"I crave battle too!"
Ares answered Wang Zhi with uncontained excitement. The fights against Kaido and Rocks had noticeably improved his strength much faster than ramming himself into mountains.
He walked to the shoreline, leapt into the air, and landed in the ocean with a loud splash!
Wang Zhi was stunned, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. He yelled toward the water, "Ares!! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Come on board with us!!"
Was the kid insane?
"No."
Ares resurfaced, treading water with his head above the waves. "You guys take the ship. I'll swim behind. Good training."
The cold sea felt crisp and freeing. He liked it.
Wang Zhi couldn't help but be impressed. "If you can't keep up, get on the ship. Got it?!"
Ares nodded. "Got it."
Wang Zhi shook his head in disbelief. "No wonder he's a damn monster. He really goes all in."
He thought back to how Ares had volunteered to take Kaido's punch. The guy practically threw himself into danger.
A complete lunatic.
Other captains were returning to shore.
Whitebeard's brows knitted when he saw Ares in the ocean. "Wang Zhi! Why's Ares in the water?!"
Shiki, Linlin, and other crewmates turned their curious eyes to Wang Zhi as well.
Wang Zhi waved it off. "Wasn't my idea. He jumped in himself. Said he wanted to swim behind the ship. Training, apparently."
No way he'd ever do something that extreme. Screw that.
He'd rather be in bed, armor off, napping.
Whitebeard's expression shifted to admiration. "No wonder the kid's so strong. He never stops training."
"This guy... he's relentless."
The regret in Whitebeard's heart grew deeper. If only Ares had joined his unit.
Now thirty-two, Whitebeard an orphan from youth longed for family. Seeing Ares stirred something paternal in him.
Not a swordplay rivalry.
Something deeper. Something familial.
Shiki took a long drag on his cigar, the ember flaring bright. "Kid's what... fourteen, fifteen?"
"If he keeps this up, who knows how strong he'll be?"
He was already absurdly gifted. With that work ethic?
He might surpass everyone.
Most men peak around forty or fifty.
Ares had decades to climb before that.
Shiki couldn't even imagine what his future would look like.
"I don't care how scary he gets. The stronger he is, the more I like him!!"
Linlin licked her red lips, eyes gleaming with desire.
She stared at Ares's bronzed, rippling muscles as he swam behind the ship, her mind lost in fantasy.
Her cheeks flushed, her eyes hazy.
Even if it was just imagination, she was loving every second.
Rocks arrived at the ship, smirking. He called to Ares, "Get on board if you get tired. I'll have a room prepared for you."
He stepped onto the gangplank.
Other members of the Rocks Pirates looked at Ares with new respect.
Nobody else would swim the seas just to train.
With sea monsters lurking, it was borderline suicidal.
Ares was clearly insane.
Kaido showed up just in time to witness it.
His face twisted in disbelief.
Then darkened.
He stood there silently for a long moment before clenching his fists.
"I'm not losing to him!!"
He was about to rest, but no longer.
He was going to train.
"I absolutely won't!!"
He turned and stormed aboard.
And just like that, the competition had officially begun.
"Raise anchor!!"
"Set sail!!"
The massive pirate ship started cutting through the waves. Ares swam close behind.
Aside from breaks for food and rest, he spent the next five days in the ocean.
By the time they neared Hive Island's port, he had won over nearly the entire crew.
The port was vast, crowded with dozens of ships both large and small.
Most belonged to subordinate crews of the Rocks Pirates. Others were affiliated with underground syndicates.
Hive Island was a magnet for pirates and criminals.
Its underworld was a tangled web of power.
Rocks didn't care.
He believed power was everything.
Women, treasure, booze, territory...
As long as you were strong enough to keep it, it was yours.
On this island, assassinations and thievery were as common as the tide.
As the Rocks Pirates' flagship approached the dock, eyes from all over the port turned toward it.
The name alone Rocks Pirates was enough to command fear.
On the pier stood a tall, sultry woman, easily three to four meters in height.
She wore a leopard-print bodysuit that clung to every curve.
Her figure was full and fierce.
Bright red lipstick coated her lips, and oversized sunglasses shielded her eyes.
In her arms was a massive bouquet of blood-red roses.