A Bountiful Haul

"Too slow."

Rogge's eyes widened. Something seemed to change in his pupils: they contracted to pinpricks, unlike before.

This man... Hina froze for a moment.

"Shattering Fist!" Rogge raised his fist and struck while Hina was distracted.

Hina reacted quickly. Iron bars extended from her body, forming a shield that caught Rogge's fist.

Bang!

The Chop-Chop Fruit's power erupted through Rogge's fist, shattering the shield of iron bars. Hina used the force of the blow to put some distance between them.

Rogge looked at Hina and whistled. "I didn't expect your ability to work like that."

Hina looked disheveled but was still beautiful, worthy of her reputation as one of the navy's beauties. To defend against Rogge's attack, she had used her ability, finally letting him see where those iron bars came from.

Earlier, she had produced iron bars from her hands, but Rogge hadn't gotten a clear look. Now he understood: they didn't seem to grow from her flesh, but from her bones.

It was a little like Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku. The iron bars grew out of her bones.

To block his attack, the bars had grown from her ribs and torn through her clothes, exposing a broad expanse of pale skin. That was why Rogge had whistled.

Hina stared at Rogge. She didn't seem to care that her clothes had torn. Surrounded by men in the navy, she might have gotten used to it long ago. She had probably seen looks even lewder than Rogge's.

"Hina is angry. But what just happened? How did you dodge that?" she asked, her gaze fixed on him.

Rogge clenched his fists and smiled. "I have to thank you. Without you, I might never have found the feeling. I'd been hit plenty of times, but all I ever saw was a vague shadow. Because of you, I finally saw it. It really does take a brush with death to break through."

"What are you talking about?" Hina didn't understand him at all. But she could tell he had changed. He seemed stronger, with a confidence that never left his face.

"Haki," Rogge said with a grin.

"What?" Hina stared at him, wide-eyed.

"You're a soldier the navy trained carefully, so you must have heard of Haki. I didn't expect fighting you to help me break through and find the feeling for it. It lasted only an instant, but that was enough." Rogge smiled.

"That was Observation Haki..." Hina murmured.

"Exactly." Rogge charged, hammering at Hina with both fists.

Hina produced two more batons and used them to parry his punches. But Rogge's assault only grew fiercer. He leaped high, putting all his strength into his right fist.

"Hah!"

Bang!

Hina raised both arms, crossing the batons before her. But Rogge's punch shattered the batons in her hands, and the impact sent her crashing into the cabin.

"Colonel!" The soldiers aboard the warship cried out when they saw Hina go flying. Without stopping to think, they rushed Rogge together.

Bang, bang, bang!

Rogge's fists were a nightmare for the soldiers. He dropped one navy soldier with each punch, and when the power of his fruit joined the blow, flesh burst apart.

"Stop right there!" Hina charged out of the cabin with a long black spear and thrust it at Rogge.

Rogge had kept his eyes on her. Time slowed again, and he saw everything clearly: the path she was taking and where she would be a second later.

That's the feeling. Everything's so clear. Time is moving so slowly. Rogge slipped sideways, turned his palm upward, and struck Hina in the abdomen.

"Pfft!"

Hina doubled over and fell into Rogge's grasp. Her weapon clattered onto the deck.

"Colonel!"

Seeing Hina in Rogge's hands, the remaining navy soldiers cried out and tried to charge him.

Rogge stamped his foot. The deck fractured, cracks spreading outward until a gap opened before the soldiers and stopped their advance.

"I really do have to thank you. Fighting you helped me break through. Otherwise, who knows how long it would've taken me to grasp Observation Haki? So I won't kill you. Besides, killing you wouldn't do me any good. Right, beautiful?" Rogge gave her backside a pat and tossed her onto the deck.

Hina lay on the deck, clutching her stomach, her eyes locked on Rogge.

Rogge leaped off the warship and paused in midair. The fighting on the other warships was nearly over too.

The warship Jelly had taken on was covered in vines stained red with blood. Quite a few soldiers were still alive, though. They were capable fighters; the navy was nowhere near as weak as it looked. Otherwise, pirates would have ruled the seas long ago.

Cook and Ham were still fighting, but their battle was clearly drawing to a close. Few people on the last ship appeared to have died, though flames were spreading across it after Simon had shelled it with his cannons.

"Hey! That's enough. Let's go!" Rogge called to the three of them.

Hearing Rogge, the three glanced at the warships and saw no reason to keep fighting. Getting bogged down with the navy would do them no good, and reinforcements might still arrive. Unless they had a particular reason, pirates generally avoided provoking the navy.

Cook returned with Ham and Jelly, and the four regrouped aboard their ship. As the battered warships fell behind, Rogge stood at the stern. He spotted Hina standing on a warship, still glaring at him as though she wanted him dead. Rogge smiled and waved.

"Hina lost," she said through gritted teeth.

"Whew, that felt good." Rogge laughed.

"What's got you so happy? Did something happen between you and that beautiful navy officer?" Ham asked when he saw Rogge grinning.

"I got what I wanted out of that fight," Rogge said with a smile.

"Well, well. Fighting a beautiful navy officer aboard a ship, huh?" Jelly gave a lecherous chuckle.

"Pervert. Meeting the right woman is a matter of fate, and navy women are best left alone. She's in the navy. One careless move and I could lose the chance to have children." Rogge spread his hands.