C65:-OnePiece_TL_WBPirates_Ron

65. Teach’s Advice. Looking for the Copy Target.

│3rd Person POV│

[Grand Line, New World, Beehive Island…]

Hearing Teach’s bullshit, Ron was tempted to burst out laughing!

Vice Admiral level? What a joke! Someone who could leave scars on the face of red-haired Shanks— even if he at that time wasn’t one of the Four Emperors— may not be at the Admiral level, but should at least be at the Admiral Candidate level.

However, Teach’s words may hold some truth in them. By hiding his true strength for decades, he didn’t probably have enough experience against truly strong people.

In the Canon World, Ace was able to engage in a prolonged battle with Teach.

In Ron’s opinion, it was likely due to Teach’s inexperience with his Devil Fruit that he took so long to defeat Ace.

Moreover, Teach was only able to capture Ace because of the latter’s stubbornness of never running from a fight, leading to a chain of events that started the Summit War.

"That's quite impressive, too. I can't even fathom how long it'll take me to reach that level," Ron remarked, skillfully hiding his true feelings deep inside his heart.

Instead, he expressed wistfully, "Even though I've attained the Commodore level, I can already feel that growing stronger from now on would be incredibly hard.

“Teach, do you have any other ways to grow stronger quickly? I want to reach the Vice Admiral level as soon as possible."

This wasn't just a question to tease Teach into revealing more of his abilities. Ron genuinely needed to become stronger.

As the heir to Whitebeard, the potential dangers he might face in the future were immense.

To truly ensure self-protection, reaching the Vice Admiral level was the minimum requirement.

Armed with his copied Devil Fruit powers, he could then navigate the challenges more effectively, similar to Ace in the Canon World.

With his strength at the Elite Vice Admiral level and his Logia-type Flare-Flare Fruit, he was able to roam the first half of the Grand Line on his own.

Only when he encountered Teach— a pirate from the New World— did he face some difficulties.

On the other hand, the current Ace was not that strong yet.

However, he would become much stronger than the Canon Ace as this world’s Ace was also rigorously training his body with the Enhanced Marine Six Styles.

"It depends on the path you choose for your future!" Teach explained patiently, adopting a teaching tone of voice.

Though he wanted to strangle the little bastard in front of him for asking such questions, with years of experience staying in the shadows, he didn’t let his intrusive thoughts win.

"After reaching the Commodore level, each advancement brings about significant changes in your strength.

“There’s no way to quickly boost your strength from this stage. You need to make a choice, such as focusing on physical skills, or Haki, or swordsmanship, or sniper skills, and so on.

"You must choose one primary method and consistently work hard on it to reach the utmost level. This way, your strength will continue to grow.

“Take Commander Marco, for example; he focuses on his medical skills more. Commander Jozu mostly trains his Devil Fruit ability and Haki. Commander Vista prioritizes swordsmanship and Haki."

Teach paused to take a breather before continuing, "What you need to do is select one or two primary methods, constantly train them, master them, and transform them into your strongest suit."

Ron listened attentively, while he had not expected Teach to start giving him any real advice, he didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Devil Fruit's abilities, Haki, and physical skills were all critical aspects he urgently needed to bolster.

While he had the Phoenix power and the Enhanced Marines Six Styles, as well as awakening all three types of Haki, these were still in their infancy.

Achieving true combat effectiveness remained a formidable task.

Additionally, Whitebeard had advised him to learn swordsmanship or any weapon, suggesting it would be beneficial to perfectly complement the Tremor Tremor Fruit's power.

In Ron's opinion, if he had to learn swordsmanship, he must reach at least the standards of a great swordsman who could use flying slashes and cutting steel.

Otherwise, how could any weaker swordsmanship carry the power of the Tremor Tremor Fruit?

Therefore, he will need to train in more directions in the future, and the difficulties of advancing his strength will become more and more significant, requiring more effort.

Contemplating all this, Ron took a deep breath before saying, "Alright! Next, I will focus on practicing Haki and physical skills.

“After I have trained these two to a certain level, I will continue to develop my Devil Fruit abilities more or learn other methods, such as swordsmanship."

Upon hearing this, Teach narrowed his eyes.

Ron's choice was undoubtedly the best one.

After all, whether you are a Devil Fruit user, a Martial Artist, or a swordsman, the fundamentals are still your base physique.

A strong body and Haki are the necessary conditions to become a top powerhouse.

Thinking of this, Teach said, "Your choice is very good! Most people make this choice after reaching the Commodore level.

“How high you will reach in the future, it really all depends on your body and Haki unless you have truly top-notch Devil Fruit abilities.

“Although your copied Phoenix Fruit is not weak, to be honest, it still has some flaws. Its biggest drawback is that you won’t be able to awaken it.

“So, there is really no need to waste too much time in developing the Phoenix Fruit. On the contrary, your body and Hak are the most basic and critical abilities.

“If you strengthen them, you will be even more powerful. According to the information I know, it is most suitable to first train your body and Haki to the level of Vice Admiral, and then learn other methods and develop new ways to use Devil Fruits if you have one."

After hearing Teach's words, Ron agreed with him. After all, Luffy did the same in the Canon World.

To some extent, he could trust Teach’s view on this matter as he was a genuinely strong person.

After all, after Whitebeard and Ace died in the Canon World, the strongest person from all the Whitebeard Pirates– whether they were in the crew or not– was Teach.

Of course, Teach at this moment was not that strong. Without the Dark-Dark Fruit, Teach wouldn’t be able to defeat Marco as the latter would just tire out the former using his incredible resilience.

When he thought of this, Ron looked at Teach, "Then it's decided. Teach, thank you for your advice! Anyway, we should get back to the topic at hand.

“Now that I can copy another Devil Fruit, we should quickly locate the guy with the Amp Amp Fruit. Otherwise, he may end up dead and we will miss the chance to copy it.”

"You are right!"

Hearing this, Teach also reacted.

Without any hesitation, he looked at a certain area and said, "Follow me! That guy is fighting with Izou right now. If we rush over quickly, we should be able to reach them before this guy is killed.

“There is no doubt that with Commander Izou's strength, that guy won't last long. After we beat him until he loses his resistance, you can complete the copying of his Devil Fruit."

As he spoke, Teach moved forward quickly.

Ron didn't hesitate and ran after him.

While running, he didn't pay much attention to Teach as he attempted his newly unlocked Observation Haki to find Izou.

Soon, he successfully sensed Izou’s aura even before the latter entered his field of vision.

A few moments later. He could see that opposite Izou, there was a strong man who was three and a half meters tall, with bulging muscles, a bald head, and blue veins popping out, fighting with him.

This guy did not look weak.

His Armament Haki also appeared to be relatively strong. A black metallic layer could be seen covering his arms, legs, and chest area.

Even Izou’s Haki-infused bullets had little effect on him.

At this moment, the one who was on the back foot wasn’t the Amp Amp Fruit user but Izou.