One Piece: My Crew Uses Zanpakuto

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"That's because you haven't been serious enough about your own practice," Kalifa said, shaking her head as she glanced across the gym toward Belo Betty, who stood off to the side, staring blankly down at her own open hands.

"Speaking of serious practice, that revolutionary soldier was throwing herself into it earlier," Kalifa murmured. "Could it be her improved physique boosted her Haki as well?"

"Why not just ask her instead of wondering?" Perona muttered, then floated over toward the dazed Belo Betty.

"Hey, say something! How's your strength now? Did you get stronger? Did your Armament Haki improve, or your Observation Haki?"

Nico Robin and the others drifted over as well, curious.

Belo Betty was already quite strong in her own right. Most of the crew, without the weapons Ikki had given them, couldn't have beaten her, which made sense given that she'd been one of the top officers in the Revolutionary Army.

"My Haki's been enhanced, but it looks like the color of my armor has changed too," Belo Betty said, clenching her right fist.

A flash of light followed. A strange, glowing sheen of Haki swept over her hand, and in the dim light, everyone caught what looked like cherry blossoms drifting between her knuckles.

"Is that... high-level Armament Haki?" Nico Robin said, startled.

Robin didn't have a high level of Armament Haki herself, but as one of Ikki's first partners, she'd watched him use his advanced Haki often enough to recognize it on sight.

"That's impossible. She's actually awakened high-level Armament Haki?" Perona's eyes went wide with disbelief. "Isn't that asking a bit much of a life potion?"

A flicker of disbelief crossed Ginrummy's face and the faces of the others around her. High-level Armament Haki was strong enough to do real damage to a Marine Admiral. If Belo Betty had awakened it using one of the tools Ikki had given out specifically to unlock Haki, none of them would have blinked.

But awakening it just from an S-grade life potion? Ginrummy, Perona, and the rest immediately started wondering if the potions they'd taken the day before had somehow been fake.

"See? Training pays off," Kalifa said, resting a hand on Perona's shoulder. "You never know when it'll surprise you. You'll need to work even harder from now on."

Because the two of them trained together often, and because of what Ikki had told her, Kalifa took Perona's progress seriously.

"Yeah," Perona said, and for once she didn't argue back. There was no arguing with results like Belo Betty's, and besides, she genuinely admired what Belo Betty had just pulled off.

"It really does pay off," Belo Betty said. "Looks like I owe Ikki a proper thank you later."

Having felt the full weight of the Haki now running through her, she was certain of it: this was advanced Armament Haki. After an experience like that, how could she not thank him properly?

"When you say 'thank Ikki properly,' you don't mean offering yourself, do you?" Nico Robin said, laughing.

"If Ikki's willing to have me, I'm more than willing," Belo Betty said without missing a beat.

Given the chance again, she wouldn't have hesitated the way she had before. She would have gone straight to him. And it wasn't just her Haki. She could feel her physical strength had leapt forward too, a real, significant jump. She was confident now that she could hold her own against a Marine Admiral for a while, even if actually beating one would still take time.

"That's quite the answer," Robin said, smiling. "Speaking of which, you haven't awakened the full clarity of Observation Haki yet, have you? I'm curious what happens the day you do. Maybe you'll wake up something even stronger, something that lets you glimpse the future."

"I hope so," Belo Betty said, lifting her head, her eyes bright with longing.

She understood exactly what that clarity would mean. It was a power closely tied to Observation Haki, one that helped push it toward full awakening. Her Observation Haki currently sat at an intermediate level, and reaching that deeper clarity would carry it into advanced territory.

'Advanced Observation Haki,' she thought. 'If I could master that, I might finally be able to use my Devil Fruit properly, even in the middle of a real fight.'

Belo Betty's power came from the Pump-Pump Fruit, which let her boost a wide number of allies at once. The trouble was using it in the chaos of an actual battlefield.

Cast too broadly, it risked buffing the enemy right along with her own side, so in practice she almost always strengthened her companions before a fight began rather than during one. But with a sharper Observation Haki, she was confident she could learn to target her boosts precisely even in the thick of combat.

"Everyone, keep talking without me for a minute," Belo Betty said. "I need to check in with my people in the Revolutionary Army."

She excused herself from the group, jogged off to a quiet spot, and pulled out her Den Den Mushi to call Dragon. No one moved to stop her or asked where she was going.

Not long after, the call connected.

"Calling me at a time like this," Dragon said. "Something wrong on your end again, Belo Betty? Or does Ikki have new requests?"

His voice came through calm and even.

"Dragon, it's like this. Since you finished what Ikki asked of you, he gave me a reward for it. I'm stronger than I was before."

She went on to describe, in detail, just how much stronger she'd become.

Dragon managed to keep his composure at first, but once she mentioned awakening high-level Armament Haki, he couldn't hold it back any longer.

"You awakened high-level Armament Haki, just like that? Belo Betty, are you serious?" His voice had lost its usual steadiness, edged now with real surprise.

"Chief, you know me," Belo Betty said, her tone completely serious. "I'd never joke about something like this."