"Hey, hey, hey! I just wanted to ask where you went after you left the Roger Pirates. Did you get the timeline wrong and go back to earlier dates?"
Before Bullet could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Vic's question. Vic wanted to know why Bullet had gone into hiding after leaving Roger Pirates. What had happened to change the plot? The previous statements were consistent with the plot development, so something must have gone wrong later.
"If you don't interrupt, I'm already saying what I'm saying. Don't interrupt others next time they're speaking!"
Bullet glanced at Vic and said calmly, still somewhat annoyed by Vic's interruption. He was lost in his memories and was suddenly pulled back to reality.
Vic was speechless, unable to refute Barrett. He touched his nose to hide his embarrassment and waited for Bullet to continue.
After leaving Roger Pirates, I was once again alone, wandering the seas like a rootless duckweed.
Perhaps it was fate, but I encountered the same mysterious powerful figure again. He was extremely disappointed that I had eaten Devil Fruit.
He told me that Haki was the key to reaching the top, and he also analyzed the correct way to use the Combine-Combine Fruit for me.
At the time, my Haki wasn't enough to fully develop the Devil Fruit's power, so he sent me to an island full of powerful, ferocious beasts to train on, instructing me to fight using only Haki.
I spent the last few years cultivating there, and after defeating the island's strongest beast, I cultivated there for another two and a half years before finally leaving the sea.
I thought I was already quite strong, and I was preparing to find some powerful individuals to see how my training had progressed. I never imagined I could lose to a mere teenager like you. What a failure! I shouldn't have gone to sea so early; I could have continued to grow stronger!
Bullet didn't shut up because Vic interrupted him. Since he was already in prison, there was nothing he couldn't say. He just regretted coming out of seclusion too early and not having fully mastered his skills. If his Armament Haki had been stronger, he probably could have blocked Vic's attack.
Vic finally realized where the variable lay: the guidance of that mysterious expert. Their second encounter was the beginning of the change.
Judging from that person's knowledge, he must be a powerful figure, at least very knowledgeable about cultivation. It's just that he doesn't know why this person's trajectory has changed. Vic can't figure it out for the time being. He can only say that this world is much more complex than the world he saw in his previous life, and there are still quite a few powerful figures who haven't shown themselves yet.
"Do you know the name of that expert you mentioned? Is he a pirate? Do you know where he lives?"
Vic continued to ask, wanting to know if he had heard of this mysterious master in his past or present life.
"I don't know his identity. He's wearing a black robe with a hood, so I can't see his face. I can't sense him with my Observation Haki and can't get close to him. He's never introduced himself. He comes and goes without a trace. Who knows where he lives? You can only meet such a master by chance!"
Bullet only met the person twice and never even saw their face, yet he kept praising them as a highly skilled individual, demonstrating that the mysterious person was indeed extraordinary. Even someone as arrogant as Bullet could be subdued.
The trail went cold at that point, and the variable remained the same—mysterious and powerful. Vic didn't want to know anything else, so he mentioned the timing for releasing Conqueror's Haki and left, then went to the kitchen to give instructions on delivering the food.
So every day thereafter, two powerful bursts of Conqueror's Haki would erupt from the warship, causing not only many of the crew to faint, but also many of the fish in the sea below to become stunned.
This resulted in many large fish following behind the warships to pick up the scraps, and then the big fish would eat the small fish. The fish following behind grew bigger and bigger, and there were even a few Sea Kings following behind the warships, occasionally surfacing to keep the sailors on board on edge, fearing that the Sea Kings would come and attack the warships.
However, the people on the warship are also becoming more and more resistant to Conqueror's Haki, which is exactly the effect Vic wanted to see.
Even when the warship encountered a pirate ship, Bullet released his Conqueror's Haki, leaving only a few pirates standing. He wiped out the pirates without lifting a finger, and the warship sailed towards the Red Line in this atmosphere, stopping and starting intermittently.
Two weeks later, the warship passed by an island. If the warship did not need resupply, it would usually skip the island. There were many pirate prisoners on board, and they would never ask for trouble if they could avoid creating unnecessary problems, since they had an escort mission.
However, the ship's food depot was only so big, and each resupply could only last for about a week. This time, it was time to resupply, so when they saw this island, Tokikake decided to stop and resupply there.
Resupply is handled by designated personnel; no warship's highest commander personally goes there. Moreover, with Bullet, a notorious troublemaker, around, Vic Tokikake dare not leave the warship easily. Who knows what trouble Barrett might cause Bullet they leave?
While Seastone can render a Devil Fruit user powerless, through training and adaptation, it can only restrain Seastone from using their abilities.
However, if this user is also Haki, then Seastone will be difficult to control. Moreover, Bullet is no ordinary person; he's a monster who trains with Seastone in Impel Down. Half a month has passed; who knows if he's adapted to Seastone yet?
And then there's his Conqueror's Haki. Who knows if he unleashed it at full power before? If he held back, how much fighting strength and remaining resistance would the people left on the warship have after being affected by Conqueror's Haki?
So Tokikake the logistics personnel to go to the island to purchase supplies, and Rebecca and Wendy also took Ain to the island to experience the local customs. Only Jiaji Tokikake was drinking tea, Vic, who was practicing and drinking tea, and Gion, whose eyes were full of Vic, remained on the Gion.
" Vic! Are you alright? There's no war going on right now, you don't need to use your full-body Armament Haki Hardening, do you? It's kind of scary to see in broad daylight. Even if you want to confirm your codename, you don't need to go to such lengths. Mr. Garp said he'd speak up for you, and he won't go back on his word!"
Tokikake looked at Vic across the small table and said speechlessly, because Vic had been showing himself like this lately, and in his mind Vic, this was just a facade for the sake of the title.
"You've only just met Vic and don't know him yet. He's not just putting on a show; Vic has loved fighting like this ever since he Awakening his Armament Haki."
He often did this in his spare time, which many people at headquarters knew. I heard Zephyr mention it once. He said that Vic was emulating his predecessors and exploring other directions of Armament Haki. If Vic really found them, Vic would be remembered in history. How could you possibly understand that level of mastery?
When Tokikake saw that Kaji said Vic was putting on an act, Gion naturally had to refute him. Gion, who had just been looking at Vic with tenderness, immediately turned to Kaji Tokikake dissatisfaction, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Naturally, whatever Vic did was right.
Although Vic didn't reach the level Gion claimed, he wasn't Tokikake either. In the past, he always practiced Armament Haki at night, and with the cover of darkness, very few people knew about it.
However, because Gion kept pestering Vic for this and that every night during this period, Vic moved his Observation Haki training to the night, so that he could also prevent Gion's little tricks from being seen in advance.