As Carl was deep in thought, Ricky suddenly stepped forward on his own.
Carl blinked in surprise before immediately understanding what Ricky meant—he wanted to handle this himself.
Ricky wasn't just volunteering.
He wanted to be the one to claim the Devil Fruit.
As long as he retrieved it, the choice of whether to eat it or not would be entirely his—not Carl's.
For a brief moment, Carl felt a little dazed.
Since when did Ricky develop this kind of resolve?
Then it hit him.
It was the pressure from the Straw Hats.
Being surrounded by a group of monstrous humans who kept growing stronger at an absurd rate, Ricky must have felt the weight of it all.
He had already been at the bottom of the crew's combat power.
If this continued, he wouldn't just be weak—he'd be reduced to a glorified pack mule. A pet, not a true companion.
Because in this world—if you're too weak, you don't deserve to be called a nakama.
Even if Luffy and the others didn't care, he cared.
This was his pride—the pride of the Lion King!
Carl grinned and gave Ricky a firm pat on the back.
"Well done, Ricky! That's the spirit of a Lion King!"
Then, he gestured toward the lake.
"Go for it! I'll cover you! This Devil Fruit is yours, and no one can take it from you—not on my watch!"
"Roar!"
Fueled by Carl's encouragement, Ricky charged toward the lake.
Standing at the shoreline, he let out a thunderous roar, his voice dripping with provocation.
The plesiosaur, which had reigned over these waters for who-knows-how-long, had likely never encountered such an audacious challenger before.
Instantly, it lurched forward in anger, swimming toward the shore at breakneck speed.
Then, it opened its massive jaws and—
BOOM!
A high-pressure water arrow shot toward Ricky!
Ricky casually tilted his head to the side, dodging it with ease.
Behind him—
CRASH!
A massive tree splintered and collapsed under the force of the attack.
Carl's eyes flickered with intrigue.
Damn... that thing's no joke.
The plesiosaur truly lived up to its title as king of the waters.
For Ricky to take it down, this was going to be a tough fight.
But Ricky wasn't fazed.
Seeing his first attack dodged so effortlessly, the plesiosaur grew furious.
It unleashed a barrage of water arrows, firing them like a machine gun.
However—
Ricky dodged every single one with practiced ease.
After all, he had endured Carl's hellish training aboard the ship.
This level of attack?
Nothing but a warm-up.
And yet—
Without the plesiosaur realizing it...
Half of Ricky's body was already submerged in the water.
Seeing that its water arrow attacks were ineffective, the plesiosaur finally snapped.
But before it could launch another attack—
It realized Ricky had already entered the water.
The plesiosaur's long, snake-like neck twisted toward him, moving with surprising flexibility.
Ricky's golden eyes locked onto the incoming attack.
Then—
In a flash, he sidestepped, his body bending backward to narrowly dodge the plesiosaur's massive fangs.
And in that same instant—
Ricky lunged forward, locking his powerful arms around the plesiosaur's neck in a vice grip!
...Where the hell did he learn that move?!
Carl watched, baffled. That technique was clearly something a human would use—so how did Ricky even pick it up?!
The plesiosaur instinctively tried to thrash free, but Ricky's grip was unbreakable.
Then—
CHOMP!
Ricky sank his fangs into the back of the plesiosaur's neck, tearing into its flesh!
The once-tranquil lake erupted in chaos, its surface dyed red with blood.
"ROOOAARRR!!"
The plesiosaur let out a deafening, pain-filled screech.
Furious, it began violently whipping its neck back and forth, trying to throw Ricky off.
Then—
BOOM!
With a powerful swing, it smashed Ricky against the shoreline, creating a crater on impact.
Yet—
Ricky didn't let go.
Not with his claws. Not with his jaws.
So the plesiosaur did it again.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Over and over, it slammed Ricky into the ground, turning the shore into a battlefield of shattered rock and debris.
Ricky's body trembled with pain, blood dripping from his mouth—
But he still refused to let go.
By now, the plesiosaur was starting to panic.
It could feel itself weakening from blood loss.
In a last-ditch effort—
SPLASH!
It dragged Ricky into the lake, using its massive body to push him down beneath the surface.
Carl clenched his fists as he watched, his body tensing instinctively.
He almost jumped in to help—
But then stopped himself.
This is Ricky's fight. His choice. I can't interfere.
Through his Observation Haki, Carl could still sense it—
Ricky was alive.
Time passed.
Seconds felt like hours.
The surface of the lake was eerily still, save for the occasional bubbles rising up.
The once-clear water was now completely red.
Then—
SPLASH!
A golden figure broke through the surface, swimming toward the shore with something clenched in its jaws.
It was Ricky.
And in his mouth—
An old, wooden box.
He barely dragged himself onto the shore before his legs collapsed beneath him, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.
Carl's eyes burned with admiration.
This guy… he really pushed himself to the absolute limit.
Carl turned his gaze back to the lake.
Floating in the center—
The plesiosaur's massive body.
Its belly, torn open by razor-sharp claws, faced up toward the sky.
Carl's lips curled into a grin.
"Well done, Ricky! You're truly the Lion King of the Straw Hats!"
Ricky let out a weak but victorious roar.
Then—his golden eyes flickered toward the old box.
Carl stepped forward, pried it open, and inside—
A fruit covered in swirling patterns.
Carl pulled out the pirated "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia", flipping through its pages as he carefully compared the fruit.
Then, after a moment—
He reached a conclusion.
"This is a Zoan-type Devil Fruit—Model: Cat-Cat Fruit, Mythical Beast Variant—Nemean Lion!"
Carl blinked in surprise.
Another Mythical Zoan?! His luck was insane!
Ricky's eyes lit up. He didn't understand all of Carl's words, but he definitely understood one:
Phantom Beast.
Carl had told him before—Mythical Zoan users were some of the strongest beings in the world.
If that was the case…
What's there to wait for?!
Without hesitation, Ricky opened his jaws wide and swallowed the entire fruit in one gulp.
Carl sighed helplessly.
"...At least wait until you know what it does before eating it…"
Before he could even finish his sentence—
Something changed.
Ricky's wounds began to heal at a visible speed, his torn flesh regenerating instantly.
Then—
His entire body trembled.
And then—
He began to grow.
Larger. Larger. LARGER.
In just moments, Ricky's massive frame towered over the landscape, his golden mane billowing like wildfire.
The sky darkened under his colossal shadow.
Carl's jaw dropped.
He quickly estimated Ricky's new height—
35 meters tall.
Taller than a full-grown giant!
At that moment, Carl understood.
The Nemean Lion—a beast from legend.
Its hide was harder than steel, its body truly invincible, and its strength was beyond comprehension.
Ricky hadn't just evolved into a king among lions.
He had ascended into a Lion God.
Carl grinned.
"Hahaha! Ricky, you've hit the jackpot! How about testing your new power?!"
Ricky, still in awe of his own strength, heard Carl's words and instinctively swung a casual swipe of his claw.
The result?
A thousand-square-meter area ahead of him was flattened in an instant.
Carl's grin widened.
That was just a basic attack?!
Ricky, too, was stunned.
Even he hadn't expected this level of raw power.
Then—
ROOOOOAAARRRR!!
Ricky raised his head and let out a deafening roar, shaking half the Prehistoric Island with its sheer force.
He had finally broken free from being the weakest.
He had officially joined the ranks of the strongest within the Straw Hat Crew!
Carl clenched his fists, feeling nothing but excitement.
The stronger his crew became, the stronger the Straw Hats as a whole.
And the stronger they were—
The less fear they would have against any future enemies.
Ricky finally shrank back down, his massive body coiling comfortably around Carl's legs as he rubbed his head against him like a giant, affectionate house cat.
Carl laughed.
"Ricky, you're no longer just the Lion King—"
"You're the Lion God. The strongest lion on the sea, bar none!"
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