Aus closed his left eye, steadying his breathing as much as possible. His Observation Haki locked dead onto that tall figure among the Marines.
His finger rested lightly on the trigger, then pulled decisively.
"One-Gun Style: Fate Kill!!!"
Aus, who aspired to learn from Devil Fruit naming masters, naturally couldn't let his style fall behind anyone else—
Even for a basic gun attack using Observation Haki.
"Splurt—"
With the sound of flesh tearing, a spray of blood bloomed over the ocean, then scattered into the sea.
The figure falling from the air was very tall—obviously much taller than the surrounding Marines but appeared quite lanky. His eyes showed incredible shock and helplessness.
Then he slowly sank into the ocean.
"Hey! Kuzan!!!"
A nearby Marine in the fight saw this and roared while Moon Walking to the rescue.
As a veteran on Vice Admiral Garp's ship, he knew damn well this recruit's potential and Devil Fruit ability. A promising seedling like this couldn't go down here.
"My ability..."
Kuzan, gradually sinking toward the ocean floor, felt the brutal pain in his thigh and the weakness and suffocation throughout his body.
A shitty possibility crossed his mind:
"Who the hell uses Seastone bullets... just to snipe grunts..."
But in the moment before hitting water, he vaguely spotted who fired the cheap shot—looked like some guy with long black hair.
"Tch! Male instincts? Even with Observation Haki aiming, I still missed my target!"
Seeing through his Haki that he hadn't hit where he intended, this meant the Marines' first female Admiral in history would never exist.
Aus curled his lip, feeling somewhat bummed.
But he wasn't the type to put all his eggs in one basket.
Wasn't spreading the wealth better?
This was to fix the male-dominated imbalance in the Marines—for balance on the seas!
In a certain sense, Aus became king before Roger.
What kind of king did Aus want to be?
The Ball-Busting King, obviously!
"Going up close with a blade to hack away really doesn't suit me. Sniping people from high ground is the real deal."
Watching Aus's gradually improving marksmanship, Bitam—who was mainly dealing with incoming cannonballs—felt both proud and cold sweat.
This kid really didn't give a shit about being human.
The chase was getting heated, but overall the Roger Pirates held the advantage thanks to their insane average combat power, steadily pulling away from the Marine warship.
"Bang—bang—"
"My fucking Armament Haki..."
Aus felt helpless as his bullets got sensed again and blocked by Armament-coated crotches.
He could handle bottom-tier grunts, but anyone with basic two-color Haki left him completely screwed. Any attack was impossible to track and couldn't break through defense.
Of course, with his detailed Observation Haki, no bullets could tag Aus either.
"Once I develop Armament Haki and Future Sight, let's see if you bastards can still protect yourselves."
"Thud—"
Aus moved like a monkey, slinging his gun on his back and sliding down the rope from the lookout.
Since he hadn't leveled up enough yet, he wouldn't play these high-tier matches. After all, those Haki-coated attacks would kill him on contact, maim him on graze.
The other crew members on deck, seeing the small gun-toting figure retreat toward the cabin, said nothing.
Facing this group of elite Marines, a nine-year-old couldn't do much anyway. Forcing it would just make them split attention protecting him.
Buggy and Shanks were the same—the crew had zero time to babysit them, no different from Aus.
Even though Aus felt current Shanks and Buggy together couldn't beat him,
In the official crew's eyes, the three brats were basically identical—
Equally useless.
"Hey! Shanks, that Aus bastard definitely already bailed. Let's book it too!"
"Don't be like that, Buggy. This is a real man's battle on the seas!"
Sensing through Observation Haki two figures still hanging around on deck, Aus paused and headed toward the other side of the ship.
Actually, Aus was fundamentally a chaos-lover, so he enjoyed traveling the world and doing whatever the hell he wanted.
His insane drive to get stronger was also so he could freely cause chaos, not become the chaos.
Seeing two clowns still lingering on deck, Aus grinned and wasn't in any rush to return to the cabin.
On deck, a red-nosed brat was yanking at a red-haired brat, while a black gun-carrying brat crept up on them both.
Looked like Shanks was gripping a sword wanting to join the fight, while Buggy wanted to drag him into hiding together. But since he couldn't budge Shanks, they were having a standoff.
Gotta say, though Buggy was a piece of work, he was still a guy who gave a damn about his friends.
"Buggy, who exactly did you say was hiding?"
Silently, Aus suddenly slapped the struggling Buggy's back. His creepy voice by Buggy's ear nearly scared both of them shitless!
"Aus! You bastard, do you make zero sound when you walk?!"
Buggy's daily red-faced rage flared, but after yelling, seeing Aus suddenly appear, he immediately thought of dragging him along to haul Shanks into hiding together.
After all, they didn't dare get close to Garp's warship, and standing on deck they had no long-range attack methods while dodging flying bullets.
Not everyone could awaken Observation Haki at nine.
"Hey, Aus, let's head back to the cabin together." Buggy first proposed a retreat party invitation. Aus thought about it and nodded agreement.
After all, like Aus, Buggy had just joined the Roger Pirates recently. He wasn't the "three days three nights insomniac" from years later—hadn't been through battle hell yet. This reaction made sense.
But Buggy looked at Shanks still sprawled by the ship's edge, eagerly watching the chaos, with a headache. This guy had been adventuring with the Roger Pirates since birth—stubborn as hell.
"What's the problem?"
Aus shouldered his black gun and casually deflected a bullet flying from the distance, looking at Buggy's sour expression with confusion.
But seeing Shanks's planted feet, he instantly got it.
The Three Stooges Under the King always moved as a unit. This Shanks bastard really wasn't helping—just making things worse.
This wasn't the Wano battle years later, with admiral versus admiral, grunt versus grunt, with Whitebeard Pirates' apprentices and small fry for Shanks to mess with.
These elite Marines' casual Haki-enhanced attacks could end this nine-year-old redhead's life.
Sure, he knew you'd be crazy powerful later,
But right now...
You haven't developed yet. Don't be reckless.
Looking at Shanks still glued to the deck edge watching the show, Aus signaled Buggy to step aside.
Under Buggy's bewildered stare, Aus raised his black gun, aiming at the back of Shanks's head.
"Bang—"
After all, with natural monster strength plus balls-to-the-wall crazy training, current Aus wasn't certain, but his strength probably didn't lose to young Whitebeard.
This gun butt strike would make even Four Emperor Red Hair see stars.
"Nice. Young Aus VS Young Red Hair."
"Young Aus wins."
Aus nodded with satisfaction, dragging Shanks by the collar toward the cabin under Buggy's shell-shocked gaze.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
🤔 Want to know what happens next to the characters?
🤫 Eager to explore the untold secrets of this world?
✍️ Ready to read more of my wildest stories?
✨patreon.com/DarkGolds