Of course, days at sea were long.
Don't let King Luffy's few-month voyage around the world fool you. The Roger Pirates did not have such a clear route, and much of their time was still spent traveling.
It could even be said that Roger was the true Child of Destiny, accidentally gathering every condition needed to reach Final Island.
As for unlucky pirates, they might search their entire lives without finding the burial sites of Poneglyphs or anyone capable of reading them.
A year passed in the blink of an eye.
Marineford Era 1496.
Thirteen-year-old Austin had officially begun to make a name for himself.
But Austin did not care about that. Something else had caught his attention instead.
"Hey! Buggy! Great news! I'm two meters tall now!"
"Are you an idiot? Is this really the time to worry about that?"
Buggy, who was barely one meter forty-five, could not help complaining as he looked at Austin, who towered over him.
They were in the middle of a battle!
"HAHAHAHA... I know!!"
In an excellent mood, Austin casually tilted his head and turned, dodging several bullets aimed at him before arriving beside Buggy.
Clang—
Pitch-black Armament Haki instantly spread across his entire arm as he raised it beside Buggy's temple.
Thud—
A bullet struck the back of his hand, bounced away, and landed on the deck with a clatter.
"Watch your safety, Buggy," Austin said with a smile.
"Huh???"
Only then did Buggy realize that he had just been a hair's breadth from death. His mouth fell open, his eyes bulged, and he was so frightened that snot nearly ran out of his nose.
"I... I almost died!"
Buggy still shuddered with fear. He was indeed a Split Man who had eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit, but he was only immune to slashing attacks. If a bullet blew his head apart, he would definitely die!
Patting Buggy on the shoulder, Austin leaped to the edge of the ship and spread out his Observation Haki.
In an instant, he sensed the exact situation aboard the two warships pursuing them in the distance.
"They did not even send an admiral and still dispatched these guys to deal with us. Did these Marines offend some big shot?"
Austin held a gun in one hand, but his gaze was fixed on Captain Roger at the bow.
Seeing Austin step forward, many crew members watched his every move, including the straw-hat-wearing group.
Austin was becoming more and more capable of standing on his own.
Ever since Austin awakened Conqueror's Haki, he had become especially enthusiastic in the battles that followed.
In his own words, fighting head-on as much as possible might help Conqueror's Haki improve. After all, victory and bloody battles were the best training for one's spirit.
How should he put it?
Emperor's Path Struggle had always been like this.
It was precisely because of Austin's shift in style that his bounty continued to soar over the following year.
He was now a man worth five hundred million Beli!
"Leave it to me, Captain Roger. They're just a bunch of Marine grunts."
Roger had not intended to act in the first place. Hearing Austin's words, he simply sheathed his sword and looked toward the distant island shrouded by waterfalls.
It was Wano Country!
"End this quickly, Austin! We're going ashore!!!"
"Understood!"
Austin raised his heavy sniper rifle. His powerful Observation Haki repeatedly swept over the two warships hundreds of meters away, and all steel armor and iron walls were as good as nonexistent before him.
This was another application of Observation Haki that Austin had developed: a god's-eye view almost like X-ray vision.
It was somewhat similar to Mantra.
Adjusting his breathing, scarlet light suddenly burst from Austin's eyes.
Explosions flashed through his vision one after another. Future Sight itself had long ceased to be his goal.
What he was trying to see
was a more distant future.
With a short gunshot, a pitch-black Armament Haki bullet almost instantly vanished into the air, accompanied by a faint sonic boom.
After a brief silence.
BOOM—!!
As if triggering a chain reaction, a series of impacts rang out, followed by successive explosions!
Amid wails and screams, a massive steel warship slowly tipped over and sank into the depths of the sea.
This scene clearly terrified the Marines aboard the nearby warship. They stood rooted to the spot in shock, their eyes seeming ready to pop out of their sockets.
"He can tell where the ammunition depot is from hundreds of meters away? You've got to be kidding!!! How could something like that be possible???"
After witnessing everything firsthand, the Marine rear admiral aboard the neighboring ship was on the verge of breaking down. Then he quickly came to his senses, opened his mouth wide, and shouted orders at the soldiers.
"Retreat!! Turn the helm!!"
"We can't possibly face a monster like this!!!"
He immediately ordered the ship to turn, but they clearly had not realized that, to a strong fighter, a distance of several hundred meters was no different from being right next to each other.
"Someone's charging over here!!!"
"The target is too fast! I can't see him clearly!"
"It's Black Gun Austin!!!"
Watching Austin fly through the air on Geppo, the Roger Pirates were unsurprised. They all leaned over the ship's railings, quietly awaiting this battle with no suspense.
Seeing that the Oro Jackson was not sailing toward them, the people aboard the surviving Marine warship also breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, this was the New World. Tesoro, the Marine rear admiral commanding the two ships, was clearly not a complete nobody.
Facing this young pirate who had recently risen to fame,
he possessed Two-Colored Haki and was confident that he could hold Austin back for a while.
As long as they stalled him for a moment and the warship got farther away, would all the Marines ganging up on one person not be an easy capture?
"Black Gun Austin! If you've got the guts, come at m—"
Splat!!!
The Marines around him, who had also thought they had escaped death and had not even had time to celebrate, froze just as smiles appeared on their faces.
"To die with a smile is the greatest mercy I can offer you."
At some point, Austin had already appeared on the deck. He lightly flicked the blood from his blade.
Then he looked back at the Marine rear admiral's head on the ground, which still wore a smile.
There was nothing surprising about it. Before drawing his sword, he had already seen this scene.
The Marines around him also changed faces as swiftly as opera performers, their expressions turning from delight to despair.
Austin strolled leisurely, cutting them down one by one.
Perhaps they had been frightened out of their wits. Two Marines even hid in the kitchen.
"Hey, Marines, shouldn't you have been prepared to die in battle before you set out?
There's no place for a king of deserters here."
Austin naturally showed no mercy. If he had been some weak pirate, even if they did not kill him, they would definitely have locked him in prison for life. He was no saint.
But there was an unexpected gain as well. This Marine rear admiral's sword seemed to be a good one.
Its blade bore black patterns and had a long, heavy feel. Unlike most katana, it was not curved, and its hilt had no unnecessary decorations. It looked more like a sword cane.
Overall, it was somewhat similar to Gambler's Fireline, but longer and more ornate.
Austin did not recognize Famous Swords, but he felt that it was definitely better than the standard long sword in his hand, and it was long enough.
Long enough to use when he reached three meters tall.
Taking his spoils, Austin used Geppo to return to the Oro Jackson.
Perfect.
He also wanted to see whether Wano Country's Ryou was any different from the Armament Haki flow technique Vice-Captain Rayleigh had taught him not long ago.
Before you continue