Fierce Battle with a Sea King

Behind the ship, a massive shadow sped through the water toward the Red Devil Pirates.

"Damn, only a Sea King could grow this big, right?" Rono exclaimed. After gauging their respective speeds, he figured they were about even—they could get away.

"Damn, I misjudged you. You actually chickened out." The System Loli, who had not appeared in a long time, sat atop Rono's head.

"Sairona, kill it." Naturally, Rono could not let that slide, so he answered the system with action.

"Yes, yes, yes! Kill it, kill it!" The system was a little excited. It had been absent for so long that if it did not make its presence known, people might forget about it.

Sairona remained expressionless as he raised the Sniper Rifle in his arms and aimed at the massive shadow underwater. The moment it dared raise its head, an Explosive Round would give it a good time.

As if it had heard Sairona's thoughts, the gigantic Sea King leaped from the water and crashed toward the Red Devil Pirates. If this hit landed, you might die.

Rono fully displayed an old driver's skills. He pulled down the lever, furled the sails, jerked the Ship Wheel, and sent the Red Devil into a drift. A huge spray of water erupted from its stern, and the entire ship tilted sharply. Sairona hurriedly grabbed the railing to keep from falling overboard, and naturally, his plan to give the Sea King a shot died before it could begin. Little Treant Gelu screamed as he flew off the ship. Sairona tossed aside the Sniper Rifle and grabbed Gelu, who had flown even higher.

"Rono! Are you trying to kill us?" Sairona roared. Well, his expression was still calm.

"Gulu gulu!" Little Treant Gelu rarely did not speak up for Rono.

"Hahaha, sorry about that." Rono apologized without the slightest sincerity.

Boom! The Sea King crashed into the water, sending waves dozens of meters high into the air.

"Yahoo!" Rono raised the bow, and the turbines roared, lifting the ship from the water.

"Waaaaaah—" Gelu, who had sprouted vines to grip the railing, screamed as he was flung back and forth, tears nearly spilling from his eyes.

Sairona held the Sniper Rifle between his teeth and clung tightly to the railing with both hands, saying nothing. Massive waves crashed down behind the Red Devil, making it rock continuously, though not as violently as before.

He raised the Sniper Rifle and fired three shots in rapid succession at the Sea King.

The zebra-headed, ox-bodied, fish-finned Sea King was hit in the head. Splat! One of its enormous eyes, over a meter wide, exploded into pulp. The second bullet followed the same path, and the zebra-headed Sea King threw its head back in pain. The final bullet entered through its belly. Boom! Boom! Boom! The three explosions blasted away the flesh from half its head, but the blast in its belly did little damage—its fat layer was too thick.

"Rrreee—" The Sea King let out a hoarse, miserable cry. It was afraid. Its survival instinct drove it to dive underwater and flee.

"Trying to run? Too late." Sairona's face remained blank as his index finger pulled the trigger. Bang! Sairona had perfectly predicted the Sea King's movements. One shot, one kill. Chunks of brain matter splattered from the Sea King's empty eye socket, and with a soft splash, it floated on the surface as blood dyed the surrounding waters red.

"Hey, hey, I haven't even made a move yet. How did it die already?" Rono had barely pulled the lever back up when the Sea King died. It was like taking off his pants only to be shown this—utterly frustrating.

"What use are you?" Sairona said disdainfully.

"!" Rono stared in shock at Sairona, then at Gelu beside him, who was also looking down on him. Silently, he pulled down the lever and turned the Ship Wheel. "It's time to show you real skill."

"I'm going to kill you." Sairona's tone was calm. Rono did not care at all. You can't kill me anyway, so what are you going to do?

"Gulu gulu." Gelu wrapped himself around the main mast. This baby is suffering, but this baby won't cry.

At the dining table, Sairona calmly took a sip of red wine, picked up some food, and chewed slowly. A silenced Sniper Rifle lay beside the dishes. Rono, whose head was still regenerating, lay motionless on the floor. Little Treant Gelu had already gone to sleep.

It was around nine at night. The Red Devil sailed with the wind; as long as it did not stray from its course, everything was fine.

Eight hours had passed since Rono started showing off. The bastard had been speeding the whole way, ramming straight into any Pirate Ship he saw and instantly sending the other side to their doom. Then he would sail away without a care. About three hours later, Rono grew tired of playing around. He wanted to eat.

"Want to eat?" Sairona asked calmly. As the only sniper and cook on the ship, Rono finally recalled the fear of being ruled by Sairona. Uh, why did that sound like it had happened before? You know.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm." Rono nodded like an obedient child. His enormous 3.7-meter-tall body made the gesture look incredibly out of place.

"No." Sairona said. Damn it, did he think he could just call it a day after pulling that stunt? Impossible.

Little Treant Gelu obediently finished his meal with a spoon, put his bowl in the sink, then pattered back to his room. It was time for his afternoon nap. He did not spare Rono a single glance the entire time. The baby was angry!

"..." Rono glanced at the food on the table by Sairona's side. "Shave!" Bang! The silenced Sniper Rifle did not make much noise, but Sairona raised it faster than Rono could move and gave him a shot. KO!

Rono's headless body lay on the floor. Sairona took a sip of wine and continued eating. By the time Rono's head had regenerated, the food was gone too.

"I need AV..." Rono was on the verge of tears. He had only caused a little trouble—was it really necessary to deny him even food?

Then, when dinner came around, Rono was already seated at the table early, his eyes gleaming and saliva streaming from his mouth. "Food, food, I want meat!"

Sairona brought out a large basin of meat bones, and Rono eagerly pounced toward it. In Rono's imagination, getting his head blown off at noon should have been enough. He ought to enjoy a nice meal that night to reward himself. However, Sairona made it clear that it was not enough.

Bang! Rono was kicked flying. Sairona withdrew his foot and placed the meat bones beside Gelu. Gelu watched Rono fly away, then asked Sairona, "Gulu?"

"Don't worry, he won't starve to death." Sairona roughly understood what he meant. "Be good. Finish eating and go to sleep quickly."

"Gulu!" Gelu nodded, wolfed down his dinner, put away his bowl, grabbed a meat bone, and ran back to his room.

Rono watched the meat bone in Gelu's hand and swallowed. Still, he gave up the urge to snatch food and walked into the dining room.

"Stare—" Rono activated his skill, trying to glare Sairona to death. Sairona remained calm and ignored it. He placed the Sniper Rifle on the table and said casually, "Hmm, I wonder if Seastone Bullets can pierce something as hard as Rono's bones. I really ought to test it."

"They can, they can." Rono silently withdrew his Scarlet Armament, and his muscles relaxed. Right in front of him, Sairona began eating dinner, commenting as he ate, "Ah, delicious. As expected of Sea King meat." Although they had not taken the Sea King Sairona killed with them, wealthy Sairona did not care. Wasn't it just Sea King meat? He had a whole barrel pickled and packed to go.

"Grrr—" Rono's stomach growled. He could not bear it any longer. Armament Haki covered his entire body, Scarlet Armament activated, Shave activated, and he charged at Sairona and the last meat bone in his hand.

"Naive. You think you're the only one who can use Armament Haki?" Sairona raised his gun and fired at afterimage speed. Bang! A headless Rono was born. Armor Piercing Round! It was not a Seastone Bullet, but an Armor Piercing Round developed specifically to break through Armament Haki. Not to mention Sairona had coated it in Armament Haki as well. Though his Haki was not as strong as Rono's, when combined with an Armor Piercing Round...

And that was how the scene below the divider came to be.