Gawain knew clearly that the only thing he lacked to reach Diamond's combat power was his accumulation of Conqueror Haki.
For the time being, he can rely on Kizaru for the Conqueror's Haki. There is little hope of reaching level five, but while waiting for Zephyr, there will be no problem in reaching level four.
The armament level was already close to the critical point, and he also arranged a ranking battle within the ship.
Considering the temperament of Gin, Kuro, and others, they should provide him with a good experience during this period, and it should not be a problem for his Armament Haki to reach Level 5 and awaken new Features.
Swordsmanship depends solely on Zoro, and although it is a bit slow, it will take a few months at most to reach level 15, and new features can be awakened.
By then, he should be able to fight even against an admiral-level strongman.
The red dragon fruit's ability is like a perpetual motion machine, so it is impossible for him to give up!
"But I must be fully prepared before entering the New World."
"I would like to see what the so-called battle between the red and white dragons and the battle of fate are all about."
"Practice!"
After saying that, Gawain put down the old book in his hand, pushed the door, and left.
A few minutes later.
Two figures, one gold, and one red, galloped towards the distant desert.
Soon, around Alubarna, there were sounds like a natural disaster again.
Silver-white flying slash and golden lasers spread all around, causing a violent sandstorm like the end of the world.
But the civilians in the city have become accustomed to such scenes.
… … …
A few days later.
Late at night, the sky is cloudy, and the stars are shining brightly.
After Gawain gained more than 600 points of Conqueror Haki experience from Kizaru again, he walked towards the palace with satisfaction.
Apart from training with Kizaru these days, Gawain has not been idle at other times, collecting information about Britannia and the red dragon fruit from various places in Alabasta.
What a pity.
Even in Alabasta, records about the two are extremely limited.
Besides the previous user of that devil fruit and that old book about Britannia, most of the information is just hearsay, and there is no way to verify it.
Gawain simply stopped dwelling on this issue and instead focused on training the Conqueror Haki.
After all, he is more accustomed to focusing on things that he can change rather than worrying about certain possibilities.
That doesn't make any sense and won't change anything.
Only the Conqueror Haki, which was getting closer and closer to Level 4 at this moment, could bring a sense of security to Gawain.
Soon, Gawain returned to the vicinity of the palace, but unexpectedly, a thin figure was already waiting there.
"Where's the stuff?"
Kuro was soaked with sweat and breathing heavily. Ever since he knew that Gawain had obtained the devil fruit he had been waiting for, he had used Pussyfoot Maneuver all the way to Alubarna from Whisky Peak in a few days.
Due to excessive fatigue, his face was pale, but his eyes were bright and hot.
Gawain couldn't help but let out a playful smile: "Didn't you say you weren't interested in Devil Fruits?"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
The corner of Kuro's eye twitched, and he said stiffly. "According to the rules of the previous Martial Arts Tournament, I can make one request after getting within the top three. I want that devil fruit!"
"This is the first time I see you so eager."
Gawain shook his head and put away his joking thoughts: "Follow me."
After saying that, Gawain quickly returned to the room and took out the treasure chest that Vivi had given him from under the desk, but before he could put it down firmly, Kuro snatched it away.
Bang!
With a crisp sound, a Devil Fruit that looked like countless blades entangled together and shaped like a whirlwind appeared in front of Kuro.
He carefully picked up the fruit, and there seemed to be a flame burning in his eyes.
"A monster from the legend of Wano Country, it turns into an invisible whirlwind every time it moves... Mythical Zoan, Weasel-Weasel Fruit, Model: Sickle Weasel"
"Really!"
"You are waiting for me too!"
Now, Kuro calmed down instead. He lowered his head to look at the Sickle Weasel Fruit in his hand, and he seemed to feel some kind of excitement.
"Is it conscious?"
"Ah."
Gawain nodded: "I think so."
"I just recently realized that it might not be a coincidence that we chose Britannia as our future base."
Kuro's pupils shrank, and for a moment, he even forgot about the Sickle Weasel Fruit in his hand and turned to look at Gawain: "Is it related to the red dragon fruit?"
"It's just my speculation at the moment, but no matter what the truth is, as long as we are strong enough, everything will be fine."
"Snort."
The corner of Kuro's mouth curled up a smile, and then he turned his head to look at the Sickle Weasel Fruit and said lightly: "That's true."
Crack!
Kuro opened his mouth and bit off a piece of Devil Fruit. Before he could chew it, he felt an unprecedented strange smell rushing into his nose.
He couldn't help but open his mouth and retch, but nothing came out. Instead, his body changed immediately.
In just a few seconds, Kuro turned into a strange creature several meters long, pure white, and shaped like a ferret.
This strange creature has blades on the tip of its tail, on its forearms, and on its back, flashing a cold light.
"This is... Sickle Weasel?!"
Gawain couldn't help but let out an exclamation but turned his head away the next moment.
Swish!
An invisible wind blade flew past Gawain's face and cut the wall behind him, leaving a smooth cut.
Then countless wind blades shot out from Kuro's body and landed on the wall, leaving dense cuts and even directly cutting through many places.
"Flying slash?!"
Gawain turned his head to look at Kuro and saw that the latter's hair was constantly tumbling and fluttering in the air. With the extremely sharp blade on his back, he looked even more ferocious.
"No, it's about controlling the airflow!"
Gawain recalled the records he had seen in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
He understands it instantly in his heart.
Sickle Weasel is a monster from the legend of Wano Country, often described as an invisible wind.
It can cut an object in two or cut human flesh in an instant, but because the speed is too fast, people will not feel any pain.
In a sense, it is synonymous with speed.
"Go out and try your abilities!"
Kuro turned around and disappeared from the palace like a gust of wind, leaving traces of cuts on the ground.
"So fast!"
Even though Gawain had expected it, he was still shocked by the speed that Kuro displayed after just eating the Sickle Weasel Fruit.
At this moment, Kuro's speed was far faster than the full speed of the Pussyfoot Maneuver explosion!
You have to know that Kuro had just obtained this fruit, and his skills and fighting methods needed to be adjusted, but just relying on the speed of the devil fruit itself, he exceeded his original limit!
When he became familiar with his devil ability, he would be even faster!
At this moment, a mechanical system prompt sounded in Gawain's mind:
"Crew member Kuro obtained the Sickle Weasel Fruit."
"Potential improvement."
"Silver -> Gold!"
"Has Kuro's potential also reached the Gold level?"
Gawain couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile on his face.
Previously, after Gin obtained the Bone-Bone Fruit and awakened his Armament Haki, his potential increased to the Gold level.
Now that Kuro has eaten the Sickle Weasel Fruit, his potential has finally reached the Gold level.
Including Zoro, Sanji, and Lucci, who already have Gold-level potential, Gawain has five crew members with Gold-level potential.
That is to say, even if they don't make any more breakthroughs in the future, the White Knight Pirate will have combat power at the level of five of the Calamities or Warlord, plus Gawain's own emperor-level combat power.
Such a configuration is not considered weak even among the four emperors today. The only difference is the sphere of influence, but that was within Gawain's expectations.
The reason why he targeted Britannia was to solve this problem.
Moreover, as the battles become more intense in the future, the upper limit of these people will definitely not stop at the gold level.
"The future is promising."
Gawain murmured, then flashed and chased in the direction where Kuro's aura disappeared.