Three months flew by in the blink of an eye.
For three months, Bullet's training methods had been nothing short of brutal. Even Pea, a "person" who could replenish himself directly by drawing on the energy around him, came running to complain to Roy after experiencing it once.
But after Roy patiently explained things, Pea obediently went back to train with the others.
Over those three months, Pea gained the most. He collected several specimens of every plant on the island and demonstrated his ability to Roy, making seeds grow to maturity in just a few seconds.
Roy and the others were delighted. This meant they would never have to worry about food again.
Seeing this, Roy handed the modified "storage bag" to Pea and told him to collect more seeds.
Roy and the others had been overjoyed when the "storage bag" was successfully modified. After handing it to Pea, Roy planned to head for Kuraigana Island. That man, the future Shichibukai and great swordsman Hawk Eyes, Dracule Mihawk, probably hadn't set sail yet.
Roy could also take the opportunity to learn swordsmanship from him.
Just as they were about to leave, Roy looked toward the north of the island. Pea had also discovered that a group of uninvited guests had arrived.
Stella descended from the sky, her expression grave. "They're pirates. Judging by the flag, they seem to be under one of the great pirate Golden Lion's division commanders."
"A ship captain under Golden Lion? What are they doing here?"
"They seem to be looking for someone." Stella pointed toward the north coast. "I saw their ship anchored there, and they're searching inland."
Everyone immediately grew alert. Roy had already analyzed the current situation at sea with them. Golden Lion's name was known throughout the New World, and even one of the captains under him was no ordinary opponent.
Roy pondered for a moment, then his lips curled up. "Perfect. Let's see what's going on and use them to test our strength."
The north coast.
A pirate ship lay anchored in a shallow bay, the famous skull-and-crossed-swords emblem of Golden Lion's fleet flying from its mainmast. The ship itself was covered in scars, seemingly from many fierce battles.
About twenty or thirty pirates were retreating from the woods, cursing as they gathered on the beach. Most were wounded and looked exhausted.
"Damn it, this godforsaken place is nothing but trees! We haven't seen a single soul!"
"Keep your voice down, Machi. Do you want to draw that 'mad dog' here?"
A minor leader with paint on his face nervously surveyed the surrounding jungle and whispered the rebuke to the pirate who had spoken.
"Boss, what exactly are we looking for?"
Another young pirate couldn't help asking. His arm was in a sling, and blood was seeping through the bandages.
The minor leader's face darkened. Just as he was about to speak, a voice suddenly came from the woods to their side.
"I'd really like to know the answer to that too!"
Startled, the pirates raised their weapons in unison and aimed them at the source of the voice.
Roy slowly walked out of the woods with Bullet and the others. The minor leader was shocked; he hadn't noticed when they had approached at all.
Once he saw that Roy and the others weren't the "mad dog" pursuing them, but a few young brats instead, he stepped forward and shouted sternly:
"Who are you? We're the Flying Pirates, members of the Seventh Division under Lord Golden Lion Shiki! If you know what's good for you, leave now and stay out of our business!"
"Heh-heh, Golden Lion's name doesn't scare us. Besides, the man himself isn't here."
Roy spoke with a grin, sweeping his gaze over the bedraggled pirates.
"Tell me, what are you looking for here? And where's your division commander?"
"Brat, this is none of your business. Do you really want to make enemies of the Flying Pirates? Lord Shiki is a great pirate of the New World!"
Seeing how young they were, the minor leader assumed they didn't know how terrifying Golden Lion Shiki was and kept trying to intimidate them.
"Sigh, looks like we'll have to beat them up first." Roy didn't want to waste any more words on them. He glanced at Bullet and the others beside him.
"Don't beat them to death. I still want to know what they're after."
"Roy, I told you already. How could they possibly just tell you? What a waste of time!"
Bullet grumbled, bringing his fists together. He shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for the minor leader.
Almost as soon as Bullet made his move, Tesoro and the others charged forward as well.
The minor leader's pupils contracted sharply. Bullet was faster than he had expected. He hastily raised his sword to block, but with a tremendous clang, the long blade flew from his hand. Bullet's fist drove straight into his chest, sending him flying backward like a cannonball. He slammed into the beach, kicking up a cloud of sand.
"Boss!"
The other pirates charged with furious, alarmed shouts. But they weren't facing ordinary children. They were a group of monsters who had been utterly transformed by three months of Bullet's brutal training.
Tesoro moved nimbly, using the Six Powers in succession alongside basic mastery of both types of Haki. With each attack, he precisely took down a pirate.
Stella again made use of her aerial advantage. As she watched the entire battlefield, each move she made dealt with an opponent trying to ambush someone else.
Savi didn't fully transform into a beast either. Instead, he kept his human-beast form to make himself more agile, and with the Six Powers, he achieved good results as well.
Pea didn't join the close-quarters fighting. Standing in front of Roy, he took a few seeds out of the "storage bag" and pressed both hands to the ground. In an instant, countless vines erupted from the beach, strangling and binding the pirates with snakelike precision.
In less than two minutes, the pirates who had been cursing moments ago had all lost the ability to fight, apart from the minor leader Bullet had sent flying with one punch.
Roy released his psychic power, lifted the blood-spitting minor leader, and set him down in front of himself. Then he crouched and looked at the man teasingly.
"What about now? Can you give my questions a proper answer?"
The minor leader coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked at his subordinates around him, not knowing whether they were alive or dead, then at the harmless-looking youth before him. His mental defenses collapsed completely.
He knew Golden Lion's name wouldn't scare them. If he still refused to talk, he wouldn't have a chance of surviving.
"I'll talk... I'll talk..."
"I... don't know either. We were following our division commander's orders to go to Paradise and look for something..."
"Oh? Where's your division commander? How come there are only a few of you left?"
"Cough, cough... When we got to Paradise, the captain ran into that mad dog Garp and was killed."
At the mention of Garp, the minor leader's body trembled involuntarily, and deep fear showed in his eyes.
"That's all you know? What did you come to the first half for? Don't try any more tricks with me."
Seeing that Roy was losing patience, the minor leader hurriedly pulled a Vivre Card from his clothes.
"This... the division commander gave it to me before he died. Before we set out, I think I heard that a slave had stolen one of Lord Shiki's Devil Fruits and escaped."