Lippri, you don't want to do chores on the ship instead of Rocks, do you?

Although he had expected it, after Mongge and Lipri left, pirates might come to attack, especially since he was the only one on the Black Pearl now.

However, Rocks hadn't expected that the ones attacking him would be a group of youths who looked younger than him.

"Hey, do you know what you're doing?"

Easily dodging the attack from the youth named Newgate, Rocks tilted his head to look at the others rushing towards the ship's cabin.

"If you damage the ship, that old man will give me trouble."

"So."

"Let's finish this quickly!"

As he spoke, Rocks raised his hand and caught the youth's fist.

"How is that possible!?"

The youth's eyes widened. It was the first time he had seen someone his age catch his punch.

Although the young man before him looked a bit older, he seemed to have just reached adulthood. In terms of physique, he had the advantage.

Fourteen-year-old Newgate was already close to four meters tall. Compared to Rocks, who was less than two meters, he was like a giant.

Yet, despite the two-fold height advantage, Newgate couldn't win against Rocks in a test of strength.

"Heh heh, on this great sea, size doesn't determine everything."

Seeing the shock on Newgate's face, Rocks displayed a sunny, brilliant smile for the first time.

It had been so difficult!

He had met the Great Pirate Mongge right after setting sail. More than half of that year was spent in the Giant Country, Elbaf. His "peers" around him were all children of the Giant Tribe, along with freaks with special physiques like Charlotte Linlin.

If Mongge hadn't acknowledged him, he would have doubted if he had any talent for combat at all.

Now it was confirmed.

"Although I can't beat that stinky old man, nor Lipri, bullying a brat like you is more than enough."

Rocks' face showed a brilliant smile.

"Shigan!"

Concentrating all his strength into his finger, Rocks sent Newgate flying with a single blow. Then, he looked at the remaining youths.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you that you have to pay the price for doing wrong?"

Soru!

In an instant, he appeared before the other four or five youths. Rocks delivered a kick to each of them, knocking them all down without much effort.

"Guido! Pique! Ba..."

Seeing his companions fall one by one, the large-built youth Newgate's eyes widened with rage. Gritting his teeth, he stood up again and charged at Rocks.

"Huh, you can still stand?"

Rocks could tell that although the youth before him possessed brute strength, like him a year ago, he hadn't received any professional training.

If it were him a year ago, it might have been a bit troublesome to take down the opponent.

But now.

He was more than ten times stronger than before!

However, while Rocks was focusing on Newgate, he didn't notice that on another pirate ship not far away, a pirate raised his flintlock pistol.

Bang!

A round bullet shot out from the muzzle towards Rocks. Facing Newgate, Rocks suddenly felt a premonition.

"Dodge quickly!"

Newgate punched Rocks in the face, but Rocks didn't dodge. He grabbed Newgate, and together they fell to the ground.

Whoosh!

The bullet grazed Rocks' scalp and also wounded Newgate's shoulder, smashing a large pit into the deck of the Black Pearl like a cannonball.

"That was close!"

Lying on the ground, Rocks looked at the pit on the floor with lingering fear. If he hadn't reacted in time, he would have been seriously injured, if not killed.

At this moment, Newgate realized that the young man before him had actually saved him.

If Rocks hadn't grabbed him and dodged directly just now, the bullet would have hit him.

"Why did you save me?"

"Hmph, who wanted to save you? I just can't stand sneaky cowards who like to attack from behind. Also, get off me already!"

With effort, Rocks pushed Newgate away and looked into the distance.

In mid-air, several figures descended.

"Tsk, they dodged?"

The man in the lead, holding a flintlock pistol, wore a look of displeasure. He had initially thought he could easily deal with Rocks.

Upon seeing the man's face, Newgate immediately tensed up. He lowered his voice and said, "It's Vulture Vic. He's a Great Pirate with a Bounty over thirty million Belly. We can't possibly be his opponents!"

Thirty million Bounty?

Rocks actually never had a clear grasp of the pirates active on this sea. After all, Mongge would casually mention pirates with Bounties over a hundred million, so pirates with Bounties less than a hundred million didn't seem like major players.

Moreover, although he could sense a slight dangerous aura from the opponent, it was far inferior to Mongge, or even Lipri.

I can handle him! Rocks thought to himself.

Port town.

Even though it was three or four streets away, Mongge had noticed when Rocks and Newgate started fighting.

However, since it was just a group of children fighting, Mongge didn't even consider turning back.

It wasn't until Vulture Vic appeared that Mongge showed a hint of interest.

"It seems that because of those pirates impersonating us, our ship's flag isn't working as well anymore. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to come up."

When Mongge left, one of the stronger auras he sensed with his Observation Haki belonged to the Vulture Vic in front of him.

However, this "stronger" was only relative to Rocks.

As long as the Bounty wasn't over a hundred million, it was really nothing special.

"Should we go back?" Lipri asked, noticing Mongge's gaze and guessing something might have happened on the ship.

"No need." Mongge smiled.

"Rocks is about to master Haki. That pirate's strength is about the same as Rocks'. With this opportunity, Rocks might be able to master Armament Haki and Observation Haki in one go."

Rocks' strength was already sufficient to use Haki; he just lacked a catalyst. If the enemy were very strong, Mongge would definitely have turned back.

But since their strength was similar, Mongge believed Rocks could handle it.

"On the other hand, you've almost mastered Armament Haki, so why haven't you comprehended Observation Haki yet?"

"There's nothing I can do about it!" Lipri stuck out her tongue. "Most Giants are quite slow-witted. My speed in mastering Haki is already considered very fast."

Although Lipri had defeated a CP0 comparable to a pirate with over a hundred million Bounty through a sneak attack, in a head-on confrontation, Lipri's strength was definitely inferior.

The biggest gap was in the mastery of Haki.

"If you don't work harder, you'll be surpassed by Rocks before long, Lipri. You don't want to end up doing chores on the ship in Rocks' place, do you?"

"But if I can't, I can't!" Lipri thought, then her eyes suddenly darted around. "How about it, Captain? Can you find a way to give me some private tutoring? I don't want to be demoted to an intern so soon after becoming a crew member!"

Lipri leaned in, hugging Mongge's arm, and looked at him with a pitiful expression.

"Idiot!" Mongge unceremoniously tapped Lipri on the head. "If there were shortcuts for this kind of thing, why would anyone bother training?"

"That hurt!" Seeing Mongge unmoved, Lipri pouted in dissatisfaction. "Stingy old man, you deserve to be single your whole life."

"Hm?"

"Nothing!" Lipri giggled and was about to walk forward when she found someone blocking their path.

"You're the White Wolf Pirates, right?" A group of pirates looked at Mongge and Lipri with playful expressions. "Let's go, our boss wants to see you!"