Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice

Just like that, the battle raged on for three days.

Orin's monstrous strength was finally acknowledged by everyone in the Whitebeard crew—sinister and powerful, clearly beyond the norm.

Thankfully, by the fourth day, the fighting finally ceased.

The two sides brought out supplies and treasure chests from their ships and started bartering like street vendors.

The intense combat and Haki training had left Orin somewhat exhausted as well. He needed time to digest and polish what he'd learned.

Besides, he wasn't all that interested in the exchange. After all, his entire fortune amounted to a Devil Fruit, some Belly, and a share of treasure from missions.

After browsing around for a bit, he ended up trading some of his treasure with the Whitebeard crew for a bit of Seastone, which would come in handy for making bullets or other uses.

"Buggy, Shanks, are you two just going to stand there looking dumb?"

Orin sat on a fallen tree trunk behind the two, glancing at their smug, arms-akimbo poses with a look of mild exasperation.

"They're the ones staring at us, Orin!"

"Really?"

Across from them, Little Marco—who'd been taken down by a single shot—sat cross-legged with bandages wrapped around him. Next to him was a short, chubby boy, equally mummified in thick bandages:

Marshall D. Teach!

One of the future Four Emperors. The backstabbing Blackbeard.

But right now, both of them had their eyes fixed—not on Buggy and Shanks—but on Orin as he ate.

"Are those guys apprentice pirates?"

Teach stared seriously at the trio and asked.

"Yeah, they joined the Roger Pirates a while ago."

As an old crew member who had been with Whitebeard since the start, Marco was fairly familiar with those aboard Roger's ship. He'd known about the three little ones for a while.

He just hadn't expected that black-haired guy to be this strong—far beyond his expectations.

"No way... That kind of monster is just an intern on Roger's crew!?"

Cold sweat dripped from Teach's chin. The wound on his left shoulder still ached deeply. The internal damage was far worse than it looked.

And yet the other two... didn't seem strong at all.

How could there be such a huge difference among them?

That first encounter with Orin—and that overwhelming strength—had clearly left a significant mental scar on Teach.

As the two sides assessed each other, the three on Orin's side were also observing the pair across from them.

"Hey, Orin, Shanks, you guys noticed it too, right?"

"Yeah."

"That guy, during the two-night ceasefire, hasn't slept at all!"

"Why, is that a big deal?"

"Well, word is, he's never slept since he was born."

"That's a real monster right there!"

But Orin's thoughts drifted to something else entirely.

Buggy... had apparently been staring at Teach for three days straight. A terrifying level of focus.

As for Blackbeard himself, Orin neither liked nor hated him.

Strictly speaking, Blackbeard's greedy, lustful, backstabbing behavior was probably closer to how the world imagined pirates ought to be.

People like Roger or Luffy seemed more like travelers disguised as pirates.

The reason he'd singled out Teach for a gunshot earlier was to test his strength. After all, anyone who could leave a scar on adult Shanks had to be no joke.

But judging from that shot, Blackbeard was still just a kid.

Orin had no interest in bullying children.

His eyes drifted toward the top of a massive tree, where Roger, Whitebeard, and Oden were in the middle of a heated discussion—sometimes even breaking into loud arguments.

Orin even caught sight of a spatial crack shattering in the air...

"Looks like the journey really is nearing its countdown."

He slowly sipped his juice, deep in thought.

...

"So, Oden has become a member of the Roger Pirates?"

The Roger Pirates were setting sail again. Buggy looked at the samurai aboard and asked in disbelief.

"Well... sort of. Let's say we borrowed him from Whitebeard."

Orin didn't react much. On the contrary, he now had a chance to continue learning Ryuo.

Though he felt his stolen version of Ryuo was probably accurate enough, it wouldn't hurt to ask the original user for clarification.

What if there were techniques he'd missed?

With his blade in hand, Orin slowly approached Oden, who stood at the center of the banquet.

He then slowly drew his sword, startling Oden and the nearby crew. The atmosphere grew tense.

But to their surprise, Orin wasn't here to fight.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? I came to ask about Ryuo."

Whew~

Oden sighed in relief. He really didn't want to fight this shameless kid again. Missing every strike and getting pounded instead was pure torture.

Ryuo was just an application of Armament Haki, and there was no reason not to teach it. After all, they were crewmates now.

But when he asked Orin about his current mastery of Ryuo, he was left speechless.

Orin raised his fist, and a deep crimson Armament Haki bloomed, spreading layer by layer across his body.

With a flick of his hand, the liquor bottle in Oden's grip exploded into fragments as if shattered by flowing water.

"So... is there anything I still need to work on?"

Orin smiled, looking nothing like the fearsome fighter from before.

"I figured it out during the last couple of days in battle."

Oden opened his mouth but couldn't find any words.

Because there was nothing left to teach. What Orin had figured out on his own was the most authentic form of Ryuo.

In fact, Oden suspected Orin had already mastered it long ago and was just messing with him.

After all...

Do people really improve this fast?

Is he even human?

As Oden stood frozen in silence, Orin walked away—shunned by sheer awkwardness.

What? Just because I annoyed you by glimpsing the future a few times, now you're holding a grudge?

How petty.

He'd pulled that trick on tons of people. Why was Oden the only one making such a fuss? Maybe the problem was him!

With nothing more to learn, Orin quietly left the banquet center under the wary stares of the rest of the crew—like they were watching a monster.

Maybe being too good can get you isolated.

Out of options, Orin decided to look for his two best buddies.

A sweep with Observation Haki revealed that the pair were still training diligently at the ship's stern.

To be honest, their current training results weren't of much use to Orin anymore.

After learning from Rayleigh and Roger, his standards had skyrocketed. Stealing Shanks' training methods with Observation Haki now held little value.

Better to rest and focus on extending his foresight—try pushing it from three seconds into the future to four. That would be far more beneficial.

But to his surprise, when he arrived, Buggy simply greeted him casually and kept slacking off.

Shanks, on the other hand, lit up.

He put down his dumbbells, beaming with excitement the moment he saw Orin.

Then, with eyes blazing with fighting spirit, he drew the long blade at his waist.

"Fight me, Orin!!"

Orin: ???

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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