Ryuo-chan, I'm Here >3<

Of course, the days at sea are long.

Don't think that King Luffy traveled the world in just a few months; the Roger Pirates didn't have such a clear goal. They spent a lot of time at sea.

You could even say that Roger was the true child of destiny, stumbling upon all the conditions needed to reach the Final Island by chance.

As for unlucky pirates, they might not even find the hiding places of the Poneglyphs or someone who could read them in their entire lives.

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

Marineford Era 1496.

Austin, now thirteen years old, was officially making a name for himself.

But Austin wasn't paying attention to that; something else caught his eye instead.

"Hey! Buggy! Good news, I've grown to two meters tall!"

"Are you an idiot? Now is hardly the time to be concerned about that!"

Buggy, who was only one meter forty-five, couldn't help but retort as he looked at Austin, who was significantly taller than him.

We're in the middle of a fight right now!

"Hahahaha... I know, I know!!"

Austin was in a great mood. He casually tilted his head and turned, dodging a few bullets aimed at him, and approached Buggy.

Zing--

His Armament Haki instantly spread across his entire arm, which he placed directly next to Buggy's temple.

Thump--

A bullet struck the back of his hand, was deflected, and fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Be careful, Buggy," Austin said with a smile.

"Huh???"

Buggy, only then realizing he had narrowly escaped death, opened his mouth wide, his eyeballs bulging, and snot about to stream out.

"I... I almost died!"

Buggy was still shaken. It was true that he had eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit and was a splitter, but he was only immune to slashes. Being shot in the head with a bullet would undoubtedly be fatal!

Patting Buggy's shoulder, Austin leaped to the edge of the ship. His Observation Haki spread out.

He could instantly sense the specific situation of the two warships pursuing them from a distance.

"They didn't even send an Admiral to deal with us; what kind of big shot did these Marines offend?"

Austin held his gun in one hand, but his gaze was fixed on Captain Roger at the bow of the ship.

Seeing Austin step forward, many crew members, including the Straw Hat crew, had been watching his actions.

Austin was becoming more and more capable of handling things on his own.

Ever since Austin awakened Conqueror's Haki, he had become particularly enthusiastic in subsequent battles.

In his own words, he wanted to engage in as many frontal battles as possible, perhaps for the improvement of his Conqueror's Haki. After all, victory and bloody battles were the best training for the spirit.

How should I put it?

The Emperor's Path Struggle has always been like this.

It was precisely because of Austin's change in style that his bounty continued to climb over the next year.

He was now a man worth five hundred million Belly!

"Leave it to me, Captain Roger. They're just a bunch of Marine grunts."

Roger hadn't intended to make a move anyway. Hearing Austin's words, he sheathed his sword and turned his gaze to the island shrouded in waterfalls in the distance.

It was Wano Country!

"Make it quick, Austin! We're going to land!!!"

"Understood!"

Austin raised his sniper rifle. His powerful Observation Haki swept over the two warships a hundred meters away, making all steel armor and iron walls seem like nothing before him.

This was another application of Observation Haki developed by Austin, an almost clairvoyant, god-like perspective.

It was somewhat similar to Mantra.

Adjusting his breathing, Austin's eyes suddenly burst with crimson light.

Scenes of explosions flashed before his eyes. Predicting the future was no longer his pursuit.

What he was trying to see was...

a more distant future.

With a short gunshot, a black Armament Haki bullet almost instantly disappeared into the air, with a faint sonic boom.

After a brief silence.

"Boom--!!"

It was like a chain reaction. After a series of impacts, consecutive explosions followed!

Amidst the groans and screams, a giant steel ship slowly capsized and sank into the depths of the sea.

This scene clearly terrified the Marines on the nearby warship. They stood there, dumbfounded, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

"You can tell where the ammo storage is from hundreds of meters away? You're lying!!! How is that even possible???"

The Rear Admiral on the adjacent ship, witnessing all of this firsthand, was on the verge of collapse. He quickly regained his senses and, with his mouth agape, barked orders to his soldiers, "Retreat!! Turn the ship!!"

"We're no match for a monster like that!!!"

He immediately ordered the ship to turn, but it was obvious they hadn't realized that a few hundred meters was no different from being right next to someone for a strong individual.

"Someone's charging at us!!!"

"The target's too fast, I can't see!"

"It's Black Gun Austin!!!"

Seeing Austin's figure leap through the air, the members of the Roger Pirates showed no surprise. They all leaned over the side of the ship, awaiting a battle with no suspense.

The survivors on the Navy warship, seeing that the Oro Jackson wasn't heading towards them, also breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, they were Marines from the New World. Rear Admiral Teslo, the commanding officer of the two ships, was clearly not an unknown figure.

Facing this recently renowned young pirate, He had Two-Colored Haki at his disposal and was confident he could hold Austin back for a while.

As long as they could stall for time until the warship got further away, they could all gang up on one person and take him down easily, right?

"Black Gun Austin! If you've got guts, come at me..."

Pfft!

The surrounding Marines, who had also thought they'd escaped and hadn't had time to celebrate, had their smiles freeze on their faces.

"Dying with a smile is the greatest mercy I can offer you."

At some unknown point, Austin had already appeared on the deck. He lightly flicked the blood from his blade, And looked back at the smiling Marine Rear Admiral's head on the ground.

There was no need for surprise, as he had already seen this scene before drawing his sword.

The surrounding Marines' expressions shifted from surprise to despair as if they were performing a Peking Opera face-changing act.

Austin moved with unhurried grace, essentially killing one with each strike.

Perhaps out of fear of being killed, two Marines had even hidden themselves in the kitchen.

"Hey, Marines, shouldn't you have been prepared to die before attacking?

Being a deserter king isn't something to be proud of."

Austin certainly wouldn't go easy on them. If he were some weakling pirate, he'd surely be imprisoned for life even if he wasn't killed. He wasn't some saint.

However, there was an unexpected bonus. The Marine Rear Admiral's sword seemed to be a good one.

It had a black, patterned blade, a long and heavy feel, and unlike most katanas, it wasn't curved. It lacked excessive hilt decorations, resembling more of a rapier.

Overall, it was somewhat similar to Gambler's Fireline, but longer and more ornate.

Austin didn't recognize famous swords, but he felt it was definitely better than his own common longsword, and it was long enough.

Long enough to match his three-meter height.

Taking his spoils of war, Austin stepped on Geppo and returned to the Oro Jackson.

Perfect timing.

He also wanted to see if there was any difference between the Ryuo of Wano Country and the Armament Haki flowing technique that Vice-Captain Rayleigh had just taught him.