In the following days, Oss focused his training on physical conditioning.
While he couldn't match geniuses who poured in hundreds of times the effort, his natural Observation Haki allowed him to learn sniping, swordsmanship, and body arts at twice the efficiency of a prodigy like Shanks. This made him monstrously effective.
Thus, building his strength and Haki early was essential.
Time flew.
Two months had passed since leaving his hometown, and Oss's life aboard the ship was full but uneventful.
Early one morning, Buggy and Shanks woke him to start cleaning. The night before, Captain Roger's bounty had increased again, and the crew had celebrated with another lavish banquet.
Everyone was happily drunk—except the three "little ones."
Damn it!
Who wouldn't be exhausted from nightly banquets?!
Oss, unaccustomed to alcohol, didn't enjoy the so-called "Pirate King lifestyle." The rum was unpleasant, and the adventure hadn't been nearly as exciting as he'd imagined. Aside from storms, thunder, hail, and hurricanes, life at sea was mostly chores and banquets.
Sure enough, the "grand Pirate King journey" was just a playground for top-tier strongmen.
They cleaned until nearly noon. Oss and the others finished clearing bottles and debris. Just as he prepared to eat and train, Oss froze, sensing something in the sky.
Something was flying.
His Observation Haki detected it first.
Buggy ran to the railing and squinted into the distance. It looked like a cannonball.
Holy crap.
Looking closer, Oss could see a white sail approaching.
What kind of cannonball flies this far? A missile?
Oss guessed who it might be. Without warning the others, he drew his flintlock, aiming at the black dot in the sky.
At the same time, Captain Roger appeared at the bow, watching Oss line up the shot.
"Kid, those cannonballs move fast. Can you hit it?"
Roger grinned, watching Oss take careful aim.
I can't defeat him, but can't I at least hit a cannonball? Oss thought, pouting slightly. He aligned the sights with the moving projectile, aided by his Observation Haki.
"Hit!"
In his perception, the bullet struck the cannonball dead center dozens of meters away.
…but it didn't explode.
Instead, like a normal projectile, the cannonball bounced off his bullet and continued on its path.
Six hundred sixty-six… a ghost cannonball?
No—Haki-infused!
Realizing he couldn't stop it, Oss put away his gun and retreated behind Buggy and Shanks. He wasn't panicked; the big shots would handle it.
Sure enough:
"God Avoidance!!!"
With a roar, Roger's blade erupted in a black-and-red lightning-infused slash, slicing through the sky as if tearing the heavens themselves.
Other cannonballs nearby exploded mid-air, destroyed before landing.
Oss was mesmerized.
Slicing the sky with one swing? God Avoidance was incredible. Oss's scalp tingled, and his mouth watered as he carefully observed Roger's movements with his Observation Haki.
But he was too weak to fully understand the technique. He could only sense the immense force coursing through Roger's body.
It reminded him of the Sharingan: some techniques are just too advanced to copy.
Before he could dwell on it, Shanks and Buggy pulled him back behind the crowd of crew members.
"Hahahahaha! Little ones, time to fight the Marines!" Roger shouted, raising his sword.
"That mad dog… we just lost him, and he caught up in under two months?" Jabba grumbled, axes in hand.
"Let's give them a proper welcome," Rayleigh said, extending his hand and releasing a massive sword aura that split the sea.
Of course, as Oss expected, the attack was shattered instantly by a black fist from the Marine warship.
Quickly, Oss climbed the crow's nest and greeted his sniper mentor, Bitham.
"Yo, Uncle Bitham!"
Bitham, stout but agile, smiled. "Oss, careful this time. We're not dealing with small fries."
"I'll handle it," Oss said, sighting through his scope at the distant Marine ship.
There stood a short-haired, bearded man in a Vice Admiral's cloak and black suit, juggling cannonballs. He was the one behind the Haki-infused cannonballs that had left Oss helpless earlier.
Oss thought: current automatic cannons are weak; manual ones still dominate.
"One has to say… as expected of the King's Garp."
From afar, Garp shouted through a megaphone:
"Hey, Roger! Surrender!"
"Hahahahaha! Not a chance, Garp!" Roger replied, and their usual verbal sparring commenced.
Then came the chase and Haki-infused attacks, as usual. With so many experts aboard the Oro Jackson, Garp alone couldn't capture them all. Neither did Roger want a deadly fight in the open sea.
Some overconfident Marines attempted to approach using Moonwalk, only to be thrown into the water by Rayleigh or ambushed by Oss's sniper rifle.
Among these Marines, Oss spotted an unusual figure—a lanky, curly-haired man.
"Hiding among ordinary Marines… definitely trouble!"
If Oss hadn't recognized him, he might have been fooled.
The Ice-Ice Fruit user approaching their ship—how could that not be bad?
Silently, Oss loaded the only Sea Stone bullet Bitham had given him. A slight grin appeared.
"Consider this a welcoming gift," he thought.
Young Sea Ice—Kuzan.