Testing the Waters

The eye was only a minor issue. Humans in the world of the Pirate King came in all sorts of strange shapes anyway. The eye on Minos's forehead was a little different from the Third Eye of the Three-Eyed Tribe, so it was no problem at all.

Still, Minos immediately explained his ability. "Maybe it mutated. My eye can see things very far away!"

"Oh?!" Katakuri had only asked casually. To put it bluntly, he had merely noticed that the eye on Minos's head was somewhat different from the one on Brulee's head. He had not expected that answer.

Could it be that this Three-Eyed Tribe bloodline had already partially awakened?

At that thought, Katakuri took Minos even more seriously. Before even beginning formal training, he already possessed such talent. Clearly, Minos was one of those exceptionally gifted people.

There were quite a few exceptionally gifted people on the seas. Their Big Mom was the most typical example.

Power Type talents like this were comparatively rare. Geniuses born with Observation Haki or extraordinarily powerful Mental Power were actually more numerous.

For instance, the legendary Count Red and Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island were both geniuses who possessed Observation Haki without any training. Katakuri himself could also be considered talented in Observation Haki, but compared with them, his talent fell somewhat short.

Minos's Third Eye had the Thousand Mile Eye ability from birth. While that surprised Katakuri greatly, it was not truly anything particularly rare on the seas.

"Very good. Follow me from now on. Starting tomorrow, I'll train you properly." Katakuri crouched down halfway, casually patted Minos on the shoulder, and spoke in a very serious tone.

Katakuri knew quite a bit about the abilities of the Three-Eyed Tribe. As a member of the Charlotte Pirates, he was naturally interested in making Big Mom the Pirate King.

Although the Big Mom Pirates could be said to be the least united Pirate Crew among all the Yonko Crews, and Katakuri himself had plenty of complaints about his mother, he still cared deeply whenever the Pirate Crew's overall interests were involved.

Unfortunately, this good big brother, Katakuri, could not bring himself to train his younger sister Brulee harshly. So when he saw Minos, this newly discovered and exceptionally gifted member of the Three-Eyed Tribe, he truly felt quite delighted—

In that case, Brulee can serve as a backup. She won't need any harsh training...

Minos did not know what Katakuri was thinking. But having just arrived in the chaotic world of the Pirate King, he had always felt uneasy. Naturally, he did not object to Katakuri's training. On the contrary, he looked forward to it.

After a grand banquet, Katakuri brought his two newly recruited underlings to the training grounds.

Talon rubbed his stomach and muttered complaints about why even the grilled meat was sweet. Minos looked even more miserable. He felt that if he stayed on Cake Island any longer, he would end up with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and a stroke!

"Don't worry. You won't need to live on Cake Island during ordinary times. After joining my team, you'll go to my Wheat Island."

Hearing the two men complaining behind him, Katakuri said, "Wheat Island isn't all sweets. There are also plenty of pastries, grilled meat, and vegetables."

"But donuts are still the most common!" A crisp voice sounded behind Minos. A cute little girl in a pink dress, with twin ponytails and thick bangs, spoke from behind him.

"The sugar in donuts is the source of energy." Katakuri said it casually. "Rest assured, I'll consider the other crew members as well, so there'll also be food suited to your tastes."

He cared for and looked after not only his younger brothers and sisters, but also his own subordinates? As expected of Katakuri.

Minos thought to himself. In Pirate Crews like the Big Mom Pirates and the Hundred Beast Pirates, which relied entirely on strength, there were probably very few pirates who were both so humane and strong enough. There might even have been only one: Katakuri.

As for the little tagalong following him around, she was Charlotte Pudding, a member of the Three-Eyed Tribe—the same race he had once belonged to.

Of course, now that he had become a Yokai, he had probably become a one-of-a-kind race in the entire Pirate King world. Still, at least in appearance, he did not differ much from the Three-Eyed Tribe.

Unlike Charlotte Pudding, who concealed her third eye beneath her thick bangs, Minos had never covered the Third Eye on his forehead since arriving on Cake Island. However, Minos's Third Eye was not only smaller than his two normal eyes, but also looked extremely harmonious. Rather than giving off the bizarre impression of an ordinary member of the Three-Eyed Tribe, it looked natural, like a heavenly eye upon his forehead.

Naturally, Pudding, who had suffered discrimination because of her third eye since childhood, was deeply envious. On top of that, they were the only two members of the Three-Eyed Tribe on all of Cake Island, so her closeness toward him went without saying.

"All right, this is the training ground." Katakuri said gravely. "Let me first test your foundations!"

Minos blinked, looked around, and took a standard pirate longsword from a weapon rack.

The standard weapons of the Pirate King world were not the pirate cutlasses of the real world. They were closer in shape to Japanese swords. After all, this was a manga drawn by Oda.

Real Japanese swords were highly lethal, but their armor-piercing ability was worrying, and they could easily break when colliding with other weapons. In the pirate world, however, the strength of such weapons had been greatly enhanced.

Even though it was merely a standard weapon, Minos could tell that this sword's toughness and strength were no weaker than high-strength alloy from the real world.

If it were one of the famous swords of the pirate world, its strength would probably be unimaginable!

Minos had never practiced any Japanese swordsmanship, but Japanese swords were easy to pick up in the first place. Moreover, after becoming a Yokai, his physical coordination and agility had improved tremendously. Using a Japanese sword, which emphasized speed, came far more naturally to him.

Of course, this was only a superficial style. True swordsmen in the pirate world were not merely incredibly fast; their strength was also terrifying. One only needed to look at Zoro swinging his sword with barbells every day to understand that. Still, holding a sword was better than using his fists.

As for Talon, he unhesitatingly picked up a huge Iron Mace covered in spikes. Clearly, this was the weapon the Oni Clan excelled at most.

"I'm going first!" Without another word, Minos charged forward with astonishing speed.

Seeing this, Talon also let out a wild roar, strode forward, and smashed his weapon toward Katakuri's head.

Katakuri remained calm. He did not draw his weapon, nor did he use any Haki. He simply clenched his fist and swung it directly.