Armament Haki, Chef

Rody took a deep breath and began trying to cultivate Armament Haki. "Unwavering belief is strength." As long as one's physical condition met a certain standard, coupled with firm conviction, this power could be drawn forth.

Buzz—

A layer of pitch-black energy appeared over Rody's hand, thick ripples coiling around it. Rody carefully sensed the fluctuations wrapped around his hand as the Haki slowly began to flow. (It was colorless in the manga; the anime setting was used here.)

Rody slowly exhaled.

Armament Haki mastered.

"Then next is Conqueror's Haki!"

If Armament Haki meant attaching one's spirit, conviction, and will to blades or one's flesh, then Conqueror's Haki meant unleashing one's powerful personal spirit and will upon others. The weak and those with fragile minds would be unable to withstand the impact of that spiritual force, foaming at the mouth and fainting.

"But how do I draw it out?"

Rody remembered that in the original story, Doflamingo had only drawn out his Conqueror's Haki when he was about to be burned to death, through extreme rage and hatred. There probably needed to be a clear enemy or target to release it against.

Rody thought for a while but still had no clue.

"Since I have no idea about Conqueror's Haki, I'll train Armament Haki and Observation Haki first."

Grand Line, Fish-Man Island

Aladdin, the Sun Pirates' vice-captain and a moray eel fish-man, handed the newspaper he had bought and the bounty posters inside to Jinbe. "Boss Jinbe, Arlong, Kuroobi, and the others were all killed by humans."

Jinbe accepted the newspaper and bounty posters Aladdin handed him. Slayer Rody had killed every member of the Great Axe Pirates, every fish-man of the Evil Dragon Pirates, and all the Marines led by Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16. He was suspected of being a Devil Fruit user.

Setting down the newspaper, Jinbe looked at the bounty poster in his hand. It showed a red-haired man with markings on his face and cold, indifferent eyes.

"Slayer Rody, bounty: 50 million Berries!"

"Former Evil Dragon Pirates officer, now navigator under Slayer Rody: Cat Burglar Nami. Bounty: 5 million Berries."

Jinbe put down the newspaper and bounty posters in his hands, frowned, and let out a long sigh.

"Boss Jinbe, Arlong and the others were all killed by humans. Shouldn't we avenge them?"

"Yeah, Boss Jinbe. Arlong and the others were our brethren, after all!"

"And that human is a pirate, too."

Listening to the crew's discussion, Jinbe frowned and said, "Quiet." Once the crew had fallen silent, Jinbe slowly continued, "Don't forget Boss Tiger's and Queen Otohime's teachings. There are good humans and bad humans. Arlong and the others chose this outcome themselves. As for that human, I'll keep an eye on him." After Jinbe spoke, the crew stopped discussing it.

"Arlong, if I had forced you all to stay back then, things probably wouldn't have ended this way," Jinbe silently thought as he looked into the distance.

Fish-Man Street, inside a messy room, several fish-men had gathered. Hody Jones, a great white shark fish-man, set down the newspaper and bounty posters in his hand, then plunged a dagger into the bounty poster on the table. He snarled furiously, "How could a lowly human possibly kill Brother Arlong? You must have used some despicable trick to kill a noble fish-man."

"Yeah! Boss Hody, how could weak humans kill mighty Brother Arlong? That weak human must have used some despicable method to ambush Brother Arlong!"

"Yeah! Those weak, lowly humans should be slaves to us noble fish-men. How could they possibly kill mighty, noble fish-men? They must have used some despicable trick to ambush Brother Arlong!" The fish-men around Hody Jones also shouted furiously.

Hody Jones waved a hand, silencing the fish-men around him. He pulled out the dagger, picked up the pierced bounty poster, and said, "Lowly human, once I become the king of Fish-Man Island and gather our mighty fish-man warriors, I'll storm the Red Line, overthrow the World Government, and turn all you humans into slaves of the noble fish-men. Then, I'll cut off your head. Hahahaha..."

Two days later, East Blue...

A hat-wearing seagull flapped its wings and landed on the railing in front of Rody, then gave him a salute.

Looking at the seagull before him, Rody could not help marveling at the wonders of the pirate world. Most animals in this world could understand human speech.

Nami took out a 100-Berry coin and bought a newspaper from the News Coo. The News Coo nodded, flapped its wings, and flew away.

Seriously, would anyone really try to capture Chopper for 50 Berries?

"Rody, look! We've been given bounties!"

"Your bounty is 50 million Berries, and mine is 5 million Berries. But why do I have a bounty? I obviously didn't do anything!" Nami walked up to Rody with the newspaper and bounty posters.

Rody set down his drink and took the newspaper from Nami's hand. "Mm, the photo came out pretty well." Looking at the bounty poster in his hand, Rody nodded in satisfaction.

Rody looked over the newspaper in his hand. Cavendish had entered the New World and become a highly watched rookie.

Thatch, commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division, had been killed by Marshall D. Teach, a member of the Second Division. Marshall D. Teach had defected from the Whitebeard Pirates.

The Whitebeard Pirates had sent Ace, commander of the Second Division, to pursue Marshall D. Teach, the former Second Division member who had defected.

"Oh, Blackbeard has already obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit."

"The Marines should have realized that Ace is Pirate King Roger's son by now, too."

"Lord Rody, there's an island ahead." Mike came to Rody's side, bowed, and greeted him.

Mango Town

Mike furled the sails while Nami steered the ship into the dock at the harbor, leaving Jade Hound Black behind to guard the vessel.

Three people and one dog disembarked. Nami linked her arm through Rody's as they walked down the streets of Mango Town, followed by Butler Mike and Jade Hound White carrying a bundle.

Suddenly—

"That hair, those markings on his face... There's no mistake! He's Slayer Rody, the man with a 50 million Berry bounty!" a passerby looking at Rody cried out.

In an instant—

The noisy street fell silent. The passersby stared at Rody tremblingly, not daring to make a single sound.

Just then, an old man leaning on a cane stepped out from the silent crowd. Trembling, he made his way to Rody and spoke humbly, "Lord Slaughterer, this old man is the mayor of Mango Town. If you need anything, please feel free to command me."

"Oh? Then does your town have any Den Den Mushi?" Rody asked casually.

"Lord Slaughterer, Mango Town does not have the Den Den Mushi you mentioned," the mayor answered humbly.

"Den Den Mushi seemed to be commonly used only on the Grand Line. It was normal for a small town in the East Blue not to have any."

"Then does the town have any decent chefs?"

"Lord Slaughterer, as for chefs, a woman arrived in town yesterday claiming to be the East Blue's number one chef," the mayor replied cautiously.