Daz might still be young, but his strength and speed were already quite impressive.
It was obvious that he had trained since childhood.
He charged toward Yuri at incredible speed and thrust both bladed hands straight into Yuri’s body.
Daz’s attack did indeed strike Yuri.
Yet it was Daz himself who showed a look of shock.
“It didn’t cut through?”
Just as Daz attacked, the black overcoat draped over Yuri’s body moved on its own and covered the front of his body.
Daz’s bladed palms struck Yuri’s Iron Sand Coat, but the attack was completely blocked.
The iron sand making up the coat vibrated at high speed.
Not only did it possess tremendous offensive power, but its defensive strength was equally astonishing.
Forget about the current Daz, who was still young and nowhere near as powerful as he would become in the future.
Even the future Daz wouldn’t be able to cut through Yuri’s Iron Sand Coat.
Every attack would be stopped by layer after layer of tiny, vibrating grains of iron sand.
To Yuri, this was perfectly normal.
But Daz was completely stunned.
Daz was a Dice-Dice Fruit user, capable of turning any part of his body into a razor-sharp blade.
Those blades possessed extraordinary cutting power.
In terms of sharpness, even some famous swords couldn’t compare.
In Daz’s understanding, there was nothing his blades couldn’t cut.
Yet now, no matter how much force he put into the blades formed from his hands, he couldn’t cut through this black coat.
Instead, the vibrating iron sand on its surface sliced against him like countless miniature chainsaws, causing sharp pain across his body.
While Daz was still shocked, countless grains of iron sand suddenly shot out from the coat like a rainstorm.
Daz’s expression changed.
He transformed both hands and arms into blades to block the incoming iron sand, but the tremendous force behind the barrage drove him backward again and again.
His Devil Fruit ability also granted him powerful defense, so an ordinary Iron Sand Shower wasn’t enough to seriously injure him.
After finally enduring the barrage, Daz steadied himself and prepared to attack Yuri again.
But then one sleeve of Yuri’s Iron Sand Coat lifted on its own.
The next instant, it suddenly extended outward like a whip and slammed heavily into Daz.
The blow carried considerable force.
Daz was sent flying more than ten meters before finally stopping, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Even then, he didn’t give up.
But just as he stabilized himself and prepared to charge at Yuri once more, he saw Yuri extend one hand.
A coin was pinched between Yuri’s thumb and index finger.
A coin?
Daz was confused as to why Yuri would pull out a coin at a time like this, but he didn’t care.
He planted his foot against the ground and prepared to rush forward at full speed once again.
At that moment, an orange-red beam shot from Yuri’s hand.
Daz didn’t even have time to react.
All he saw was the orange-red light streak past his ear.
Boom!
Daz froze and turned his head.
A massive building behind him had been pierced straight through by the orange-red beam before collapsing with a thunderous crash.
A horrified expression appeared on Daz’s face.
At that moment, Daz completely lost all confidence in defeating Yuri.
“So this is the Railgun?
This is the strength of a pirate worth over one hundred million Berries?
I couldn’t even fight back…” Daz muttered in disbelief.
“Your name is Daz Bonez, right?
You’re pretty good.
It’d be a shame if your journey ended here.
How about joining my pirate crew?
Being the number one pirate hunter in the West Blue is far too small a goal.
Want to go see the New World?” Yuri slowly walked toward him.
“The New World?” Daz asked in confusion.
“The second half of the Grand Line is known as the New World.
The first half of the Grand Line is known as Paradise.”
Daz’s pupils contracted when he heard Yuri’s words.
“Paradise, huh?
Then becoming number one in Paradise really doesn’t sound very interesting.” After a long silence, Daz finally spoke.
“Captain, I’ll be in your care from now on.”
Previously, Daz had wanted to become the strongest in the West Blue, the number one pirate hunter.
But after hearing that people in the New World regarded the West Blue as nothing more than part of Paradise, he instantly lost interest in that goal.
He even felt that his previous dream seemed rather laughable now.
Besides, he had personally witnessed Yuri’s strength.
Following someone like Yuri wouldn’t disgrace him.
…
“Captain…
Don’t tell me our pirate crew only has the three of us?”
When Daz returned to the ship with Yuri and saw the tiny vessel that looked as though a slightly larger wave could overturn it, along with Robin standing aboard, he couldn’t help wondering whether joining this pirate crew had truly been the right decision.
“Heh.
You think just any random piece of trash is qualified to join the Gadile Pirates?” Yuri said proudly.
“…” Robin remained silent.
“True.
Recruiting a bunch of useless nobodies would be worse than having no one at all.”
Robin blinked a few times.
She actually believed him.
“Besides, I already have a target in mind when it comes to expanding our manpower.”
“A target?” Even Robin was surprised.
They had spent all this time avoiding Marine pursuit.
When had Yuri found a target?
“Why do you look so surprised?
I’m tired of constantly being chased around by the Marines.
That bastard Akainu follows us around like a rabid dog.
If I had a way to deal with his Logia Devil Fruit ability right now, I would’ve fought him properly a long time ago.”
“I need time to train a power capable of dealing with Logia Devil Fruit users.
But if we keep running around everywhere like this, there’s no way for me to train properly.
And if we want to avoid the Marines and the World Government’s spies, then we need an organization of our own.”
“A power that can deal with Logia Devil Fruit users?
I remember you mentioned something called Armament Haki.
Is that really something you can learn in a short amount of time?” Robin asked.
Robin had heard Yuri explain before that if someone wanted to deal with the elementalization of Logia Devil Fruit users, they needed to master Haki.
But common sense alone told her that something like that couldn’t possibly be easy to master.
If it were so simple, she wouldn’t have gone her whole life without even hearing about it.
“Armament Haki?” This was also the first time Daz had heard the term.
“Armament Haki is one form of Haki.
It’s a latent power within the body.
Once someone trains their body to a certain level and learns how to guide that power, it eventually blossoms and awakens into a special ability.
It can act like invisible armor around the body, greatly increasing defensive power.
And as defense increases, offensive power rises as well.
It’s like comparing a piece of tofu to a piece of iron.
Even if they’re the same size, the force behind them is completely different.”
“Of course, besides powerful defense and increased attack strength, Armament Haki can also allow you to strike the true bodies of Logia Devil Fruit users and provides a certain degree of resistance against Devil Fruit abilities.
Recently, I’ve already begun sensing its existence inside my body.
Now I just need to find a way to draw it out through training and master it,” Yuri explained.
In truth, when Yuri’s Observation Haki awakened, he had already been able to clearly sense another dormant power within his body.
He simply hadn’t been able to draw it out.
“There’s actually a power like that in this world?” Daz asked in surprise.
“It’s one of the most basic abilities among the strong in the New World.
Without Armament Haki, you can’t establish yourself there.
If you want to make a name for yourself in the New World, then you’ll need to become strong enough to cut through Armament Haki defenses.
Otherwise, your Dice-Dice Fruit will be practically worthless there,” Yuri said.
“Cut through Armament Haki defenses…” Daz murmured thoughtfully.
A moment later, determination flashed in his eyes.
“I’ll definitely do it.”