Sparring with the Golden Lion! His Strength Soared!

The port of Beehive Island lay beneath a moon as bright as water.

Luo Tian waited beside the enormous pirate ship, which had yet to take to the skies. After a short while, Golden Lion Shiki came drifting back through the night sky from afar.

Shiki was clearly in a foul mood.

He hadn't even gotten a clear answer from Luo Tian about his invitation before that madwoman, Charlotte Linlin, had pestered him for ages. He'd only managed to make a messy escape thanks to the maneuverability of his Float-Float Fruit.

He'd hurried back to the banquet hall, hoping to talk things over with Luo Tian, only to find that Luo Tian had already left. That left him feeling even more stifled.

Just as he was about to board the ship in a huff, he caught sight of Luo Tian waiting quietly in the shadow beneath the gunwale. His mood immediately brightened.

But then he remembered the rotten trick the kid had pulled earlier, redirecting Linlin's attention toward him. A flare of anger, tinged with embarrassment, rose in his chest.

"Hmph! Luo Tian, you've got some nerve showing your face here! Don't you think you owe me an explanation for what you pulled earlier?!"

Shiki released the power of his Float-Float Fruit, landed steadily on the ground, and strode over to Luo Tian.

Luo Tian grinned.

He'd spotted Shiki flying over from a long way off, looking thoroughly annoyed. There was a good chance it was because Luo Tian had redirected Linlin's attention toward him.

Of course, there was also the possibility that Linlin had chased him into such a sorry state.

"Oh, Shiki, you've got some nerve talking to me!" Luo Tian wasn't the least bit sheepish. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and shot back, "Back in the banquet hall, when Charlotte Linlin came up behind me, you could've at least coughed or given me a look to warn me. But did you?"

"One moment you were all chummy with me, enthusiastically inviting me aboard to spar. The next, Linlin showed up, and you and Newgate both sat up straight at once, staring straight ahead and pretending you didn't know me?

"That was quite a quick change of face, Shiki!"

Luo Tian's tone was teasing, but his eyes made one thing clear:

They needed to talk this through. Shiki and the others had been the ones to act dishonorably first, so he couldn't blame Luo Tian for returning the favor.

Shiki was taken aback.

Luo Tian's pointed retort had left him speechless.

Thinking back, he had... well, maybe he hadn't acted entirely honorably.

He immediately looked a little sheepish, and his accusatory bluster deflated like a punctured balloon.

"Uh... Luo Tian, hear me out... The situation back then... Linlin, she..."

Shiki tried to offer an explanation, but when he saw Luo Tian's knowing half-smile, he realized he couldn't talk his way out of it. He waved a hand and softened his tone.

"Forget it, forget it! We were both at fault, so we're even! Neither of us is allowed to bring it up again!"

Thinking back, he really had wanted to watch the show and distance himself as quickly as possible. Luo Tian had even seemed to glare at him and Whitebeard.

The more he thought about it, the harder it was to claim he'd been in the right.

"By the way, Shiki, you disappeared for so long before coming back. Don't tell me Charlotte Linlin really... hmm?" Luo Tian gave him a knowing smile.

"Damn it, Luo Tian! Don't go making things up!"

Shiki understood at once, and his face turned black as soot. He gritted his teeth as he protested, "Do you think that's possible?! I'm Golden Lion Shiki!

"Ahem... Anyway, there's absolutely no chance! It took every ounce of my strength to shake her off! Don't spread rumors, you bastard!"

"Hahaha! I was only joking. Look how worked up you are." Seeing Shiki react so strongly, Luo Tian burst out laughing, thoroughly amused.

But a joke was only funny up to a point. If he kept going, Shiki might really lose face—and perhaps fly into a rage out of embarrassment.

"You were waiting for me here because you've decided to accept my invitation?"

Returning to the matter at hand, Shiki kept his eyes fixed on Luo Tian, anticipation in his gaze.

Luo Tian nodded and answered calmly, "Yeah. I'm not planning to put together my own crew just yet.

"Since you've sincerely invited me, I'll stay with you for a while.

"And as you said, we can spar and learn from each other's swordsmanship. It'll benefit us both."

For Luo Tian, improving his strength as quickly as possible was what mattered most.

Any rewards the system might bring aside, he also needed to keep training diligently and explore his abilities more deeply.

By accepting Shiki's offer, he could befriend one of the strongest fighters in the pirate crew while achieving his goal of growing stronger through training. What was there to lose?

"Hahaha! Excellent! You're a man after my own heart, Luo Tian!"

Shiki roared with laughter. He slapped Luo Tian hard on the shoulder and declared, "Don't worry. With the World's Strongest Swordsman personally guiding you, your swordsmanship is sure to improve by leaps and bounds!"

Luo Tian's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

World's Strongest Swordsman? Did he give himself that title? Had anyone asked Rayleigh? Or Roger?

"Enough, Shiki. It's getting late. Let's board the ship first. We can talk about the details tomorrow."

Luo Tian couldn't be bothered to waste more time arguing over something so trivial. Give this guy an inch and he'd take a mile—and his skin was impressively thick.

One month later, somewhere in a remote stretch of the New World.

Two enormous pirate ships hovered quietly above an uninhabited island thick with vegetation.

One belonged to Golden Lion Shiki, and the other to Newgate.

The two officers had clearly arranged to come together.

Whitebeard and several of the early division commanders aboard his ship stood by the gunwale, watching the battle on the island below with keen interest.

"Clang—!!!"

"Boom—!!!"

Weapons clashed fiercely across the island, each collision ringing out like an explosion.

The spreading shock waves cracked rocks and snapped giant trees.

Luo Tian and Shiki were locked in a thrilling battle on the island!

Both men gripped Famous Swords.

Shiki wielded the Great Grade Swords Oto and Kogarashi, while Luo Tian carried the Supreme Grade Blade Black Dragon.

From start to finish, the two had tacitly agreed not to use their Devil Fruit abilities.

This was a pure swordsmanship duel, stripped of outside tricks and brought back to the fundamentals!

Every clash of blades sent out a circular shock wave, flattening plants and whipping up sand and stones.

The aftershocks of their slashes swept through the forest. Ancient trees wider than a man's arms snapped in half, solid boulders were sliced cleanly apart, and even the air currents churned into chaos.

Their fierce battle continued from the afternoon until the sun sank toward the horizon, a full two hours.

At last, with a final clash that rang across the sky, the storm abruptly subsided.

The dust settled. The two faced each other, sheathed their swords in unspoken agreement, and went their separate ways to rest.

Luo Tian leaned against a surviving ancient tree, replenishing his fluids as he breathed steadily.

Looking at the island they'd thoroughly wrecked, he grinned with satisfaction.

The Rocks Pirates had undertaken no major operations that month, and everything had been peaceful.

With little else to do, Luo Tian had sparred with Shiki almost every day, honing his swordsmanship through live combat until it became instinctive. He was also rapidly gaining experience fighting top-tier opponents.

His progress was plain to see.