Chapter 7: Dante's The Looter
"Throwing a fake match? Uncle, that's not my style."
Dante's eyes showed disdain. He was determined to suppress Red-Hair, so that in the new era he could always stand alone at the top.
He wanted to become a man who would never know defeat in his lifetime!!
Perhaps seeing the resistance in Dante's eyes, Bittam helplessly smacked his lips.
After a while, he forced out another line,
"After it's done, I'll split half of what I earn with you."
"Master, you really know how to read people!" Dante's lips couldn't help but curl upward.
It wasn't that he lacked backbone it's just that the allowance as an apprentice was far too little to spend. He had no choice but to give in to temptation.
"Shanks, let's settle this with one move!"
"Huh?" Hearing this, the panting Shanks, who had been toyed with, gritted his teeth: "Fine, that's just what I want!"
The surrounding crew cheered: "Finally gonna decide the winner? Go, Shanks, don't lose face!"
"Good job, Dante, stay sharp, don't let it turn against you!"
For a time the atmosphere was boiling, the crowd in high spirits!
Seeing the mood had been raised this high, Dante also got serious, fingers clenched, staring at the equally focused Shanks. In his slightly narrowed, disdainful eyes, faint streaks of red light actually flickered.
"That is…?!"
Gabban was the first to speak, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, his mouth wide as if he'd seen the unbelievable.
Beside him, Rayleigh's pupils contracted, his expression deadly serious as he stared at Dante: "No, it's just the potential. That level of advanced Observation Haki isn't something a brat his age can master yet."
Roger was also shocked, his smile stiffening: "The king of the next era… looks like he's found his rival now! Hahahahaha!"
At this moment, fully focused, Dante was clearly unaware of the high appraisal given to him by the three legends. He was simply trying to see Shanks' blade trajectory more clearly.
He was attempting to predict it.
As Shanks unleashed his strongest slash, Dante only watched as the sharp blade light flashed past the side of his cheek.
He glimpsed a fleeting "trajectory."
The path the blade was about to take.
"Nice slash, Shanks, but unfortunately…"
"Whew…"
Dante held his breath, seized the lag after Shanks' move, and slammed his clenched fist full force into his stomach. The dull thud made Shanks' mind reel.
"Ugh—"
Even bile came up. Dante, relying purely on brute strength, was bullying this rookie Shanks.
Plop—
The young redhead's body staggered, his eyes rolling back, clearly about to collapse.
"Ah—"
Seeing that Shanks couldn't possibly stay conscious, Dante sighed.
Then suddenly he raised his fist high, his face wearing an exaggerated, perfunctory expression.
"Ah ah ah, my fist hurts so much! Was I… knocked back by recoil? So painful… I'm passing out, ugh."
Dante glanced at the crowd, then resolutely shut his eyes and fell to the ground. Perfectly timed, he and Shanks hit the floor simultaneously, both sprawled in a star shape.
And then—
The entire place went silent.
"Holy crap…" Bittam couldn't hold it in, snot nearly bursting out.
I told you to act, couldn't you at least try to be convincing, you bastard?!
Could you be any more over the top, damn it!
No choice, Bittam had to force himself to say: "Looks like it's a draw, sorry everyone!"
"Eh??!!" ×N
At this moment, Buggy, who had just been secretly counting his stashed cash, came out of the cabin. He looked at Uncle Bittam being mobbed by the crew, the unconscious Shanks, and Dante lying on the ground picking his nose.
He was utterly dumbfounded.
"Don't be like that, Shanks, a balance of work and rest is important too."
Dante said kindly, watching Shanks doing squats with a barbell on his back.
"Shut up, bastard! And put down the steel plate on your back first!!!" Shanks roared, teeth bared. Even with his good temper, he could never help but be infuriated by Dante.
"Ah…hahahahahaha!!!"
Dante had no reply, so he gave an awkward laugh, then continued doing one armed push ups with a ton of steel on his back.
"You two monsters! Can't you just be quiet for once?!" Buggy overheard the two tryhards' exchange and went red with rage.
He could only curl little dumbbells right now. Forget Dante's monstrous physique even Shanks could easily surpass him.
Stimulated, Shanks began to grow stronger like crazy, while Dante, in addition to training, also picked up plenty of gains.
Even Buggy, the king of slacking, ended up forced into tougher training, grumbling nonstop.
The days that followed were rather monotonous.
So much so that Dante's few joys each day were reading the newspaper, fighting, training, and fishing.
But because he wanted to learn so many things, he could hardly find time to indulge his fishing hobby.
But this wouldn't stump clever Dante.
"Hey! Dante, haven't you caught anything yet?" Buggy leaned beside him, watching Dante sit motionless on the ship's edge with eyes closed. "It's almost training time, right?"
Hearing this, Dante, who had been practicing expanding his Observation Haki range, slowly opened his eyes, faint red light fading from his pupils.
"Relax, have I ever gone into training without catching fish first?"
"But Shanks already started…"
"Alright, alright… I got it."
Dante sighed, then simply drew a pistol from his waist.
Ever heard of… the American way of fishing?
Bang bang bang—
A few crisp shots rang out, and soon several fish bellies floated to the surface of the sea, still with faint wisps of smoke.
Dante flicked his fishing hook, immediately snagging the unlucky ones and tossing them into the basket, then carried it toward the cabin.
"Let's go, Buggy!"
"Wait for me!"
"Dante's gotten stronger again, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, he's a monster… reminds me of someone."
"I bet you mean Ledfield?"
"Uh… sort of, but actually I was thinking of Whitebeard."
On deck, watching the little brat sparring with the first mate, Dark King Rayleigh, many crew members whispered among themselves including the two kids at the very front.
"That guy Dante… there's no way he can be beaten, right?"
"Don't be so pessimistic, Buggy. We'll definitely get stronger in the future." Maybe because Dante had beaten him so many times, Shanks slowly calmed from always raging red, regaining his naturally easygoing self.
"What nonsense are you spouting, Shanks? If we get stronger, doesn't Dante get stronger too?" Buggy wasn't comforted instead he felt more like giving up.
Having Shanks on board was already enough of a blow almost everyone favored him, and Buggy was just the foil.
Now another Dante popped up, making it hard not to despair.
"Don't be so down, look! Dante and the first mate's sparring is starting!"
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