Orin closed his left eye and tried his best to steady his breathing. His Observation Haki locked tightly onto a tall figure among the many Marines.
His finger rested lightly on the trigger—then decisively pulled.
"Single-Shot Style: Fate Kill!!!"
Having always aspired to be as cool as those with dramatic Devil Fruit names, Orin would never allow his flair to be outdone—
Even if it was just a simple Haki-assisted bullet.
"Splurt—"
With a sound of flesh being torn apart, a spray of blood burst in the air and scattered into the sea.
The figure falling from the sky was extremely tall—clearly much taller than the other Marines—yet slender, with eyes full of disbelief and helplessness.
Then he slowly plunged into the sea.
"Hey! Kuzan!!!"
A Marine nearby, who was also participating in the battle, saw this and shouted. He stepped onto Geppo and darted toward the sea to rescue him.
As a veteran on Vice Admiral Garp's ship, he knew full well the potential and Devil Fruit powers of this new recruit. They couldn't afford to lose such a promising talent here.
"My powers..."
Kuzan, slowly sinking into the depths, felt a sharp pain in his upper thigh, along with the weakness and suffocating sensation of drowning.
A cursed thought popped into his mind.
"Who the hell uses Seastone just to shoot at random grunts..."
Still, just before hitting the water, he vaguely saw the sniper—
It seemed to be a black-haired guy.
"Tch! Must be a man's instinct or something... even with Observation Haki, I still missed my target!"
Seeing that the shot didn't land where he had aimed, Orin clicked his tongue in disappointment.
This meant the future first female Marine Admiral might now never come to be.
What a shame.
Still, Orin wasn't the type to put all his eggs in one basket.
Wouldn't it be better to share the love?
This was all to balance the overwhelming masculinity of the Marines—to restore harmony on the sea!
And in that sense, Orin became king even before Roger.
You ask what kind of king?
Why, the King of Single Hits, of course!
"Running up to slash with a sword or something... definitely not for me. Lurking on high ground and sniping people is the true king's path."
Seeing his marksmanship gradually improving, Gaban—who was mainly busy deflecting cannonballs—was both relieved and a little chilled.
This kid was truly heartless.
...
The chase was intense, but overall, due to the sheer strength of the Roger Pirates, they held the upper hand. They were slowly gaining distance from the Marine battleships.
"Bang— Bang—"
"Damn this Armament Haki!"
Orin grumbled again. Another bullet had been detected by Observation Haki, but the enemy's Armament Haki around their crotch region blocked it entirely.
It was fine for grunts, but anyone with even a hint of Haki rendered him useless. His attacks couldn't lock on, couldn't break defenses.
Of course, thanks to his fine-tuned Observation Haki, not a single bullet had managed to hit him either.
"Just wait until I master Armament and Future Sight... let's see if you can still protect yourselves."
Clack—
Nimbly, Orin slung the gun over his back and swiftly slid down a rope from the crow's nest.
Since he wasn't fully developed yet, no point in playing high-level games. After all, any Armament Haki-infused attack would be fatal for him—
Even grazing him would be dangerous.
The other crew members on deck noticed the small boy with a gun heading back toward the cabin, but no one said anything.
After all, against this elite Marine force, a nine-year-old kid wasn't going to contribute much. Forcing him to stay would just mean they'd have to protect him.
Same went for Buggy and Shanks. The crew was too busy to spare them any attention. In that regard, they were no different from Orin.
Even though Orin was pretty sure that Shanks and Buggy combined still wouldn't beat him right now...
But in the eyes of the full-fledged crew, the three of them were more or less the same.
—Equally weak.
"Hey! Shanks, that guy Orin definitely ran off to hide already. Let's go too!"
"Don't be like that, Buggy. This is the battle of real men on the high seas!"
Sensing that two figures were still lingering on the deck, Orin paused and shifted to the other side of the ship.
Orin, deep down, was still a man of pleasure. He loved traveling the world, doing as he pleased.
Even his obsession with getting stronger was just so he could mess around freely—rather than be the one getting messed with.
Now, seeing the two clowns still loitering on the deck, a sly smile crept onto his face. He wasn't in a rush to go back inside after all.
...
On the deck, a red-nosed kid was tugging at a red-haired one. A black-haired kid with a sniper rifle crept toward them quietly.
It looked like Shanks was trying to join the fight with a sword, while Buggy was trying to drag him away to hide. They ended up struggling with each other.
To be fair, Buggy might be a jerk, but he wasn't without loyalty.
"Buggy, who are you calling a coward?"
Without a sound, Orin suddenly clapped Buggy on the back. His sinister voice echoed by his ear, nearly scaring the life out of both boys.
"Orin! You bastard! Can't you make some noise when you walk?!"
Buggy burst into his usual flustered rage, but after yelling, he looked at the sudden-appearing Orin and immediately thought of dragging him along with Shanks to hide.
After all, they couldn't go near Garp's warship, and they had no long-range attacks to speak of while stuck on the deck. On top of that, bullets could come flying at any moment.
Not everyone awakens Observation Haki at age nine, after all.
"Hey, Orin, let's go back to the cabin together," Buggy suggested, extending a retreat invite. Orin thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Like Orin, Buggy had also just recently joined the Roger Pirates. He wasn't yet the freak of later years and hadn't gone through the crucible of real combat. So his reaction was pretty normal.
But when Buggy looked over at Shanks, who was still lying near the edge of the ship, itching to watch the action, his head started to ache.
This guy had been adventuring with the Roger crew since birth—his skull was thick as steel.
"What's going on?"
Orin blocked a stray bullet with the butt of his sniper, slung casually on his shoulder, then glanced at Buggy's grim expression, confused at first.
But seeing that Shanks hadn't budged, he immediately understood.
The three always moved as a trio, and Shanks was clearly the least useful one—just adding to the chaos.
This wasn't the Wano War of years later, where everyone had equal matches and backup. There were no Whitebeard crewmates or weak soldiers for Shanks to mess with.
Any of these elite Marine soldiers could take out a nine-year-old redhead with a single Haki-infused strike.
Sure, you'll be amazing in the future...
But right now...
You're underleveled. Don't show off.
Seeing Shanks still lying there, watching the fight like it was a fireworks show, Orin motioned for Buggy to step aside.
As Buggy looked on in confusion, Orin raised his black rifle.
He aimed right at the back of Shanks' head.
Bang—!
With the strength of a natural monster and a punishing training regimen, Orin—though he wouldn't say for certain—was likely stronger than even a young Whitebeard by now.
That rifle butt slammed down—
Even future Emperor Red-Hair would be knocked silly.
"Not bad. Young Orin vs. Young Red-Hair,"
"Victory goes to Young Orin."
Nodding with satisfaction, Orin grabbed Shanks by the collar and dragged him toward the cabin, all while Buggy stared on in stunned silence.