Rocks, You Know I've Always Thought Highly of You!

More often than not, a fruit's limits depended on its user.

There were no useless fruits, only useless people.

To a certain extent, that statement was not wrong.

But was there another possibility?

What if an outstanding person obtained an outstanding fruit?

Would that make them even more outstanding?

More often than not, fruits could compensate for a user's innate shortcomings and raise their potential. That was not limited to Zoan Fruits.

The Mini Fruit might not have been a powerful fruit, but it was one of the fruits best suited for Giants, because it could effectively compensate for the drawbacks caused by their massive bodies.

Although the Mini Fruit shrank its user's body, it preserved their original strength while doing so.

Just imagine it: when the strength of the Giant race was condensed into an arm as small as a needle, no defense in this world could withstand the destruction wrought by that power.

And though her body had shrunk, the total amount of Haki she had cultivated as a Giant remained unchanged.

That meant Ripley's Haki reserves were dozens, perhaps even hundreds of times greater than an ordinary person's. Even if its quality was a little lacking, the sheer quantity was enough to drive people to despair.

Therefore, Magnus was not worried about the upcoming operation at all.

What he cared about was the other young crew member on his ship.

"Rocks, do you know why I sent Ripley on this mission instead of you?"

"Because this is an internal matter for Elbaf."

"Wrong. Because you're too weak. I was afraid those guys might butcher you if you slipped up."

Magnus's words made Rocks flush bright red. He wanted to argue, but he could not find any reason to refute him.

Because he really was no match for Ripley right now.

"Do you know why I gave the Mini Fruit to Ripley instead of you?"

"Because she's stronger."

"Wrong again!"

Magnus shook his head, looking at Rocks as though he wished he could hammer some sense into him.

"Because her potential isn't enough!"

"(⊙o⊙)"

Rocks's eyes widened. It was the first time he had heard Magnus give such a harsh assessment of Ripley.

"Rocks, let me ask you: have you mastered the Six Powers?"

"I've more or less mastered them all."

"What about Haki?"

"Not yet. But soon!"

As if trying to prove something, Rocks shouted, "Just give me another two months, and I'll definitely master Haki!"

"Fine, two months. I'll round it up to half a year. Rocks, do you think learning Haki will take you more than a year?"

Rocks shook his head.

"Then what if I told you that Ripley had been practicing how to use Haki ever since she first met me ten years ago?"

"Uh."

"Ripley spent ten years just to initially grasp how to use Haki, while you will need no more than one year."

"Do you understand the gap between you and Ripley now?"

Rocks nodded silently.

The people around him had always been old pirates like Magnus or Giants like Ripley, so Rocks had always felt anxious about his own strength.

The more he improved himself, the more clearly he could sense the gap between himself and Magnus and Ripley.

But after hearing Magnus put it that way, Rocks suddenly understood.

It was not that he was inadequate.

Magnus and Ripley had simply trained far longer than he had.

"Rocks, what do you think has the greatest impact on strength?"

"Swordsmanship? Combat techniques? Or fruit abilities?"

"None of them!"

A feverish light gleamed in Magnus's eyes.

"In this world, the thing that has the greatest impact on strength is Haki!"

"Only Haki stands above all else!"

Magnus had once believed that a powerful fruit ability was no worse than great talent, and that stumbling upon a powerful fruit through luck was also a form of strength.

Until one day, he learned that sufficiently powerful Haki could even nullify the abilities of a Devil Fruit user.

Then he understood.

In this world, fruit abilities and swordsmanship were all bullshit.

Haki was the strongest!

That was why Magnus had felt so bitter and helpless after learning that he did not possess Conqueror's Haki, because the very highest level of Haki belonged to users of Conqueror's Haki.

"As long as you have Haki, Paramecia Fruits, Zoan Fruits, Logia Fruits—every ability can be nullified!"

"As long as you have Haki, even if you know no swordsmanship at all, you can wield a Supreme Grade Sword that only a great swordsman could forge through training!"

"As long as you have Haki, no matter how powerful your enemy is, they will kneel at your feet!"

Magnus gave Rocks's shoulder a heavy pat.

"Rocks, you know I've always thought highly of you. From the moment I first saw you, I knew you had the potential to stand at the very top!"

"Fruits aren't important at all. They're things only the weak use. Even I wouldn't have eaten this Mythical Zoan Fruit if my talent had been good enough, even if someone had handed it to me for free."

"Rocks, do you want to become an overlord of the seas someday, only to have people say you became one because you relied on a powerful fruit ability?"

"No!"

Rocks hurriedly shook his head.

"That's right. Once we set sail, we may acquire many more fruits, but remember this: only the weak eat fruits."

"The strong need only rely on themselves!"

Seeing Rocks's solemn expression, seeing that he had finally emerged from his disappointment and no longer obsessed over Magnus giving the fruit to Ripley, Magnus finally let out a sigh of relief.

As the saying went, people did not fear having too little; they feared unfairness. With Rocks's talent, he did not need to eat a fruit, but Magnus could not stop him from overthinking things!

So while Rocks was still young and impressionable, Magnus had to nip the problem in the bud. That way, if he acquired another fruit in the future, he would not have to explain himself too much.

To explain was to conceal.

Heaven and earth bore witness, Magnus had absolutely no intention of suppressing Rocks.

But having Rocks eat a fruit now would bring no benefits beyond distracting him.

After all, most fruit abilities required daily training before they could be put to use. Ripley, who had only just eaten the Mini Fruit, could currently do no more than grow larger and smaller. She was still far from mastering her fruit ability.

Out at sea.

After sailing nearly a hundred kilometers away from Elbaf, the CP0 agents aboard the sailboat finally could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"This mission was far too dangerous."

"Who would have thought White Wolf Magnus was in Elbaf?"

"Good thing Admiral Scarlet Snake was there."

"..."

The three who had escaped Elbaf were not worried whether Rona could retreat unscathed after fighting Magnus. That was not even a question.

What a joke. If Magnus could defeat a Fleet Admiral, he would have long since become an overlord among pirates.

Why would the Navy be chasing him all over the place?

After relaxing, the three failed to notice the giant eagle that had been trailing far behind them under cover of night.

Nor did they see Ripley, only five millimeters tall, struggling to adjust her direction in midair before using Elbaf's specialty sunstone to successfully land aboard their ship.

After waiting with great difficulty until all three CP0 agents were standing together, Ripley immediately returned to her original size. Facing the three CP0 agents, her enormous fist came crashing down.

One strike decided the battle!