"One Piece: I, the Strongest Intern of the Roger Pirates"

With Shanks and Buggy joining the crew, Fang Yi's life became even more fulfilling.

Whether it was Buggy, who challenged him every day, or Shanks, whose strength had improved rapidly under Rayleigh's guidance, both of them kept the pressure on him. Though Fang Yi always appeared calm and relaxed, he trained harder than ever behind the scenes.

Thanks to the steady increase in lottery tickets, his draw frequency had also improved. However, obtaining new skills seemed to be getting increasingly difficult.

Still, even if he didn't win any new skills, it didn't stop his steady growth in strength. After all, the draws often gave him skill fragments and experience coupons, so he wasn't left empty-handed.

"Brother Fang Yi, please give me your guidance!"

One day, after finishing his training, Shanks came straight to Fang Yi and formally challenged him.

"Oh? Finally, it's your turn?" Fang Yi grinned at Shanks. "So… you're confident about this?"

Fang Yi wasn't against these kinds of duels at all. Even when Buggy challenged him daily, though it could get a little annoying, he had never once refused. Sometimes he deliberately allowed the fight to go back and forth for a while.

Not only did this help him hone his close combat skills, but it also gave him opportunities to practice dodging and gain evasion experience for his skills.

After all, every single experience coupon he had received recently had been poured into his Divine Protection skill, meaning his Evasion skill's proficiency hadn't increased in quite some time.

"I'm not entirely confident," Shanks admitted, his expression serious. "But I want to see just how big the gap is between us."

"Oh? You want me to go all out?" Fang Yi chuckled softly. "Well then, let's see if you're capable of making that happen."

"Fang Yi, don't underestimate him! Fight Shanks seriously!"

Rayleigh, who had been leaning casually against the ship's railing, suddenly spoke up.

"Well then, you might as well show Shanks your true strength!" Jabba poked his head out from the second floor, smiling as he chimed in.

Hearing this, Rayleigh adjusted his glasses and glanced up at Jabba. Their gazes met, and both of them chuckled knowingly.

Fang Yi's close combat had been taught by Jabba, while Shanks had been training under Rayleigh since he came aboard. In a way, this fight was also a contest between the two mentors.

"No bow and arrow, kid!"

Just as Fang Yi reached for the bow on his back, Yamon—holding a wine bottle—burped loudly and shouted, "No bows allowed!"

Fang Yi shrugged and obediently set his bow aside without arguing.

Rayleigh and Jabba said nothing either; they trusted Yamon's judgment.

Shanks was a bit surprised. He knew Fang Yi practiced archery daily, but he'd never actually seen him use it in battle. Besides, given the close quarters of their fight, he didn't think Fang Yi's bow would pose any threat. It might even make Fang Yi easier to deal with.

"Hey! Boss… why don't you just use your bow? That way, you won't have any excuses if you lose, saying you couldn't use your favorite weapon!"

Buggy, thinking along the same lines as Shanks, yelled out directly.

Although he wasn't fond of Shanks either, compared to Fang Yi, he found Shanks much easier to accept. Plus, if Shanks could beat Fang Yi, then all Buggy had to do was beat Shanks to take the top spot.

In his mind, Shanks was far easier to defeat than Fang Yi.

Fang Yi chuckled and glanced at Buggy, easily seeing through his petty schemes. Still, he couldn't understand where Buggy's confidence came from. Even if Shanks somehow managed to beat him, Buggy didn't stand a chance against Shanks.

Though their current strengths weren't far apart, in terms of combat instinct, Buggy was miles behind Shanks.

Then again, perhaps it was Buggy's bizarre confidence that made him seem so optimistic all the time.

"Let's begin!"

Fang Yi twirled his dagger with a flourish and smiled at Shanks.

"Then I won't hold back!"

Shanks raised his longsword with one hand, while the other hovered near the short sword strapped to his back.

"Oh? Dual blades?" Fang Yi raised an eyebrow in surprise.

In his memory, Shanks wasn't known as a dual-sword fighter.

"No, I'm not a dual-blade user."

Shanks responded as he suddenly charged at Fang Yi.

Fang Yi smiled and easily dodged the strike. However, before he could counterattack, Shanks quickly drew his short sword with his other hand and swung it blindly toward Fang Yi without even looking.

Faced with such an unpredictable move, Fang Yi shifted his footwork and calmly stepped out of range.

"Interesting! Looks like I need to take this seriously now," Fang Yi muttered.

He'd barely avoided that last strike—just a little slower, and he would've been hit.

Truthfully, setting aside archery, Fang Yi's close combat had only been slightly stronger than Shanks' and Buggy's before. He simply had more experience than they, as they were still just kids.

However, after receiving the Strength Inheritance and Agility Inheritance, Fang Yi's power and speed had skyrocketed, far surpassing both of them. Combined with his combat experience, fighting them now felt almost effortless.

Still, Shanks truly deserved to be a future Emperor of the Sea. Even after just a few days of training under Rayleigh, he already displayed remarkable combat ability.

The two clashed back and forth, surprisingly evenly matched for a time.

"Tch, that brat… still holding back."

Watching from the sidelines, Jabba chuckled softly after just a glance.

"Haha… glug glug… You know how he is—always hiding his true strength," Yamon said with a grin, taking a swig of his drink. "Even I don't know how far his archery has progressed lately."

"Oh? So that's why you stopped him from using his bow?" Jabba asked curiously.

He hadn't sparred much with Fang Yi recently, aside from giving some occasional guidance, so he wasn't entirely sure how much Fang Yi's close combat had improved.

"If we let him use his bow…"

Yamon didn't finish, but Jabba immediately understood.

"That kid's improved this much already?" Jabba stroked his chin, suddenly intrigued.

He'd always been Fang Yi's combat mentor but rarely allowed Fang Yi to fight him at full power. Now, hearing Yamon's words, he felt a growing curiosity about Fang Yi's true strength.

On the deck, Shanks—panting heavily—didn't realize Fang Yi was still holding back. He had already gone all out.

Seeing Fang Yi casually spinning his dagger without attacking, Shanks gritted his teeth and lunged forward again.

Clang!

This time, Fang Yi didn't dodge. He raised his dagger and blocked Shanks's sword directly.

"If you've got no more tricks up your sleeve, then it's my turn now," Fang Yi said with a faint smile.

With a sudden surge of strength, he knocked aside Shanks's sword and kicked him hard in the chest.

Thud!

Though Shanks managed to block with his arms in time, Fang Yi's kick still sent him flying across the deck, crashing into the ship's railing before stopping.

Cough, cough…

"You… how did you do that?" Shanks asked in disbelief, clutching his aching chest.

Fang Yi looked helpless—how was he supposed to explain this?

It was simply bad luck for Shanks. Fang Yi had triggered his Precision skill during that kick, which guaranteed a hit no matter what.

His target had been Shanks's chest. Even though Shanks blocked it, the attack still dealt full damage because of the skill's effect.

That was the terrifying part of his Precision skill—once it activated, it couldn't miss.

This was why, when using his bow, Fang Yi always aimed for his opponent's vital spots.

Yamon had already warned him more than once: the more dangerous the target area, the harder it was to land a hit, since strong fighters often had an instinctive sense of danger. Generally, ranged attacks like arrows weren't aimed directly at vital spots because the hit rate would be too low.

However, thanks to his skill, Fang Yi didn't worry about that. During training, he aimed for larger, safer areas, but in real combat, he always went for the head.

Yamon had noticed this habit, which was why she had forbidden him from using his bow during sparring. If Fang Yi got serious and instinctively targeted Shanks's vital spots, it would be a disaster.

"Not bad. Your growth is astonishing," Fang Yi smiled, pulling Shanks to his feet. "But if you want to beat me… you've still got a long way to go."

"Still got some fight in you, kid?"

Just as Fang Yi and Shanks were about to walk off, Jabba suddenly jumped down from the second floor and called out to Fang Yi.

"Teacher Jabba… you're not planning to punish me, are you?" Fang Yi asked with a wry smile.

"Hehe… Grab your bow and fight me at full strength. I want to see just how strong you've gotten," Jabba said with a mischievous grin, pulling out his axe.

The surrounding crew, who had been ready to disperse after Fang Yi and Shanks's match ended, suddenly got excited again when they saw Jabba step in. They loved watching Jabba "beat up the rookies."

"Hahaha! Serves you right, brat! You've been bullying that red-nosed kid and the red-haired brat every day—now it's finally your turn!"

Peterm, the ship's sniper, laughed loudly as he slapped his knee while sitting on a barrel.

Fang Yi could only smile bitterly. A full-power fight against someone like Jabba? He'd never truly gone all out against him before… because frankly, going all out probably wouldn't make much difference.

Back when Jabba was teaching him close combat techniques, they had sparred occasionally, but those were always instructional matches. Once Fang Yi's basics met Jabba's standards, he'd stopped personally sparring and switched to verbal guidance instead.

"Teacher Jabba… you're serious about this?" Fang Yi asked cautiously.

"Stop wasting time! Pick up your bow!" Jabba grinned.

"Well then… I won't hold back!"

Fang Yi immediately trotted off to fetch his bow, looking eager.

Whatever Jabba's reasons were, sparring seriously with such a strong opponent was a rare opportunity. From Jabba's attitude, Fang Yi could tell this wasn't about punishing him—quite the opposite, it seemed Jabba was genuinely curious to see his true strength.