Although he had already anticipated that after Silas and Ripley left, pirates might come to attack the Black Pearl since he was now the only person aboard, Rocks had not expected that those attacking him would be a group of youths who looked even younger than himself.
"Hey, do you know what you are doing?"
Easily dodging the attack from the youth called Newgate, Rocks tilted his head to look at the others rushing into the ship's cabin.
"If you damage the ship, that old man will give me serious trouble."
"So let us make this quick!"
As he spoke, Rocks raised his hand and effortlessly caught the youth's incoming fist.
"How is this possible!?"
The youth's eyes widened in shock. This was the first time he had seen someone his age catch his punch so easily.
Although the young man before him looked somewhat older, he appeared to have just reached adulthood. In terms of build, he should have had the advantage.
Fourteen-year-old Newgate already stood nearly four meters tall. Compared to Rocks, who was under two meters, he was like a giant.
But despite having twice the height advantage, Newgate could not win against Rocks in a contest of pure strength.
"Hehe, on these seas, size does not determine everything."
Seeing the shock on Newgate's face, Rocks showed a brilliant, sunny smile for the first time in months.
This felt incredible!
Right after setting sail, he had encountered Silas, a legendary great pirate. He had spent most of the year in the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf, surrounded by "peers" who were all giant children, plus freaks with special constitutions like Charlotte Linlin.
If not for Silas's recognition, he would have doubted whether he had any combat talent at all.
Now it was confirmed.
"Although I cannot beat that old bastard or Ripley, bullying a brat like you is more than enough."
Rocks showed a brilliant smile.
"Finger Gun!"
Concentrating all his body's strength into his finger, Rocks sent Newgate flying with a single precise strike, then looked at the remaining youths.
"Did your adults not tell you that doing wrong things comes with consequences?"
Shave!
Instantly appearing before the other four or five youths, Rocks kicked each one down without much effort.
"Guido! Peak! Ba..."
Seeing his companions knocked down one by one, the large youth Newgate's eyes turned bloodshot. Gritting his teeth, he stood up again and charged at Rocks with renewed fury.
"Oh? You can still stand?"
Rocks could already tell that although this youth had impressive brute strength, like himself a year ago, he had not received any professional training.
If it were him from a year ago, defeating this opponent might have been troublesome.
But now, he was more than ten times stronger than before!
However, just as Rocks focused his attention on Newgate, he did not notice a pirate on another ship nearby raising a flintlock pistol.
Bang!
A round bullet shot from the barrel toward Rocks. Facing Newgate head-on, Rocks suddenly felt a palpitation of danger.
"Get down!"
Newgate punched Rocks in the face, but Rocks did not dodge. Instead, he grabbed Newgate, and they both fell to the ground.
Whoosh!
The bullet grazed Rocks's scalp and also wounded Newgate's shoulder, smashing a large crater in the Black Pearl's deck like a cannonball.
"That was close!"
Lying on the ground, Rocks looked at the crater with lingering fear. If he had not reacted in time, he would have been severely injured if not killed.
Only then did Newgate realize that this young man had saved him.
If Rocks had not grabbed him and had simply dodged, the bullet would have hit him instead.
"Why did you save me?"
"Hmph, who wanted to save you? I just cannot stand sneaky cowards who attack from behind. Also, get off me quickly!"
Struggling to push Newgate away, Rocks looked into the distance.
Several figures descended from the air.
"Tsk, so you dodged it?"
The man leading them, holding the flintlock, looked displeased. He had thought he could easily eliminate Rocks.
Seeing the man's face, Newgate immediately tensed up. He lowered his voice urgently, "It is Vulture Vic. He is a great pirate with a bounty over thirty million Belly. We cannot possibly be his match!"
A thirty million bounty?
Rocks actually did not have a clear concept of pirates active on these seas, since Silas casually talked about pirates with bounties over 100 million. Pirates with bounties under 100 million did not seem to count as major players.
Moreover, although he could sense some dangerous aura from the opponent, compared to Silas or even Ripley, it was far inferior.
He could handle this!
Rocks thought silently.
In the port town, although separated by three or four streets, Silas had noticed when Rocks started fighting with Newgate.
Since it was just a group of kids fighting, Silas did not even think of turning back.
Only after Vulture Vic appeared did Silas show slight interest.
"It seems that because of those pirates impersonating us, our ship's flag is not very effective anymore. Any random nobody dares to approach."
When Silas left, one of the slightly stronger auras he had sensed with his Observation Haki belonged to Vulture Vic.
However, this "slightly stronger" was only relative to Rocks.
As long as the bounty was not over 100 million, it was really nothing special.
"Should we go back?"
Noticing Silas's gaze and guessing something might have happened on the ship, Ripley asked.
"No need."
Silas smiled.
"Rocks is close to mastering Haki. That pirate's strength is about the same as Rocks's. Using this opportunity, Rocks might be able to master both Armament and Observation Haki in one go."
Rocks's strength had long been sufficient to use Haki. He just lacked the right moment. If the enemy were very strong, Silas would definitely go back.
But with similar strength levels, Silas believed Rocks could handle it.
"Speaking of which, you have already pretty much mastered Armament Haki, so why have you not comprehended Observation Haki yet?"
"I cannot help that!"
Ripley stuck out her tongue. "Most giants are slow. My speed of mastering Haki is already considered fast."
Although Ripley had defeated a CP0 agent comparable to a hundred-million-bounty pirate through a sneak attack, in direct combat, her strength would definitely be inferior.
The biggest gap was in Haki mastery.
"If you do not work harder, it will not be long before Rocks surpasses you. Ripley, you would not want to replace Rocks doing odd jobs on the ship, would you?"
"But if I cannot do it, I cannot do it!"
Ripley thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up with hope. "How about you give me some special training, Captain? I do not want to be demoted to intern so soon after becoming a crew member!"
Ripley pressed close, hugging Silas's arm and looking at him pitifully.
"Idiot!"
Silas mercilessly knocked Ripley on the head.
"If there were shortcuts to this kind of thing, what would be the point of training?"
"Ow!"
Seeing Silas unmoved, Ripley puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
"Stupid old man, you deserve to be single forever."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing at all!"
Ripley grinned and was about to continue walking when she noticed someone blocking their path.
"You are the White Wolf Pirates, right?"
A group of pirates looked at Silas and Ripley with playful expressions.
"Come with us. Our boss wants to see you!"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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