"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A violent explosion rang out, and it seemed that the entire island was trembling. The bewildered residents thought an earthquake was happening, and they all stared around in shock.
Meanwhile, the members of the Roger Pirates waiting for news at the tavern were looking in the direction of the back of the island, where a mushroom cloud was rising.
"Let's go!" Jabba, the first to react, took the lead and ran towards the beach on the back of the island.
The other members then came to their senses and rushed over there in a hurry.
"Come on! What on earth are they doing? Do they want to destroy the island?" Buggy, looking shocked, ran towards the beach alongside Shanks and said.
Even in the town on the island, they could feel the aftershocks of the explosion. You can just imagine how terrifying it was at the scene.
When they reached the beach, they saw Captain Roger and Rayleigh each carrying an unconscious person and walking towards them.
"Captain..." Jabba stepped forward and was about to ask something, but first he saw the aftermath of the explosion. There was a huge crater right on the beach, and there were countless signs of battle all around.
"Alright, let's talk about it when we get back to the tavern! Crocus, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you. These two... are just too reckless!" Roger said, shaking his head with a wry smile.
"Hey, Shanks, who do you think won in the end?" Looking at the scene, Buggy couldn't help but whisper to Shanks beside him.
Shanks shook his head and said, "I don't know! But since they're both in this state, I guess it ended in a draw."
"These two guys are really terrifying!" Buggy took a look at the beach, shook his head, and followed the group back to the town.
Both of them fell into a coma after the duel. So, Roger decided to stay on the island for a few more days and set sail after their injuries improved.
The crew members were very curious about the result of the battle between the two. Since the two involved were still in a coma and Roger and Rayleigh kept silent, their curiosity was piqued.
The next day, Barrett and Fang Yi woke up one after another. One had a strong constitution, while the other passed out due to excessive physical exertion, so they woke up around the same time.
"Brother Yi... what was the result of your battle? Everyone's dying to know. Some say Barrett won, and some say you did. Who on earth won?" Buggy couldn't help but ask when he saw Fang Yi wake up.
Fang Yi shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I really don't know. Because... after I unleashed my last move, I passed out due to exhaustion. I don't even know if I landed a hit on Barrett in the end!"
"Ah?" Buggy exclaimed, exchanging a look with Shanks before speaking up. "When we got there yesterday, both you and Barrett were unconscious. According to this, you should have won. Barrett must have been knocked out by you!"
Fang Yi shook his head and told Buggy seriously, "Although there's a chance it's true, you must never say it outside. Otherwise, Barrett might think I taught you to say that."
"Huh? Why not? You clearly won!" Buggy pouted, looking discontented.
"Come on, just follow my plan!" Fang Yi shook his head and didn't give Buggy any more explanations.
Seeing this, Buggy didn't say more and just nodded, agreeing to Fang Yi's request.
As Barrett and Fang Yi regained consciousness, Roger announced that the Oro Jackson would set sail again.
Since the fight between Fang Yi and Barrett, Barrett never mentioned challenging Roger again, as if he'd forgotten about it. And Roger didn't take it seriously either.
Fang Yi also seemed to have forgotten. Whenever a crew member asked about the result of that fight, Fang Yi would say he'd passed out and didn't know what happened in the end.
The crew members knew Fang Yi didn't want to reveal the outcome. After asking a few times with no result, they gradually stopped bringing it up.
Everyone's attitude towards Barrett remained the same as before. They didn't ostracize him just because he'd said he wanted to challenge the captain.
Thanks to Fang Yi's subtle influence, everyone knew that Barrett's so - called challenge was just like a regular spar, not a real attempt to challenge the captain.
As time passed, when Fang Yi realized Barrett had no intention of leaving the ship, he quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Although he couldn't remember when Barrett left the ship in the original story, at least there was no sign of it for now. As long as he was careful and always dispelled Barrett's idea of leaving, it shouldn't be a problem to keep Barrett on board with Roger until the end.
Then, if he could find a way to get Barrett on his own ship, with Barrett and Shanks, his yet - to - be - formed pirate crew would at least have a place in the New World.
Moreover, having these two was like having two guaranteed lottery tickets every day. It's just awesome!
A few days later, after Fang Yi and Shanks finished their daily training, Barrett approached Fang Yi with a troubled look on his face, as if he had something to say. Shanks sensibly said he had something to do and left first.
"Thanks!" After Shanks left, Barrett said awkwardly to Fang Yi.
"Thanks for what?" Fang Yi looked totally dumbfounded. He hadn't done anything special recently!
Seeing Fang Yi's surprised expression, Barrett chuckled and said, "If it weren't for you, I'd probably have left the ship by now!"
Since he'd been alone for a long time, he could sense the crew's attitude towards him. Although they didn't show it, after the previous incident, their enthusiasm for him had clearly diminished. And he also knew that Fang Yi had quietly spread the reason for his challenge to Roger on the ship.
"Ah~ You mean that! There's no need to thank me. I just did what I should do!"
Looking at Barrett's expression, Fang Yi finally realized what was going on and waved his hand, saying.
"Although I don't really care, I appreciate your kindness!" Barrett pursed his lips and said.
At this time, Barrett hadn't gone berserk yet. Since he had been in the Roger Pirates for a long time, he still had the concept of companions.
"Alright, don't worry about it! But... have you thought about the future?" Fang Yi smiled slightly and asked.
If Shanks were here, he would definitely know what Fang Yi was going to say, because when Fang Yi approached him before, he used the same opening line.
"The future?" Barrett was startled and asked in surprise.
"That's right! The captain is destined to become the Pirate King! I've never doubted that. I'll definitely do my best to help the captain. Considering the captain's health, what are you planning to do in the future?" Fang Yi nodded and said.
"I don't know!" Barrett shook his head, smiling, "Maybe I'll really leave the ship someday, but it'll definitely be when I want to."
"Are you interested in joining me? I've already invited Shanks. After the captain reaches the Final Island and becomes the Pirate King, we'll form our own pirate crew. What do you say?" Fang Yi tried to invite him.
"Form our own pirate crew?" Barrett looked at Fang Yi in surprise. He'd never thought about such things. All he thought about daily was how to defeat Roger, and now there was an extra goal - Fang Yi.
In that day's battle, Barrett knew clearly that he had lost. If Roger and Rayleigh hadn't been there to save him at the last moment, he would've either died or been seriously injured.
Moreover, Fang Yi passed out not because of exhaustion as he claimed, but because of the backlash of his own move!
At that time, they were so close that Barrett couldn't escape and had to take Fang Yi's move head - on. For the same reason, Fang Yi released the Flame Dragon Blast at close range and got affected himself.
So in Barrett's view, he had lost the battle that day.
"That's right, form our own pirate crew, a pirate crew that belongs to us. With your help and Shanks', we'll definitely rise quickly and make a name for ourselves on this sea!" Fang Yi nodded and said with a look of yearning.
Currently, both Barrett and Fang Yi have bounties, while Shanks doesn't. However, their bounties aren't very high. Compared with Roger's and Rayleigh's, they're a tiny fraction.
"This... sorry, I haven't given it a thought!" Barrett shook his head and didn't directly agree to Fang Yi.
"Don't you always want to defeat the captain? In terms of personal strength, I'm afraid you can't, at least not now. But we can create a pirate crew stronger than the Roger Pirates. Wouldn't that be a way to surpass the captain?" Fang Yi wasn't discouraged and continued to persuade him.
Barrett's eyes lit up. This was indeed a way. However, what he cared about most was surpassing Roger in battle, not the pirate crew. So after a moment of thought, Barrett still shook his head and said, "Let's talk about it later! I can't give you a definite answer now!"
"No problem, but don't tell anyone about this! Otherwise, if the captain finds out, he'll think I'm trying to poach his people from the pirate crew!" Fang Yi said with a light laugh.
"Sure!" Barrett nodded seriously.
After that, the relationship between Barrett and Fang Yi seemed to get a bit closer. He often sparred with Fang Yi once again, and naturally, he won every time. But he knew in his heart that it was because Fang Yi didn't use his full strength. If Fang Yi did, it would be hard to say who would win.
Especially Fang Yi's Flame Dragon Blast. It was more than enough to pose a threat to him. As long as he was controlled by Fang Yi, the latter could use that move to severely injure him at any time.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Fang Yi could defeat Barrett 100% of the time. Barrett's strength was also improving every day, and he was becoming more and more familiar with Fang Yi's fighting style. It was getting increasingly difficult for Fang Yi to control him.