"Historian"

One minute passed... two minutes... three minutes...

Abu's punches grew louder and louder, and more and more sweat poured from his head.

He hadn't landed a single hit on Jogo!

From the start of the fight until now, he hadn't hit Jogo even once!

Every close-range strike had been effortlessly dodged by Jogo in advance, who kept pulling away to maintain the distance!

"Is that even reasonable?"

The cheers around them had vanished at some point.

The surrounding pirates gradually realized something was wrong too.

At first, they could say the deputy pillar was putting on an act because he hadn't landed a hit.

But it had already been five or six minutes, hadn't it?

And he still hadn't hit him?

Could it be that the deputy pillar wasn't acting at all, but genuinely couldn't touch him?

And that guy named Jogo looked like he was taking a stroll, when he was actually leading the deputy pillar around by the nose?

Hiss—

The pirates stared in disbelief.

How strong did someone have to be to toy with the Happo Navy's second-strongest deputy pillar like a dog?!

Just then, a furious roar came from the arena.

"Enough!!!"

Abu's face had turned the color of pig liver. Panting heavily, he glared at Jogo with bloodshot eyes.

"If you've got the guts, fight me properly!"

"What kind of fight is it if you just keep dodging?"

Jogo nodded. He felt it was about time as well.

"Fine!"

With that, he actually charged straight at Abu!

Delight flashed across Abu's face. He quickly planted his feet and threw a heavy punch.

"Hassho—"

Before he could finish, Jogo shifted his footing slightly and brushed past his fist!

Those bandage-wrapped hands seized his face!

"Urgh..."

Abu's horrified eyes showed through the gaps between Jogo's fingers.

The next second, heaven and earth flipped upside down!

Jogo hoisted him up and violently slammed him into the ground!

Boom!!!

Amid the stunned expressions of the pirates surrounding them, Abu's nearly twisted face was pinned firmly to the deck.

Jogo knelt on one knee, pressing down on his back. Lowering his head, he calmly asked,

"Now, tell me what the punishment is."

The deputy pillar had lost!

He had lost to that wounded slave who had just come aboard!

News of Abu's defeat spread like the wind, leaving the pirate ship in an uproar.

By the time Abu shoved Jogo's hand away and climbed up from the ground, everyone on deck already knew he had lost.

"Whipping!"

Abu gritted his teeth and gave the answer.

Jogo made a "go ahead" gesture.

Abu walked over to the stunned subordinate standing nearby and snatched the whip from his hand.

With a dark expression, he headed toward the bald man.

The surrounding pirates quickly backed away, looking at the bald man with pity.

The bald man froze for two seconds. Then he clenched his teeth, took off his shirt, turned his back to Jogo, and knelt on the ground, shouting,

"Since I lost, I'll willingly accept the punishment!"

He squeezed his eyes shut.

Several seconds passed, but no burning pain from a whip came across his back.

He cautiously opened one eye and discovered that, at some point, the raised whip behind him had been caught by another hand.

"Pillar!!!"

The surrounding pirates all cried out in voices filled with hope.

Jogo frowned at Sai, who had suddenly appeared and stopped Abu from carrying out the punishment.

"What? Can't accept a loss?"

Sai gave him an expressionless glance and snatched the whip from Abu's hand.

Under Abu's hero-worshipping gaze, Sai kicked Abu to the ground!

Then he shouted to the surrounding pirates,

"The rules of Hasshoken cannot be broken!"

"Since Abu took someone else's place, then if he lost, he should be the one punished!"

With that, he fiercely swung the whip and lashed Abu on the ground.

As the pirates looked away in unbearable sympathy, cries of agony rang out one after another.

Each scream was louder than the last.

After twenty lashes, Abu's clothes were in tatters and his back was a bloody mess. He finally stopped wailing, lying face-down on the ground with tears streaming down his face, no longer able to rise.

Jogo raised an eyebrow, sensing that the atmosphere was off, and turned to leave.

Sai suddenly called out to him.

"Where are you going?"

A crowd of pirates stood around Sai, staring at Jogo coldly.

Jogo shrugged.

"What else can a slave do? Clean, of course."

"Or does your Happo Navy have some tradition where, after the younger one loses, the older one comes out to fight?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sai wore a sour expression as he walked toward Jogo step by step.

"Once you enter Hasshoken, you abandon things like brotherhood."

"But as a pillar of the Happo Navy, I have an obligation to help my men recover their honor!"

Jogo sighed.

"So we're still fighting, then?"

Sai snorted, tossing his guandao to a pirate nearby as his fists cracked.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Last ten moves against me, and you can stay or leave as you please!"

"But if you can't..."

He looked at Jogo.

"Then be a slave on this ship until you die!"

Their gazes collided in midair.

The next second, both of them moved at once!

Jogo threw himself sideways with all his strength.

Since Sai had said he only needed to last ten moves, Jogo had no intention of overestimating himself and confronting Sai head-on.

After all, he knew perfectly well that Sai's strength was far beyond someone like Abu!

Yet just as he twisted his waist and moved.

A thunderous boom rang out.

Several meters away, Sai's right foot had turned a metallic black as he stomped it into the ground.

In an instant, the redwood deck beneath them caved in!

Splinters and dust burst from the cracks.

Jogo felt a numb, tingling sensation rise from his feet, making his entire foot sluggish for an instant!

"Hasshoken's Shockwave?!"

His expression changed.

"It's been enhanced with Armament Haki? It can affect me from that far away!"

"If it hit my body, it would probably shatter my bones outright!"

Compared to this, Abu's Hasshoken had been like a damn vibrating bouncy ball!

He had no time to think further. In the next instant, Sai burst through the dust, his Armament Haki-coated foot already kicking toward him!

Jogo barely twisted aside and avoided Sai's attack.

Just as he was about to pull away, his entire body went numb again!

—The close-range Shockwave had already spread through his body!

"How am I supposed to fight this?"

Jogo clenched his teeth and forcibly steadied himself.

He realized he couldn't even counterattack.

Within his Observation Haki, invisible ripples flowed all over Sai's body, protecting him tightly like a suit of armor.

"So this is Hasshoken's true combat power?"

"Both offense and defense... truly troublesome!"

"In that case..."

His steps paused slightly as he deliberately slowed himself down.

Boom!

After ten moves, Jogo was kicked away and slammed heavily into a cabin door, coughing up blood.

He could no longer force himself up.

Amid the relieved cheers of the pirates, Sai gave Jogo a disdainful look before turning and leaving.

Shouts rose from all around. The pirates who had enjoyed the show quickly dispersed and returned to their own business.

No one cared about Jogo, the loser.

The bald man happily carried over a bucket and mop, dropping them in front of Jogo.

"Remember to work, slave!"

Then he left with light steps.

Jogo sat on the ground, baring his teeth in pain. It took him a long while to stand.

Under the mocking gazes around him, he lowered his head, slowly picked up the bucket and mop, and headed toward the stern deck.

From behind, he looked like a defeated Wild Dog.

No one noticed the slight upward curve of his lips on the half of his face illuminated by the morning light.

Hasshoken really was one hell of a powerful martial art!

Now I know it too.

[...

Observation Haki (Awakened)

Trait equipped: "Otherworldly Soul (Silver)" "Historian (Blue)"

...]

[Trait effect: Can more easily distinguish Historians within the range of Observation Haki, and can record everything that occurs within the sensing range while Observation Haki is active.]