The Pirate King? I Don't Care!

"Anyone with weak willpower should keep their distance. Rune might not be that strong yet, but he is indeed a wielder of Conqueror's Haki."

Marco gave a reminder, then ignited his Undying Azure Flame. The two said nothing more and charged at each other.

Under Marco's training, Rune's hand-to-hand combat had steadily improved. At first, he could not even last five seconds against Marco.

But with all this training and his development of Haki, Rune could now fight Marco for over ten minutes before being defeated.

Of course, that was also because Marco had never fought at full strength. Rune felt that if Marco truly went all out against him,

he might not even last five minutes.

A fist coated in Armament Haki collided with the Undying Azure Flame, producing a thunderous roar. Every one of Rune's punches went straight for Marco's vital points, without the slightest bit of flair.

There was little technique to speak of; it was all combat experience Rune had distilled through battle. As the number of fights increased, both his offense and defense gradually developed a style uniquely his own.

After more than a dozen fierce exchanges, Rune watched as Marco's flame-wreathed kick came at him, yet made no move to dodge. He covered his abdomen with Armament Haki and took the blow head-on.

At the same time, Rune's Armament Haki-coated fist smashed heavily into Marco's abdomen.

With just one blow, Marco nearly knocked Rune unconscious. Yet after taking Rune's punch, Marco merely brushed some dust from himself.

"Not bad. You finally look a little like a fighter."

Marco smiled and pulled the exhausted Rune to his feet. Rune, meanwhile, frowned, looking distinctly unhappy.

"Damn it. If my Devil Fruit ability were a normal Logia Devil Fruit, I might already be strong enough to be a division commander!"

"Hahahaha, there's nothing you can do about that. Until you eat a Devil Fruit, nobody knows what kind of power it'll give you!"

The crew burst into laughter, offering Rune their comfort. Teach, lurking in the shadows, laughed along with them, but inwardly he was utterly disdainful.

This guy had eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit, yet he actually thought its power was trash!

That was clearly a god-tier Devil Fruit!

But that was fine. Since he did not understand the Dark-Dark Fruit's value, Teach would not need to worry much about its abilities when dealing with him later. He only needed to watch out for Rune's Three Types of Haki!

Teach planned to look for an opportunity to kill Rune the next time they docked. He would prepare some fruit in advance and try to choose an enclosed environment.

That way, after killing Rune, the Dark-Dark Fruit would fall into his hands immediately!

As Rune grumbled about the Dark-Dark Fruit with Marco and the others, his gaze discreetly flicked in Teach's direction.

Rune's Observation Haki was warning him.

This guy really would not give up.

Rune smiled faintly. Teach wanted to kill him and take his fruit, while Rune also wanted to kill Teach, so the Whitebeard Pirates could have a good ending.

The next time they docked might be an opportunity.

The Moby Dick sailed at sea for some time without anything unusual happening. Day after day, Rune trained diligently to improve his strength while trying to develop new techniques for the Dark-Dark Fruit.

During his training, Rune heard the crew mention that a powerful rookie pirate had recently defeated one of the famous Seven Warlords. His name was Straw Hat. Whenever Straw Hat was mentioned, Ace would proudly tell everyone that Straw Hat was his younger brother and ask them to look after him if they ever met.

Rune had no plans to take the initiative and approach this world's protagonist. Although Luffy was special, there was no point in meeting him now.

Luffy was still far from awakening his fruit and attaining Nika Form.

If given the chance, Rune would naturally build a good relationship with him. After all, the Nika Fruit was also key to overthrowing Imu. But Rune would not go looking for him.

After all, Rune had his own things to do.

After coming to this world, Rune's view of many people had changed. Before transmigrating, he had only regarded Luffy as the protagonist of the pirate world and the future inheritor of Joy Boy's will.

But now...

To Rune, Luffy was merely a friend's younger brother. Nothing more.

At that moment, Rune sat in the captain's quarters of the Moby Dick. Across from him was the man known as the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard—Edward Newgate.

"You... want to leave the ship to train?"

Whitebeard looked at Rune with a calm gaze. Whitebeard was not yet as terminally ill as he had been during the Summit War. At this moment, he still possessed tremendous strength.

If the Summit War had broken out at this time, Whitebeard, who possessed all Three Types of Haki, could have beaten the admirals like they were his sons.

"Why? Are you unhappy getting along with everyone on the ship?"

Whitebeard looked at Rune, waiting for his answer.

Rune simply smiled and shook his head.

"Pops, I've been very happy with everyone during this time. They all take care of me like I'm their little brother, and Pops has treated me very well too."

Before coming to this world, Rune had been an orphan whose parents had both died. He had never imagined that the first time he experienced the feeling of having a family would be aboard a pirate ship.

That was also why he valued the Dark-Dark Fruit so much and why he wanted to eliminate the unstable factor that was Teach.

"It's just that... under Pops's protection all the time, I feel like I'm growing too slowly. Only by truly placing myself in life-and-death danger can my strength improve quickly."

Rune smiled. "I... want to surpass Pops and become the strongest person in this world! When Pops grows old, I want to protect everyone on this ship like Pops does. I want to protect our big family."

Hearing Rune's words, Whitebeard fell silent for a moment. Then Whitebeard burst into hearty laughter.

His large hand landed on Rune's shoulder, and a touch of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

Suddenly, Whitebeard's expression turned serious. An invisible Haki pressed down upon Rune, making him feel immense pressure in an instant.

It even made him want to submit completely.

But Rune gritted his teeth and endured it. He met Whitebeard's eyes without hesitation, showing not the slightest trace of fear.

"Very good. You have the qualities to become a king as well. But... you know that I intend to train Ace to become the next Pirate King, right?"

"Pops, I have no interest in becoming the Pirate King."

Bearing the pressure, Rune gritted his teeth and said, "I only want to be with everyone. I only want to use my own efforts to give everyone a better future. As for the title of Pirate King, One Piece, and all that... I simply don't care!"