Lipri, You Don't Want to Take Over Rocks's Chores on the Ship, Do You?

Although he'd long expected that pirates might attack after Mongge and Lipri left—the Black Pearl had only him aboard now—Rocks hadn't expected the attackers to be a group of boys who looked even younger than he was.

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

Rocks easily dodged the attack from the boy named Newgate, then glanced toward the others rushing into the cabin.

"If you damage the ship, that old man's going to give me trouble."

"So..."

"Let's finish this quickly!"

As he spoke, Rocks raised a hand and caught the boy's fist.

"How is that possible?!"

The boy's eyes widened. It was the first time he'd ever seen someone his age catch one of his punches.

The young man in front of him looked a little older, but only just. He'd barely reached adulthood, and Newgate had the advantage in size.

At fourteen, Newgate was already nearly four meters tall. Compared with Rocks, who was under two meters, he looked like a giant.

But even with twice the height, Newgate couldn't beat Rocks in a contest of strength.

"Heh. Out here on the sea, size doesn't decide everything."

Seeing the shock on Newgate's face, Rocks broke into a bright, sunlike smile for the first time.

It had been a long time coming!

He'd run into Mongge, a Great Pirate, almost as soon as he'd set sail. He'd spent more than half the past year in Elbaf, the land of the giants, where all the "kids his age" were young members of the Giant Tribe—or freaks with special physiques, like Charlotte Linlin.

If Mongge hadn't acknowledged him, Rocks would have wondered whether he had any talent for fighting at all.

Now he had proof.

"Maybe I can't beat that old man, and I can't beat Lipri, but taking on a brat like you is a piece of cake."

A bright smile spread across Rocks's face.

"Finger Pistol!"

Focusing all his strength into his finger, Rocks struck once and sent Newgate flying. Then he turned to the remaining boys.

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

Soru!

In an instant, Rocks appeared in front of the other four or five boys. He kicked each one down with little effort.

"Guido! Pike! Ba..."

Watching his companions fall one after another, the big boy Newgate clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. He struggled back to his feet and charged at Rocks.

"Huh? You can still get up?"

Rocks had already figured out that the boy had plenty of brute strength, but, like Rocks a year ago, he'd never received any proper training.

If Rocks had faced him a year ago, taking him down might have been a little troublesome.

But now...

He was more than ten times stronger than before!

However, while Rocks's attention was on Newgate, he failed to notice a pirate on another ship nearby raising a flintlock.

Bang!

A round bullet shot from the barrel toward Rocks. Facing Newgate head-on, Rocks suddenly felt a twinge of danger.

"Dodge!"

Newgate punched Rocks in the face, but Rocks neither dodged nor flinched. He grabbed Newgate, and the two of them fell to the deck together.

Whoosh!

The bullet grazed Rocks's scalp and also cut across Newgate's shoulder. Like a cannonball, it smashed a huge hole in the deck of the Black Pearl.

"That was close!"

Lying on the deck, Rocks stared at the hole, his heart still racing. If he hadn't reacted in time, he might have been badly wounded—or even killed.

Only then did Newgate realize the young man had saved him.

If Rocks hadn't grabbed him and had simply dodged, the bullet would have hit him instead.

"Why did you save me?"

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

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

Several figures dropped from the sky.

"Tch. You actually dodged?"

The man at the front, holding a flintlock, looked annoyed. He'd thought he could take care of Rocks easily.

The moment Newgate saw the man's face, his body tensed. He lowered his voice. "That's Vulture Vic. His bounty is over thirty million Beli. We can't beat him!"

A thirty-million bounty?

Rocks had never had a clear idea of how dangerous the pirates active on these seas were. Mongge was always talking about pirates with bounties over a hundred million. Pirates with bounties under a hundred million didn't seem like much of a threat.

And although Rocks could sense a hint of danger from the man, it was nothing compared to Mongge—or even Lipri.

I can take him!

Rocks thought to himself.

The port town.

Though they were three or four streets away, Mongge had noticed Rocks fighting Newgate as soon as it began.

But since the ones fighting were just a bunch of kids, Mongge hadn't even considered turning back.

It was only when Vulture Vic showed up that Mongge took an interest.

"Looks like those pirates impersonating us have made our flag less effective. Now every Tom, Dick, and Harry dares to come after us."

When Mongge left, he'd sensed several fairly strong presences with his Observation Haki. One of them belonged to Vulture Vic.

But "fairly strong" only meant compared with Rocks.

As long as a pirate's bounty was under a hundred million, they weren't anything special.

"Should we go back?"

Noticing Mongge's gaze, Lipri guessed that something might have happened aboard the ship and asked.

"No need."

Mongge smiled.

"Rocks is close to mastering Haki. That pirate's about as strong as he is. This might be just the chance Rocks needs to master both Armament Haki and Observation Haki."

Rocks had already been capable of using Haki for a while. All he needed was the right opportunity. If the enemy had been strong, Mongge would certainly have turned back.

But their strength was about equal, and Mongge trusted Rocks to handle it.

"What about you? You've nearly mastered Armament Haki, so why haven't you awakened Observation Haki yet?"

"I can't help it!"

Lipri stuck out her tongue. "Most giants are pretty slow. I've already learned Haki faster than most."

Although Lipri had won by ambushing a CP0 agent who was on the level of a pirate with a bounty over a hundred million, she definitely wasn't as strong in a face-to-face fight.

The biggest gap between them was their mastery of Haki.

"If you don't work harder, Rocks will surpass you before long. Lipri, you don't want to take over Rocks's chores on the ship, do you?"

"But I can't do it if I can't do it!"

Lipri thought for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "How about you give me some special training, Captain? I don't want to get demoted to a trainee not long after I've finally become a crew member!"

Lipri leaned against Mongge, wrapped her arms around his, and looked up at him with a pitiful expression.

"Idiot!"

Mongge gave Lipri a sharp rap on the head.

"If there were shortcuts for things like this, what would be the point of training?"

"Ow!"

Seeing that Mongge wasn't budging, Lipri puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

"Stubborn old man. No wonder you'll be single your whole life."

"Hm?"

"Nothing!"

Lipri giggled and started walking again, only to find someone blocking their way.

"You're the White Wolf Pirates, right?"

A group of pirates watched Mongge and Lipri with sly expressions.

"Come on. Our boss wants to see you!"