Come Dip Beans, Austin!

Just like that, the great battle lasted for three days.

Austin's monstrous strength had earned the recognition of everyone in the White Group.

Sinister and powerful—completely overpowered.

Fortunately, on the fourth day, both sides finally called a truce.

They took out supplies and treasure chests from their own ships and began trading like street vendors.

The high-intensity fighting and Haki training had also left Austin somewhat exhausted. He needed time to slowly become proficient and consolidate what he had learned.

However, he was not particularly interested in trading. After all, his entire fortune consisted of one Devil Fruit, along with some Beli and treasure he had received in his daily shares.

After wandering around for half the day, he only traded some treasure with the White Group for a portion of Seastone. It would be convenient whether he used it to make bullets or for other purposes.

"Buggy, Shanks, are you two going to keep standing there like idiots?"

Austin sat on a fallen tree trunk behind them, looking speechlessly at the two boys standing with their hands on their hips and smug expressions on their faces.

"They've been staring at us the whole time, Austin!"

"Have they?"

Across from them, the little Marco who had been taken down by a single shot sat cross-legged with bandages wrapped around him. Beside him was a small, dark, chubby boy covered in equally thick bandages.

Marshall D. Teach!

One of the future Four Emperors, the traitorous Blackbeard.

Yet the two of them did not seem to be watching Buggy and Shanks. Instead, they seemed more focused on Austin, who was eating.

"Are those guys apprentice pirates?"

Teach looked seriously at the three of them and asked.

"Yeah. They've been on the Roger Pirates for a long time."

As an old crewman who had followed Whitebeard from the beginning, Marco was quite familiar with the people on Roger's ship. He had known about the three little ones for a long time.

He just had not expected that black-haired guy to be so strong, far beyond anything he had anticipated.

"How could that be... That kind of monster is only an apprentice on Roger's ship!?"

Cold sweat trickled down Teach's forehead. The wound on his left shoulder still ached faintly, and the internal damage hurt far more than it appeared to.

The other two clearly did not look strong at all.

How could the difference between them be so enormous?

Their first meeting with Austin, and Austin's overwhelming strength, had clearly already left a considerable psychological shadow on him.

While the two of them scrutinized the three little ones, the trio was also observing the people across from them.

"Hey, Austin, Shanks, you noticed it too, right!"

"Mm."

"That guy seems like he hasn't slept during any of the truces these past two nights!"

"Why? Is not sleeping impressive?"

"No, I heard he hasn't slept since he was born."

"That's a genuine monster!"

When Austin heard that, his attention was entirely on something else.

Buggy had apparently really been watching Teach for three whole days. The more Austin thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.

As for Blackbeard, Austin could not say he disliked him, nor could he say he liked him.

Strictly speaking, Blackbeard's greed, lust, and backstabbing behavior fit the world's stereotypical image of pirates much better.

Roger and Luffy's sort were more like travelers wearing pirate costumes.

The reason Austin had given Teach special attention with that shot earlier was also to test his abilities. After all, leaving a scar on the face of an adult Shanks was no easy feat.

However, judging from that shot, Blackbeard was still just a kid for now.

Austin had no interest in constantly scaring children for fun.

He merely turned his gaze toward the top of a massive tree, where Roger, Whitebeard, and Oden were discussing something, occasionally breaking into arguments.

Austin had even seen cracks in space being shattered apart...

"Looks like the journey is really entering its final countdown."

He slowly swallowed a mouthful of juice.

Austin sank into thought.

"So Oden has already become a member of the Roger Pirates?"

The Roger Pirates set sail once more. Buggy looked at the samurai aboard the ship and asked in disbelief.

"Well... more or less. He's basically borrowed from Whitebeard."

Austin did not react too strongly to this. On the contrary, he now had a chance to continue asking Oden about Ryou.

Although he felt that the Ryou he had secretly learned was not much different from the genuine version, asking the original user would surely be more comprehensive.

What if there were some special techniques he had not figured out?

Austin carried his sword and slowly walked toward Oden, who was at the center of the banquet.

Then he slowly drew it, startling Oden and the other crew members. The atmosphere stiffened somewhat.

But contrary to their expectations, Austin was not there to fight.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm here to ask about Ryou."

Whew~

Oden let out a sigh of relief. He truly did not want to fight that shameless brat again. He could never hit him and would only get beaten up himself; it was practically torture for him.

There was nothing Oden could not teach about this application of Armament Haki called Ryou. After all, they were companions now.

However, after he asked Austin about his mastery of Ryou, he was a little dumbfounded.

Austin merely raised his fist, and layers of red Armament Haki began to spread across the surface of his body.

Like flowing water, it shot forward with a distant swing, and the wine bottle in Oden's hand exploded as though it had been hit by the Chop-Chop power.

"May I ask if there's anything that still needs improving?"

Austin smiled, completely lacking the terrifying appearance he had shown in battle before. "I figured it out myself during the fighting over the past two days."

Hearing that, Oden merely opened his mouth, yet did not know what to say.

Because there was nothing he could teach. What Austin had demonstrated and figured out was the most authentic form of Ryou-infused Armament Haki.

Moreover, he even suspected that Austin had known it all along and was now just toying with him.

After all,

Could someone in this world really improve that quickly?

Was he even human?

Amid Oden's silence, Austin was coldly ignored and left.

What the hell? I only annoyed you a few times with Future Sight, and you're holding such a grudge?

What a petty man.

He had used that move to annoy so many people, yet Oden was the only one with such a huge problem. Couldn't Oden look for the problem in himself?

After failing to gain any advice, Austin could only silently leave the center of the banquet beneath the monster-like gazes of the crew.

Perhaps being too outstanding sometimes led to isolation.

Left with no choice, Austin went to find his two best buddies to kill some time.

A sweep with Observation Haki revealed that the two were at the stern, still diligently training.

Honestly, the results of their training were no longer of any use to Austin.

What he had learned from Rayleigh and Roger had already spoiled his tastes. There was no longer any point in using Observation Haki to copy Shanks's training.

So he might as well rest for a while and train the duration of his Future Sight. Working to extend it from three seconds into the future to four seconds was better than anything else.

However, he had not expected that when they saw him, Buggy would merely greet him before continuing to slack off.

But Shanks became fired up.

He set down the dumbbell in his hand, his face full of delight when he saw Austin.

Then he looked at Austin with soaring fighting spirit and drew the long blade from his waist.

"Let's fight, Austin!!"

Austin: ???