Chapter 35:
Roger looked at Victor, who was becoming more and more frenzied in front of him, and the appreciation in his eyes grew even stronger.
"Kid, I can see your thirst for power. Since that's the case, I'll give you a hand. Hahaha."
Roger laughed loudly as a soul-shaking, powerful aura suddenly burst out from him. The sky instantly filled with rolling dark clouds, and red-black lightning enveloped the entire battlefield.
Victor, bearing the brunt of it, froze under the overwhelming pressure of Conqueror's Haki.
This familiar feeling instantly brought even greater pressure to Victor.
Not only that—Roger was preparing an even more powerful technique.
The Roger Pirates' crew members saw this scene and felt a shock in their hearts.
"Hey hey—is Captain Roger really going to use that move? Is it necessary?"
Jabba saw Roger's stance and felt somewhat shocked.
"Roger wants to stimulate the kid Victor's potential. Looks like Roger really values him."
Rayleigh, who had just knocked Heracles back again, also sensed Roger's intention.
"Kid, taste this move of mine. Feel its power with your heart. Behold—Divine Departure! Hahaha."
Roger's Conqueror's Haki coiled around the blade of Ace, and the violent aura instantly kicked up sand and dust around them.
But Victor at this moment had no concept of fear—even under immense pressure, he fearlessly met Roger's Divine Departure head-on.
"Hahaha—that's it, Roger!"
And in that very instant, a similarly soul-shaking aura suddenly burst from Victor's body.
Two equally domineering forces collided violently, instantly tearing a massive rift through the dark clouds in the sky.
"What?! This kid also awakened Conqueror's Haki?"
The Roger Pirates' members saw Victor's huge change and couldn't help but let out bursts of astonishment.
"Hoho—kid Victor awakened Conqueror's Haki mid-battle. Incredible."
Jabba saw this and also exclaimed in admiration.
"Hahaha—this kid is something else. This is exactly what Roger wanted."
Rayleigh saw this and burst into laughter. It seemed this outcome was within his expectations.
But he was still shocked by Victor's enormous potential.
The happiest ones were the partners of the Plant Scholars.
"Hahaha—the captain awakened Conqueror's Haki! His strength grew even stronger—awesome!"
"Worthy of our captain—so amazing!"
"Long live the captain—I always believed in the captain!"
The crew members were instantly motivated and felt renewed strength surging through them as they launched counterattacks.
Heracles also received inspiration from Victor and felt his hands grow even stronger.
But Roger's Divine Departure wasn't so easy to block.
There was only one Garp—and Victor was still too young, not yet trained to that level.
Even though Victor gave everything to meet Roger's Divine Departure head-on, the outcome was already decided.
The surrounding environment was instantly shattered by the terrifying destructive power—hundred-meter-tall coconut trees were uprooted.
The terror of this move was evident.
This Divine Departure directly struck Victor's chest, instantly sending him flying. A large mouthful of blood sprayed out, and the wound on his chest bled uncontrollably onto the beach.
Boom! Victor crashed heavily into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"Phew… worthy of Divine Departure, worthy of Roger. Teach me that move—how about it?"
Victor spat blood but spoke calmly.
The red in his eyes had already faded—he had returned to normal.
"Victor~"
Heracles saw Victor get heavily injured and sent flying by Roger. He roared in anger.
Knocking Rayleigh back, he flashed forward and instantly arrived at Victor's side.
"Crocus—quick, come check on the captain!"
Heracles looked at Victor's wounds, his face twisted in fury as he roared loudly.
"Yes—coming right away."
Crocus saw this and instantly knocked back Roger Pirates members, rushing over quickly.
The Roger Pirates' crew also withdrew from battle and stepped back, letting the Plant Scholars crew tend to their captain.
"These partners are really great."
Jabba saw this scene and couldn't help but say with envy.
"Aren't we the same? And they'll soon be our partners too, right?"
Rayleigh said with a smile.
"Hahaha—exactly."
Jabba heard Rayleigh and burst into happy laughter.
The surrounding Roger Pirates crew members also looked at the Plant Scholars crew surrounding Victor with great appreciation.
Roger sheathed Ace and slowly walked toward Victor.
"Kid—you lost. So? You keep your word?"
"As long as you join our pirate crew, I'll teach you that move just now. How about it?"
Roger said with a smile.
"I keep my word. But you have to accept my condition first."
Victor said softly.
"Hahaha—no problem. Speak."
Roger agreed without thinking.
"Don't break up my partners—they're the Plant Scholars family, with their own emotions."
"Your ship is too lousy—just throw it away. From now on, use my Plant Scholars to conquer the seas."
Victor said softly.
"No problem. As long as you join us, none of that's an issue. Hahaha."
Hearing Victor's condition, Roger immediately burst into laughter.
"Sigh—this brainless captain—doesn't he know his own ship was looked down on?"
Rayleigh looked at the carefree Roger and felt speechless.
"Hahaha—good thing. Victor's Plant Scholars is a super impressive ship—keel made of Adam Wood."
"I heard it's the masterpiece of Water 7's shipwright Tom."
Jabba heard this and happily laughed too.
The other Roger Pirates crew members also discussed fervently—either teasing Roger or praising Victor's character.
"Captain—your wound is quite deep. You need rest for some time. As for internal injuries, I'll prescribe a few doses of medicine—take them on time."
After Crocus and the Elli-Eni twin doctors finished bandaging Victor, Crocus gave him medical instructions.
"Ah? Medicine again? Can I skip it?"
Victor heard he had to take medicine again and his face immediately scrunched up.
Because—who knows if Crocus did it on purpose—that medicine was really bitter.
"Hmph—of course you have to take medicine, and every time under my supervision. Want to escape? No way."
Crocus looked at Victor's aggrieved expression and was very dissatisfied.
"Fine, fine—I'll take the medicine. I'll follow doctor's orders."
"But look at them. They're injured too—hurry and prescribe some medicine for them too."
"Especially that grinning pirate—he must be heavily injured to be smiling like that. I'm talking about you, Roger."
Victor saw this and didn't care anymore—he decided to drag everyone down with him.
"Ah? Not me—I didn't—I have nothing to do with this. I'm not injured—I don't need medicine."
Hearing Victor's words, Roger was startled and immediately fled the scene.
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