Lipli, you don't want to do odd jobs on the ship in Rocks' place, do you?

Although he'd anticipated it, with Magnus and Ripley gone, Pirates might attack, especially since he was the only one left on the Black Pearl.

However, Rocks hadn't expected the attackers to be a group of youths who looked younger than him.

"Hey, do you know what you're doing?"

Easily dodging the attack from the boy named Newgate, Rocks tilted his head and looked at the others rushing towards the ship's cabin.

"If you damage the ship, that old man will cause trouble for me."

"So."

"Let's end this quickly!"

Saying that, Rocks raised his hand and caught the boy's fist.

"How is that possible!?"

The boy's eyes widened. It was the first time he'd seen someone his age catch his punch.

Although the young man before him looked a bit older, he seemed to have just reached adulthood. In terms of physique, he had the advantage.

At fourteen years old, Newgate was nearly four meters tall. Compared to Rocks, who was less than two meters, he was like a Giant.

Yet, despite the double height advantage, Newgate couldn't win the strength contest against Rocks.

"Heh heh, on this Great Sea, size doesn't determine anything."

Seeing the shock on Newgate's face, Rocks finally showed a smile as bright as the sun.

It had been so difficult!

He'd met Magnus, a Great Pirate, right after setting sail. More than half of that year was spent in the Land of Giants, Elbaf. All the "peers" around him were children of the Giant race, and also freaks like Charlotte Linlin with special physiques.

If Magnus hadn't acknowledged him, he would have doubted if he had any talent for fighting at all.

Now, it was confirmed.

"Although I can't beat that smelly old man or Ripley, bullying a brat like you is more than enough."

Rocks' face broke into a radiant smile.

"Finger Pistol!"

Concentrating all his strength into his finger, Rocks sent Newgate flying with a single blow, then looked at the remaining youths.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you that you have to pay a price for doing wrong?"

Soru!

In an instant, he appeared before the other four or five youths. Rocks kicked them down one by one, and without much effort, he defeated them all.

"Guido! Pike! Ba—"

Seeing his companions fall one by one, the burly boy Newgate's eyes widened in fury. Gritting his teeth, he stood up again and charged at Rocks.

"Huh, you can still stand?"

Rocks could tell that although the boy before him had brute strength, like him a year ago, he hadn't received any professional training.

If it were him a year ago, taking down this opponent might have been a bit troublesome.

But now.

He was more than ten times stronger than before!

However, while Rocks was focused on Newgate, he didn't notice a Pirate on another ship nearby raising a Flintlock Gun.

Bang!

A round bullet shot out from the muzzle towards Rocks. Facing Newgate, Rocks suddenly felt a pang of dread.

"Dodge quickly!"

Newgate punched Rocks in the face, but Rocks didn't dodge. Grabbing Newgate, they both fell to the ground.

Whoosh!

The bullet grazed Rocks' scalp and also injured Newgate's shoulder. Like a cannonball, it smashed a large pit into the deck of the Black Pearl.

"That was close!"

Lying on the ground, Rocks looked at the large pit on the floor with lingering fear. If he hadn't reacted in time, he would have been seriously injured, if not killed.

It was only then that Newgate realized the young man before him had actually saved him.

If Rocks hadn't grabbed him and dodged directly, the bullet would have hit him.

"Why did you save me?"

"Hmph, who wanted to save you? I just can't stand sneaky cowards who like to attack from behind. Also, get off me quickly!"

Pushing Newgate away with effort, Rocks looked into the distance.

Several figures descended from mid-air.

"Tsk, they dodged?"

The man leading them, holding the Flintlock Gun, looked displeased. He had thought he could easily take care of Rocks.

Seeing the man's face, Newgate tensed up. He lowered his voice and said, "It's Vulture Vic. He's a Great Pirate with a bounty of over thirty million Belly. We're no match for him!"

Thirty million Belly?

Rocks had never had a clear concept of the bounty of pirates active on this Great Sea. After all, Magnus always talked about pirates with bounties over a hundred million, so pirates with bounties less than a hundred million didn't seem like big players.

Moreover, although he could feel a slight dangerous aura from the opponent, it was far from Magnus, or even Ripley.

I can handle this! Rocks thought to himself.

Port town.

Even though it was three or four streets away, Magnus had already noticed when Rocks and Newgate started fighting.

But since it was just a group of kids fighting, Magnus didn't even consider turning back.

It wasn't until Vulture Vic appeared that Magnus showed a hint of interest.

"It seems our flag isn't working as well as it should because of those pirates impersonating us. Anyone and everyone dares to come after us."

When Magnus left, one of the stronger auras he sensed with Observation Haki belonged to the Vulture Vic in front of him.

However, "stronger" was only relative to Rocks.

As long as the bounty wasn't over a hundred million, it was nothing.

"Are we going back?" Ripley asked, noticing Magnus's gaze and guessing something might have happened on the ship.

"No need." Magnus smiled.

"Rocks is about to master Haki. That pirate's strength is about the same as Rocks'. With this opportunity, Rocks might master Armament Haki and Observation Haki in one go."

Rocks's strength was already sufficient to use Haki; he just lacked a catalyst. If the enemy were very strong, Magnus would have turned back.

But since their strength was similar, Magnus believed Rocks could handle it.

"As for you, you've almost mastered Armament Haki, so why haven't you learned Observation Haki yet?"

"There's nothing I can do about it!" Ripley stuck out her tongue. "Most of the Giant race are pretty slow. I'm already considered fast at mastering Haki."

Although Ripley had defeated a CP0 comparable to a pirate with a bounty over a hundred million through a sneak attack, her strength in a direct confrontation was definitely inferior.

The biggest gap was in her mastery of Haki.

"If you don't work harder, you'll be surpassed by Rocks before long, Ripley. You don't want to end up doing chores on the ship in Rocks's place, do you?"

"But I just can't!" Ripley thought, then her eyes suddenly darted. "How about you, Captain? Can you find a way to give me some extra private lessons? I don't want to be demoted to an intern after only being a crew member for a short time!"

Ripley sidled up, wrapping her arms around Magnus's, looking at him with a pitiful expression.

"Idiot!" Magnus unceremoniously tapped Ripley on the head. "If there were shortcuts for this kind of thing, why would anyone bother training?"

"That hurt!" Seeing Magnus unmoved, Ripley pouted in dissatisfaction. "Old man, you deserve to be single forever."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing!" Ripley giggled and was about to walk forward when she found someone blocking their path.

"You're the White Wolf Pirates, right?" A group of pirates looked at Magnus and Ripley with playful expressions. "Let's go, our boss wants to see you!"