Shanks, What Face Do You Have? Not a Single Strand.

Inside it was the Devil Fruit he had obtained three years ago, Paramecia type—the Warp Fruit.

In the original story, this was the Devil Fruit ability of Van Augur, the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates, It could be said to be a Devil Fruit perfectly suited for a sniper.

But for Austin, it was naturally more than just a sniper support fruit.

When his strength could no longer advance, Austin might consider eating this Devil Fruit related to space, Once developed to awakening, it might bring Austin many surprises, such as instantly teleporting all of an enemy's attacks thousands of miles away; quickly teleporting to achieve a "Kamui Phasing" effect, rendering all attacks immune; or casually teleporting Devil Fruit users into the sea...

If the Paw-Paw Fruit could inflict pain, and travel the world, why couldn't his Warp Fruit?

In Austin's opinion, while Mythical Zoan Types were indeed powerful, Paramecia types were not weak, especially those involving conceptual abilities.

As for why he wasn't eating it now...

Austin was waiting.

Because he was worried about a certain speculation: whether Devil Fruit users would be rejected by the Final Island before the right time, In the original story, Buggy suddenly came down with a high fever just before reaching the island, causing him to miss the Great Treasure, While everyone else showed no such symptoms.

The biggest difference between Buggy and the others was that Buggy was a user of the Chop-Chop Fruit.

So Austin didn't dare to gamble. The fruit wouldn't run away anyway, and he could afford to wait a couple of years.

Moreover, during these two years, he could focus his energy on improving his Haki, after all, Teacher Kaido had said, "Only Haki reigns supreme over all."

Austin would naturally not abandon the root for the branches, turning himself into a Devil Fruit user whose abilities seemed formidable but would crumble upon encountering Conqueror's Haki Infusion—a glass cannon.

Wasn't Kid formidable?

He could easily injure a Four Emperor with his awakened electro-magnetic cannon, with a single shot causing entire fleets to disappear, But his own Haki couldn't keep up. Shanks, using Future Sight, seized a slight opening and instantly killed him with a Sword God-level evasion, as easily as playing with a dog.

Defeating him was as simple as slaughtering a chicken.

Therefore, no matter what, Austin would never give up on practicing Haki, He wanted to master the world's hardest Armament Haki, possess Future Sight that saw further than anyone else, and Conqueror's Haki that was second to none.

Sailing with the Roger Pirates was currently the fastest way for him to improve his Haki, and it could be considered replicating Shanks' path to rise...

"Knock, knock..."

In the moment Austin was lost in thought, a knock sounded at the door, "Uncle Bitam?"

A strange red glint flashed in Austin's eyes, and an image of a fat man opening the door immediately appeared before him.

After putting on his pants, Austin opened the door, and sure enough, it was his sniper master, Van Augur, the sniper of the Roger Pirates.

"Austin, you're not asleep yet?"

Bitam held a long, staff-like object wrapped in bandages and patted Austin's shoulder familiarly.

Austin nodded and invited him in to sit, "What is this...?"

"I'm here to congratulate you, Austin. Not everyone has the talent for Conqueror's Haki."

Bitam said with a chuckle and handed the object in his hand to Austin.

It had to be said that as Austin's master, Bitam was quite competent, diligently teaching him more applications of Observation Haki and sniping techniques. He deserved to be called "Master" by Austin.

Austin took the object and immediately knew what it was the moment he held it.

It was a long gun, And it was quite heavy...

Austin unwrapped the bandages layer by layer, revealing a gleaming black sniper rifle. Its design was particularly cool, and both the barrel and the scope were made of excellent materials without exception.

These materials are really good...

It's all fucking Seastone!

Holy crap...

Austin didn't know what to say. He had originally planned to become a Devil Fruit user who could fight, defend, and snipe. Now what?

Were the teleportation ability and the sniper rifle mutually exclusive?

"Uh... it's indeed a good gun!"

Austin looked at Bitam's expectant eyes and couldn't bring himself to say anything unsatisfactory, He'd just have to use it wrapped in bandages from now on.

Moreover, this is truly a fine rifle. Any sniper accustomed to firearms would know immediately upon picking it up that it can shoot accurately for several thousand meters without any issues.

If the bullets were coated with Armament Haki or Devil Fruit abilities, they could theoretically travel even further.

"Hahahaha, of course! I spent a huge sum of money on this back then. I just got so used to my old partner in hand that I never replaced it. Lucky you, kid!"

Bitam laughed heartily, clearly pleased that such a good rifle had found a worthy owner.

Because Austin deserved it.

Snipers who possessed Conqueror's Haki were already rare, and over the years, Austin was the only one to emerge. His future was limitless.

Without Conqueror's Haki, he would never be one of the world's strongest snipers. But Austin had that potential.

Therefore, this action was an investment in the future of sniping!

"I originally planned to give it to you tomorrow, but I saw Shanks was still awake, so I figured you must be awake too and came over today."

Hearing Bitam's words, Austin, who had been fiddling with his new weapon, paused and raised an eyebrow, asking curiously, "What's Shanks been going crazy about in the middle of the night?"

"Probably because of you."

Seeing Austin's confusion, Bitam's lips curved into a smile. "Seeing someone your age easily defeat an enemy ship's executive, Shanks must have felt a bit provoked."

He then burst into laughter.

As someone raised by Captain Roger from a young age, Shanks possessed exceptional talent and was seen by Roger as the successor to his will.

And Austin was his own disciple.

Now, Austin > Shanks.

In a sense, wasn't Bitam > Roger?

"Shanks, it seems, also possesses the heart of a strong fighter."

This was understandable. When he first joined the crew, Shanks, already gifted the Straw Hat by Roger, had developed an initial mindset of looking down on the world and was entrusted with the expectation of being the "King of the Next Generation."

Austin's appearance undoubtedly placed a ceiling on him, the unrivaled one of the same age.

Shanks, who had traveled with the Roger Pirates since childhood, was being surpassed by Austin, who grew up in a town. It was like the talented young master being unable to defeat the commoner blessed by fate.

Did that mean Captain Roger's will shouldn't be inherited by him, and the Straw Hat shouldn't belong to him?

Shanks couldn't accept it.

Even though Austin hadn't intentionally targeted him, the inherent gap still made Shanks subconsciously compare himself, hoping to one day become the MVP of the trio again.

The night after Austin unleashed his Conqueror's Haki during the day, Shanks began to exert himself.

"Keep it up, Austin. A moment's carelessness and you'll be surpassed."

Austin didn't feel much pressure from Bitam's words.

After all, he never intended to inherit any will or become the Pirate King.

His desire to see what the One Piece was stemmed purely from nostalgia and curiosity.

If he truly wanted to be the Pirate King, it would be simple. After Roger died, he could just take Laugh Tale and the Eternal Pointer, revisit the places, and announce that he had found the Great Treasure.

However, he did value strength.

He couldn't possibly want to have some fun later, show off a bit, only to be forced to flee because Shanks interfered. After all, that guy was notoriously meddlesome.

Shanks might have some face with others, but in front of him and Buggy, he had none at all.