Don't Underestimate Kizaru!

That evening.

Xia Luo finally met his new roommate, Borsalino.

Led by Layton, Borsalino—three meters tall, somewhat sleazy-looking, and thoroughly carefree—walked into the dormitory.

As Xia Luo and Borsalino sized each other up, Layton proactively stepped forward to introduce them.

"Borsalino, this is the roommate I just told you about, Captain Xia Luo from the West Blue branch."

"Xia Luo, this is Borsalino, the one I mentioned."

After several seconds of silence.

"Nice to meet you, Borsalino."

Xia Luo spoke first. He wore a smile, but made no move to stand and welcome him, instead reclining calmly against the sofa.

Borsalino narrowed his eyes, his tone exceedingly punchable. "How scary. My roommate is actually a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user."

Xia Luo answered with a false smile, "You're not bad yourself. The Glint-Glint Fruit—I envy you greatly."

Their first meeting was already a clash of needles, the air thick with gunpowder.

"Uh... well, you two chat. I still have something to do, so I'll be leaving. Bye-bye."

Seeing the situation, Layton immediately sensed trouble. He did not dare involve himself in a confrontation between two big shots, so he decisively slipped away.

Borsalino walked over to sit on the opposite sofa, crossing his legs in a lazy posture. "Ha, that's exactly what I wanted to say. I envy you too."

Xia Luo teased, "By the way, is 'this old man' your catchphrase? You really do look rather rushed to grow old."

Borsalino's mouth twitched slightly before he smiled. "Hehehehe, thank you for the compliment. Perhaps this is the charm of maturity."

"Ha, maturity? If you say so. Well then, old man, good night."

Xia Luo chuckled, ending the conversation as he rose and returned to his room.

There was nothing wrong with sixteen-year-old Xia Luo calling Borsalino an old man. After all, Borsalino was already twenty-six this year, the oldest of this intake.

But Borsalino did not see it that way. As far as he knew, Xia Luo was only three or four years younger than him, about the same age as Sakazuki, the Magma-Magma Fruit user. Yet Xia Luo had actually called him "old man." Was he deliberately provoking him?

Borsalino half-squinted as he looked toward Xia Luo's room, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Interesting. He had not expected conflict to begin the moment they enrolled. How scary~

Unbeknownst to him, Xia Luo was also looking toward the door, thinking:

Borsalino, what kind of person are you? Do you truly care about the World Government and the Marines? Do you really believe they can represent justice and preserve peace?

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

When Borsalino got up, he found Xia Luo's door wide open. Xia Luo was already gone, and he had no idea where he had gone.

He glanced at the clock on the wall.

Borsalino began doubting his life. "Did I get up late? But it isn't even eight yet..."

"And there are still five days before school starts. What a perfect chance to relax. Is there really a need to be so eager to show off?"

"That's way too competitive!"

Though he said that, a hint of urgency and pressure still arose in his heart.

Even though he kept saying how scary things were and knocked out little kids with every punch, looking utterly carefree, he was not actually giving up!

Elsewhere,

Xia Luo, who had gotten up at five, was on the back mountain practicing the Six Powers with Poop-Throwing Gorilla.

"Poop-Throwing Gorilla, your method of exerting force is wrong..."

"Wrong, wrong. That's not how you use Soru. Watch me."

"Why are you so stupid?!"

"Forget it. Practice slowly on your own, and make time to develop your fruit ability."

"Remember, physical strength is the most important thing. If your physique is lacking, no matter how strong your fruit ability is, it will only amount to that much."

Xia Luo could not exactly say he had high hopes for Poop-Throwing Gorilla. He merely hoped it would not be too weak. It would be best if it could stand on its own, but if not, he could just keep it as a pet.

After saying that, Xia Luo stopped paying attention to it and focused on studying his Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability.

At present, his development of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was far too low, not even reaching LV2.

Although that had much to do with the fact that he had only obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit recently, that was precisely why he needed to put in tremendous effort.

Moreover, as he mastered more and more skills and talents, he felt increasingly short on time. He had two Devil Fruit abilities alone, and each required a great deal of time to improve.

Not to mention martial arts, staff techniques, the Six Powers, Observation Haki, and later, Life Return and Armament Haki. He also had to find a way to awaken Conqueror's Haki, and so on.

"Take it slowly. There's still time." Xia Luo took a deep breath and comforted himself.

Near noon.

Xia Luo brought Poop-Throwing Gorilla to the Marine cafeteria and was just about to eat.

"Hey, did you hear? Half a month ago, Admiral Zephyr's family suffered an accident..."

"I just heard. They say Admiral Zephyr's wife and child were brutally murdered by pirates, and the culprit was the very pirate Admiral Zephyr had spared back then!"

"The Admiral Who Doesn't Kill... sigh!"

Bang!

A Marine soldier slammed the table, saying furiously, "Those damned pirates! They even dared murder an admiral's family. They're utterly lawless!"

His words instantly stirred everyone's shared outrage. A wave of condemnation against pirates rose through the cafeteria. Some of the more hot-blooded ones did not even finish their meals before leaving, saying they would head out to sea to kill pirates and avenge Zephyr.

In the blink of an eye, half the cafeteria had emptied. When Borsalino arrived and saw the vacant seats, he could not help saying:

"The people at Headquarters are so scary. There are so few people at mealtime. Are they all secretly competing? Just as detestable as that Xia Luo!"

At that moment, a voice came from behind him, causing his pupils to contract sharply. His body tensed, and his expression turned highly unnatural.

"Borsalino, speaking ill of someone behind their back isn't a good habit."

"Hehehehe, Xia Luo, you're here too? What a coincidence. When did you get here? Did you just arrive?"

Borsalino forced himself to remain calm. As long as he was not embarrassed, someone else would be.

Xia Luo looked at him with a half-smile. "I was here before you even walked in."

"Oh ho ho ho, is that so? I didn't notice." Borsalino's eyes shifted. "Huh? Why is there a gorilla here?"

"His name is Poop-Throwing Gorilla. He's my pet, and you could say he's also my partner."

"That's truly scary~ Such a muscular gorilla must be very strong, right? I really want to see it for myself." Borsalino's old habit acted up again.

Then, stroking his chin and frowning in thought, he said, "So you can keep pets at Headquarters. That sounds rather interesting. Hmm, this old man suddenly wants to keep one too."

Xia Luo held back a laugh. "I think you could keep an ape. You're better suited to raising an ape. The two of you would make a perfect match."

What was that saying again? Don't mistake Kizaru for not being an ape!

Besides, Monkey was also an ape, so people said Kizaru was Luffy's second maternal uncle. That actually did not seem wrong.

"Right? Actually, this old man was thinking the same thing. Gorillas aren't quite suitable for me."

Borsalino first expressed his agreement, then asked suspiciously:

"But why does what you said sound strange? Were you thinking something rude?"

Suppressing his laughter, Xia Luo waved a hand in denial. "No, no. How could I be? I sincerely recommend it."

"Is that so? Thank you for the suggestion. This old man will consider it carefully."

Borsalino could not be bothered to dwell on it any longer and was about to sit down to eat.

Suddenly, he turned toward the entrance. "Oh, Sakazuki is here too."