Pirates: I Became a Legend by Seeing Proficiency

Hearing Dongze's words, Koshiro's lips curved upward. "Of all the things you said today, this is the one that sounds most pleasing to me!"

"Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"By the way! I'll be meeting an important guest later. He has a particular liking for geniuses. Would you like to meet him?"

Dongze narrowed his eyes. The only person who would visit Isshin at a time like this and receive such a solemn reception from Koshiro was probably that man!

But it probably wasn't the right time yet. In this world, strength came first. Without the power to establish oneself over the world, even if he carried a sharp blade in his heart, it would likely be useless.

So Dongze waved his hand and left directly.

"What an interesting little fellow!"

As the sun climbed higher, more and more people gathered at the dojo and began their training for the day. Koshiro did not pay too much attention to the dojo's students. Everyone had different levels of talent, and if he devoted himself to teaching every single person, there simply would not be enough time.

However, after making a round, he still did not see Zoro or Kuina. So he asked the students nearby and learned that Kuina had been summoned by Koshiro, while Zoro had not returned at all during the night.

Thinking of Zoro's drive to train, Dongze guessed where he was.

He probably would not see him until lunchtime.

But he was rather puzzled that Koshiro had summoned Kuina at this time.

Given Koshiro's temperament, Kuina had nearly been confined by him outright. As for having her join the Revolutionary Army, Dongze had not even considered it.

Still puzzled, he casually slipped over to a large tree. Taking advantage of nobody's attention, he leaped onto a branch. Feeling the qualities of his body, Dongze was filled with emotion.

Perhaps only this world could train such an incredibly powerful body. This was merely the result of ordinary training, to say nothing of the physical-art masters and the enhancements granted by Devil Fruits. To put it plainly, those powerhouses could no longer be called mere humans. They were a group of monsters.

After standing still for a moment, Dongze quietly released his Mantra, which was also his current Observation Haki.

Bit by bit, it slowly enveloped the entire dojo, though he carefully avoided the reception room where Koshiro was meeting his guest.

Dongze knew very well that sometimes, the more one knew, the faster one died. With insufficient strength, knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing.

Suddenly, Dongze's heart gave a violent thump beneath his left chest.

He had sensed Kuina's presence in that abandoned warehouse.

Chapter Eleven: The Unexpected Awakening of Conqueror's Haki, Dragon's Astonishment!

Not knowing what had crossed his mind, Dongze's heart thudded twice more.

"Thump!"

In an instant, his hearing completely shut out every sound from the outside world. An uneasy thought appeared abruptly in his mind.

"Damn it~~"

Before he could think it through, Dongze shot out like lightning, an indescribable fury and resentment surging straight into his mind.

His thoughts raced as he asked himself, Could this really be impossible to change? Then what was the point of my arrival in this world? Was it a joke played by some immortal powerhouse, or a path that had already been arranged?

In less than a moment, Dongze had reached the warehouse! Immediately afterward, he rushed inside.

Seeing the figure lying on the floor, he took two steps as one and hurried to her side, carefully lifting the girl in front of him into his arms.

Looking at the whetstone in her hand, the unwillingness and resentment, fury and dissatisfaction, killing intent and burning blood in his heart surged straight into his brain.

The pupils in Dongze's eyes began to contract and expand uncontrollably, again and again.

"Why!!"

"Why!!"

"Didn't I specifically train her already? How could this still happen?!"

"Fate??"

"Order??"

"Or rules??"

"Who the hell is it?"

"What did she ever do to you? Why did she have to die?!"

This little girl had always treated him well. Even when he had shown mediocre talent at first, she had still treated him the same way, and that had never changed.

But feelings between people could not be one-sided. Only sincerity could be exchanged for true affection.

Just as Dongze's emotions reached a violent peak, outside the warehouse, outside the dojo, throughout the entirety of Shimotsuki Village, and across the entire island—

the air suddenly became incomparably heavy. Even the monkeys in the mountains felt the oppressive atmosphere, an oppression so intense that it was difficult to breathe.

The Revolutionary Army group currently visiting Shimotsuki Village also grew somewhat restless.

Monkey D. Dragon, seated in the principal guest's seat, suddenly rose to his feet, an extraordinarily solemn look appearing in his eyes.

Seeing this, the Okama King Ivanov and Koshiro were bewildered.

They could not help asking, "Dragon, what's wrong?"

Before Dragon could answer, a force that shook the hearts and shattered the minds came crashing over like a world-shaking tidal wave, one wave following another.

What kind of power was this?

The clouds high above the sky were completely scattered, while the seawater along the shore seemed to be pushed by some force and fled outward.

Every living creature in the mountains collapsed onto the ground, rolling their eyes back. They had clearly fainted.

Then the dojo's students, Zoro training in the distance, the Revolutionary Army soldiers, and the villagers of Shimotsuki Village all fell to the ground in great swaths like dumplings dropping from a pot, losing consciousness.

Inside the warehouse, Dongze clenched his teeth, his fists tightly balled. A line of tears flowed down his face.

Immediately afterward, an invisible shock wave swept outward, and the entire warehouse instantly turned into ruins.

Dongze's Conqueror's Haki.

At this very moment—

it awakened!

At the same time, inside the reception room, Dragon narrowed his eyes. His own Conqueror's Haki surged forth as well, shielding the people present before clashing against Dongze's Conqueror's Haki across the distance.

Seeing the others return to normal, he said with utmost solemnity, "That's Conqueror's Haki!"

At the same time, he thought to himself, Its quality and quantity are both extraordinarily high! It is almost on par with the strongest people I have ever seen! I never expected the East Blue to hide someone like this!

Clashes between Conqueror's Haki were extremely rare, especially in the first half of the Grand Line. In the East Blue, renowned for its peace, such a thing was practically unheard of.

Looking up, he saw that the entire sky had somehow become densely covered in dark clouds once more. A deep fissure extended straight into the heavens, as though the sky itself had been split apart.

"Hey, hey! Dragon!"

"You can't be joking, can you? Is there really a monster in the East Blue capable of contending with your Conqueror's Haki?"

Feeling the pressure grow heavier and heavier, Dragon gave a bitter smile and remained silent.

Yet a flicker of astonishment passed through his eyes as he thought, Contending? No. It should be more accurate to say it's crushing me!

Under that Conqueror's Haki, his own seemed to be repeatedly battered by an immense force. Even he found it difficult to believe. Conqueror's Haki of this level probably belonged only to that legendary figure, Rocks, in the future!

In the end, he simply gave up resisting and focused only on protecting the people beside him.

Having been reincarnated into this world, Dongze had unexpectedly awakened the Golden Finger. Combined with the extraordinarily advanced ideas in his mind and the fact that he had crossed into another world, his vision was no longer limited to the world of Pirates.

Such bearing had created Conqueror's Haki that was terrifying beyond compare!

It was suppression across different dimensions!

Tears slid down and struck Kuina's eyelids, cheeks, and forehead before bursting apart like silver light and scattering in all directions.

In the silent dojo, a gentle voice suddenly drifted over.

"Dongze! Are you crying~~"

The voice was not loud, but to Dongze, it sounded like a thunderclap beside his ears and instantly roused him.

Seeing the girl in his arms blink and look at him in surprise, wild joy appeared in Dongze's eyes.

"Kuina, you're all right~~"

"That's great! That's great!!"

With that, he abruptly pulled her against his chest.

Kuina seemed to understand something, and her little face flushed red.

Earlier, Koshiro had given Wado Ichimonji to her. After a night of fighting, the blade had become somewhat dull. Seeing this, she had planned to use a whetstone to sharpen it. However, while retrieving the whetstone, she had stepped into empty space and fallen from the second floor, immediately losing consciousness.

At first, she had still been complaining that Dongze always joked about her physical constitution. This time, however, she could not help feeling a wave of fear in hindsight!

When she woke up again, she found herself lying in Dongze's arms, tears still hanging from the corners of his eyes.

Looking at the two people sitting amid the ruins, Monkey D. Dragon, Ivanov, Tyrant Kuma, and Shimotsuki Koshiro all wore expressions of utter disbelief.

"Hey, hey! Koshiro! That guy wouldn't happen to be your disciple, would he?"

"It's unbelievable. Conqueror's Haki of that level was released by a little brat like him!"

"Hey, Shiro! How about we discuss this?"

"Not a chance! She is my biological daughter!"

"That isn't what I meant!"

"That's not happening either! Can't you see my daughter likes him?"

"You old bastard, have you no shame? Kuina is still so young, and you're already using the honey trap!"

"If you can, then use one yourself!"

"Shiro! I've discovered that you're really a genius. How about becoming the chief strategist of our Revolutionary Army?"

As Dongze gradually retracted his Conqueror's Haki, the island finally returned to its original state.

If there was any difference, it was probably only the warehouse that had been reduced to ruins. But at this moment, nobody cared about it anymore.

Chapter Twelve: Dragon's Scalp-Crawling Shock, the Soul Mentor of the Revolutionary Army

Afterward, Dragon and the others arrived at the warehouse. Looking at the young fellow with the immature face before him, Dragon spoke, "Hey! Hello there, little fellow! I heard your name is Dongze. I'm Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army!"

Dongze sighed inwardly. In the end, he had failed to avoid them, and his earlier accidental awakening of Conqueror's Haki had probably already attracted their attention.

"Hello!"

"Hey, kid! How about joining our Revolutionary Army?"

Hearing Dragon's words, the corner of Dongze's mouth twitched slightly. As expected of someone who came from the Marines. He doesn't waste any words and gets straight to the point.

Ivanov's eye twitched violently. "Hey! Dragon! You're being too direct!"

"Ha-ha! It's nothing, nothing!"

Although the Revolutionary Army's ideas aligned with his own, it was still too early for him to join them. In this era of the Marines, pirates, and Revolutionary Army standing as three rival powers, things were not as beautiful as he imagined.

Without sufficient strength, rashly involving himself in the struggle between the three great powers—especially in the latter half of the Grand Line—would lead to utter ruin at the slightest mistake.

Even Ace, who had joined Whitebeard in the original story, had died tragically in the Paramount War. The tide of history was like an unstoppable flood. Anything standing in its path could not even raise a splash. That was the sorrow of the weak!

Just imagine: if Ace himself had possessed the strength of a top-tier Emperor, the outcome of the Paramount War might have been rewritten, right? Then again, if he had possessed the strength of a top-tier Emperor, Blackbeard would never have been able to capture him in the first place.

"Sorry! I don't want to join any faction for now!"

Ivanov was somewhat puzzled. That had been a personal invitation from the leader of the Revolutionary Army himself. An ordinary person would have been ecstatic.

"Could the lovesick boy want to become a pirate?"

"No! I won't join any faction right now. My strength is still too weak, and I don't yet qualify to venture across the seas!"

Hearing Dongze's words, Dragon took a deep look at the little fellow before him.

Knowing others was wisdom; knowing oneself was true clarity!

There were plenty of clever people in this world, but few could view themselves rationally and clearly understand their own limits.

Hearing Dongze's words, Dragon could not help praising him. "What astonishing rationality!"