Chapter 34:
Victor knew he was no match for Roger, so he coated his entire body in Armament Haki.
However, even so, after taking one hit from Roger, Victor felt extraordinary pain.
His internal organs were being damaged by Roger's top-tier Armament Haki—fortunately, Victor's recovery ability was extremely strong.
Victor could clearly feel the obvious gap between his Haki and Roger's.
But at this moment, Victor's attack speed became even faster—his powerful physique unreservedly supported him to unleash Armament Haki without restraint.
Meanwhile, Roger felt the immense force from Victor's fist and was very surprised inside.
At the same time, from the quality of Victor's Conqueror's Haki coating, he could tell it had reached advanced level.
Looking at Victor's youthful face—being able to cultivate Haki to this degree at such a young age was truly impressive.
From Victor's combat reactions, Roger judged that Victor's Observation Haki had also reached advanced level.
"Hahaha, kid—you're incredible! Come again!"
Roger felt Victor's power and potential and became excited too.
So they instantly clashed again—this time even more fiercely.
On Rayleigh and Jabba's side, they also felt the aftermath of Roger and Victor's battle.
"Hey hey—this kid is something else. Just a teenager and already able to fight the captain to this extent. The kid's two colors of Haki look like they've reached advanced level."
Jabba occasionally observed Victor's fight.
"Indeed. According to the news and bounty poster, this kid is only fifteen. Having this level of strength at that age is truly incredible."
"I wonder if he has Conqueror's Haki."
Rayleigh was also somewhat surprised by Victor's performance—his eyes full of appreciation.
Heracles was currently being suppressed by Rayleigh—but it looked more like Rayleigh was training him.
His pressure was immense—he didn't dare lose focus. He was afraid that if he got distracted, he'd lose immediately.
He was afraid their Plant Scholars would be taken away, and even more afraid Victor would have to compromise.
Not just Heracles—except for the Elli-Eni twin doctors who weren't fighting, everyone else was ready to risk their lives.
"Ah—I won't give up! Watch my counterattack!"
Heracles used his specialty—spear technique. Taking advantage of Rayleigh's momentary distraction, he spun around for a fierce counter thrust.
But Rayleigh was a top-tier Observation Haki master—how could he be hit so easily?
"Hoho—not bad. I like this kid's crew."
Rayleigh deflected the spear and quickly closed in, punching Heracles back.
But Heracles didn't hesitate at all—he instantly raised his spear again, putting all his strength into another attack.
At this moment, his face was flushed red—every attack used every ounce of his power.
After this brief exchange, he knew he was no match for Rayleigh.
But even if he wasn't Rayleigh's opponent, he wouldn't give up—he didn't want to give up.
He didn't want the family Victor had worked so hard to build to be torn apart like this.
He remembered Victor living alone and struggling on the Boin Archipelago for two years until they arrived.
After so many years together, Heracles treated Victor as his junior, as family.
Otherwise, why would he always call him "Victor" while others called him "Captain"?
Thinking of this, Heracles completely exploded.
"Ah—no one is allowed to destroy our family!"
Heracles shouted hysterically. Immediately after, his Observation Haki underwent a massive change.
He finally could foresee Rayleigh's moves—even if he was still hit, at this moment his Observation Haki broke through to advanced level.
But the change didn't stop there—Heracles' Armament Haki also broke through to advanced level amid his potential eruption.
While being hit by Rayleigh, he took the chance to counterattack fiercely—sweeping his spear horizontally and sending the momentarily distracted Rayleigh flying.
"Hey hey, Rayleigh—are you getting old? Hahaha."
Jabba saw Rayleigh get knocked back and immediately teased loudly.
"Hahaha—not bad, not bad. Worthy of the kid's crew—such potential."
Rayleigh flipped and landed smoothly, then burst into laughter.
At this moment, he began to truly take this vice-captain of the Plant Scholars seriously.
He hadn't expected Heracles to break through mid-battle. Now he had Rayleigh's recognition.
"Don't underestimate our bonds—and don't underestimate our partners and family."
Heracles shouted loudly and continued clashing with Rayleigh.
Not just Heracles—the other crew members were also frantically squeezing out their potential in battle.
Beli's change was the most obvious—he awakened both colors of Haki during the fight.
Even if only at beginner level, it greatly boosted his strength.
Black Haki coated his claws, combined with the Snow-Snow Fruit ability, he attacked wildly.
If Victor knew his crew partners' strength had all improved dramatically, he would definitely be very happy.
However, at this moment, Victor had completely entered a frenzied state.
While madly attacking Roger, he had no defense at all.
But his entire body was coated in advanced Armament Haki—even if slashed, it wouldn't be too serious—just very painful.
And Victor didn't care at all—his current physique had already reached Navy Admiral level.
His recovery ability was extremely strong—even if Roger's Armament Haki invaded his body for internal destruction, he wasn't afraid.
For a time, Roger and Victor fought to a draw—though Roger still hadn't used Conqueror's Haki.
Roger's mindset was still to spar with Victor—even if he wasn't holding back completely, he wasn't going all out.
He was appreciating Victor more and more.
But he noticed Victor hadn't awakened Conqueror's Haki yet. Looking at Victor's youthful face, he felt it was reasonable.
"Hey—this kid's physique is a bit ridiculous. Almost catching up to Garp already."
Roger looked at Victor's physique and couldn't help but marvel at his potential.
Incredible durability, recovery ability—truly monstrous physique.
This made Roger even more surprised by Victor's potential.
Meanwhile, Victor in the battle grew more and more excited the longer they fought—he felt his body cheering.
This was only the second time he could fight with everything unleashed—it made him feel exhilarated.
It was as if his body was venting the impurities from his recent physique improvements, and also adapting to and unleashing the power from his growing strength.
This exhilarating battle made Victor feel refreshed from head to toe.
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