Back home, Allen sat down and replayed every detail of the day’s battle in his mind.
Thinking about the flying slash he had finally managed to unleash, a slight smile crept onto his face.
“Years of hard training are finally starting to pay off.
Next, I just need to master Beginner Armament Haki, and I’ll officially be on the path of the truly strong.” “As for Conqueror’s Haki…
I don’t even know if I have the qualities of a king.
I guess that just comes down to pure luck.” Thinking this, Allen grabbed his sword and walked back out the door, eager to practice the flying slash one more time.
Concentrating all his energy, he gripped the hilt with both hands and slashed forcefully toward a giant tree ten meters away.
Swish.
A gentle breeze followed his swing, lazily drifting toward the tree.
By the time the wind reached the trunk, its energy was completely spent, doing nothing more than making a few leaves flutter.
In the distance, Allen stood frozen in his follow-through posture, a wave of intense awkwardness washing over him.
“Damn it!
Why can’t I unleash the sword energy anymore?” Allen stared at the empty air in front of him, feeling incredibly exasperated.
“It’s a good thing no one was around to see that, or it would be embarrassing.” He muttered, suddenly understanding Hawkeye Mihawk a lot better.
In the original story, there was a rumor that Don Krieg was chased all the way from the Grand Line to the East Blue just because he caught Hawkeye using the Black Blade Yoru as an oar to row his boat.
When people asked Hawkeye why he destroyed Krieg’s entire fleet, he just said he was killing time.
Looking at it now, Hawkeye definitely wasn’t telling the truth.
Why else would a world-class powerhouse chase a 17-million-Berry small fry across an entire ocean?
It had to be because he was caught doing something embarrassing.
It really is humiliating to have such an undignified moment seen by others, just like me swinging at thin air right now…
“My flying slash has basically become like Duan Yu’s Six Meridian Divine Sword from that old story—it only works intermittently,” Allen thought, trying to analyze his failure.
“Does it only trigger during a life-or-death crisis?
Or is it just that my focus isn’t sharp enough without real danger?” “Whatever, time for bed.
I’ll keep training tomorrow.
I refuse to believe I can’t master this sword energy.” Shaking off his wild guesses, Allen stopped overthinking and called it a night.
The rest of the night passed without incident.
The next morning, after eating a huge breakfast and finishing his daily Saitama-style physical routine, Allen headed back to the shore to practice his swings.
Thanks to his recent deal, he didn’t need to spend hours collecting honey himself anymore.
All he had to do was leave his wooden bucket under the giant tree and greet the lead bee.
The swarm would willingly fill the bucket up with fresh honeycomb on their own.
Did he worry about the bees breaking the deal?
Heh, not unless they wanted their homes destroyed.
With all this extra free time, Allen planned to practice swinging his blade against the ocean waves, hoping to get a proper handle on his flying slashes as soon as possible.
After all, the pirates out there sharpening their blades wouldn’t wait around for him to get stronger.
Swish!
Swish!
Each strike cut into the water, making sharp whistling sounds.
About half an hour passed in a flash.
“It’s almost noon.
I should head into the forest to grab the wooden bucket first,” Allen muttered, sheathing his weapon.
“I don’t really feel like eating meat today, so I’ll bring the honeycomb to Old Man Green’s shop and just eat lunch there.” Just as Allen turned to walk toward the woods, a row of dark shapes appeared on the distant horizon.
“Hmm?
Is that a merchant convoy?
Or…
pirates?” Allen squinted, trying to get a clearer look at the approaching ships.
He stood on the shore for ten minutes as the dots grew larger and larger.
Finally, the distinct black skull flags of a pirate fleet came into sharp focus.
“Damn it!
Why are there more pirates?
Is this endless?
This is all Rocks’ fault!” Allen immediately abandoned his trip to the forest and bolted toward the town.
He needed to warn the villagers to hide in their homes right away.
“Uncle Natsu!
Hurry up and tell everyone to get inside!
Pirates are coming!” Allen yelled, bumping into Natsu, who was enjoying a casual post-lunch stroll.
“I’m heading straight to the harbor.
Please handle the rest of the town!” “What?!
I’m on it!
You be careful out there, Allen!” Natsu shouted back, immediately running off to alert the residents.
Allen sprinted all the way to the harbor.
Looking out across the water, his stomach dropped.
There were more than ten pirate ships heading their way.
Among them, three massive flagships stretched over sixty meters long—absolute monsters of the sea.
“A massive pirate fleet…” Allen’s heart sank as he gripped his longsword, his expression turning incredibly grim.
“I don’t know if I can actually stop something this big.” As the fleet sailed closer, entering his line of sight, Allen activated his Observation Haki to scan the ships.
The moment his invisible senses brushed against the vessels, his entire body froze in shock.
Even with a quick, basic sweep, Allen could feel dozens of absolutely terrifying auras on those decks.
Every single one of them belonged to someone far stronger than he currently was.
“Damn it, who are these guys?” Allen muttered, his knuckles turning white around his hilt.
Right then, several prominent figures walked out onto the bow of the lead flagship.
“Jiehahahaha!
Look at that, is that brat actually using Observation Haki to scout us?” Shiki the Golden Lion laughed.
Without a second thought, he drew one of the twin swords at his waist, Koto, and gave it a casual flick toward the lone figure standing on the shore.
Before Allen could even clear his vision to see what the man looked like, a massive, twenty-meter-long golden flying slash came roaring straight at him.
Allen’s pupils contracted to pinpricks.
“A Swordsman!” Forcing his mind into absolute focus, he gripped his hilt with both hands and swung forward with everything he had.
A light blue flying slash erupted from his blade, colliding with the golden shockwave a hundred meters out from the harbor.
After a brief, violent stalemate, the two attacks canceled each other out in a burst of wind.
“Thank goodness, it actually worked this time,” Allen whispered, a small sigh of relief escaping his lips.
Up on the deck, Shiki blinked in mild surprise.
“Oh?
There’s actually a decent Swordsman on a trash island like this?” He smirked, his eyes glinting with malice.
“Jiehahahaha!
Then let’s see how you handle this one!” Shiki drew back his arm and delivered a full-force swing.
A massive, golden flying slash over fifty meters wide tore through the air, screaming straight toward Allen.
“Are you kidding me?!
That is definitely not a regular flying slash.
That guy is a Great Swordsman!!” Allen’s face twitched violently as the colossal wall of energy approached.
Using every ounce of desperate strength he had—the kind of frantic energy he used to use just to squeeze onto a crowded bus after a long workday—he swung his blade with both hands.
The resulting light blue slash wasn’t even half the size of Shiki’s attack.
It collided with the golden wave, held its ground for less than half a second, and then shattered into pieces.
The massive golden slash kept coming, completely losing none of its deadly momentum.
In a panic, Allen could only raise his sword horizontally to block.
A moment later, the golden energy slammed directly into his weapon.
The terrifying weight transmitted through the hilt made Allen’s vision blur.
He gritted his teeth, his muscles screaming under the pressure.
He managed to hold it off for a few agonizing seconds, but the cheap town sword simply couldn’t handle the strain.
Snap!
The blade shattered.
With nothing left to block it, the remaining force of the golden slash struck Allen squarely in the chest, blasting him through the air.
He flew dozens of meters backward before crashing hard onto the ground.
“Is he dead?
Jiehahahaha!
What an arrogant little brat,” Shiki laughed, losing interest immediately.
Rocks, the red-haired captain, had been watching the young man on the shore since Shiki drew his blade.
Seeing the boy go down, he turned back to his crew.
“This island might not have a lot of gold, but their homemade honey wine is famous across the seas.
Men, go ashore and take whatever you want!
Hahaha!” “Ma-ma-ma-ma!
An island famous for honey?
That means there must be tons of delicious sweets here!” Charlotte Linlin said excitedly, adjusting Napoleon on her shoulder.
“Roar!!!
Long live the Captain!
Let’s plunder the place!” Countless pirate underlings cheered, jumping around the deck in wild excitement.
As the fleet docked at the harbor, a chaotic tide of impatient pirates leaped off the decks and ran toward the town.
The high-ranking executives followed behind, walking down the gangplanks at a casual pace.
“Cough…
Cough…
Hey.
This road is closed.” A strained voice echoed across the docks.
Allen slowly dragged himself up from the dirt, wiping a streak of fresh blood from the corner of his mouth.
As it turned out, Shiki’s flying slash had lost a massive amount of its power after breaking through Allen’s counter-attack and destroying his sword.
It was a brutal hit, but it wasn’t enough to kill him.
Rocks stopped in his tracks, looking at the bruised teenager with an amused, playful expression.
He walked right up to him.
“You’re a Swordsman who doesn’t even have a sword anymore,” Rocks said, a mocking smile on his face.
“What exactly do you plan to use to block my way?
Go ahead, men!
Loot the town clean!
Hahaha!” Now that the man was standing right in front of him, Allen could finally see his face clearly.
A profound sense of complete powerlessness washed over him.
Rocks D.
Xebec?!
“Captain, should I just finish off this brat?” Toniel, a fierce pirate commander standing nearby, stepped forward and asked Rocks while glaring at Allen.
“No need, he’s just a regular kid who knows a bit of swordsmanship.
He’s already lost his weapon, so he’s no threat to us.
Don’t waste time on him; go get the honey wine,” Rocks replied smoothly, not even glancing back as he walked past Allen toward the town.
“Understood, Captain.” Toniel nodded, then turned to the underlings behind him.
“You heard the Captain!
Move out and find the wine!” “Oh!
Long live the Captain!” The pirates cheered, running past Allen like a plague of locusts.
Allen stood frozen, his broken hilt still gripped tightly in his right hand.
He watched the massive horde sprint past him, his mind racing.
He knew exactly who these people were now.
This wasn’t just any pirate crew—this was the legendary Rocks Pirates, a collection of the most dangerous monsters to ever sail the seas.
Even if he wanted to fight, he didn’t have a weapon, and his body was aching from Shiki’s attack.
If he forced a confrontation right now, he would just die for nothing.
“Damn it…
why did they have to come to this specific island?” Allen thought, clenching his fist so hard his knuckles turned white.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and quietly slipped away into the shadows of the harbor, trailing behind the main pirate group.
Meanwhile, a squad of about twenty pirates had already reached the entrance of the town.
“Haha!
Look at this place, it’s totally defenseless!” “Let’s break into the houses and grab all the liquor!” The pirates laughed brutally, kicking open the front door of the nearest building.
Inside, a family of three was huddled together in the corner, shaking with pure terror.
“Please, take whatever you want!
Just don’t hurt us!” the father begged, shielding his wife and young daughter.
“Shut up, old man!
Where do you keep the honey wine?
Tell us, or I’ll take your head off!” the lead pirate shouted, raising a heavy cutlass.
Before the blade could fall, a shadow flickered through the open doorway.
Smash!
A heavy wooden stool flew through the air, striking the lead pirate directly in the face and sending him crashing into the wall.
“Who’s there?!” the remaining pirates yelled, spinning around in surprise.
Allen stepped into the room, his eyes cold.
He didn’t have a sword, but his physical strength from his intense daily training was still far beyond any regular pirate underling.
“Get out of this house,” Allen said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
“It’s that brat from the harbor!
He’s still alive!
Kill him!” Two pirates charged forward, swinging their weapons wildly.
Allen ducked beneath the first strike, stepping inside the pirate’s guard.
He drove a powerful fist straight into the man’s ribs.
A sickening crack echoed through the room, and the pirate collapsed instantly, gasping for air.
Without pausing, Allen grabbed the fallen man’s cutlass, spun on his heel, and delivered a clean, horizontal slash across the second pirate’s chest.
Blood sprayed across the floor as the pirate fell backward.
The remaining crew members in the room looked at Allen in shock, their arrogant smiles completely vanishing.
“This kid…
he’s a monster!” “Don’t just stand there!
Group up and take him down!” Outside the house, more pirates heard the commotion and began rushing toward the building.
Allen realized he couldn’t get trapped inside a tight space against a crowd.
“Run to the back alley and hide in the cellar!” Allen shouted to the terrified family.
Without waiting for their reply, he leaped through the front window, breaking the glass as he landed squarely in the middle of the street.
“He’s out here!
Get him!” Dozens of pirates surrounded him in the narrow street, their weapons drawn.
Allen gripped the captured cutlass, his heart pounding against his ribs.
He knew he couldn’t take on the entire crew, especially with monsters like Shiki, Big Mom, and Whitebeard lurking around the island.
But he could at least thin out the grunts and buy the townsfolk enough time to escape into the surrounding forests.
“Come on then, you trash,” Allen provoked, raising his blade.
“Let’s see if you can actually hit me.” “Kill him!” The pirates charged all at once.
Allen activated his Observation Haki, his mind slowing down as he predicted their movements.
He dodged a descending axe, parried a spear thrust, and countered with a swift slice to a pirate’s throat.
He moved like a whirlwind through the street, using the narrow space to ensure only a few underlings could attack him at the same time.
Clang!
Slash!
Groan!
Within minutes, a dozen pirates lay groaning and bleeding on the stone pavement.
But more kept coming, drawn by the noise of the battle.
“What’s going on over here?” A loud, booming voice cut through the chaos.
The crowd of underlings instantly parted, making way for a large, muscular pirate carrying a massive spiked club.
It was Toniel, one of the crew’s main officers.
Toniel looked at the fallen pirates on the ground, then glared at Allen.
“So, you’re the brat who’s been causing trouble.
I thought the Captain spared your life at the harbor, but it looks like you’re just begging to die.” Allen wiped the sweat from his forehead, his breath coming in short gasps.
Dealing with the grunts was easy enough, but an officer under Rocks was an entirely different story.
He could feel a heavy, suffocating pressure radiating from Toniel.
“I don’t care who your captain is,” Allen said, trying to keep his voice steady as he raised his stolen cutlass.
“No one is touching this town while I’m still breathing.” “Jiehahahaha!
What a big mouth for such a little brat!” Toniel laughed brutally, lifting his spiked club over his shoulder.
“Let’s see if that cheap sword can hold up against my strike!” With a sudden burst of speed, Toniel lunged forward, slamming his club down with shattering force.
Allen leaped backward just in time as the weapon smashed into the ground, completely cracking the stone street and sending debris flying in all directions.
Before Allen could recover his balance, Toniel swung the club horizontally, the heavy weapon whistling through the air.
Allen had no choice but to bring up his cutlass to block.
Clang!
The sheer force of the impact vibrated through Allen’s arms, nearly numbing his fingers.
The cheap pirate blade bent under the pressure, and Allen was forced back five paces, his boots dragging deep lines into the dirt.
“Haha!
Is that all you’ve got?” Toniel mocked, rushing forward to press his advantage.
“Die, brat!” Allen’s eyes narrowed.
He knew he couldn’t win a pure contest of strength against an opponent this size, especially with a low-grade weapon.
He needed to use his speed and his Haki to find a opening.
As Toniel swung his club downward once more, Allen didn’t try to block.
Instead, he used his Observation Haki to predict the exact path of the strike, stepping tightly to the left just as the spikes grazed his shirt.
Slash!
In one fluid motion, Allen drove his cutlass deep into Toniel’s exposed flank.
The blade sliced through muscle, drawing a sharp spray of blood.
“Argh!
You little rat!” Toniel roared in pain, swinging his massive arm backward in a blind fury.
The backhand strike caught Allen off guard, clipping his shoulder and sending him rolling across the pavement.
Allen scrambled back to his feet immediately, coughing slightly as he held his injured shoulder.
The cut on Toniel’s side was deep, but it had only served to completely infuriate the pirate officer.
“I’m going to tear you to pieces!” Toniel screamed, a dark, heavy aura starting to coat his spiked club.
Allen’s eyes widened.
Armament Haki!
Things just got a lot more dangerous.
If that infused club hit him even once, it would completely shatter his bones.
Allen braced himself, his mind racing as he looked for any way out of this situation.
He was exhausted, his weapon was bent, and an enraged Haki-user was charging straight at him.
But looking past Toniel toward the burning houses of the town, Allen knew he couldn’t run away.
He had to stand his ground, no matter what.