Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice

Of course, life at sea was long and drawn out.

Don't be fooled by how quickly Monkey D. Luffy traveled the world in just a few months. The Roger Pirates didn't have such a clearly defined goal. Most of their time was spent simply on the journey.

You could even say Roger was the true child of destiny. By sheer coincidence, he managed to gather everything needed to reach the Final Island.

As for unlucky pirates, some spent their entire lives without ever finding a single Poneglyph or anyone capable of reading them.

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

Sea Circle Calendar Year 1496.

Now thirteen, Orin was beginning to make a name for himself.

But he didn't care much about that. What really grabbed his attention was something else entirely.

"Hey! Buggy! Good news! I'm two meters tall now!"

"Are you stupid? This is clearly not the time to be worrying about that!"

The barely 1.45-meter-tall Buggy couldn't help but complain as he looked up at Orin, who towered over him.

After all, they were in the middle of a battle!

"Hahahahaha... I know that already!"

Orin, in great spirits, casually tilted his head to dodge several bullets aimed at him, then strolled over to Buggy's side.

"Clang—"

A jet-black Armament Haki spread instantly along his entire arm, which he then placed beside Buggy's temple.

"Thunk—"

A bullet struck the back of Orin's hand, but bounced off with a metallic clink, dropping harmlessly to the deck.

"Watch yourself, Buggy," Orin said with a grin.

"Eh???"

Only now realizing how close to death he had just been, Buggy's jaw dropped, eyes bulging, with snot nearly flying out of his nose.

"I... I almost died!"

His heart was still racing. Sure, he'd eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit, but that only made him immune to cutting attacks. A bullet to the head would have definitely killed him!

Patting Buggy on the shoulder, Orin leapt to the ship's edge and spread his Observation Haki.

In an instant, he sensed the full details of the two Marine battleships in pursuit.

"No Admirals, huh? Just a couple ships sent after us. Did these Marines offend someone important or what?"

Gun in hand, Orin's gaze turned toward the bow, where Captain Roger stood.

Seeing Orin step forward, many of the crew members turned their eyes to him.

Orin was getting more and more capable of handling things on his own now.

Ever since awakening his Conqueror's Haki, Orin had become increasingly enthusiastic about battle.

In his own words, direct combat was the best way to grow. Victory and bloody conflict were the greatest training for one's spirit.

That was the way of emperors.

Because of this shift in fighting style, Orin's bounty had steadily climbed over the past year.

Now, he was a man worth 500 million Belly!

"Leave it to me, Captain Roger. It's just a bunch of Marine grunts."

Roger hadn't planned to fight anyway. Hearing Orin's words, he simply sheathed his sword and looked off toward the island in the distance, shrouded by waterfalls.

It was none other than Wano Country!

"Make it quick, Orin! We're about to land!!!"

"Got it!"

Orin raised his sniper rifle. His powerful Observation Haki swept again and again over the two battleships hundreds of meters away. 

This was Orin's unique use of Observation Haki—a nearly x-ray-like God's Eye perspective.

It was somewhat similar to Mantra.

He regulated his breathing. Crimson light flared in his eyes.

Explosions flashed in his mind one by one. The ability to foresee the near future was no longer his goal.

What he sought now... was the distant future.

With a short, sharp gunshot, a jet-black Armament Haki bullet vanished into the air, a faint sonic boom following it.

Then silence.

"BOOM—!!"

Like a chain reaction, one explosion followed another!

Amid screams and wails, a massive steel battleship slowly capsized and sank beneath the waves.

This scene left the Marines on the neighboring ship frozen in fear, eyes wide, jaws slack. It was as if their eyeballs might fall out.

"He hit the ammo storage from that far away?! No way!!! How the hell is that even possible???"

The Rear Admiral on the adjacent ship was on the verge of mental collapse.

Then he snapped back to his senses and shouted, mouth wide open:

"Retreat!! Turn the rudder!!"

"That kind of monster isn't someone we can deal with!!!"

They immediately ordered the ship to turn, but clearly hadn't realized that to a true powerhouse, a few hundred meters was no different from being face-to-face.

"Someone's coming!!!"

"Target is moving too fast—can't see clearly!"

"It's Black Gun Orin!!!"

Watching Orin fly through the air with Geppo, the Roger Pirates weren't surprised at all. They simply leaned against the rail and waited for a battle that already had no suspense.

On the surviving Marine ship, the crew sighed in relief upon realizing the Oro Jackson wasn't heading their way.

After all, this was the New World. The two ships' commanding officer, Rear Admiral Tesoro, wasn't a nobody.

Faced with this up-and-coming pirate,

He had both types of Haki, and was confident he could hold Orin off for a while.

All they needed was to buy time. Once the warship escaped, they could all gang up on Orin. Easy win, right?

"Black Gun Orin! If you have the guts, come at m—"

Squelch!!!

Many Marines who thought they had survived started smiling in relief...

But their smiles froze.

"To die with a smile... that's the greatest mercy I can offer you."

At some point, Orin had already appeared on the deck, casually flicking the blood from his blade.

He turned to look at the ground, where the decapitated head of the still-smiling Rear Admiral lay.

Not much of a surprise. After all, he'd seen this exact scene before even drawing his blade.

The surrounding Marines' faces shifted like stage masks, expressions of joy turning instantly into despair.

Orin strolled calmly through them, cutting down one after another with ease.

Maybe he'd killed too many already, because a couple Marines even ran to hide in the kitchen.

"Hey, Marines. Before going into battle, you should be prepared to die. Deserters have no place in this world."

Orin showed no mercy. If he were some weakling pirate, even if they didn't kill him, he'd be imprisoned for life.

He wasn't some saint.

Still, there were unexpected gains. This Rear Admiral's sword seemed to be quite a fine blade.

A black-patterned sword body, long and hefty, not curved like most katanas, with no unnecessary hilt decorations—more like a cane sword.

Overall, it resembled the gambler's fireline blade, but it was longer and more ornate.

Orin didn't know anything about famous blades, but it clearly beat the standard long blade he carried.

And it was long enough for someone of his three-meter height.

With his trophy in hand, Orin stepped through the air with Geppo, heading back to the Oro Jackson.

Perfect timing.

He also wanted to see whether the Ryuo of Wano differed from the flowing Armament Haki technique that Vice-Captain Rayleigh had just recently taught him.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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