Chapter 29

"Diamante, you don't have to worry about Ross. I will keep the flame fruit for my brother in case we cannot find the lightning fruit. And it's still too early for me to eat a devil fruit. I prefer to hone my Haki to a decent standard before I consume a devil fruit, so go ahead and eat it. Our family still lacks strong fighters. After you eat this fruit, we can start challenging the Mafia powers in North Blue. You will sure have your work cut out for you," Doffy chuckled while explaining the situation to Diamante.

After a few moments of deliberation, Diamante finally resolved himself and took a bite of the devil fruit.

"Yuck, this sure tastes nasty," Diamante commented as he took another bite into the fruit. Although they knew they only needed a single bite under Doffy's insistence, everyone in the family who consumed devil fruit made it a point to consume the complete fruit.

"Diamante-san, I remember you mocking me when I ate the Devil fruit, saying how bad can a fruit taste." Senor smirked while making fun of Diamante, who was now almost gagging.

"So, how do you feel, Diamante? Any changes?" Doffy questioned regarding Diamante's current status. However, Diamante simply drew his pistol and fired a shot through his outstretched palm.

"Bang!"

"Oh, so this is the famed elementalization of the Logia. It sure is crazy." Diamante admired the hole that was quickly closing up, feeling no discomfort or pain due to the bullet.

"Diamante, don't make the same mistake as other Logia users. You aren't invincible just because you ate a Logia fruit. You should know there are ways to counter Logia, so you need to redouble your efforts regarding Haki to not fall back. Ross has also advised me to somehow acquire Seastone so that our Devil Fruit users can start resistance training in tandem, so that we won't be caught off guard in the future," Doffy cautioned, despite being happy for Diamante. He shared his words of caution as he saw Diamante slipping into the mindset of most Logia users, which made him remember what his brother once said to him: 'Logia' users who think they're invincible tend to have short lifespans.

"Hahaha, Doffy, I know, I know. I was just getting used to my new powers. I think we should leave before we are besieged by the Lvneel Kingdom's army and Marines. I'm sure this bastard had some connection with them," Diamante gestured towards the now split body of the fallen Underworld bigshot and snickered.

"Yes, let's leave. We have quite a lot of work to take care of," Doffy stated, getting up while making sure to pick up the children's book of Liar Noland and walking out of the room, followed by Senor and Diamante.

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New World

As I pushed myself up into a handstand, I could feel the immense weight pressing against my whole body because I was also carrying a ton of weight using my legs.

"9612... 9613... 9614..."

The strain was intense, but I pushed through it, determined to reach my goal. Each repetition felt like lifting a mountain, but I knew that was how I'd become stronger, how I'd conquer the challenges that awaited me in the New World. With each push, I could feel the muscles in my legs, arms, and core working tirelessly, propelling me upward against the resistance.

I am currently immersed in my training routine, as usual. This had become my norm, as most of my time was either spent sparring, training, or fighting with pirates. Recently, I have come to realize that my physique is becoming a limitation in my pursuit of Haki, especially my Armament haki. Since I had unlocked the basic workings of emission, an advanced form of Armament haki, my Armament Haki hadn't been increasing. Upon consulting Garp, I realized the issue: my physical body and stamina couldn't support any more Armament Haki.

If I needed to strengthen it, then I needed to increase my physique or allow my body to grow completely as my age progresses. When Garp realized that I had touched the threshold of emission at the age of ten, he had advised me to concentrate more on my physique and increase my overall vitality for the time being. So recently, I have immersed myself in physique-enhancing training and swordsmanship.

"Shit! How can a child eat so much? My back's aching from all that cooking. He literally ate an entire sea king in one sitting. Our lieutenant sure is a monster," a cook from Garp's ship couldn't help but complain. In the recent days since I had started working on my physique, their burden has increased drastically. But I did not care. When I had an avenue to eat tasty and nutritious food, why would I miss it? So, I regularly caught sea kings for my meal and passed them to the kitchen. It sure was the right decision to learn Semei Kikan (Life Return). It helped me quickly absorb all the nutrition from the massive amount of food that I ate. I could now proudly say that even canon Luffy was no match for my appetite. Maybe the only person I thought might be able to beat me when it comes to eating is probably Big Mom herself.

"Sssshhh! You moron, are you dumb? Do you know how strong Lieutenant Ross is? He can fight fearsome pirates head-on. There are quite a few people he has saved on this ship, so you better watch what you say. And it's our job as cooks to serve as much food as he eats," a senior cook admonished the other, who was feeling exhausted about cooking for me. What most people on the ship didn't realize was that I could hear everything that went on within the ship. As part of my training, I always kept my Observation Haki and Armament Haki active. Despite consuming a large amount of stamina, this method made it easier to hone my Haki and also increased my Haki quality and quantity.

I knew for a fact that the new cook was a CP agent who had joined Garp's ship during the last recruitment. I had already found out about every rat that was on Garp's ship. Being able to read people's emotions and thoughts was a massive advantage in this bloodthirsty world. I hadn't even shared this newfound ability of Observation Haki with Garp yet, nor did I intend to share it with him. As for the spies, Garp had already started weeding them out one by one, so I did not intervene. I had to commend how thorough and efficient these CP agents were. If I did not have all my overwhelming abilities, like emotion sensing and the Voice of All Things, there was no way I could have found these rodents so easily.

Just as I was thinking of these things, I detected a flying slash in my direction. I quickly dropped the barbell weights on my leg and transitioned quickly, sending out a Rankyaku to clash with the incoming sword attack. The two attacks clashed midair and dispersed, and I quickly stood up as I knew it was Bogard who was testing my awareness. After he started teaching me swordsmanship, he always had a habit of launching such attacks randomly to hone my instincts. He didn't even forego the time I used to rest; he would even randomly attack when I was asleep. He wanted me to keep my guard up even during sleep, and I kind of agreed with his mindset.

"Not bad, kid. Your instincts are quite sharp. I had even masked my presence to launch that attack, but it seems like you can now detect my presence even if I try to hide it." Bogard was delighted to see his student have such keen senses. For a swordsman, his senses were paramount; they should be able to detect every minute change within their surroundings.

"Maybe you will soon surpass me, kid." Bogard sheathed his sword and started walking towards me.

I used my towel to quickly wipe off the sweat from my body. I could detect the sadness in Bogard's eyes as he laid his gaze upon the slave symbol on my back. Everyone within the ship knew that I carried the mark of a celestial Dragon's slave, but none of them had ever dared to question me about it. Only Garp and Bogard knew the truth of the matter, which I'm sure they must have received from Kong. It wasn't like I couldn't hide the mark, but I kept it as a reminder. The last time a bounty hunter tried to capture me in one of the port towns for the slave mark on my back, I had beaten him to within an inch of his life and hung him from a post so that the entire port town could admire my handiwork.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Bogard asked, knowing what that mark symbolized.

"Not really, Bogard-san. I was weak back then; I couldn't retaliate. I only blame my weakness. Even now, it reminds me every day that I am weak and that I can be at the mercy of others at any moment. It motivates me to become stronger with each breath. If not, I will end up in a similar situation," I shared my thoughts with my swordsmanship master.

Bogard understood my reasoning and did not question me further regarding the matter.

"HQ has confirmed Roger Pirates' current location. They are currently in Saints Island," Bogard shared the new updated information regarding our target, or rather, Garp's target.

"Saints Island? Isn't that..." I quickly recalled the information regarding Saints Island in the New World. Similar to how Drum Kingdom was famous for its medicine in the Paradise half of the Grand Line, Saints Island was a place dedicated to the healing arts within the New World.

Because of their neutrality, none of the pirates dared cause any trouble in this hallowed land, as they treated everyone without discrimination. Any pirate who caused trouble there would be quickly eliminated by the other pirates because, unlike Marines and the World Government, who could have access to high-class medical care, pirates only had limited options. Saints Island was a safe haven that even the World Government hesitated to touch because it was within the New World, and the backlash would be huge.

"Bogard-san, did the Roger Pirates have any big clashes with Shiki or any other powerhouses of the New World recently?" I couldn't help but inquire, because if the Roger Pirates had to visit Saints Island, it meant the issue was serious. This must be around the time when Roger discovered his illness. If not, the only other reason could be that someone in the crew was seriously injured, but I was much more sure it was because of the former reason. Roger was sick, and this would start to change everything in the future, like an avalanche.

"No, we don't have any reports of such large-scale clashes. Although Shiki's fleet has had some minor skirmishes with Roger pirates, nothing major has happened." Bogard, as someone who manages all the information on behalf of Garp, was privy to most of the intelligence from HQ.

"So, is Garp-sensei going to wait for backup, or is he planning to lunge headfirst into battle this time as well?" I couldn't help but ask because every time we fought against the Roger Pirates, Garp would become a different monster altogether. It was close to an obsession for Garp to capture Roger.

However, sometimes he forgets to consider that most of Roger's crewmates were monsters themselves. Despite our larger numbers, without proper backup from Admiral-level fighters like Sengoku or Zephyr, restricting them was an impossible task. This was one of the major reasons that Garp was never able to corner the Roger Pirates efficiently. Even if Garp and Sengoku besieged the Roger Pirates together, with the likes of 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh, Scopper Gaban, and many more, unless Roger wanted to fight to the death against Garp, there were really zero chances of cornering the Roger Pirates with just Garp's squadron.