153rd Branch

153rd Marine Branch

Rodney came here, handed the Cannon Pirates over to the Marines, and exchanged Clive Shazzo's and the bamboo-pole man's heads for bounties.

After collecting the bounties, he found a restaurant and had a meal. Eating food made by those pirates over the past few days had been agony. Their cooking was barely edible, so he hadn't dared expect much from the taste.

"Here is your food, sir, please enjoy your meal."

A large platter of meat was brought over. It smelled delicious, and Rodney was just about to pick up his fork when the noisy barking of a dog came from outside. A moment later, a huge dog charged into the restaurant and leaped straight at him.

How could Rodney possibly let the beast have its way?

He kicked out, sending the dog flying. The entire restaurant fell silent in an instant.

The dog was quite large. After slamming into the wall, it got up whining. It barked at Rodney twice, then looked at him fearfully. The restaurant owner immediately said, "Young man, run! That dog belongs to Colonel Morgan's son. You beat up his dog, and he won't let you off!"

"Colonel Morgan?" Rodney seemed to recall the name.

Marine Captain Morgan had originally been an ordinary Marine, but after capturing Kuro the Hundred Plans, he had been promoted to branch colonel. Kuro the Hundred Plans had only faked his death, while Morgan, hypnotized by the Hypnotist Jango, had come to believe that he had captured Kuro the Hundred Plans. The hypnosis had drastically changed his personality. He had gone from a passionate Marine to an arrogant and brutal man who ruled over Shells Town and the 153rd Marine Branch.

Sure enough, right after the owner finished speaking, a blond boy with a middle part and a double chin rushed in. Two Marines with miserable expressions followed behind him. If they could, they would have loved to beat the boy senseless, but he was Colonel Morgan's son. If they hit him, they could forget about keeping their jobs.

Rodney looked at the boy. He was dressed in gaudy colors and clearly wasn't a good person. Hearing him shout, "Who? Who dared to beat up my beloved dog?"

The dog Rodney had just kicked barked at him once. The fellow named Helmeppo immediately cursed angrily, "So it was you, brat! I suspect you're a pirate. Men, take him back!"

"Yes, sir!"

The two Marines walked over with bitter expressions and said quietly, "Sorry for the trouble."

Bang! Bang!

Rodney knocked both of them unconscious with knife-hand strikes. With a chuckle, he yanked a piece of meat from the platter and ate it with his hand as he walked toward Helmeppo. "So you're the brat who wanted to arrest me?"

Helmeppo backed away repeatedly in terror, then fell onto his butt. He dragged out his father's name. "I-I-I... My father is Colonel Morgan, the strongest man here! Go ahead and hurt me if you dare!"

Rodney swallowed the meat in his hand and said, "Oh, I'm so scared."

He stepped forward and slapped Helmeppo. Half of Helmeppo's face swelled up high. Covering it, he fled in tears.

Seeing this, the restaurant owner said, "Sir, you should run! Colonel Morgan isn't someone you want to provoke. Now that you've hit his son, he'll definitely come after you."

Rodney looked like a scrawny little man. Against the hulking Colonel Morgan, he definitely wouldn't stand a chance. It would be best to run first.

As for Rodney daring to beat Helmeppo, they found it incredibly satisfying. They had long wanted to beat up that arrogant brat. If they hadn't been wary of his father, they would have attacked him themselves long ago.

That slap from Rodney had really hit the spot.

"It's fine." Rodney sat back down and continued eating. The food was decent. More importantly, after that slap, it tasted even better.

The restaurant owner grew worried. He was afraid a fight would wreck his restaurant. In martial arts novels, conflicts usually erupted in inns, and the unlucky innkeepers were the ones who suffered. After the fighters finished and ran off, they left destruction everywhere. It was a small business; there was no way he could afford the repairs.

If a fight broke out, the owner would suffer a huge loss. Getting Colonel Morgan to pay? That was practically impossible, unless the sun rose in the west.

Seeing that Rodney refused to listen, the restaurant owner grew anxious. A series of footsteps approached. Helmeppo had brought people over in no time—and it really was his father, Colonel Morgan. He had just entered town from the Marine base and encountered his beaten son. How could he swallow that insult? He had immediately brought his men over.

Kuro the Hundred Plans had crushed his jaw, so Morgan had replaced it with an iron jaw bearing the Marine insignia. His right hand had also been replaced with a battle-axe. He was tall and powerfully built, and his gaze was filled with contempt.

He truly lived up to his title as the Axe King Morgan, the man who had once felled Marine Hero Garp with a single axe strike. Seeing him now, Rodney had to admit the reputation was well deserved.

"You're the one who hit my son?"

Rodney had finished the platter of meat. He picked his teeth with a toothpick from the table and asked, "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Hmm, there isn't really a problem. You just need to pay the price." Morgan raised his right hand. The battle-axe was about to come down, but his body suddenly froze.

"Your... your eyes..." His body trembled uncontrollably, yet he felt as though he had forgotten something.

But he couldn't remember what it was. In those crimson eyes, three black tomoe slowly rotated. His false memories shattered, replaced by that bloody night.

His towering body swayed, then collapsed.

"Here's payment for the meal, boss." Rodney tossed a beli onto the table, left with the toothpick between his teeth, and walked away. Not a single Marine blocking the restaurant dared stop him.

He had used the Sharingan to dispel the Hypnotist Jango's hypnosis, allowing Colonel Morgan to remember the truth of that night. How much he changed would depend on Morgan himself. At the very least, he wouldn't remain as arrogant and overbearing as he had been.

The restaurant instantly fell silent. All the customers held their breath, afraid that something had happened to Colonel Morgan.

Helmeppo: "Dad, Dad, wake up! Dad, don't scare me!"

A Marine nearby examined Morgan and found that his breathing was steady and that he had no injuries. He then said, "Young Master Helmeppo, don't worry. Colonel Morgan has only fainted. Nothing serious has happened, so you don't need to worry too much."

"Then what are you standing around for? Carry my dad back!"

"Yes, sir."

The Marine cursed quietly under his breath. He and several others reluctantly carried Colonel Morgan back.

"Mission: Escort a merchant ship to Kokoro Village.

Mission Rank: D

Mission Reward: 20 Mission Points."

The mission began in an orderly fashion. The escort mission wasn't particularly difficult—in fact, it was downright leisurely. So leisurely that all he could do aboard the ship was constantly train to improve his physical strength.

In the One Piece World, merely tempering one's body was enough to reach the very pinnacle of strength.

For example, when Garp was young, he had faced the vicious Rocks Pirates alongside Roger's crew.

The Rocks Pirates had contained not only Rocks himself, but also the Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and the young Big Mom and Kaido, along with a host of other powerful pirates. Yet the two of them had actually destroyed that legendary pirate crew.

No one aboard Roger's ship had eaten a Devil Fruit, and Garp had no need for one either. This showed that tempering the body was enough to stand among the strongest in this world.

He had to learn the Eight Gates as soon as possible and raise his physical body to a certain level. That way, he could open the Seventh Gate, which was the limit. As for opening the Eighth Gate, he would only do that when he was prepared to die together with his opponent. Otherwise, was he an idiot? He didn't want to die yet.

Training in the Six Powers was also part of his plans, but it had to be done step by step. His body still needed to be strengthened for some time before he could manage it.

Fortunately, he had the Sharingan. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to grasp the key points.

He had already memorized Garp's movements. All that remained was to overcome his weak physique. This was his shortcoming—or rather, the shortcoming of most ninjas: high attack and low health. Not everyone was a Senju or an Uzumaki, nor had they cultivated the Lightning Release Armor like those muscle-brained freaks.

Therefore, he still needed to intensify his training and ensure that he got enough nutrition.

All of that would take time.

For now, he would carry out missions while training. That was how things would be.