Ceasefire

"Marco the commander actually turned into a phoenix?" the Whitebeard Pirates exclaimed in surprise. They never expected that the harmless-looking kid before them actually possessed such strength.

"It seems I overestimated you a bit."

"What do you mean?" Marco reverted to human form. Bai Chuan's words clearly carried a hint of disdain—was he saying Marco wasn't as strong as he'd imagined?

"Exactly what I said. I originally thought that as the first division commander of Whitebeard, you'd have considerable strength, but looking at it now, it's entirely because of your Devil Fruit ability."

Before the fight, Bai Chuan truly believed Marco should have decent strength. He'd always kept his impression of Marco from the Summit War twenty years later, but the current Marco was just a young man in his early twenties, not much older than Bai Chuan himself.

If Bai Chuan trained for another two or three months, he believed his strength wouldn't be inferior to Marco's current level.

"Is that so? Underestimating me will cost you." For the first time, Marco's eyes carried an emotional tint—one called anger.

"Then let me see what kind of cost that is." Bai Chuan's body suddenly erupted with astonishing pressure, even the ground around him cracking like a spiderweb.

"Oh? Going all out now?" Rayleigh, who was clashing with Kozuki Oden, also halted his attacks. Gaban watched the battle with keen interest. If anyone in the entire Roger Pirates understood Bai Chuan's strength best, it was undoubtedly Gaban.

Because Bai Chuan had been training in Observation Haki recently, he'd been with Gaban constantly, even using him as a sparring partner. His strength had naturally skyrocketed, far exceeding when he'd faced Rogue last time.

"He's only been on the ship for less than half a year, right? I remember when he first came aboard, he was evenly matched with Buggy, but now I can only watch from afar."

A somewhat capable Roger Pirates crewmate remarked. They had witnessed Bai Chuan's growth step by step to his current level.

"It feels like he's our own child."

"But this kid grew up too fast. It feels like we didn't even witness his growth process before he was already grown." The Roger Pirates crewmates all sighed with regret.

"At least Shanks' strength growth is still within acceptable range." Although Shanks was also a genius, at least he wasn't as monstrous as Bai Chuan. Most of the Roger Pirates crew could still beat him.

"Why don't you talk about Buggy then? Buggy's the real deal—eternally unchanged."

"True, haha." At the mention of Buggy, the Roger Pirates members all laughed. Of course, this wasn't mockery but a heartfelt, gratifying laugh. At least Buggy wasn't among the geniuses; he was just like them, only now having eaten a Devil Fruit.

Buggy could be called the joy of the Roger Pirates, often performing tricks for the crew. Especially after eating the Chop-Chop Fruit, his acts multiplied, and the stunts became even more thrilling.

Marco transformed into his phoenix form again. For most Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, assuming their beast form allowed them to unleash greater strength—and Marco was no exception.

"Kid, do you think you can hit me now?" Marco flew into the air, looking down at Bai Chuan from above.

"You're underestimating me a bit too much, Marco." Bai Chuan also soared into the sky, drew his blade, and slashed out a flying strike. The sharp Sword Qi instantly cut through Marco's wing, but it had little effect. Once the Sword Qi passed, Marco's wing regenerated as if nothing had happened.

"As expected, without Armament Haki, my attacks aren't strong enough against this type of enemy."

Bai Chuan felt somewhat helpless, but Marco had no way to deal with him either.

The two exchanged a few blows, but neither side was injured.

"I suddenly realize I might hate you a little." Hovering in the air, Marco's voice turned somber.

"Same here." Right now, Bai Chuan found Marco hard to stomach. Perhaps it was because he couldn't defeat Marco—if he could, Bai Chuan probably wouldn't feel this way.

Then both descended to the ground, apparently calling a truce. Aside from Roger and Whitebeard, the others from both crews had long since stopped fighting, some even bringing out food and drinks from their ships.

"Is it always like this between our two crews?" Landing on the ground and seeing the lively scene, Bai Chuan asked Marco in confusion.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it. Cherish this rest time—soon you won't be able to rest."

"Why?" Bai Chuan was puzzled. Were they going to fight again? The two crews were already drinking and laughing together, though from the neighboring island came booming sounds, and they could occasionally feel tremors like earthquakes.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Marines have already gotten word. They're probably on their way now, and when they arrive, a fierce battle with them is unavoidable."

"Is that so? Then I'm really looking forward to it." Bai Chuan said excitedly.

"You really are a warmonger." Marco shot Bai Chuan a sidelong glance. Suddenly, a row of trees behind them toppled over.

"Old Father's fruit is really dangerous." Blue flames flickered over Marco's body, and a shield appeared in front of Bai Chuan, blocking the shockwave.

"So this is the battle between Whitebeard and the Captain? It really gets the blood pumping."

"Clearly, you and I aren't on the same wavelength."

Though Marco was a pirate, he didn't enjoy fighting—perhaps because of his medical-type Devil Fruit ability.

Marco's Phoenix fruit could not only heal his own injuries but also treat others' wounds, so Marco sometimes filled in as the Whitebeard Pirates' ship doctor.

The scene now between the Roger and Whitebeard Pirates was this: the same men who had been drawing blades on each other moments ago were now sitting together arm-in-arm, drinking and laughing. Some were even singing and dancing.

Even Buggy, who had been hiding in the shadows during the fight, boldly ran out, split his upper body, and flew in circles above both crews.

"Oh, isn't this Red Nose? You ate a Devil Fruit."

A Whitebeard Pirates member recognized Buggy and greeted him.

"You bastard, who are you calling Red Nose?" Buggy immediately split off his hands and grabbed the man by the collar.

"Still can't accept your red nose, huh? Haha." Ignoring Buggy's insults, the pirate continued to mock him.

They were all too familiar with Buggy, so they often cracked such jokes. And it wasn't just Buggy being teased—even they were frequently made fun of by the Roger Pirates.