章 18: Chapter 18: Move the Ship Closer
"The weather is clear; it's a great day for a trip."
Bardock packed his belongings and made his way toward Island No. 13.
"Will I see Rayleigh today? At this point in time, Rayleigh should be nearing the end of his prime. Roger took only a year to have Ace, so why haven't we heard about Rayleigh having any children?"
When Bardock arrived at the Rip-Off Bar, Shakky and the others were already waiting outside. Rayleigh still wasn't around; it seemed Bardock wouldn't be meeting him anytime soon.
"Hey, Bardock, you sure took your time! Why are you so late?"
Hancock had woken up early, worried that their trip might be in vain. What if the Tontatta Princess hadn't eaten the Devil Fruit yet? Would they have to wait for years again? She was eager to be free of the mark she bore and couldn't stand the thought of carrying it any longer.
Her anxiety had kept her awake, and her two sisters had also not slept well; they had dark circles under their eyes. Fortunately, Shakky was experienced and calm, her spirit bright and energized.
"Bardock, would you like to come in for breakfast?"
"Sorry, sorry, I woke up late. I've already had breakfast. Are we leaving now?"
"Yes, right now."
"Alright then, Great Sage, set sail." Bardock boarded the small boat, stowed his luggage, and used the Nimbus Cloud to lift the Great Sage up, waiting for Hancock to say her goodbyes.
"Sister, please be careful on your journey. Remember, there must be more than one way to remove the mark. Just do your best."
"Yes, Sister, take care of yourself."
"Hancock, if you run into trouble, you can always come back. Old Ray might be retired, but he still has some skills."
"I will, Shakky. Please take care of Sandersonia and Marigold. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
The Sun Wukong ascended on the clouds and quickly disappeared from the sight of the three women.
"What a convenient ability! Alright, you two, make sure to rest well. I promised your sister that I'd take good care of you, so you better not be looking this frail when she returns."
"Shakky, we want to become stronger!"
"If you want to be strong, you need to recover your health first. The most important thing for you right now is to rebuild your bodies."
"Why hasn't Sister been affected much? She went through just as much hardship as we did."
"On these seas, some people are just born with the qualities of a strong person—better recovery, faster growth. Hancock is one of those people. But you're both outstanding as well. With enough effort, you'll be able to make your mark on the seas too."
…
Bardock steered the boat as they flew through the air. Hancock sat to the side, gazing at the sky and the sea. It was quiet, and the atmosphere had grown awkward.
In truth, they had only met yesterday and didn't know each other well. Bardock's perception of Hancock came from the anime—an imperious empress, proud and untouchable. But the Hancock he saw now was just a strong young girl, recently freed from her suffering.
From Hancock's perspective, Bardock might have caused her to faint, but he had also helped them escape danger and brought her and her sisters to Shakky. He seemed like a kind person. She agreed to set out with him this time because she was desperate to escape the nightmare of the past three years. Besides, Shakky had vouched for Bardock's character.
"The Red Line is up ahead; the boat needs to start ascending."
Hearing "Red Line," Hancock began to tremble. However, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on the approaching Red Line until the Great Sage flew past it.
Bardock made sure to fly far from Mary Geoise. With what had happened recently with Tiger, he worried that being too close to Mary Geoise would attract the attention of strong fighters.
Looking at Mary Geoise from a distance, Bardock saw many areas under construction; it seemed the damage caused by Tiger's fire was extensive.
Pulling out the Eternal Pose to Dressrosa, Bardock checked their direction and lowered their altitude to around 1,000 meters. The flight at over 10,000 meters earlier had nearly made him short of breath.
"Hancock, this is getting a bit boring. How about we practice our Conqueror's Haki? If we clash our Conqueror's Haki, we might be able to improve our control over it."
"Wouldn't that be too exhausting? Controlling the flight like this must take a lot of stamina, right?"
"It's fine. When our stamina or energy is half depleted, we'll stop. I'm a Zoan-type fruit user; I recover quickly. We can just drift on the sea for a bit, have some food, and I'll be back to full health!"
"Alright, let me prepare... Hmph!"
Hancock's Conqueror's Haki spread out in all directions, and Bardock responded immediately with his own.
Both of them were beginners with Conqueror's Haki and couldn't control it precisely; it just spread out around them. Their Haki wasn't powerful enough yet to cause damage to their surroundings.
It was like two balloons pressing against each other; the air seemed to vibrate between them. If they had the Conqueror's Haki at the level of an Emperor, the sky and clouds would have already split apart.
Bardock had awakened his Conqueror's Haki a month ago and had practiced quite a bit since then, but he had never felt such a distinct sense of progress. With his willpower guiding him, his Haki gradually became more focused, shifting from spreading in all directions to concentrating in front of him. His control over its strength also became more intuitive.
Indeed, Conqueror's Haki should be improved through combat!
Hancock began to struggle a bit; she had only recently awakened her Haki, and the fact that she could actively use it was already a testament to her extraordinary talent.
Bardock adjusted his strength to match Hancock's. The two continued their clash while moving forward until Hancock signaled to stop.
"Let's eat something. I'll lower the boat."
"Yeah, I'm getting hungry too."
…
Under the blue sky and over the azure sea, a ship was sailing. Fully loaded, it could carry about 100 people. It had a black sail with a skull emblem, a typical pirate ship in the New World.
"Captain, there's a ship ahead, but strangely, it's just a small one."
"What? Let me see… It really is a small ship. A boy and a girl, huh? Ha ha ha! Could it be a runaway romance? Move the ship closer!"
Bardock was busy eating when he noticed Hancock looking off into the distance. He focused his gaze and saw a pirate ship approaching. Quickly, he went into the cabin and took out his new weapon: a high-quality musket. It was a prize he had taken from a pirate sniper with a bounty of 12 million berries, and he liked it a lot. He had even bought special ammunition for it, though he hadn't had a chance to use it until now.
In the New World, Bardock's strength was unremarkable, but he was prepared with several strategies.
Right now, he was using a "kite strategy," relying on his superior dynamic vision to constantly snipe at his enemies while using the Nimbus Cloud to control the boat's movement and maintain distance. This way, he stayed out of reach but couldn't be shaken off, which was highly annoying.
Of course, if his opponents were strong enough to make sniping ineffective, Bardock would retreat immediately.
"Don't engage yet; let me test their strength first." Bardock said to Hancock, then immediately fired a shot at the enemy captain. He paused for less than a second before firing another shot and then observed quietly.
The opposing captain had some skills, but not much. He dodged the first shot but was hit in the shoulder by the second. Though Bardock had aimed for the captain's chest, wounding him was enough to give Bardock confidence in taking them down.
"We can take them. Let's kite them."
週次パワーステータス
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