One piece: Dark Smoker

Onboard Zefa's ship, Smoker and Hina finally relaxed.

What had started as a simple training mission had spiraled into chaos: first an ambush on Gavente, then being stranded on a deserted island, infiltrating a G2 warship, and finally, a battle with Doflamingo.

They had been away for nearly three months, and Zefa's gaze upon them now resembled that of a teacher eyeing top students who'd skipped class for an entire term.

On their first day aboard, Zefa showed concern for their well-being, asking them all kinds of questions.

By the second day, he had them doing extra drills.

Every day, Zefa arranged sparring sessions for them, pairing them against various opponents. With hundreds of people aboard, including several Rear Admirals and Vice Admirals, there was no shortage of challengers.

Occasionally, Zefa would personally join in.

Despite the significant improvement in Smoker and Hina's skills, facing Zefa always ended with their defeat in increasingly creative ways.

Even Sakazuki, who had been observing from the sidelines, sometimes couldn't resist sparring.

To avoid damaging the ship, he refrained from using his Devil Fruit powers, relying only on his physical strength and mastery of Haki.

But even then, his monstrous physique and refined dual Haki overwhelmed Smoker and Hina, leaving them sprawled on the deck, questioning their life choices.

One day, after another grueling session under Zefa's supervision, Sakazuki stood nearby, watching with faint amusement.

When the training concluded, Zefa approached them with two small boxes in hand.

"Smoker, Hina, here's a little gift for both of you. I hope you'll like it," he said with a sly grin.

"Thank you, Zefa-sensei!" Hina accepted her box, delighted.

Smoker, however, eyed Zefa's mischievous smile and felt uneasy.

Opening his box, he couldn't help but twitch.

"This is... Seastone?!"

Inside lay a necklace with a pendant, similar to the Seastone pendant he already wore, though this one was noticeably shinier.

Hina's necklace looked nearly identical to Smoker's original pendant.

Smoker reached out and touched Hina's necklace. A familiar wave of weakness washed over him.

"As expected, less than 20% purity..."

Then he touched his own new necklace. His knees buckled instantly.

"Damn it! This thing's purity is at least double!"

Clenching his teeth, Smoker put on the new necklace.

The sensation was brutal, as if he'd lost half his blood or was running a fever of 40°C.

Despite wearing his Seastone pendant for three years and building a fair resistance, this one felt like it was draining his life force.

With his old pendant, he could retain about half of his physical strength, though unable to use his Devil Fruit powers. But with this new one, even walking left him breathless, his strength reduced to less than that of a regular soldier.

Beside him, Hina gasped and fell to one knee after putting on her necklace, her body trembling.

Her reaction wasn't surprising—unlike Smoker, she'd never undergone Seastone resistance training. Even the low-purity Seastone was enough to leave her incapacitated.

Zefa crouched in front of her. "How does it feel?"

Hina, sweating profusely, stammered, "This is... Seastone? Hina feels so weak!"

Zefa chuckled and stood up.

"From now on, except when you're sleeping, you two will wear these necklaces at all times—eating, drinking, training, whatever. No exceptions!"

"This..."

Hina hesitated, visibly troubled.

Smoker patted her shoulder. "Understood. No problem!"

Zefa observed Hina's expression and sighed.

"Well, I suppose Hina hasn't experienced Seastone resistance training yet, so she doesn't understand its benefits."

He removed Smoker's old necklace and casually tossed it to Sakazuki.

Sakazuki caught it effortlessly, holding it without the slightest reaction.

"Hina, take off your necklace and spar with Sakazuki for a bit."

Hina froze. "What?! Are you kidding? He's still holding Seastone!"

"Wouldn't that be unfair?!" Hina protested.

Two minutes later, she was stuck headfirst into the deck, her legs pointing skyward and twitching slightly.

Sakazuki, meanwhile, was only slightly out of breath, otherwise showing no signs of exertion.

Smoker hurried to pull Hina out of the deck.

Hina lowered her head, too embarrassed to look anyone in the eye.

Zefa spoke calmly, "Smoker's necklace contains Seastone with a purity of 33%, about twice as much as yours."

Hina's eyes widened in shock, and even Smoker's expression turned serious.

The necklace was already near his limit, yet Sakazuki could wear it and still defeat Hina effortlessly.

It was a stark reminder of how vast the gap was between them and the strongest in the world.

Zefa handed the Seastone necklace back to Smoker.

"Seastone is a Devil Fruit user's greatest weakness. In recent years, pirates have started using Seastone weapons."

"Luckily, most of the Seastone they use is low-purity. That's why resistance training is essential."

"If you can adapt to it, even if an enemy uses Seastone against you, you'll still have the strength to defend yourselves."

"But the benefits don't stop there…"

"Training with Seastone may be grueling, but it doubles your progress. Consider it an advantage for Devil Fruit users."

Hina nodded in realization.

"I understand now. Thank you for the gift, Zefa-sensei."

Without hesitation, she put the necklace back on. Her body wavered slightly, but she gritted her teeth and steadied herself.

Smoker followed suit, donning his necklace without complaint.

Zefa looked at them with satisfaction.

"Very good. Keep it up!"

With that, he turned to leave with Sakazuki.

Before they could go far, Smoker called out, "Vice Admiral Sakazuki, may I ask—how much Seastone purity can you handle?"

Sakazuki paused, then considered the question.

"Seastone below 20% purity only prevents me from using my Devil Fruit powers; my basic combat strength remains nearly unaffected."

"At around 50%, I can train with it, though the pressure becomes significant."

"Anything above 60%, and I'm basically out of commission."

Smoker's eyes widened in shock.

Seastone with over 60% purity was almost unheard of outside of Wano or forces under the World Government's control.

In other words, few pirates could fully restrain Sakazuki with Seastone alone.

No wonder he was called a monster. No wonder he was destined to become an Admiral. His reputation was well-earned.

But Sakazuki showed no pride in his answer.

"It's nothing special," he said flatly.

"I've heard that some monsters in the New World can endure Seastone with up to 70% purity."

"The enemies of justice are still formidable. We can't afford to be complacent."

With that, he followed Zefa and disappeared.

Smoker frowned deeply.

Sakazuki was likely referring to Kaido and Big Mom.

Their physical strength far surpassed the Admirals, so it wasn't surprising they could endure higher-purity Seastone.

More importantly, most of their strength lay in their physical attributes—one was an indestructible "iron balloon," and the other had a seemingly endless stamina bar.

Even without using their Devil Fruit abilities, with just a fraction of their strength, they could easily handle a Yonko Commander.

The road ahead was still long...

"Hina, how about we train a bit more?" Smoker asked.

"With the necklaces on?"

"With the necklaces on."

"Then let's do it!"

Days passed quickly, and soon ten days had gone by. The Marine Headquarters was finally in sight.

That morning, Smoker casually flipped a coin to pay the news gull for a fresh paper.

Skimming through the pages, his eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.

The more he read, the more his expression darkened.

By the time he finished, he rushed off to find Hina.

"This is bad, Hina!"

"What happened?"

"Rear Admiral Zean—he's in trouble!!"

.....

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