Chapter 128: A Different Kirby

Few people knew that Luo Lan had returned to the base. After all, no matter how impressive he was, he was still only an ordinary Navy captain—not someone who would draw attention everywhere he went.

That did not mean nobody knew, however. Vice Admiral Tsuru and little Donna, for instance, were well aware of it.

The moment Luo Lan returned to his own small courtyard, a tiny figure came flying toward him and crashed straight into his arms.

“Big brother, I missed you!”

Little Donna hugged Luo Lan tightly, looking terribly aggrieved. Her formerly chubby little face was scrunched into a miserable knot.

“But big brother is back now, isn’t he?” Luo Lan comforted her, while also offering Vice Admiral Tsuru an apologetic look.

“Captain Luo Lan, Donna has been very well-behaved during this time. Gion likes her very much as well.”

Vice Admiral Tsuru smiled kindly. After saying this, she left with her attendants, leaving the courtyard and the evening entirely to the brother and sister.

Once he had soothed Donna, Luo Lan led the three of them into the courtyard.

Inside the house, Nami went into the kitchen alone and began preparing dinner for everyone.

Zoro, meanwhile, took advantage of the time to continue training in the yard.

During this latest mission, he had realized that despite all his efforts, not only had he failed to catch up with Luo Lan, the gap between them seemed to have grown even wider.

Compared with the others, his progress was indeed obvious.

The clearest example was Pengliss. At the beginning, Zoro had been utterly outmatched by him. Now, however, Pengliss would inevitably lose to Zoro within ten exchanges.

But if Zoro wanted to become the world’s greatest swordsman, using Pengliss as his benchmark was utterly meaningless.

In the sitting room, little Donna kept pestering Luo Lan to tell her stories about the journey.

Most of what had happened along the way involved fighting and killing, of course, so Luo Lan could not possibly tell her everything. He could only pick out some of the more interesting events.

For example, the giants of Little Garden and Chopper of the Drum Kingdom.

Before they knew it, night had fallen.

In the dim light, a tall figure slowly pushed open the door and walked inside.

But when the figure saw the lights glowing within the house, it suddenly froze, sensing that something was not quite right.

After rubbing his eyes and bringing his vision back into focus, he was instantly filled with delight.

“Captain Luo Lan, Mr. Zoro, Miss Nami—you’re back!”

When the figure saw Luo Lan and the others, he looked extremely excited and immediately threw himself at Zoro.

“Isn’t this Koby? We haven’t seen each other for more than two months, and you’ve completely transformed!”

The others did not recognize Koby in his present appearance, but Luo Lan remembered him perfectly well.

After two months of intensive training under Bogart, Koby now looked exactly like the Koby from the later part of the anime.

His body no longer resembled that of an elderly man, stooped and hunched over as it had before.

His glasses were gone, replaced by a pair of bright, lively eyes.

As for his skin, after two months of training, it was actually fairer than before.

The short, dark-skinned runt he had once been had transformed into a handsome young man.

With his present appearance, people would probably believe it even if someone claimed Koby had undergone plastic surgery.

To be honest, if you said otherwise, people might even mock you for it.

“This is Koby?”

Sure enough, the moment Luo Lan spoke, Nami and Zoro were left dumbfounded.

Their eyes widened, and their jaws nearly dropped to the floor.

Was this really the same person?

Could such a mature and outstanding young man truly have anything to do with that short, awkward, dark-skinned brat from before?

“Zoro, we met in Shells Town. Don’t you remember? You even sparred with Captain Luo Lan back then. You lost in the end, of course, but you did manage to cut off a piece of Captain Luo Lan’s clothing.”

Koby came over to Zoro and explained.

“That’s enough. I believe you’re Koby.”

At the mention of that incident, Zoro immediately covered his face with one hand, feeling too ashamed to face anyone.

It had happened so long ago, yet someone had brought it up again.

“You’ve changed so much. If Luo Lan hadn’t told me you were Koby, I really couldn’t have connected the person you were with the person you are now.”

Nami was equally astonished.

She had no idea what kind of training could change someone so completely, from the inside out.

“Surprised? I watched big brother Koby change day by day, and even I found it incredible. You two should be even more amazed.”

Little Donna spoke happily.

During this period of intensive training, she had been able to see Koby every day.

Yet every time she saw him, she still found it astonishing, because Koby seemed to become a different person from one day to the next.

It was not until a week ago that Koby’s appearance finally settled into its current form. Aside from his bearing, he had barely changed since then.

“I have Mr. Bogart to thank. He was the one who changed me. If not for him, I might still be the same useless marine I was before, fit only to remain at the base or aboard a warship as a logistics man, unable to fight on the front lines or uphold justice.”

Koby spoke from the bottom of his heart.

The training over the past two months had been painful and exhausting, but to him, every bit of it had been worthwhile.

He knew exactly what kind of person he had been before—a completely hopeless wreck.

But he also believed that the Koby he was now was no longer the same person he had been two months ago.

If a battle broke out at that very moment, he was certain he could stand alongside Captain Luo Lan and Mr. Zoro, face the enemy head-on, and fight bravely.

He would no longer cower behind them, trembling in fear as he watched his comrades fall one after another before his eyes.

“Since you’ve changed this much, I think it’s time to give you the thing Zoro found.”

Luo Lan glanced at Zoro. Seeing that Zoro did not care in the slightest, he took a Devil Fruit out of his system storage.

“If these two months of training hadn’t changed you, I would have left this Devil Fruit sitting there unused rather than give it to you.”

“But you’ve changed so much. I believe the Koby you are now is worthy of this fruit.”

Luo Lan slowly placed the Devil Fruit on the table and spoke with complete seriousness.

“A Devil Fruit?”

Looking at the strange-patterned fruit before him, Koby could not help trembling, despite the transformation in his mindset.

He had often heard of such things, but he had never seen one with his own eyes.

He had met quite a few Devil Fruit users, and every one of them was an exceptional expert.

There was Captain Luo Lan before him, Vice Admiral Twitch from the Calm Belt, and Admiral Sakazuki, whom he had seen at the harbor last time.

Now that Captain Luo Lan had specially prepared a Devil Fruit for him, how could he possibly remain calm?

He knew that his talent was lacking and that he was not especially intelligent. He still had a long way to go before becoming a qualified marine.

But with this Devil Fruit, he might not gain strength equal to Captain Luo Lan’s. Still, if he worked hard, catching up to Mr. Zoro should be possible.

Yet just as Koby reached out to touch the fruit, Luo Lan moved faster. He placed his hand on it and shook his head.

“Koby, it’s true that this fruit was prepared for you. But what I said was that I would give it to you only after you had changed.”

“If you had not changed at all, I would have left this fruit sitting there unused rather than give it to you.”