Sparring

After hearing this, Marco and the others found it hard to believe. They truly could not understand why Teach, who had always been so friendly, would harbor such thoughts.

But whether they believed it or not, they had no choice but to accept it now.

Other than Rune's analysis, there was no other reasonable explanation for Teach's actions.

"Eh—what happened?"

Luffy finally came to. Seeing the shattered bedframe and the drafty window, he scratched his head in confusion.

Ace explained what had happened to Luffy, but after hearing it, Luffy only looked even more confused.

"Forget it, Luffy. You don't need to understand. You only need to know that Teach is coming after all of us."

Seeing Luffy like this, Rune could not help but feel helpless. Explaining many things to him was simply too mentally exhausting.

"If your identity is exposed in the next few days, then Teach was probably the one behind it."

That was what Rune said. If that happened, it would actually be fine. According to the original course of events, Luffy's identity should have already been exposed by now.

But if Luffy's identity was not exposed, then things would become troublesome.

There was no way to tell whether Teach had simply not done it, or whether he had already died at sea. That was a difficult problem for Rune.

After suffering this loss, that bastard had definitely come to hate him. Before they met again, Rune needed to gain the strength to kill Teach.

Only by killing Teach completely could Rune rest easy.

And now...

He should get some proper rest first, then train properly.

The next day, the events of the previous night did not draw any further attention. Marco merely issued an announcement: Marshall D. Teach was no longer a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Any member of the Whitebeard Pirates who encountered him was to treat him as an enemy.

Because he had attacked his companions.

And that day, Rune finally found a suitable sparring partner.

Or rather, a handy punching bag!

Monkey D. Luffy!

The current Luffy was a standard super rookie with a bounty of three hundred million. His strength was still inferior to that of some elite vice admirals from Headquarters.

If Rune went all out, he could fight an elite vice admiral from Headquarters. And if those elite vice admirals relied on Devil Fruit powers, Rune could easily handle them.

The Dark-Dark Fruit's power was simply too effective against Devil Fruit users.

"Gum-Gum—Rifle!"

Luffy attacked first, but Rune did not use the Dark-Dark Fruit's power. At this point, nearly all of Luffy's strength came from his fruit.

If Rune simply used Dark Erosion to disable Luffy's Devil Fruit power...

Then Luffy would be no different from a regular grunt.

"Serious—Punch!"

Armament Haki wrapped around Rune's fist as he actively unleashed his Conqueror's Haki to suppress Luffy. When Rune's fist collided with Luffy's, a cloud of dust burst forth.

The next instant, Luffy was sent flying. He bounced off the mast, then bounced back.

"Gear Second—"

Once he realized Rune was no weakling, Luffy immediately activated Gear Second. After entering Gear Second, both his speed and strength increased significantly.

However, Rune could keep up with him easily.

After sparring with Whitebeard for so long, Rune had been unable to clearly sense how much his strength had improved. Now that he had a different opponent, he immediately felt that progress.

His fists easily kept up with Luffy's high-speed movements, beating Luffy until he yelped in pain.

After exchanging dozens of blows, Luffy leaped into the air, bit down on his right thumb, and puffed out his cheeks.

"Gear Third—"

However, before Luffy could activate Gear Third, Rune used Dark Erosion and directly canceled Luffy's ability.

"Idiot, are you trying to tear the ship apart?"

Ace walked over and punched Luffy, looking at him as though he were an idiot. Rune merely shook his head helplessly and ignored the two brothers, who were about to start bickering again.

"Luffy."

Rune walked over to Luffy and lightly patted his shoulder. "If you can combine Gear Second's speed with Gear Third's gigantification, then add Armament Haki coating, your strength will undergo a qualitative leap.

"Relying solely on your fruit is not enough. Only by combining the power of your fruit with Haki can you truly reach the summit."

"I'm going to become the King of the Pirates. Why do I need to reach the summit?"

Luffy asked in confusion, making Rune roll his eyes. The next moment, Ace punched Luffy again.

"Idiot! It's a metaphor, understand? A metaphor!"

After the joy of their reunion had faded and they had spent a day together, Ace only felt that his stupid little brother had somehow become even stupider than before.

"If you want to grow stronger, then train your Haki properly!"

"Ace, don't lecture him."

Rune sighed. "Your Haki isn't much better, is it? In terms of Haki alone... you're only about as good as I am right now."

Rune's words immediately made Ace's expression turn awkward. It was true. After obtaining the Flame-Flame Fruit, Ace had worked hard on developing its abilities. But he had not trained his Haki with the same diligence.

His current Haki level was only about the same as Rune's.

Although he could perform better against other enemies with the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit, if Ace and Rune fought each other, the outcome...

Was still uncertain.

The Dark-Dark Fruit was far too effective against opponents who relied on Devil Fruit powers.

"We're docking for supplies. You lot, stop fooling around for now."

Marco's voice rang out. Soon afterward, the Moby Dick docked at the shore, and Marco took Vista to find shipwrights on the island.

They needed to repair the part Teach had damaged. Although it did not really affect anything, it still had to be fixed.

"Luffy, want to take a look around the island?"

"Yeah, yeah! I want a big feast!"

"Haha, let's go. This time, I'm treating."

Rune took Luffy and Ace off the ship with him. Both of them were future allies Rune had chosen: one was the crucial holder of the Nika Fruit.

The other was his big brother aboard the same ship.

Although people said that in the New World, even dogs would not eat the Flame-Flame Fruit, if it was truly developed well, it was not weak.

As long as he did not face Akainu, there was still plenty of room for this fruit power to shine.

The three headed toward a tavern together. This island was not part of the territory protected by the Whitebeard Pirates. It was essentially an unclaimed, lawless place with no one in charge.

Rune planned to see whether there were any other pirates here committing evil deeds. If there were, he would beat them up, seize their wealth, and throw them into the sea. Then he could plant the Whitebeard Pirates' flag on the island and bring it under their protection.

But when Rune arrived at the tavern with Luffy and Ace, he saw an unexpected figure.