101 Chapter 101
I pointed to a girl with purple hair. She looks to be about 250 cm/8,2 feet tall. I could see two daggers on her lower back, so I presume that she is a little proficient with them. She looked at me with an emotionless face.
"Mura, 25."
It stayed quiet for a couple of minutes.
"Nice to meet you, Mura. I hope you can give us a better introduction next time."
She didn't say anything.
"Next."
I pointed to an old man with black hair. He didn't reach higher than my waist.
*COUGH*
*COUGH*
*COUGH*
"My name is Konda Shoichi, I'm 78 years old, I like playing chess, I dislike my stupid brats who completely forgot about me, and my dream is to finally go on an adventure."
"Nice to meet you, Konda. You look like you're even weaker than Tani, but you made it all the way to here, so I'll give you a chance to show me what you're made off."
"Thank you, young lad. I won't disappoint you."
"Next."
I pointed to a guy with blond hair and a black suit and glasses on. He could be either a weak salaryman with a lot of money or an extremely strong guy with a lot of money. Either way, he looks rich.
"My name is Shi Zankoku, 23 years old, my dream is to be able to what I like every day."
'He didn't even say what he likes and dislikes.'
"Say, does your name have something to do with what you like?"
He smiled.
"Then there is someone on my crew that you'll get along with really well."
'Shi means death, and Zankoku means cruelty. A name I would give a certain someone on my crew."
"Alright, last one."
I pointed to a big guy who is as big as Urouge. He is bald and has a scary face.
"It's nice to meet you, sir. My name is Akari, 27 years old; I like playing with animals, I dislike people who are mean for no reason, and my dream is to have a puppy."
Everyone looked surprised.
'He is completely the opposite of what I thought he would be like.'
"Nice to meet you too, Akari. Now that everyone has introduced themselves, I will be expecting all of you at my ship tomorrow."
They nodded.
"Huh? I didn't hear ya. If you want to join me, you have to respond when I ask you."
"Yes, Captain." x8
"That's more like it. Oh yeah, I almost forgot one thing."
I let out a lot of killing intent, bringing all of them to their knees.
"If I find out that any of you are a spy or something like that, you will be executed. No questions asked."
I stopped the killing intent and turned around.
"Let's go."
Sabo, Ace, and I disappeared.
[Next day
8 am]
I was standing on the deck with the eight people from yesterday standing opposite of me.
"I didn't expect all of you to be here so early, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Now follow me, and I'll see what all of you are made of."
"Yes, Captain." x8
They followed me to the training room, where Robin was waiting for us.
"Alright, this will be simple. Try to defeat her."
"Wait, what!? Are you serious? But she is just a girl." said Numera, the youngest of the triplets
I kicked him towards her.
"Fine, then show me how you'll defeat a girl. And if you don't show me everything, you can leave right away."
"Tsk, fine. You're Nico Robin, right?"
He got into a fighting stance.
"If you want to blame someone, blame your Captain!"
He ran towards her.
'He has pretty good speed, and his stance looked solid. When you look at Robin, who isn't even focusing on fighting, you would say that she will lose this, but I don't allow weaklings on my ship.'
He tried to punch her in her face, but she effortlessly blocked his fist and grabbed it. She kicked him in his stomach, but she didn't let go of his fist. She kept kicking him over and over again till she let him go, and he flew into the wall.
"Sigh, that is what happens when you underestimate your opponent. Alright, who wants to go next?"
"Wait, I'm not done yet!"
I looked at Numera, who stood back up with blood dripping from his mouth.
"Wait, Numera, you can't fight while you've been hurt so badly." said Nyorai, the oldest of the three
"Tsk, this is nothing. I promised mom and dad that I would become strong, and I can't do that if I back down here."
'He has a good spirit.'
"Can we please continue, Captain?" asked Numera
"Go ahead."
He immediately ran towards her, but instead of trying to punch her like before, he kicked the floor, and a plank went up that almost hit Robin, but she jumped back before it hit her. Numera grabbed the plank and used it as his weapon. He kept trying to hit her with it, but she kept dodging. He suddenly threw it towards her, which caught her off guard, but she still managed to duck and avoid the plank.
But that was what Numera was waiting for. While Robin was ducking, he made his move and tried to kick her face, but Robin suddenly kicked the leg he was standing on, making him miss her and fall on the ground. Robin immediately stood back up and was about to kick him in his face.
"Stop!"
She immediately stopped.
"Good job Robin. It seems like you've improved a lot."
"You just gave me an easy opponent, Ken."
The look on Numera's face was priceless.
"Well, they are just rookies, so what did you expect? He already performed better than I thought he would. Numera, get up. You've passed the last physical test. You have a good foundation, so making you strong won't be too much of a problem."
"Really!?"
I nodded.
"Thank you, Captain!"
He bowed down to me and went back to the side. His two brothers went next, and they performed about the same. Overall, they have good potential. And since they are triplets, I should have them work together. I would imagine twins or triplets to have the best teamwork.
"Old man Konda, you're next."
"Yes, Captain."
He walked to the middle and looked at Robin with a smile.
"Are you both ready?"
"I have a quick question."
"What is it?"
"What are the rules."
"Huh, why should there be any rules? This ain't some sport. If you think about something as stupid as rules and morals, you'll die."
He smirked.
"I've come to the right place then."
"If there aren't any more questions, start the match!"
The old man immediately jumped back.
'Hm? I didn't notice this before, but the old man has some good leg strength. Interesting.'
He suddenly threw needles towards Robin. She managed to just barely dodge them. He started running around her when he suddenly disappeared. Robin jumped back, and needles fell from above on the place she just stood on. I looked at the ceiling and saw the old man when I suddenly heard the voice of a Shinigami.
"Clutch."
He fell unconscious and started falling down. Deuce, who was sitting in the corner to take take care of whoever gets injured, quickly caught the old man before he fell on the ground.
"Robin! Why did you have to go so hard on him!?"
"Shut up, Deuce. There was poison on those needles, which for all she knows, could be lethal. So she just used equal force."
"Sigh, but she could have at least been a little gentler."
He took the old man to the side and placed him down.
"Who wants to go next."
"I'll go." said Tani
He walked to the middle.
[10 minutes later]
He is standing opposite Robin. His face is unrecognizable from all the blood and swellings. In these 10 minutes, he has been taken down so many times, but he keeps getting up.
'Should I stop this?'
He ran towards Robin again. She was about to kick him away when he suddenly sidestepped and hit her leg away, which threw her off balance, and he stepped in. He tried to hit her on her face, but she managed to just barely move her head to the left, but he still left a scratch on her cheek.
He looked really happy. Robin tried to kick him again, but he fell down unconscious, making her miss.
'Damn, this guy has the willpower of a protagonist. It is comparable to Luffy.'
Deuce picked him up and brought him to the side. He immediately started treating his wounds.
"What was that, Robin? He was on his last leg, but he still managed to hit you. It seems like you'll need to train harder."
"You're right, Ken."
I smiled.
'That wasn't some lucky punch. He was trying to read her rhythm, so that was why he was taking all those attacks. After 10 minutes, he finally figured it out and managed to get in close and attack back. He certainly is an interesting fellow.'
Mura suddenly went to the middle.
'This should also be interesting. She looks strong. Let's see what she can do against Robin.'
When the match started, she took out her daggers but didn't move. Robin and Mura just stared at each other when Mura suddenly started walking towards Robin with her guard down. Robin didn't react and stayed on guard.
"Soru."
'I barely heard it, but she definitely said Soru.'
She suddenly appeared in front of Robin, but before Robin noticed, Mura appeared behind her with a dagger on her throat.
'Amazing! She's the one I've been looking for!'
"That was amazing, Mura."
"It's nothing. If I didn't see her fight so many times, it would have been really difficult."
"You did great, but even though you managed to beat her easily after watching her, don't let it go to your head. If she wasn't holding back, the roles would have been reversed. But I'm sure that you've already figured that out."
She nodded.
"Wait, she was holding back!" screamed Numera
I smirked.
"Did you really think that she would go all out on weaklings? Hahahaha, how stupid. Mura is stronger than I expected, but she wouldn't stand a chance against a serious Robin who goes all out. Now enough of that, Shi, you're next."
I didn't hear anything back. I turned around and didn't see him.
"He ran away saying to himself that he wasn't getting paid enough for this." said Akari
"I see. Thank you for telling me."
I called Sabo and told him to hunt Shi down.
'So his name was just a bluff. He must be with the WG or someone else that hates me. But I expected something like this to happen.'
"Akari, are you also going to run away?"
"No, but I'd rather not hurt a potential friend."
"Don't worry about her. She is strong. And if you win, I'll get you a puppy."
His face suddenly changed, and he got a dangerous aura around him.
'What the hell is this change of personality. He turned from someone who couldn't hurt a fly to someone who'd kill without blinking. Robin also seemed to notice the change in Akari. I should stay prepared to intervene when it's about to get ugly.'
When the match started, he didn't give Robin the chance to react and immediately went for the kill. Robin wanted to block it, but at the last second, she dodged to the right. His fists created shockwaves.
'He has amazing strength. It may even rival that of a giant, but he is leaving himself completely open when he attacks, and robin will definitely notice.'
She used Tekkai on her legs and kicked him on his stomach, but instead of him feeling pain, Robin looked like she just kicked a metal wall. That one second of her being distracted was all Akari needed to go for his next attack. He was about to hit her in her face when I appeared between them and stopped his punch.
"That's enough, Akari, you've won."
His face immediately changed to his previous one.
"Really!? Then you'll give me a puppy, right!?"
"I'm a man of my word."
"Thank you, Captain!"
He bowed down to me.
"I'm sorry Ken, I didn't meet your expectations." said Robin
"Don't worry about it. You aren't a frontline fighter anyway. And I'm really proud of what you've become. Besides, if you had used your Devil Fruit, It would have ended differently."
She smiled.
"Thank you, Ken."
Laffitte suddenly appeared in the training room.
"Robert and I just made it back, Captain. The mission was successful without any problems. When we arrived on the ship, Ace told me that you were waiting for me."
"Good job. I expected nothing less from the two of you. You came in at the right time. These guys will potentially join our crew, but as you can expect, I won't trust strangers like that. So find out if I can trust them."
He smirked.
"My pleasure, sir."
"Good. Robin, go and have a rest. Deuce, bring the wounded who can't move yet to Laffitte after they can."
They nodded, and I went to look for Robert.
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[This is the longest chapter I've written so far. So I hope that I can expect some Power Stones from you guys. ;) ]
Quotes:
"I'm not stupid, I'm just too lazy to show you how smart I really am."
"This cup is filled with how much I care for you and oh… it's empty."
"How careless of me, I nearly gave a fuck."
"I don't have a short temper, I just have a quick reaction to bullshit."
"I know it feels like I don't care but you know, deep, deep inside… I still don't care."
