15 Chapter 15

After constructing an exquisite tent and building a sturdy boat for me, Rory and his crew members, along with the new recruits, stayed for another two days.

And before embarking on their journey, they completely repaired the Black Hat Pirate ship, repainting and dyeing the sail of the ship to erase the jolly roger of the pirates and remove any trace of them from the ship so they could use it for expanding the business.

As I was the one that apprehended them, which gives me a right over the ship, inevitably, Rory became indebted to me once again since he wanted it, which I find beneficial.

As the saying goes, "It's better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war." So, to me, it's always better to have a connection with resourceful people, especially the ones that are indebted to you even when there isn't a need, than to not have one when you need them.

It might seem foolish of me to give away a ship of that caliber. But, since I have no use for it right now, if I do decide to keep it, it will only gather dust and rot at the shore. On top of that, it's like a beacon to attract unwanted company to the island, ruining the peaceful and tranquil ambiance for me.

After saying our goodbyes and bringing along with them the Black Hat Pirates whom they intend to cash in on the bounty, they departed from the shore of the island over the horizon towards the 77th Marine Base.

A week or so had passed in the blink of an eye. During that week, I continued to train myself, making good progress in my Haki and Rokushiki. It seems using my powers in a fight made me more comfortable, and it became more natural for me to use them before.

And when Rory had cashed in the bounty of Brody at the 77th Marine Base, he informed me that he would begin to make his way to Shimotsuki Island and that if I needed anything, I just had to call him up using the Den Den Mushi. Though I have a general sense of how it works, it still fascinates me to see it in real life. Every time Rory said something, it would mouth off the words perfectly matching the tone, and not only that, I could feel some kind of invisible energy emitted by the Den Den Mushi during that call.

I also began training with the daggers during that week. And when I had trained myself with them, I thought I should try my luck in infusing them with Armament Haki which I found impossible for the current me. As such, I could only use my Devil Fruit power to supplement it and use it to propel it forward, retrieve it, and make it hover around me at all times.

"It's time for me to gain more field experience." While training by myself was beneficial, it still has its limitations.

Attributing my significant progress to my combat experience, I decided to venture deep into the jungle again since I could now protect myself from any harm that could come my way. I had more confidence in myself, even if I met the huge, muscular tiger that I had seen the last time.

Following the same path I took previously, I quickly began approaching the location of the clearing where the tiger and the stone cube were located.

Near the stone cube lies the tiger, licking a wound on its torso. Carefully observing the beast, I noticed the claws on his paws were black in color, giving off a menacing aura. Its imposing, muscular appearance is amplified by a reddish scar on its left eye left by three claws, probably from a similar animal like the tiger.

The revelation that another animal exists on this Island that possesses the capability to injure the animal to this extent sent a shiver down my spine. There is not just one, but at least two monsters on this Island that I have been living on with the strength and capability to easily wipe me out. That is, if it was me from last year, who is just a greenhorn. But now I know that I at least have the capability to protect myself from it.

Having the capability to protect myself doesn't mean that I have the ability to defeat it easily. And even if I come across a situation where I have to fight it, I would rather choose to avoid it if possible, knowing that there is probably a 50/50 chance of me winning. Even if I do win, I will be left with several injuries, some of them probably critical. As such, I stealthily left the place to continue exploring other parts of the island.