Hearing that voice, Aus was the first to jump up from the bed and bolt for the door.
Buggy, on the other hand, looked like someone just told him Christmas was canceled.
He genuinely hated grinding through brutal training. The ship was packed with monsters anyway—he'd never be front-line when they were robbing treasure.
But watching Aus and Shanks sprint toward the stern, not wanting to get left behind, he forced himself to look cool and followed. "Wait up, you bastards!"
The three walked out from the cabin toward the stern, stepping over several big guys who'd drunk themselves unconscious on the deck.
They were used to this non-stop party atmosphere by now. Everyone grabbed their weapons from the storage room.
Buggy picked throwing knives. Shanks went for a western sword.
Aus thought for a moment, then grabbed a flintlock pistol.
This was his master plan.
Besides perfectly matching his natural Observation Haki and being ideal for ambush tactics, there was another crucial point...
The sword game was way too fucking competitive.
From Golden Lion, Roger, and Rayleigh at the top, to Red Hair and Hawkeye in the middle, plus future Three-Sword Style Zoro...
Trying to make a name in the sword world felt like terrible ROI to Aus.
If you're gonna do something, be the absolute best. That's the only thing worthy of his god-tier starting position. But on the great swordsman path—forget whether he even had sword talent—
Even if Aus clawed his way through hell to become the so-called world's greatest swordsman, he'd probably spend his life getting chased by Hawkeye and Zoro.
Every damn day hearing: "Accept my challenge! I'm the man who'll become the world's greatest swordsman!"
Annoying enough to make you want to jump off a cliff.
Better to become the world's greatest gunman instead!
As a former Earth guy, Aus naturally craved firearms. Plus he had that natural Observation Haki advantage.
Most importantly—this lane wasn't crowded as hell.
Future famous snipers? Just Yasopp, Usopp, Van Augur, maybe throw in Ben Beckman. Niche market, zero competition.
Aus was confident he could hang with anyone.
Once he developed Conqueror's Haki Coating, Future Sight, and got some Seastone bullets—
One shot, one Four Emperor might be pushing it.
But one shot, one Yonko Commander? That should be doable. Hell, Shanks could one-shot a three billion bounty guy with a sword.
Once his skills peaked and he had Four Emperor-level strength, he'd cruise the world enjoying life, witness all the legendary moments, buy some maids when he got old, grab a nice estate...
His past life was pure wage-slave hell. This time around had to be way more fun.
But dreams were beautiful, reality was harsh. Right now he was just a kid with natural Observation Haki who happened to be slightly jacked.
Rayleigh might be a shit teacher who ruined students, but he should handle the basics fine.
Good enough for now.
Next came Aus's first real lesson on the ship.
"Physical combat is the foundation of every fighting style. Whether you use swords, fists, or even long-range guns—you need killer reflexes and Haki to stay unbeatable."
For three kids living in the New World, "Haki" wasn't exactly foreign, so Rayleigh didn't bother explaining much.
He glanced at each weapon they'd chosen.
"Beyond physical arts, everyone chases their own preferred combat style..." Rayleigh looked them over, took a swig. "Tell me what you want to learn. If I know it, I can pass on the experience and techniques."
"I want to learn swordsmanship!" Shanks was laser-focused from day one, probably influenced by Roger and Rayleigh's sword obsession.
"Swordsmanship?" Rayleigh grinned. "Then starting today, five thousand slashes daily. First learn how to properly grip a sword."
Then he looked at Buggy. "Short blades and long swords work similarly. Start with basic swinging."
Finally his eyes landed on the eager-looking Aus. Since he barely knew this kid, Rayleigh figured he'd ask what he wanted to learn first.
"I can learn anything?"
"Sure. Though if you want gun techniques, our sniper Bitam never misses a shot..."
"Then I want to learn Conqueror's Haki Coating!"
"Pfft...!!!"
Aus's bombshell nearly made Rayleigh spray his drink five meters.
After a long pause, he wiped his mouth and said with zero patience:
"Kid, I don't know where the hell you heard that term, but this advanced technique requires Conqueror's Haki qualification at bare minimum!"
Translation: Aus might not even have Conqueror's Haki, so how could he learn coating?
But Aus didn't give a shit, figuring he'd shoot his shot:
"Then... if I do have Conqueror's Haki, Uncle Rayleigh, you could teach me?"
"Why not?"
Rayleigh just figured it was typical kid ignorance and casually agreed.
Small talk didn't last long before the three dove into basic training.
Strapped with massive iron plate weights, Aus cranked out one-handed push-ups while reading newspapers on the ground.
At the same time, he was training his Observation Haki.
Through his perception, Shanks was grinding sword swings drenched in sweat, his young face dead serious.
Buggy was "training" too, but his deliberately slow movements screamed slacker.
"That Shanks bastard gets sharper with every swing." After Aus finished strength training, Shanks finally wrapped up his daily sword practice.
Sword genius for real, huh?
You could literally watch him improve. Aus observed Shanks's progress like some creepy stalker, secretly memorizing every technique.
When Shanks switched to strength training, Aus grabbed the long sword he'd left on the ground. Recalling the power flow and air currents he'd sensed, he started his own sword swinging routine.
"Greedy little shit."
Up in the crow's nest, a long-haired tough guy with tiny sunglasses watched Aus grinding at the stern, chatting with the blonde fat guy next to him. "Wants guns and swords. If he comes begging me to teach axes, I'm telling him to fuck off."
"I don't love snipers playing with blades, but this kid's different." As an Observation Haki expert and the Roger Pirates' sniper, Bitam could spot the unusual signs.
"That Aus brat is straight-up stealing Shanks's hard work."
Dead on the money.
Techniques that took Shanks five thousand swings to figure out and master—Aus nailed them perfectly after just a thousand imitations. This discovery had him over the moon.
"Holy shit, Sharingan version of Observation Haki?"
His naturally awakened Observation Haki didn't have insane range. Even after years of grinding, it only covered a few dozen meters.
But Aus's Observation Haki was built different. His perception detail wasn't quite microscope-level, but it was naturally maxed out.
Every tiny movement and technique got caught by his eyes.
So besides raw power, learning any skill was like having cheat codes.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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