The Dog-Dog Fruit: Mythical Zoan, White Wolf Form

"I have to learn this move!"

Rocks growled. He didn't notice the wet hand gripping the edge of the ship's railing.

"Black Pearl, I won't let anyone take you from me."

The young pirate, Cassius, appeared on the deck.

"Even if I have no talent, I'll become a Great Pirate like the captain—maybe even surpass him!"

Cassius spotted the only other person on the ship: a young man about his age, the "helmsman" the captain had hired after parting ways with them.

"Kid, hand over this ship!"

Cassius drew the saber at his back.

"What did you say?!"

Only then did Rocks notice Cassius, who had somehow appeared on deck.

He picked at his ear, looking disdainful.

"That old geezer told me to look after this ship."

"You want it?"

A grin shaped like a "D" spread across Rocks's face.

"Then come and take it!"

For some reason, the grin on Rocks's face made Cassius uneasy.

But he was just a helmsman.

"I'm a member of the White Wolf Pirates!"

Crash!

Waves pounded the beach.

Unlike Rocks, who was still worked up, Mongge didn't let his guard down after unleashing his attack.

Young people could be naïve, but how could a Great Pirate with a bounty of 170 million Beli be killed so easily by an attack with such a wide range?

Especially from hundreds of meters away!

Sure enough.

As fragments of the pirate ship scattered across the sea, Farrell's furious, bloodcurdling howl rang out.

"WHITE! WOLF! MONGGE!"

Farrell couldn't fly, but a few hundred meters was no obstacle to him.

He had dodged before Mongge's Hagoku struck the ship.

But when Farrell evaded the attack, the pirate ship behind him took the full brunt of it.

Farrell's heart was bleeding.

It was his brand-new ship, which had cost him a full fifty million Beli!

If he hadn't been short on cash, why would he have risked going after Mongge, a legend among pirates?

Now look at him.

He hadn't even seen Mongge's treasure, and he'd already lost a ship.

As for how many people aboard had survived, he'd be lucky if half of them had.

No matter what, his plan to have his crew take on Mongge had fallen apart.

"Blood Skull Farrell, I don't remember us having any grievances."

Mongge stood with his sword in hand, facing Blood Skull Farrell as he quickly steadied his breathing, which had grown ragged after using his "big move."

"Shut up!"

Farrell glared at Mongge with hatred.

"We didn't before, but we do now. Hand over your treasure, and I might make your death quick!"

"Treasure?"

Mongge looked taken aback by Farrell's words, then laughed as though he'd heard something hilarious.

"Puhahahaha! I don't remember having any treasure. Didn't that brat Cassius tell you I gave all my money to the crew when I disbanded the pirates?"

At first, Mongge had wondered who had betrayed him. But when he spotted Cassius aboard the Blood Skull Pirates' ship, he understood.

They had found Cassius in a village the pirates had slaughtered, after fighting a crew of their own.

By then, Mongge was sixty-five. He was growing weaker in battle and had already begun thinking about retirement. He'd taken Cassius in intending to train him for a while, then send him off to find his own path.

But Cassius had no talent.

Or rather, his talent wasn't in fighting. It was in building ships.

So those final five years had made Cassius deeply attached to the ship.

When they finally parted ways, Cassius had asked Mongge to give him the ship so he could continue traveling in place of the White Wolf Pirates.

Mongge had refused.

Cassius was too weak. In the New World, he couldn't protect such a large ship.

Mongge simply hadn't expected Cassius to betray him in the end.

Farrell had no idea what Mongge was thinking.

But he refused to believe that Mongge, a pirate, had given all his wealth to his crew.

"If you won't tell me—"

Two short blades appeared in Farrell's hands.

"Then I'll beat it out of you!"

He stepped forward and lowered his stance. The raging sea wind made his scarlet coat flap.

Bang!

The ground beneath his feet exploded into a crater, and two flashes of steel appeared before Mongge, slashing toward him.

There was nothing fancy about it.

Just pure speed.

With a bounty of 170 million Beli, Farrell was certainly despicable and underhanded. But there was no denying his strength.

Still, the man standing before him wasn't one of the nobodies he usually dealt with.

White Wolf Mongge.

He was a legend who had sailed these seas for fifty years, a pirate among pirates, and the holder of the Dog-Dog Fruit: Mythical Zoan, White Wolf Form.

Or perhaps people were more familiar with the fruit by another name.

(Separator whose censorship is inexplicable)

The Dog-Dog Fruit: Mythical Zoan, Okuchi no Makami Form!

That's right—it was the fruit eaten by Yamato, the daughter of Kaido of the Beasts, one of the Four Emperors.

This had happened forty years ago.

After ten years sailing the seas, Mongge had finally reached his limit.

He had some talent, but not enough to reach the pinnacle.

Back then, he had to give everything he had just to face an ordinary Marine Vice Admiral.

So when he obtained a Devil Fruit during a surprise attack, he chose to eat it, even though he had no idea what powers it would grant him.

After years of sailing these seas, Mongge had long since realized that hard work only determined a person's lower limit.

Only talent determined a person's upper limit.

In the face of true talent, hard work was worth nothing.

Only a Devil Fruit could break a person's limits.

And the inability to swim was a trivial price to pay for such a dramatic increase in strength.

Luckily, Mongge hadn't gotten some bizarre, useless power. He'd obtained a Zoan Devil Fruit, the type that most improved a person's basic physical abilities.

And not just any Zoan—it was one of the most special Mythical Zoans.

"Can't react, huh?"

Seeing his twin blades just inches away, with Mongge not moving a muscle, Farrell laughed. "White Wolf Mongge, you really have gotten old!"

Screech!

The short blades pierced Mongge's eyes, but the strange sensation made Farrell furrow his brow.

"Is that so?"

Mongge's deep voice came from the side. Farrell saw the "Mongge" before him turn pale as his blade sank in.

Crack!

Bone-chilling cold crept along Farrell's dagger.

"Kid!"

A raging current of ice wrapped around Mongge's sword. He appeared suddenly at Farrell's other side. Seeing the long blade about to fall, Farrell finally remembered that Mongge was not only a Devil Fruit User, but also one of the greatest Great Swordsmen in the world.

"If you want to use me as a stepping stone, you'd better be ready to risk your life!"

A nearly three-meter-tall, humanoid white wolf raised the long blade in his hand.

And brought it down.