"What are you doing!?"
"Shut up!"
Magnus ignored Rocks, who had been slapped to the ground and could not get back up.
Magnus stared fixedly at the panel before him.
Ding~ Congratulations, you defeated the overlord of the seas, Rocks D. Zebek! You achieved an impossible accomplishment. You awakened Observation Haki, mastered the Marine Six Powers, and all injuries you sustained in this battle would be fully healed. Your cellular activity has increased.
Observation Haki, Marine Six Powers—things he had long since mastered were not worth Magnus's attention.
His eyes were fixed only on the last two lines.
Injury recovery!
Cellular activity increased!
Injury recovery was easy enough to understand, but Magnus had clearly suffered no injuries in this battle. Yet the moment the words appeared on the system panel, he felt his body grow lighter.
"This is..."
Under Rocks's horrified gaze, Magnus casually picked up the short blade he had dropped.
Then—
"Nation Splitter!"
It was a technique learned from the Land of Giants, one he had found difficult to use again in his old age.
But when the short blade in Magnus's hand came down—
The sea before him, at that very moment—
Split in two!
Meeting Rocks's stunned gaze, Magnus laughed again.
He laughed more freely than ever before.
"Pfft—Pfft, hahahahahahaha—"
He understood now. Injury recovery did not merely heal his current wounds—it healed all the old hidden injuries in his body as well.
After all, he was a pirate!
Living by the blade, never knowing if he would survive the next day—even after suffering grievous wounds, all he could do while drifting at sea was grit his teeth and endure.
That was why, though both were old men—
Garp, as a Marine, remained healthy and vigorous, while Whitebeard, as a pirate, was covered in tubes.
Because Whitebeard had too many old hidden injuries.
Magnus was the same. Without the system, in a few more years, he might not have been much better off than Whitebeard in the future.
But now, things were different.
All the hidden injuries in his body had been healed!
Though age had inevitably weakened him compared to his prime, he could still barely wield eighty percent of his strength.
Before this, he had nearly been unable to use Haki at all.
As for the increase in cellular activity—
Since he was not a doctor and could not draw blood for tests, Magnus did not yet know what had changed.
Still, it would be nice if he could live a few more years.
After all, no one ever complained about living too long, did they?
His mood improving, Magnus found Rocks more pleasing to the eye. He tossed the short blade back to him, then smiled at the youth who was still frozen by what he had just witnessed.
"Want to learn it?"
Rocks nodded instinctively.
"Then what should you call me?"
"C-Captain?"
"That's more like it."
Magnus rose to his feet and looked at the sea that had slowly begun to mend after being split apart by his attack. Then he looked at the system panel before him, his gaze deep.
What a pity.
Magnus truly did feel regret.
If the system had arrived ten or twenty years earlier, when he was still at the height of his strength, perhaps he could have used it to accomplish something great.
But now, it was too late.
Though the system had healed the hidden injuries he had carried for years the moment it appeared, the prerequisite for gaining such rewards was defeating an overlord of the seas like Rocks D. Zebek.
Though Rocks was still just a brat.
That alone showed how harsh the conditions for obtaining system rewards were.
How many overlords of the seas were there in the entire world of One Piece?
Not to mention that Rocks was not even twenty yet. The future Four Emperors, Big Mom and Kaido, were probably not even on the horizon.
Oh, though One Piece's Roger might be worth looking forward to.
Roger and Rocks belonged to the same era, but Roger was younger. Magnus did not even know whether he had gone to sea yet.
But surely Roger had not possessed the strength of the Pirate King from the moment he set sail, right?
And there were Whitebeard and Golden Lion, too.
Thinking it over carefully, if the loophole in the system inside his mind remained—
He still had quite a few chances to reap rewards.
However, the world of One Piece was so vast. Whether he could even meet them was another matter entirely.
And if he did meet them someday, perhaps he would already be too old to lift a blade.
Magnus felt somewhat regretful.
He did not fear encountering the overlords of the seas in their prime.
He merely regretted that he had no way to be born in the same era as them.
Still, there was always a chance!
The regret in Magnus's eyes vanished, and his gaze became sharp once more.
If there had been no system, then so be it.
But since the system had come, healed the hidden injuries in his body, and increased his cellular activity, then even if he were lying in a coffin, he would claw his way out and struggle once more!
That was why Magnus had ultimately taken Rocks in.
Knowing what Rocks would achieve in the future, could Magnus possibly not know what a dangerous hot potato Rocks was?
One wrong move, and he would be stabbed in the back!
Such things were commonplace in the world of pirates.
And Rocks could still grow to that level. Once fully grown, even Magnus at his peak would not have had the slightest confidence in defeating him.
Yet Magnus still took him in.
"If I don't even dare to take a brat who hasn't grown up yet under my wing, then what right do I have to make a comeback?"
Magnus had no intention of calling back the crew members he had previously dismissed.
Many of them were no longer young. They were not suited for this life of uncertainty anymore. Even without his hidden injuries, if Magnus ran into one of those Marine Admirals, he would still have no choice but to flee.
Besides, he had already divided up the money they were owed. It was enough for them to live out the rest of their lives in peace.
He had decided to train Rocks!
The sudden look in his eyes made Rocks, who was preparing to climb up from the ground, shudder.
He was afraid Magnus would hit him again.
That casual slap had nearly cost him all ability to fight.
Rocks did not have the slightest desire to resist.
"Hmph, you damned old man. Once I learn everything you teach me and become stronger, every hit you land on me now, I'll pay back double!"
Rocks had been eyeing the great ship beneath his feet for a long time. Otherwise, he would not have sneaked aboard. Did Magnus really think he wanted to be someone else's crewman?
From the very beginning, he had planned to steal the ship!
As he climbed to his feet, the thought of Magnus teaching him that move which split the sea made Rocks's heart burn with excitement.
He had never seen such powerful strength before.
If he possessed such strength, where in this vast world could he not go?
Huh, wait.
Rocks suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"Old man."
"What did you call me?"
"C-Captain!"
His head was smacked again, and Rocks barely managed to force a smile onto his face.
He pointed into the distance.
"Look, isn't that a ship?"
A ship?
Magnus looked up.
Sure enough, a sailing ship was approaching not far from them.
Magnus spotted the flag on the ship at once.
A pirate flag?
The smile on Magnus's face immediately turned intriguing.
Before you continue