first time, he began to doubt whether it was the right decision for him to recruit this woman.
But anyway... Once he says something, he can't take it back.
Faced with Robin's teasing, Vivi was a little at a loss for a moment. Then she hurriedly put a box in Gawain's hand: "This is a Devil Fruit found by Igaram."
"With your arrival, Mr. Gawain, this Devil Fruit came into being. I think the person it has been waiting for is probably you."
After saying that, without waiting for Gawain to speak, Vivi stumbled away, and in a few seconds, she disappeared at the end of the corridor.
"Captain, you are more popular than I thought."
Robin looked at Gawain teasingly.
"Women will only slow me down drawing my sword."
Gawain responded indifferently and focused his attention on the wooden box in his hand.
He raised his hand and opened the box.
A fruit that looked like countless blades rolled together appeared in front of Gawain.
"This is..."
Gawain's eyes fell on this Devil Fruit, and he felt it was very familiar.
However, Robin beside him saw its true form.
"A Devil Fruit even rarer than the Logia Fruit..."
"Alabasta's reward is truly generous."
"Ah."
Gawain's gaze fell on the Devil Fruit in his hand, and a playful smile flashed in his eyes.
He had seen this fruit in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, which was very close to the page that recorded the Red Dragon Fruit.
Now, Gawain's mind flashed with the image of Kuro, who was righteous but said something fishy after tearing off a page from the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia: "The ability of this devil fruit is very consistent with the fighting style of a certain guy on the ship."
"I just don't know how that guy will react now that the fruit he's been waiting for is right in front of him."
"Especially now, with Gin's development of the Bone-Bone fruit, his combat power should have surpassed that of Kuro... Right?"
"After all, before Gin gained his devil fruit ability, the gap between him and Kuro was already very small. Now, with the bonus from the Bone-Bone fruit..."
"Tsk, someone is going to be embarrassed."
Looking at the devil fruit in his hand, Gawain had other thoughts in his mind.
Several months have passed since they entered the Grand Line, and four new people have joined the team.
Within the Pirate crew, the ranking allocated based on the previous Martial Arts Tournament is no longer applicable.
At least at this moment, Lucci's combat power is stronger than that of Sanji and Zoro, who have not yet fully developed.
He can't let these leeks sit idle; he has to find something for them to do.
Besides, the physical strength of Lucci, Zoro, and Sanji has reached a critical point, and it is enough to awaken their Haki.
A strong confrontation, even one involving a battle between each other's beliefs, can speed up the process, and some may even be able to awaken their Haki directly through the battle.
Thinking of this, Gawain told Robin the general situation within the Pirate crew and gave her instructions on the subsequent arrangements before turning around to leave.
... ... ...
At the same time, in Whisky Peak.
Gin and Kuro's teams just met here and learned of Gawain's order.
"A new member is going to board the ship, and... the internal ranking competition in the ship will begin in seven days?"
Zoro subconsciously tightened his grip on the sword.
His gaze passed over everyone present and finally stopped on Lucci, Gin, and Kuro.
If he still has the confidence that he will not lose when facing Sanji, then the strength of these three people must be at least one level stronger than he is now.
Especially the battle in which Kuro used his speed to push him off the arena at the Martial Arts Tournament; he still remembers it to this day.
If he doesn't get this back, how can he survive in the future?!
Moreover, this is a rare opportunity to fight against an opponent of similar strength!
Like Zoro, at this moment, almost everyone is focusing their attention on Kuro.
Who wouldn't want to get the badge that represents the strongest cadre under Gawain?
"Has this moment finally come?!"
Lucci's mouth was stretched wide, showing the aggression of a wild beast.
After he joined the White Knight Pirate, what he had been waiting for was this opportunity to become one of the top three cadres.
But when he finally waited for it, he had already changed his identity.
But now, he feels more at home here.
Only the determination not to lose to anyone remains the same as before, without any difference.
"Really... It makes my blood boil just thinking about it!"
"Gugu~"
The white pigeon Hattori sensed Lucci's emotions and chirped excitedly.
"Do you feel the same way?"
"Gugu~"
Hattori flapped its wings, circled around the group a few times, and then returned to Lucci.
This time, it did not stop on Lucci's shoulder but stepped directly on his hat, with its wings spread out, trying its best to show its strength, but it looked extremely cute.
Gin and Kuro stared at each other.
Invisible sparks flickered in the air.
There is no need to explain the competition between the two.
However, Kuro, who had been in an advantageous position before, has now become the disadvantaged party.
"This time, I should be the winner!"