"Throw the match? Uncle, that's not my style."
Disdain flashed in Austin's eyes. He was a man determined to suppress Red-Haired, so he could remain unrivaled in the New Era.
He wanted to become a man who would never lose in his life!!
Perhaps seeing the refusal in Austin's eyes, Bitam helplessly curled his lips.
After a long pause, he squeezed out another sentence.
"Once it's done, I'll give you half of what I earn."
"Master, you really are a great judge of character!" Austin's lips curled upward uncontrollably.
It wasn't that he lacked backbone. Interns simply got paid too little to live on. He had no choice but to bow to reality.
"Shanks, let's settle this in one move!"
"Huh?" Hearing Austin's words, Shanks, who had been toyed with until he was panting, immediately gritted his teeth. "Fine, just what I wanted!"
The crew members watching from the side also cheered. "Are they finally going to decide the winner? Go, Shanks! Don't embarrass yourself!"
"That's the spirit, Austin! Stay sharp—don't get overturned by the headwind!"
For a moment, the scene was incredibly lively, and everyone was fired up!
With the atmosphere built up to this point, Austin finally grew serious. His five fingers clenched tightly as he looked at the equally serious Shanks. Faint red glimmers seemed to burst from his slightly narrowed, disdainful eyes.
"That is...?!"
Gaban, among the onlookers, was the first to speak. A few drops of cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and his mouth hung open as though he had seen something unbelievable.
Rayleigh's pupils also contracted slightly. He stared at Austin with a grave expression. "No, he merely has the potential. He can't possibly master that level of advanced Observation Haki application at his age."
Roger was equally shocked, his smile even a little stiff. "It seems the King of the Next Generation has met an opponent! Hahahahaha!"
Meanwhile, Austin, completely focused, was clearly unaware of the high praise the three legendary pirates had given him. He was only trying his best to see Shanks's sword trajectory more clearly.
He was trying to predict it.
Just as Shanks put all his strength into unleashing the strongest slash he could manage, Austin merely watched the sharp blade-light flash past his cheek.
For an instant, he saw a blurry "trajectory."
The trajectory the blade was about to follow.
"Not a bad slash, Shanks, but unfortunately..."
"Huff..."
Austin held his breath and seized the recovery window after Shanks's move. His clenched fist slammed into Shanks's stomach with all his strength. The dull impact even left him dazed for a moment.
"Urgh—"
Shanks even vomited bile. Austin was simply using his monstrous strength to brutalize this fledgling brat.
Thud—
Young Red Hair swayed unsteadily, his eyes already rolled white as he looked ready to collapse.
"Ah—"
Seeing that Shanks was clearly no longer capable of staying conscious, Austin sighed.
Then he suddenly raised his fist high, wearing an exaggerated and perfunctory expression.
"Ahhh, my fist hurts so much! Did the recoil hurt me? It hurts, it hurts so much that I fainted... bleh."
Austin looked back at everyone, then resolutely shut his eyes and fell to the ground. As it happened, his body hit the deck at the exact same moment as Shanks's, the two of them sprawled out in starfish positions.
Then...
The entire scene fell silent.
"Fuck..." Bitam failed to hold it in, and it looked like snot was about to spray from his nose.
I told you to act, you bastard. Could you at least put a little effort into it?!
Could you possibly be any more exaggerated?!
With no other choice, Bitam forced himself to speak. "Looks like it's a draw. Sorry, everyone!"
"What???!!!" ×N
At that moment, Buggy, who had just secretly hidden away to count his private stash, walked out of the cabin. He looked at Uncle Bitam being beaten up by the crew, Shanks lying motionless, and Austin lying on the ground picking his nose.
He was completely dumbfounded.
"Don't be like that, Shanks. Balancing work and rest is important too."
Austin looked at Shanks, who was doing squats with a barbell on his back, and tried to persuade him kindly.
"Shut up, bastard! Before you lecture me, put down that steel on your back first!!!" Shanks roared with bared teeth. Even someone as good-natured as him could not help being provoked by Austin time and again.
"Ah... hahahahahaha!!!"
Austin had no response, so he could only laugh awkwardly and continue doing one-handed push-ups with over a ton of steel on his back.
"You two monsters! Can't you be quiet for even a moment?!" Buggy, hearing the conversation between these two training maniacs, immediately saw red.
He could only do curls with small dumbbells now. Forget Austin's monstrous physique—even Shanks could easily surpass him.
Because the provoked Shanks had begun growing stronger like mad, Austin had also reaped quite a few benefits while training his body.
Even Buggy, a master slacker, had ended up increasing his training intensity, and he complained about it endlessly.
The days that followed were rather dull.
To the point that Austin's few daily pleasures were reading the newspaper, fighting, training, and fishing.
However, there were too many things he wanted to learn, making it difficult to squeeze out time for his fishing hobby.
But that could not stump the clever Austin.
"Hey! Austin, haven't you caught anything yet?" Buggy leaned beside him, watching Austin sit motionlessly on the ship's rail with his eyes closed. "Isn't it almost time to train?"
Hearing that, Austin, who had been practicing expanding the range of his Observation Haki, slowly opened his eyes. The faint reddish glow vanished from his pupils.
"Relax. When have I ever failed to catch a fish before training?"
"But Shanks has already started..."
"Yeah, yeah... I know."
Austin sighed and simply pulled a pistol from his waist.
Have you ever heard of the American fishing method?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several crisp gunshots rang out. Soon, a few fish bellies floated to the surface, seemingly still trailing wisps of smoke.
Austin flicked out his fishing hook, immediately snagged those unlucky victims, tossed them into the fish basket, slung it over his back, and headed toward the cabin.
"Let's go, Buggy!"
"Wait for me!"
"Austin got stronger again, didn't he?"
"Yeah. He's practically a monster. He reminds me of someone."
"Let me guess, you mean Redfield?"
"Uh... close, but I was actually thinking of Whitebeard."
On the deck, many crew members watched the little fellow sparring with the Vice-Captain, Dark King Rayleigh, and discussed him. That included the two youngsters standing at the very front.
"That Austin guy is impossible to beat, no matter what."
"Don't be so pessimistic, Buggy. We'll definitely grow stronger and stronger in the future." Perhaps because Austin had beaten him down so many times, Shanks had gradually gone from seeing red to calming down, returning to his original easygoing nature.
"What stupid nonsense are you talking about, Shanks? Just because we'll get stronger, does that mean Austin won't?" Buggy was not comforted at all. Instead, he felt even more like giving up.
Having Shanks on the ship had already dealt him enough blows. Almost everyone thought highly of Shanks, while Buggy could only serve as a foil.
And now Austin had suddenly appeared too. It was truly difficult not to feel despair.
"Don't hang your head like that. Look, Austin and the Vice-Captain's sparring match is starting!"
Before you continue