Volcano

Not being able to personally confirm Teach's death had always remained a matter of some concern in Rune's heart.

He could only wait until they had a chance to meet again, then kill him thoroughly.

The sea had been quite peaceful lately, with no more earth-shaking incidents. After giving Ace a thorough beating and making him swear that if he ever wanted to leave the Whitebeard Pirates and act alone again, he would first have to defeat Rune, Rune continued his voyage aboard the Thousand Sunny.

He still needed to recruit new companions. As a division under the Whitebeard Pirates, Rune's crew was far too small.

However, Rune did not want just anyone padding out the ranks, so he had not allowed ordinary sailors to join his crew. Without some special ability, the bare minimum had to be someone like Tashigi.

"Rune, when are you going to fight me?"

Yamato came looking for Rune again. Rune was somewhat helpless when it came to this person who was so determined to duel him. He looked at Yamato, his gaze settling on her twin horns.

"Next time we make landfall."

After saying that, Rune looked over the others on the ship.

Luffy had now mastered Gear Fourth and the Three Types of Haki, though he was still a step short of learning Conqueror's Coating. If the current Luffy fought Donquixote Doflamingo, he could probably beat Donquixote Doflamingo into a bright grandson.

Bonney's Haki had also improved somewhat, though she was focusing more on developing her Devil Fruit abilities. Since she did not possess Conqueror's Haki, Bonney was destined to be unable to enter the ranks of the strongest, but with her miraculous Devil Fruit ability and her steadily improving Armament Haki and Observation Haki—

She could still possess strength on the level of a standard Seven Warlord.

Tashigi was much weaker. Though she had grown somewhat while following Rune and the others, she had not eaten a Devil Fruit, and her talent for Haki training was not particularly high either.

At Marine Headquarters, she probably would not even qualify as a vice admiral.

Kuma...

Kuma's strength had not changed much, and his growth had nearly reached its limit. These days, Kuma smiled cheerfully every day as he watched Bonney, Rune, and the others bicker and make noise, seeming quite content to retire aboard Rune's ship.

Still, Kuma's strength was undeniably solid. Thanks to the unique nature of his Devil Fruit ability, anyone whose Haki was weaker than Kuma's could never defeat him.

"You always say next time..."

Yamato looked at Rune with some dissatisfaction. She thought Rune was very strong, yet he kept refusing to fight her. Since coming aboard, this had left her somewhat displeased with him.

However, that displeasure quickly vanished.

"Rune! There's an island over there. Shall we go there? We're just about out of fresh water and food."

Because there were three big eaters aboard, the Thousand Sunny's food and fresh water were always depleted quickly. And without a cook, they had no way to preserve raw ingredients with longer shelf lives.

"Mm, let's dock. Wait!"

Rune had just been about to direct the Thousand Sunny toward shore when he suddenly raised a hand. He leaped to the highest point of the Thousand Sunny and watched the island warily.

Seeing Rune so tense, Yamato also became serious. Activating her Devil Fruit ability, she instantly transformed into her Okuchi-no-Makami form.

Rune was tense because, just as they had been preparing to dock, he had seen a stream of crimson magma splashing into the air.

At first, he thought they had been unlucky enough to run into Akainu. But after standing high up and taking a closer look, Rune realized it was merely an ordinary volcanic eruption.

But...

The power of such a natural disaster was enough to leave countless people homeless and ruined.

"Kuma, Luffy, keep the Thousand Sunny under control. Don't go too far. Bonney, freeze the seawater around the island."

Rune quickly gave his crew their orders. "Yamato, the two of us are going ashore!"

Seeing so many people fleeing beneath the volcanic disaster, Rune knew every second counted and did not explain much.

"What about me?"

Tashigi spoke up and looked at Rune. Rune glanced at her and hesitated slightly.

"Adapt to the situation."

That answer infuriated Tashigi, but she truly was relatively weak and did not have a special Devil Fruit ability like Bonney. All she could do was remain on the ship and "adapt to the situation" as Rune had instructed.

Still, the look in her eyes was somewhat resentful.

"Yamato, haven't you always wanted to test yourself against me?"

Rune smiled faintly. "How about we have a competition?"

"You're still thinking about competing at a time like this?"

Yamato looked at Rune, surprise appearing in her eyes. Though she did not know any of the people on this island, she had still planned to rescue them with Rune.

To be honest, Yamato's personality was quite good. Setting aside the fact that Oden was her idol, Yamato was a great person whether as a companion, a friend, or even a stranger.

As for her worship of Oden...

That was mainly Kaido's fault.

He had not given Yamato a basic education and had locked her up from childhood. After Yamato got hold of Oden's logbook, naturally she believed whatever Oden had written in it.

Expecting an uneducated child to distinguish right from wrong was clearly asking too much.

The fact that Yamato had grown into who she was now was already proof of her inherently good nature. If she had had a worse personality, who knew what she might be doing now.

"Let's see who can save more civilians. Give it everything we've got."

Rune smiled faintly. "Strength isn't just about frontal combat ability. The ability to rescue companions is also part of strength."

"Alright!"

Yamato did not overthink it. A layer of ice appeared across her body as she ran toward the erupting volcano.

Rune, meanwhile, transformed into darkness and directly swallowed a large group of fleeing civilians.

"Hiss... This really hurts a little..."

As he rescued the island's civilians, Rune muttered complaints to himself. Even ordinary magma hurt this much when it splashed onto his elemental body. How much would it hurt if Akainu punched him?

Fortunately, Akainu's power came from a Devil Fruit. As long as Rune could keep up with his speed, the Dark-Dark Fruit could prevent Akainu from using his Devil Fruit ability at all!

However, Akainu's Haki was not weak either. Rune could at most contend with Akainu for a while. In a true fight to the death, he still could not win.

Through Rune and Yamato's efforts, most of the island's civilians were moved onto the frozen sea surface created by Bonney. Yet as they looked at the still-erupting volcano, both Rune and Yamato felt a sense of helplessness.

Their abilities were not suited to dealing with this kind of natural disaster.

But once the eruption ended, most of the island's buildings would likely be destroyed. The people they had saved would still lose their homes.