Challenging Officer John

Chapter 30: Challenging Officer John

"Wahahahaha, kid, what's your name?"

After seeing Li Yuan's aura surge dramatically, Rocks withdrew his Conqueror's Haki as well, seemingly quite satisfied with the outcome.

"My name is Li Yuan, the future World's Greatest Swordsman!"

Li Yuan also withdrew his Conqueror's Haki and looked at Rocks without yielding an inch.

"Wahahahaha, Li Yuan, future World's Greatest Swordsman, welcome to the Rocks Pirates."

Rocks spoke as though Li Yuan's behavior did not bother him in the slightest.

Before Li Yuan had even arrived on Hachinosu Island, Rocks had already investigated him.

He knew of Li Yuan's terrifying potential. For crew members with potential, he was generally rather indulgent and offered them a certain degree of protection until they could grow stronger.

It could be said that most of the Rocks Pirates Officers had risen this way, and this was one reason why the Rocks Pirates had continued to grow stronger.

"Captain, what must I do to become a Rocks Pirates Officer?"

Seeing that Rocks had acknowledged him as a crew member, Li Yuan's lips curled slightly as he spoke bluntly.

Having come to the Rocks Pirates, he had no intention of being like Kaido—an apprentice following some officer around as his lackey.

It could be said that, aside from Rocks, he respected no one.

"Wahahahaha, ambitious. Very good!"

"If you want to become a Rocks Pirates Officer, defeat one of the current officers, or fight them to a draw, and you can claim an officer's position."

Rocks greatly appreciated Li Yuan's arrogant behavior and directly stated the requirements for becoming an officer.

The Rocks Pirates members present were dumbfounded by Li Yuan's actions.

They had not expected Li Yuan to possess Conqueror's Haki, much less that he would want to become a Rocks Pirates Officer the moment he arrived.

The Rocks Pirates Officers all stared at Li Yuan, wanting to see whom he would choose as his opponent.

Golden Lion Shiki watched Li Yuan with burning eyes and even provoked him with his gaze, only to be ignored by Li Yuan.

Although Golden Lion Shiki had yet to eat the Float-Float Fruit, he was already extremely powerful. Li Yuan knew that he was not yet Golden Lion Shiki's match.

After Li Yuan displayed Conqueror's Haki, Whitebeard also became very interested in him.

But Li Yuan was not foolish enough to choose Whitebeard as his opponent. Among all the officers, Whitebeard was undoubtedly the strongest.

After Li Yuan displayed Conqueror's Haki, Charlotte Linlin's gaze toward him became scorching, as though she wanted to devour him whole.

Seeing Charlotte Linlin's gaze gave Li Yuan a chill. He did not need to think to know that Charlotte Linlin had set her sights on his body.

More precisely, she had set her sights on his sperm and wanted to have children with him.

Li Yuan would never touch a woman like that. He did not want countless green hats to mysteriously appear on his head in the future, the kind he could never finish taking off.

He also ruled out the two Kurozumi men. Neither was a combatant, and Li Yuan had enough sense to know that even if he defeated them, it would not count.

In the end, his gaze settled on Ochoku, Silver Axe, and John. Compared to Whitebeard, Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin, the three of them were...

...roughly comparable in strength, but they were more than ten years older than Whitebeard and the others, and their potential was nearly exhausted.

After all, Whitebeard, Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin were still young, while Ochoku, Silver Axe, and John were already in their fifties.

And as far as he knew, John was the weakest of the three.

"I choose to challenge John!"

Li Yuan understood the principle of picking the weakest target.

"Yohohoho, brat, let me teach you that before you have sufficient strength after joining the Rocks Pirates, you must learn how to respect your seniors."

John had originally been drinking Fine Wine and watching the show. The moment he heard that Li Yuan wanted to challenge him, he became furious.

By choosing him, did that not mean Li Yuan considered him the weakest of all the Rocks Pirates Officers?

As John rose to his feet, Li Yuan knowingly left the area and headed for another open space. This place was too small to fight freely.

Geppo!!

"Senior John, the ground is too small to withstand our battle. Do you dare come into the sky and fight me?!"

Li Yuan shot into the air with Geppo, looking down at John below as he taunted him.

He knew he was no match for John. After all, John had gone to sea decades before him, his Haki had reached at least the advanced level, and Li Yuan's physique was inferior as well.

So from the very beginning, he had not considered how to defeat John, but how to fight him to a draw.

Without question, naval battles, aerial battles, and land battles were all things Li Yuan excelled at.

A naval battle on Hachinosu Island was unrealistic, so aerial combat was his only choice. He absolutely could not fight John on the ground, or he would lose miserably.

With Li Yuan's current strength, even running on land while carrying weights had long ceased to be suitable training for him.

So after learning Geppo, he wore weighted iron armor and held enormous boulders weighing hundreds of thousands of jin while running through the air with Geppo, using it to train his Geppo, endurance, and aerial combat ability.

It could be said that in aerial combat, he definitely held the advantage, and he could also restrain John's formidable strength.

"Yohohoho, let this senior tell you that a Rocks Pirates Officer can crush their enemy in any combat environment."

Seeing Li Yuan's smiling face looking down at him from the sky, John grew even angrier. A mere brat dared to look down on him—this was an insult to him!

It was only aerial combat. As someone who had fought countless battles, John had fought in the air plenty of times as well.

John had not eaten a Devil Fruit. He had become a Rocks Pirates Officer through his own Haki, swordsmanship, and martial arts.

Bang!!!!

He then drew the Flintlock Gun from his waist and, with it coated in Armament Haki, fired a shot at Li Yuan in the sky.

Li Yuan casually tilted his head and dodged the bullet's trajectory.

Seizing the opportunity, John also rushed into the sky with Geppo. For powerhouses like John, as long as they were willing to learn a martial technique like Geppo, they could master it quickly.

Limitless Collapsing Mountain Slash!!!

As John charged upward through the air, Li Yuan dove down from above even faster.

He raised the sword in his hand above his head. Invisible Sword Qi descended like Mount Tai crushing down, and with that strike, even a mountain could be cleaved apart.

Clang!!!!

Seeing this, John drew the rapier at his waist and firmly received Li Yuan's strike.

To John, the force of a mountain-collapsing slash was nothing special. For a powerhouse like him, shattering a mountain was effortless.

Settings for Haki (Armament Haki, Observation Haki, Conqueror's Haki): beginner, intermediate, advanced, top-tier

Settings for age and strength:

In this book, a body reaches its peak at roughly half its normal lifespan. If one's lifespan is one hundred years, one reaches their physical peak at around fifty.

Those skilled in martial arts and Haki can use special techniques to extend their physical peak to around sixty.

After sixty, physical strength and Haki may not decline, but stamina will gradually decrease.

After reaching eighty, even powerhouses at the peak of martial arts will see their physical strength and Haki decline.

This setting was based on characters such as Garp, Sengoku, Steel-Bone Kong, and Rayleigh in the original work. During the Summit War, Garp was already seventy-eight years old.

Exceptions include special cases like Whitebeard and Zephyr.