Thus, in the following days, most of Riven's training shifted more and more toward physical strengthening.
Although he couldn't be compared with some 200-times-effort geniuses, whether it was sniping skills, swordsmanship, or martial arts, he could learn them at double the efficiency of geniuses like Shanks, which could be considered monster-level.
So, developing physical strength and Haki early was more important than anything else.
Time flashed by, it had been two months since he left his hometown. Riven's life was fulfilling yet peaceful.
Not long after dawn, Riven was dragged up by Buggy and Shanks to clean the ship. Last night, because Captain Roger's bounty had gone up again, the ship held yet another banquet.
Everyone drank happily, except for the Three Under-Kings of Trash.
'Damn!'
'How can there be daily banquets without mental fatigue?'
Facing this group of hot-blooded idiots, and Roger, who somewhat resembled Monkey D. Luffy in temperament, Riven could only be helpless.
Not that he didn't want to join in. It's just that the so-called rum was really hard to drink. Riven, who had no alcohol addiction, couldn't appreciate it at all.
This wasn't the kind of passionate and surging journey of the Pirate King that Riven had imagined. Aside from the occasional storms, thunderstorms, hail, and hurricanes, there weren't any so-called exciting adventure plots.
'As expected, the so-called magnificent journey of the Pirate King was actually just a group of top-tier macho men showing off.'
After tidying up until almost lunchtime, Riven and the others finally finished clearing the wine bottles and leftovers.
They were just about to go eat a ton of food and then go train, when suddenly, Riven seemed to sense something. He froze in place, suddenly looking toward the distant sky.
'Something is flying this way.'
Riven was the first to sense the sound with Observation Haki.
Buggy ran to the side of the ship, and after a close look, realized it seemed to be a cannonball.
'Holy crap!'
He immediately looked into the distance and was shocked to find a white sail appearing in sight.
'Who the hell fires a cannonball from that far?'
'A missile?'
Riven vaguely guessed who it was.
Without bothering to shout an alert, under the tense gazes of Shanks and Buggy, Riven immediately drew the long rifle strapped to his back, aimed at the black dot in the sky.
At the same time, Captain Roger's figure had unknowingly appeared at the bow, watching Riven aiming his gun.
"Kid, that guy's cannonballs are really fast. Can you hit it?"
Roger bared his big teeth in a grin, watching Riven still finding the right angle.
'Who do you think you're looking down on? I might not be able to beat the man himself, but hitting a cannonball? That's more than doable.'
Riven curled his lips, crosshairs aligned on the black dot, assisted by Observation Haki.
"Got it!"
Within the perception of his Haki, the cannonball was struck dead-center by the bullet a few dozen meters outside the ship.
However... It hit, but it didn't really hit.
Under Riven's incredulous expression, not only did the cannonball not explode in mid-air as expected, it even deflected his bullet like nothing, falling with a twisting trajectory.
'Fu**... this cannonball is cheating!'
'No, this is definitely a Haki-infused cannonball.'
Seeing he couldn't do anything to it, Riven decisively holstered his rifle and retreated behind Buggy and Shanks.
But he wasn't panicked. Because if the sky was falling, the tall ones would hold it up. It wasn't up to the three radish-heads.
As expected—
"DIVINE DEPARTURE!"
With Captain Roger's furious roar, a slash coated in black-red lightning swept across the sky, as if the heavens themselves were being torn apart.
Aside from the one Riven had aimed at, several other cannonballs closely following behind were also blown up mid-air before hitting the ground.
Riven was dazzled by this overwhelmingly powerful move.
Though he knew from anime how exaggerated this move was, witnessing it in person was a completely different experience.
'A slash that split the sky?'
'Divine Departure... that's a move worth learning.'
Riven's scalp tingled just from watching, almost drooling. Observation Haki finely sensed every motion Roger made while executing the move.
But maybe because he was still too weak, all he could sense was a powerful force moving within Roger's body, nothing more specific.
Riven felt regretful, 'Maybe it's like how the Sharingan can't copy forbidden techniques, it's just that my level is too low to copy anything.'
Before he could react, Shanks and Buggy pulled him behind the gathered crewmates.
"WAHAHAHAH! Boys, time to face the Marine," Roger drew his sword, laughing heartily.
"That mad dog! We just shook him off, and he caught up again in less than two months?", Gaban, in a tank top and wielding dual axes, looked annoyed.
"Then let's return the greeting," Rayleigh was much more straightforward, slashing out a massive wave of sword energy that split the sea.
As expected, just as Riven had thought, it had no effect,
dispersed instantly by a black punch from the battleship.
Riven moved quickly, clambering up to the lookout post. He greeted his sniping mentor, "Yo, Uncle Bittam!"
Bittam, though rotund, was quick in reaction and movement.
Seeing Riven climb up too, he smiled, "Oh, it's you, Riven. Be careful this time, we're not up against some small fry."
"I'll take care of myself," Riven smiled and looked through the scope of his gun toward the distant figure on the warship.
It was a sturdy man with short hair and a full beard, wearing a Vice Admiral's cloak and a black suit, juggling a few cannonballs in his hand.
The cannonball that had given Riven trouble earlier was fired by this guy, with his hand.
If you asked Riven, today's cannons were still too lame. Even automatic ones couldn't compare to manual launchers.
"Should I say... as expected of the so called Pirate King…"
"Oi! Oi! Oi! Can you hear me, Roger? Surrender now!", From far off, they saw Garp holding a giant loudspeaker, shouting.
"WAHAHAHAHA, no can do, Garp," Roger replied with a smile. Even across the distance, the two old rivals were already bantering.
Their passionate exchange was the usual opening act.
Next came the routine chase and Conqueror's Haki-coated brawling.
Due to the many elite fighters in Roger's crew and their high mobility, it was unrealistic for Garp alone to take them all down.
Roger and the others didn't want to go all out against such a hard-headed foe in the middle of the ocean either.
After all, if both sides leaked even a bit of their Conqueror's Haki coating, the result would be shipwrecks and countless casualties, forcing them to swim to the next island together.
Occasionally, arrogant Marines stepped on Moonwalk trying to approach the Oro Jackson, only to get knocked into the water by Rayleigh and others, or sniped by Riven.
Among the bunch of reckless young Marines, Riven spotted a different figure through his scope.
A curly-haired bamboo-stick man.
"That guy blending in with the ordinary Marines definitely isn't up to anything good," If Riven didn't know him, this young man might really have sneaked aboard.
'The Ice-Ice Fruit user trying to get close to our ship? That is only trouble.'
Silently, he pulled out the only seastone bullet he had painstakingly swiped from Bittam, and began to aim, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
'Take this as a greeting gift, the young Ice of the Sea, Kuzan.'
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