The Strongest Rookie (3) / A Celestial Dragon... Died

"At that size, he could still react that fast? Impressive—" His attack having failed, Arthur landed again. Holding his sword in both hands, he did not charge again. Instead, he raised Excalibur high. A strange golden light appeared on the magnificent blade, and a majestic, sacred aura radiated from him, making Urouge's expression change once more.

In an instant, Urouge's aura changed as well. His hands tightened around the massive pencil resting on his shoulder, and the muscles on his nearly four-meter frame swelled. Rows of veins bulged along his arms outside his sleeves, as though he were building up tremendous power.

Whoosh—

Urouge swung the massive pencil again, smashing it down at Arthur. There was no doubt that if Arthur took the blow head-on, he would end up like a fly or mosquito struck by a flyswatter.

"Swish—"

But fast as he was, Arthur was faster.

Before the massive pencil could strike, an enormous golden sword pressure roared forth like a wave, completely engulfing Urouge and his weapon and carrying him forward as it spread without losing any of its force.

The enormous sword pressure carved a wide, deep path straight down the street.

The smooth, straight cut left the nearby onlookers feeling suffocated.

The golden sword pressure extended hundreds of meters, knocking down building after building in its path and catching many people who had no time to flee, including Marines, pirates, bounty hunters, and others.

When the sword pressure dissipated, the streets of Area 21 were in ruins, the enormous cut glaringly conspicuous.

Many people injured by the sword energy lay on the ground, wailing and screaming.

Urouge, who had taken the attack head-on, lay unconscious on the ground, clutching his massive black pencil, sword wounds covering his body.

Supernova No. 11—"Mad Monk" Urouge, defeated!

After two probing exchanges, Arthur had gotten serious.

Urouge had been defeated by Arthur in three moves.

"He's still alive? Impressive." Excalibur dissolved into golden light in Arthur's hand. He walked up to Urouge and, seeing that he was only gravely injured and unconscious, voiced his admiration again.

That strike had not been Excalibur, which converted mana into light, but it had still been a serious strike from a top-tier swordsman.

Arthur was confident that the power of that strike was no weaker than the one Mihawk had unleashed during the Paramount War.

Urouge had taken that sword pressure head-on at almost point-blank range and survived with his body of flesh and blood. That was enough to make Arthur see him in a new light.

"W-was that the strength of the 'Knight of Knights'?"

"He's... he's a monster!"

"'Mad Monk,' one of the Supernovas, was beaten in fewer than three moves against him. That's terrifying."

"..."

The street was quiet, but how could those whispers escape Arthur's Observation Haki (A++) and its ability to hear through radio waves?

Arthur looked around, and everyone his gaze swept over hurriedly fled and hid like turtles withdrawing into their shells.

Even those who did not hide lowered their heads in fear.

The only ones who did not avoid his gaze were the few Supernovas watching the fight.

Supernova No. 1 in one of the taverns, Eustass Kid, not only refused to look away but flashed a savage, crazed grin when Arthur looked at him.

They did not know their own limits—

Arthur regarded their reactions with indifference.

"Dong Stallion!" Arthur suddenly called toward the sky.

"Neigh—"

With a whinny, a magnificent white horse galloped down from the sky and landed beside Arthur.

"Are you going to fight, Fallen Monk Pirates?" Arthur kicked the giant pencil aside, grabbed Urouge by the collar, and effortlessly lifted the four-meter giant. Mounting the King's Horse, he spoke calmly to a group of monks in monastic robes gathering around him.

"Where are you taking our captain?" One of the monks stepped forward, his face tense but his courage mustered, and looked Arthur in the eye.

"I'm a bounty hunter. Where else would I take a pirate I caught?" Arthur replied with a question and a smile. "If you have the nerve, come break him out of the Marine prison."

"Neigh—"

With that, Arthur carried Urouge and rode the King's Horse into the sky, flying straight toward Area 66 of the Sabaody Archipelago.

Chapter 69: The Strongest Rookie (3)

Marineford, Marine Headquarters.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Come in—creak!"

Someone knocked on the door of the Fleet Admiral's Office. After a heavy, serious voice gave permission, the sound of the door opening followed.

"Reporting to the Fleet Admiral! Important intelligence has arrived from the Sabaody Archipelago." A Marine from the intelligence division entered carrying a document, saluted Sengoku, who was buried in work, and called out loudly.

"Bring it here." Hearing this, Sengoku looked up from the documents he was handling and held out his hand to the Marine.

"Yes, sir!" The Marine hurriedly handed him the document.

"A request for military funds and Seastone Handcuffs?" Sengoku skimmed the document, and his gaze sharpened at once. Rather than read on, he looked at the Marine and asked gravely, "What is this about?"

"Sir! The Supernovas have reportedly arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago one after another, including the world's number one bounty hunter, the 'Knight of Knights.' He fought 'Mad Monk' Urouge, captain of the Fallen Monk Pirates, in Area 21, defeated him, and brought him to the Marine base in Area 66 to collect the bounty. He also wants to buy Seastone Handcuffs from us," the Marine reported loudly. "The base lacks sufficient funds, and the senior officer cannot provide Seastone Handcuffs to a bounty hunter without authorization, so they could only submit a request to headquarters."

"I see. That boy who made such a stunning debut has already reached the end of the first half of the Grand Line?" Sengoku propped his chin on his hands, his gaze thoughtful, as though considering something.

Sengoku had naturally been keeping an eye on the "Knight of Knights," whose real name was unknown.

He had defeated a Shichibukai as soon as he made his debut, and that Shichibukai had been Crocodile, who had eaten a Logia Devil Fruit. Leaving his strength aside, his potential alone was enough to draw Sengoku's attention.

Fortunately, the boy who had defeated Crocodile seemed to be someone who sought fame rather than profit.

Not only had he avoided going astray, but he was also hailed as a breath of fresh air among bounty hunters.

Just as his title said, he was a knight among knights.

"Seastone Handcuffs? Does he intend to use them against the other Supernovas?" A smile appeared on Sengoku's face. "It looks like he intends to stir up quite a commotion in the Sabaody Archipelago."

"Approved. Two billion two hundred million in funds and ten pairs of Seastone Handcuffs." Sengoku signed the document and stamped it, then said to himself, "Let's see whether your intentions are what I think they are."

Sabaody Archipelago, Area 66.

"How generous. They actually gave them to me for free." Arthur, the knight leading a white horse out of the Marine base, carried a black case and glanced at the small backpack on the saddle. Inside were exactly ten pairs of Seastone Handcuffs, no more and no less.

"Did he figure it out so quickly? As expected of Sengoku the strategist." A faint smile appeared on Arthur's face. The ten pairs of handcuffs matched the ten remaining Supernovas exactly.

Ten pairs of Seastone Handcuffs were a valuable fortune. The Marines would surely have refused to sell them to anyone else, but Sengoku had given them to Arthur without charging a penny.

Sengoku's action was not only a test of Arthur's intentions, but also an attempt to win his favor.

Arthur did not care in the slightest.

"Ding! You have won this battle. Accumulated victories: 52!"

It was worth mentioning that Arthur had gained a Victory Index the moment "Mad Monk" Urouge fell unconscious.

With victories becoming harder to obtain, Arthur had gained only two since several months ago.

Name: Arthur Pendragon

Gender: male

Gender: male

Height: 181 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Strength: C+ (B)

Endurance: C+ (B+)

Agility: C+ (A)

Mana: C+

Luck: A~EX

Innate skills: Instinct (A), Mana Burst (A), Giant Beast Hunting (A), Charisma (D)

Skills: Observation Haki (A++), Armament Haki (C+), Swordsmanship (A), Spear Technique (B)

...

After fifty consecutive victories, Arthur had gained two more from Enel and Urouge, and the rewards from those two victories had been exceptionally rich.

Enel's in particular had provided an all-around enhancement even greater than Crocodile's, giving his physical attributes a huge boost and bringing them close to the bottleneck of rank C. Urouge's enhancement had finally brought him to that bottleneck.

Arthur could also feel that his mana (C+), which had remained stagnant, was close to breaking through.

Of course, what pleased Arthur even more was that his Armament Haki, which had awakened alongside his Observation Haki but now occupied an awkward position, had risen from rank C to C+. His Swordsmanship had also moved beyond A-, reaching the level of a true top-tier swordsman.

Arthur believed that if he defeated all the remaining Supernovas, his four attributes would certainly break through to another major rank.

Once his mana rose to rank B, Arthur could remove another seal from Excalibur.

With the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's power added to that, his strength would truly be at the "monster" level.

At the thought, a gleam appeared in Arthur's eyes, and, for once, his blood began to boil.

As for whether rounding up all these Supernovas would cause a major change to the plot,

Arthur had never even considered it. Or rather, he no longer cared.

With Observation Haki (A++), the Holy Lance that had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, and his trump card, Excalibur, even Arthur did not know exactly how strong he was now.

He had many opponents, but these Supernovas were not among them, at least.

The gap between them was already like an impassable chasm, and in the future it would only become an abyss.

"First, I'll give the money to Nami. What is that girl doing..."

Arthur glanced at the black case in his hand. It was inconvenient to move around with such a large sum of money, so he shifted his attention to Nami and Robin.

Almost as soon as he turned his sight toward Nami and saw what was happening in her area, several images suddenly flashed through Arthur's mind.

Future Sight—

Chapter 70: A Celestial Dragon... Died

"Clang-clang, clang-clang... clang-dong-clang, dong-long-dong-clang..."

"Captain, will this really be all right?"

"It's fine. This guy's definitely planning to round us all up anyway... We'll strike first..."

"Huh... this woman... I want her to become my thirteenth wife. I've grown tired of the other twelve anyway, so let's have a new one."

"..."

"Honestly, shouldn't they have gone shopping in Area 30? When did they run off to Area 24?" Arthur rubbed his temples, his tone helpless but full of affection. "And now she's caught the eye of a disgusting pig."

As his sight shifted to the area where Nami was, several glimpses of the future flashed through Arthur's mind, and he heard sounds from the future as well.

Some concerned Nami and Robin, while others concerned him.

At that thought, Arthur could not help looking toward a patch of woods.

"Clang-clang, clang-clang... clang-dong-clang, dong-long-dong-clang..."

The moment he looked over, the sound of instruments suddenly came from the woods. Cymbals and drums beat together, and amid the loud, piercing call of a horn, the sound turned into rings of tangible sound waves that slowly spread outward.

"Captain, will this really be all right?"

"It's fine. This guy's definitely planning to round us all up anyway... We'll strike first..."

Through his Observation Haki, he heard that exchange from the woods.

Meanwhile...

In Area 24, the atmosphere on the civilian street was utterly silent as a procession approached slowly.

People on the street lowered their heads and knelt, not daring to look up in the slightest.