"Bastard!!"
"White-Haired Beard, this is a spar between Ares and me. Why are you butting in?!"
Golden Lion roared furiously.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Whitebeard charging over in great strides. Besides, Whitebeard's voice was so loud that even from over a hundred meters away, it made his eardrums buzz.
He then shouted a reminder: "Don't forget, today's date is odd-numbered. According to our agreement, Ares belongs to me today!!"
"You get him on even-numbered days!"
Golden Lion's heart suddenly tightened.
Because Whitebeard showed no intention of stopping.
"Gurararara... What agreement? My hands are itching. Let me play with Ares for a while!" Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh.
He completely ignored Golden Lion's words, staring straight at Ares as he charged forward, the wind of his sprinting rushing past his ears.
The distance between him and Ares grew smaller and smaller.
"Damn it!!"
Golden Lion was furious. He cursed, "You're cheating!!"
He was also deeply indignant. Whitebeard had ignored the agreement the two of them had made. That was simply cheating.
At this moment, Whitebeard turned a deaf ear to Golden Lion's curses. When he was about to reach Ares, he shouted a warning: "Ares, watch out!!"
He raised his thick arm, the muscles bulging as he slammed a powerful punch toward Ares.
Ares was not about to back down. He raised his "blood-red" arm and punched back.
Bang!
The dull collision sounded like muffled thunder.
At the point where their fists met, the air surged violently and howled in all directions, blowing up Whitebeard's clothes and golden hair.
"Gurarara... Your strength has improved!" A gleam flashed through Whitebeard's eyes as he laughed in praise.
His heart was also filled with surprise and delight. Through the collision of their fists, he had personally felt the growth in Ares's strength and Body Arts!
One punch after another.
Their fists formed more than a dozen afterimages before them.
A succession of booming bangs rang out without end.
Golden Lion Shiki, who had retreated to the side, glared viciously at Whitebeard. Looking thoroughly displeased, he bit down hard on his cigar and said, "What a bastard! Then don't blame me for stealing your time tomorrow!"
He then put Sakura Ten and Withered Tree back at his waist.
As Ares exchanged blow after blow with Whitebeard in a battle of flesh and bone, his expression grew even more excited, and the blood in his body began to boil.
The slight pain stimulated his nerves, while the force pounding his body created an exhilarating, shaking sensation!
The two of them were truly two iron-willed men battling with their bare bodies!
It was like getting one's back pounded. It hurt, yet it also made one feel comfortable and happy!
"Awesome!!!"
Ares laughed heartily in delight. It was the pleasure of venting every ounce of energy in his body, a thoroughly satisfying joy!
It was an intensely powerful sensation of getting one's back pounded!
It was utterly incomparable to clashing with Golden Lion's scabbard. This was true happiness.
"Gurarara... Not enough!!" Whitebeard laughed as he goaded Ares. "That strength is still far from enough. Use every bit of power you've got!"
The movements of the two accelerated again. Even more ferocious kicks were added to the exchange!
The power from their thighs was much greater than that of their fists, making their battle even more brutally satisfying.
Watching from the sidelines, Rocks was also getting fired up. His voice hoarse with excitement, he said, "I really want to join them. But Ares is still a little too weak right now."
He did not directly enter the battle, because doing so would not only ruin Whitebeard's enjoyment, but Ares's combat strength was still too low for Rocks.
"There'll be a chance. Ares is growing very quickly. By then, he should be able to have a satisfying spar with the captain," Ochoku said with a narrowed-eyed smile.
He was also somewhat envious. After all, he had witnessed Ares's growth with his own eyes. When he thought of Ares's crazy training methods—
Ochoku could not help but feel a chill in his heart. Not everyone could endure such self-destructive training.
Pirates had to be prepared for battle at every moment. If they were injured while training, they could very well die in a brutal fight.
Not everyone possessed physical conditions and potential like Ares.
The battle between Ares and Whitebeard.
Neither of them called for a stop or took a break. They continued fighting for several full hours.
In the end, Ares collapsed to the ground with a thud. He opened his mouth and gulped in air, with only one thought in his mind: That battle was unbelievably satisfying.
His entire body was drenched in sweat, which glistened over his raised muscles and the contours of their sunken lines.
Under the sunlight—
His bronze muscles were covered in sweat, reflecting the golden rays of the sun.
If Charlotte Linlin had been there, she might not have been able to "keep herself under control"!
Sweat also dotted Whitebeard's face, neck, and other exposed areas. He looked at Ares with satisfaction and said, "Your combat skills and Body Arts have improved tremendously!!"
"But you still have to keep it up. You still have a long way to go before you can match the strong!"
It was not that he did not want to praise Ares. He was afraid that too much praise would make Ares arrogant.
So, against his conscience, he gave him a score of 99.
After several hours of combat, Whitebeard was deeply shaken and astonished.
But he did not show it on his face!
In the short span of more than ten days, Ares's physical reaction speed, explosive power, combat awareness, sensory acuity, and every other aspect had improved remarkably.
In theory... it would be understandable if one particular aspect had improved significantly.
But—
Ares's progress was simply unreasonable. Every aspect had improved at once!
It was an utterly absurd talent!
Whitebeard also turned and walked toward Rocks and the others. He did not pull Ares up, letting him rest for a while instead.
When Whitebeard came over—
"Bastard! Today was clearly supposed to be my turn to train Ares!" Golden Lion glared at Whitebeard as if he wanted to devour him and said through clenched teeth.
Whitebeard proudly raised his head and chuckled. "We've been sailing for more than ten days, so it really was getting a little dull. I wanted to play with Ares. It was indeed much more refreshing and enjoyable."
He then walked over to Cloud Piercer and pulled it out of the ground in one motion.
"All right, it's only a single day either way. Stop arguing." Rocks stepped in to halt their quarrel, then directly changed the subject.
He looked toward the ground and said, "Ares, get up. We're heading back!"
After Ares got up, everyone began returning to Skull Castle.
A grand banquet also began on the island.
This was a tradition of the Rocks Pirates. After receiving supplies and treasures offered by the various islands under the rule of the Rocks Pirates—
They would hold a banquet like this, one that both official crew members and newcomers could attend.
When he saw Ares appear—
Rocks Pirates' head chef, Shakky, had two surging flames rise in her beautiful eyes. She gritted her teeth until they clicked and said, "That damn big eater..."
"His appetite has grown again!!!"
······
Ares's Little Theater:
Ares faced the book friends before their phones, bent both arms, squeezed together the center of his chest, and showed off his huge, rock-hard pectoral muscles.
His bronze muscles shone brilliantly. He raised an eyebrow and gave the dear book friends a mysterious smile, clearly meaning—you know what I mean!
He said, "Are you tempted?"
"Three updates today. We've reached the hundred-thousand-word milestone!"
"Show some support with your power!"
Before you continue