Roger Was Shocked! Rono's Monster-Like Talent

After a brief exchange, Rono directly picked up Advanced Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki from Roger-all three types of Haki at the advanced level!

His strength had grown far too quickly, so quickly that even Rono could hardly believe it.

As expected of the future Pirate King. He already had such formidable strength right after setting sail!

Besides that, Rono had also picked up Advanced Swordsmanship, along with a large number of points for his physical stats.

He took another look at his status panel.

[Host: Rono]

[Age: 17]

[Strength: 1203 (Vice Admiral level)]

[Speed: 610 (Vice Admiral level)]

[Stamina: 921 (Vice Admiral level)]

[Haki: Advanced Conqueror's Haki, Advanced Armament Haki, Advanced Observation Haki]

[Other Abilities: Swordsmanship (Advanced)! Combat Experience (Beginner)!]

[Devil Fruit Ability: None]

All three physical stats had reached Rear Admiral level, and he also had Advanced Haki of all three types, along with Advanced Swordsmanship!

Rono could now say without hesitation that he was already stronger than a Vice Admiral and weaker than an Admiral, at the very least a powerful senior officer in an Emperor's crew!

His physical stats were still some distance from those of a senior officer in an Emperor's crew, though.

There was one more thing: Combat Experience.

Never underestimate Combat Experience. Soldiers who trained in a greenhouse every day and soldiers who fought on the battlefield were completely different kinds of creatures.

Even without systematic training, soldiers who fought on the battlefield every day were definitely several levels stronger than the former.

The Shichibukai had all grown stronger after experiencing hundreds of life-or-death battles, large and small.

But that was all right. With Teacher Roger personally teaching him, he would catch up soon enough.

"Rono, how about it? Want to keep fighting?"

Seeing Rono lying on the ground without getting up for ages, Roger felt like he had won.

"Of course. Let's keep going!" At that, Rono brushed the dust off himself and stood up.

"Oh? You've still got some strength left? Then come on! I'll definitely beat you!"

Roger's voice was full of praise.

This guy really was the unyielding type.

Roger was now more and more convinced that Rono should become one of his crew.

The two of them squared off again and resumed their attacks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After three consecutive clashes, Rono was knocked back again, but Roger's expression grew more and more solemn!

Roger could clearly sense that Rono's attacks were getting stronger every time!

Whether it was strength, speed, or his use of Haki.

Roger could even feel that Rono was using Observation Haki to predict his moves. This guy shouldn't know Observation Haki.

Could he be growing rapidly through this battle?

The thought startled Roger.

If that were really the case, he was growing far too quickly!

Was Rono even human?

After all, Roger's Observation Haki never failed him. He possessed the special Observation Haki known as the Voice of All Things.

No one could hide their strength from him.

If Rono really could grow this quickly just by taking part in this battle, his future was simply unimaginable!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After several more fierce clashes, Roger could clearly feel that Rono's strength was indeed growing more powerful with every exchange.

He even had to use all his strength to fight Rono, so he wouldn't be knocked back by that increasingly terrifying power.

[ Ding~ Congratulations, Host, you picked up Combat Experience!]

[ Ding~ Congratulations, Host, you picked up 598 points of Strength!]

[ Ding~ Congratulations, Host, you picked up 456 points of Strength!]

[ Ding~ Congratulations, Host, you picked up 98 points of Speed!]

[ Ding~ Congratulations, Host, you picked up 55 points of Stamina!]

Rono was overjoyed.

Every clash with Roger brought him a sizable gain. His three physical stats were growing rapidly.

"This guy really is growing stronger rapidly through this battle!"

After exchanging a few more blows and clearly feeling Rono's strength continue to increase, Roger confirmed his suspicion!

"In that case, I'll give it everything I've got!"

Even so, Roger didn't stop. Instead, he used all his strength and deliberately started helping Rono improve.

That way, Rono gained even more stats from each exchange!

Feeling the change in Roger, Rono was filled with admiration.

The guy was deliberately helping him grow!

As expected of the future Pirate King. His magnanimity and vision were truly broad.

No wonder the Pirate King's crew was so united. Their captain had such powerful charisma.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two of them kept fighting like this, continuing until night fell and dawn came again.

"All right, I'm tired. Let's call it here."

Suddenly, Roger stopped fighting. He didn't want to continue.

He felt that Rono had reached some kind of bottleneck, and there was no point in fighting any further.

"Hey, give me a warning before you stop!"

When a balanced fight between masters suddenly became uneven, it was easy for things to get out of hand.

Seeing Roger stop so suddenly, Rono had no choice but to immediately withdraw all the Haki he had just released.

It felt as miserable as having a big glob of phlegm stuck in his chest!

If he hadn't done that, that last attack would have badly wounded Roger.

"Hahahaha, I knew you'd do that." Roger couldn't help laughing when he saw Rono bleeding.

"Heh, and you still have the nerve to laugh? I wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't stopped so suddenly." Rono wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and couldn't help rolling his eyes at Roger.

This guy really did whatever he wanted.

Still, Rono was grateful to Roger.

Without Roger teaching him everything he knew, he wouldn't have grown so quickly.

Rono's strength had now undergone a qualitative leap. He was a bona fide senior officer-level fighter in an Emperor's crew.

At this point, Rono couldn't pick up any more stats from Roger. It was fair to say that he had drained Roger dry!

"A bird with ambition can't be kept in a cage. With your abilities, you can carve out a place for yourself on your own." After their battle, Roger gave up on recruiting Rono.

He had reached this level after just one battle.

With talent this monstrous, even Roger might not be able to keep him under control!

Roger's own talent was Top-Level Armament Haki, but compared with Rono, he seemed perfectly ordinary.

And Rono was still so young. His future might be even brighter than Roger had imagined.

Someone like him shouldn't have to live in Roger's shadow.

"Finally seeing things as they are?" Rono let out a sigh of relief.

It really wasn't easy to get someone like Roger to give up on something he'd set his mind to.

He'd been afraid Roger would keep trying to recruit him, and that he wouldn't be able to resist the man's charisma and end up joining his crew.

"Hahahahaha, after fighting with all you've got, nothing goes better than some good wine!"

The next second, Roger appeared with wine from who knew where, then sprawled out on the deck and started drinking at his leisure.

"You! When did you take that out?"

Rono quickly realized that Roger had taken the wine from his own ship!

After learning Advanced Brewing Technique on the island, Rono had brewed a lot of wine himself and stored it in the warehouse. When had this guy found it?

"Did you brew this? You're pretty good at it!"

Gulp, gulp. Before long, Roger had finished an entire jar of wine.

But in the blink of an eye, Roger disappeared and reappeared, with more than a dozen jars of wine in front of him.

"Drinking alone isn't any fun. Have some with me." The next second, Roger tossed a jar of wine to Rono.

"Hey, hey, I didn't brew that much!" Rono felt a pang at the thought of losing it.

This wine was supposed to last him until he joined the Rocks Pirates.

"Hahaha, don't worry about it! That fight just wore me out. Cheers!"

Roger didn't care about that. He pulled Rono along and started drinking with him.