The laughter between the two echoed throughout the room, lingering long after. Once the laughter subsided, Bob narrowed his eyes and looked at Kaido, who was still laughing heartily. Bob spoke up.
"You've eaten a Devil Fruit, and you've been training nonstop lately—how about testing out your progress?"
Kaido laughter abruptly stopped as soon as he heard Bob suggestion, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.
"Forget it. I haven't been training that long; there's no way to see real results yet. Let's do it another time! Another time!"
Although Kaido felt that his strength might not be much different from Bob by now, the idea of actually having a match made Kaido uneasy—there was a good chance he just get beaten up badly.
So Kaido just found an excuse to refuse.
"Relax! I'm not saying we should have a fight. We're on the ship, even if I wanted to, I'd have to consider the ship structural limits!"
"How about we arm wrestle instead?"
Bob raised an eyebrow at Kaido and waved his arm in the air.
"Arm wrestling?"
Kaido hadn't expected Bob to suggest such a straightforward contest of strength. After thinking it over for a while, Kaido finally spoke.
"Sure! It's a good opportunity to test what level my body strength is at now, after eating the Devil Fruit!"
As Kaido said this, he loosened up his body. Over this training period, he could feel his physical strength rising daily by a huge margin. Using this kind of simple contest with Bob was the perfect way to figure out their difference in power—maybe he really could go toe-to-toe with Bob now!
"Haha! Let's do it!"
"But since it's a contest, we should have something riding on it, don't you think?"
"If I win, I don't want anything from you—I just want you to start training the crew tomorrow, how about that?"
Seeing Kaido agree, Bob grinned as he proposed the wager.
"All right, but what if you lose?"
Bob condition was totally fine for Kaido he was planning to start training the crew anyway, so doing it sooner rather than later made no difference. But if Bob lost, Kaido definitely wanted to make sure the condition was clear from the start.
Hearing this, Bob hesitated for a moment, about to set his own terms when Shiki words suddenly came to mind.
"If you win, you can ask for whatever you want!"
"Haha! Deal!"
The moment Bob said that, Kaido instantly perked up. If he could ask for anything—maybe even to be commander.
Without further discussion, the two got ready for their test of strength. Since there wasn't a suitable table in Kaido room, they had to use a giant piece of workout equipment as a makeshift surface. Because of the significant difference in their heights and arm lengths, a stack of barbell plates was placed under Bob elbow.
Kaido fist pressed against Bob, their arms locked together. Just as Bob was about to call start, Kaido suddenly put forth all his strength; veins bulged on his arm as his aura instantly surged.
"Dammit!"
Bob cursed under his breath and began to exert his strength in turn.
The next moment—
A sharp cracking sound rang out as cracks appeared on the equipment beneath Kaido elbow. The barbell plates under Bob arm were groaning as well from the immense pressure.
For a while—
Their arms were locked in an even stalemate, neither able to overpower the other. During this, Bob was definitely taking it easy on Kaido. Winning was a given, but Bob thought it best not to finish Kaido off in a single instant—otherwise, it would just shatter Kaido self-confidence. To nurture a suitably motivated and hard-working vice-commander, Bob wanted to make sure Kaido felt their power gap wasn't insurmountable—this way, Kaido could keep the goal of surpassing him in mind, see hope, and stay driven.
Sigh!
Thinking this, Bob couldn't help but feel a little exasperated—he really was putting in work for Kaido sake.
"Kaido, I'm about to go all out! Brace yourself!"
With that, Bob arm surged with even greater power. Sensing the new force, Kaido's expression twisted as he poured everything he had into his arm—his whole forearm seemed to grow even larger. And Bob, to make it look like he was struggling, played along with increasingly complex expressions.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound rang out from beneath their arms—the equipment under both their elbows split at the same time. At the same time, the match's result became clear: under Bob overwhelming might, Kaido arm bent further and further until, unable to resist any longer, it slammed down onto the surface.
"I lost!"
Kaido exhaled heavily, admitting defeat without hesitation. Even though he lost to Bob this time, he had no regrets at all. Because during their arm wrestling match, Kaido could see from Bob's expression that he'd really had to struggle—and that was enough for him.
"Your strength has improved rapidly. I'm sure you'll catch up to me before long."
The tension faded from Bob face as he let out a breath. His compliment to Kaido was sincere—Kaido current physical power was extremely impressive and had improved dramatically since their last sparring session. But compared to himself, Kaido still had a lot of room for growth. As for the second half of his comment, Bob was just giving Kaido motivation—he had no idea how long "before long" actually meant.
"Haha! Since I lost, I'll honor our bet and start training them tomorrow!"
Kaido burst out laughing. Given the insane increase in his abilities after eating the Devil Fruit—getting so close to Bob level—Kaido was certain that surpassing Bob was just a matter of time. It was like being handed a reassuring promise.
"Good! I'm looking forward to it!"
After saying goodbye to Kaido, Bob returned to his own room. He idly scanned through the various treasures scattered inside, confirming that nothing appeared to be missing.
Looks like no one tried to steal anything while I was away—Jojolbaf did a decent job.
Lying on his bed, Bob found himself thinking back to his fight with Zephyr. Compared to last time with Shiki, this time after fighting, Bob didn't feel noticeably hungry—probably because he hadn't taken any injuries. But in terms of strength, Bob felt it was time to reassess things.
After fighting Shiki last time, Bob figured he could handle Sengoku and Garp without much trouble. But from his battle with Zephyr, it seemed he'd underestimated the top fighters a bit. He could win, sure, but it wasn't as easy as since it took a lot more time.
Thinking of Saitama, Bob also thought of that shiny bald head. He reached up to touch his own hair, finding it as thick and full as ever. That got Bob wondering—was the reason he hadn't gone bald yet because he hadn't trained long enough, or was there some other reason?
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