Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice

Sea Circle Calendar Year 1498.

At the center of an uninhabited island, a shirtless man stood alone.

His deep eyes carried a natural arrogance, his flawlessly handsome face was full of focus, and his long, jet-black hair was loosely tied behind his head.

Gently placing a small mountain down, Orin wiped the sweat from his forehead.

To train his control over strength, he had been throwing mountains lately.

The training routine consisted of tossing a boulder the size of a small mountain from one side of the island to the other, teleporting instantly to the far end using the Warp-Warp Fruit, catching it, then throwing it back again.

Not too close, not too far.

And if the Conqueror's Haki infusion on his hands wasn't controlled well, the entire boulder would shatter into pieces, forcing him to start all over.

Orin was trying to use this method to control his innate monstrous strength, as well as the ever-evolving Conqueror's Haki that had been growing with his body.

And the results didn't disappoint him.

He could clearly feel his mastery over his strength improving.

"One more time!"

Wiping away his sweat, Orin took a slow, deep breath as the pressure radiating from his body continued to rise.

With Conqueror's Haki surging outward, Orin briefly gathered energy and assumed the stance for Fish-Man Karate—

A technique he had learned from his crewmate, the Fish-Man Sunbell.

As his concentration deepened,

The wide area of Conqueror's Haki surrounding him began to slowly contract.

The overwhelmingly dense aura of Haki now emitted crackling black-and-red lightning, which began to coil around his fist.

Eventually, it condensed into black-and-red thunderous radiance.

Crack crack crack crack...

Only when it could be compressed no further did Orin finally complete his charge-up.

He threw a punch!

In the center of the island, the largest and only remaining mountain peak crumbled inch by inch under the terrifying black-red thunder—shattered like powder.

The moment his punch landed,

The once-massive mountain range left behind nothing but a ten-meter-wide crater.

Such overwhelming power!

Orin smiled.

The sensation sent chills down his spine from exhilaration—it was even more addictive than the pleasures of a massage.

After months of bitter cultivation, his mastery of Conqueror's Haki Infusion was finally complete.

In high spirits, Orin moved on to the next training goal: refining and developing the power of the Warp-Warp Fruit.

This involved combining teleportation with combat experience and experimenting with teleporting other objects as well.

Only when he had exhausted himself would Orin take a break—fishing, reading the newspaper...

These had been his hobbies since childhood.

"By now, it should be about time."

The day of Roger-sama's execution—

There was no way he would miss it.

After finishing his training for the day, Orin, feeling great from mastering Haki infusion, ate more than usual.

Stuffing food into his mouth, he flipped through recent news, looking for any reports on the Roger Pirates.

Now that the captain had become the Pirate King, shouldn't his bounty have increased?

"Beru beru beru beru..."

Just as curiosity struck, the sudden ringing of a Den Den Mushi cut off his train of thought.

It was a call from Sammi.

...

Sabaody Archipelago.

The lawless area—Island 17.

Inside a bustling tavern filled with noisy commotion, pirates from all over the seas gathered here to brag, gamble, and exchange information...

As the final stop before the New World, the Sabaody Archipelago was always packed with all sorts of characters.

Newbies dreaming of conquering the New World, human traffickers hoping to profit amid the chaos, bounty hunters surviving off bounties...

And of course, those who'd been crushed by the New World and now returned to prey on the weak—losers like Trebol and his crew were textbook examples.

Inside the tavern,

In a luxuriously decorated VIP room, a tense standoff was unfolding.

On the guest side, a burly man in golden armor sat next to an ugly man in sunglasses holding a plum-blossom cane, flicking his long snot while grinning shamelessly.

"Beh-hee-hee-hee... Miss Sammi, we've got the people ready, of course. It's just that the ship is still on the way. Surely you don't mind that, do you?"

"What? You took the money and now tell us the goods haven't arrived?"

The subordinate beside Sammi found this outrageous and couldn't help but speak up.

People who did this kind of shady business were rarely decent, which was why the underworld always followed a strict code: payment upon delivery.

What Trebol was saying—taking the money first and promising the people later—was basically nonsense.

To put it plainly—

"I'm robbing you in broad daylight. What're you gonna do about it?"

Before Orin joined her, Sammi had already built up her operation, and of course she had enforcers of her own—even if they weren't exactly high-profile.

Facing such blatant bullying, even a usually composed businesswoman like Sammi couldn't help showing signs of anger.

She immediately had her men surround the two.

"No delivery, no money. No one walks away with anything."

She was the boss, after all—her presence alone was commanding.

Her beautiful, phoenix-like eyes stared coldly at the two unbothered men before her.

"Beh-hee-hee-hee... So Miss Sammi wants to go double-cross us?"

Even with guns pointed at him, Trebol didn't look the least bit nervous. He just grinned widely,

His smug expression practically shouting: "I've got you right where I want you!"

...

"You're the ones doing the double-crossing!"

Sammi's chest heaved with fury as she was about to give the order to strike—but the other side beat her to it.

Suddenly, the floor began to quake. The entire reception room started to tremble.

Her supposedly fierce-looking henchmen couldn't even hold on to their clubs or pistols in the midst of the sudden "earthquake."

They panicked and clung to each other, only to fall over together—and then were swallowed by the ground, with only their heads left above to breathe.

Seeing her men suddenly sink into the earth, Sammi's face turned pale from shock—but she quickly recovered.

"You... you're Devil Fruit users?"

"Beh-hee-hee-hee, correct! But sadly, there's no prize for guessing!"

"Sammi-sama..."

At that moment, a scantily clad woman burst into the room, looking panicked at the violent confrontation before her.

Sammi's expression darkened as she turned to the woman—an ominous feeling rising in her chest.

"What is it, Airi?"

The red-light district girl named Airi bit her lip and spoke with a tearful voice:

"There's a bunch of rowdy pirates causing chaos in the district—taverns, restaurants, casinos—everything's under attack! We're no match for them!"

"Several of our managers tried to resist... and they've all been killed!"

As the words landed, Sammi's already panicked face turned even paler. She immediately turned to the smiling Trebol.

Just as the conflict had broken out, her entire business operation had come under attack.

How could that be a coincidence?

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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