"This is Armament Haki."
"It's like wearing an invisible armor—solid and tough. Ordinary attacks can't even scratch it."
Chris smiled calmly:
"Your punches are strong, sure. They're fierce—but it's all just surface-level power."
"Enough!"
Burgess roared, swinging another punch with fury.
"Stop dodging! Let me smash you if you dare!"
"As you wish."
Facing Burgess's massive, sandbag-sized fist, Chris merely threw out a light punch.
Their fists collided head-on.
BOOM!
A loud blast echoed, followed by a scream.
"Ahhh!!"
Burgess was sent flying, crashing onto the ground and rolling backward several times.
Silence.
The surroundings went dead quiet.
All eyes locked onto Chris—filled with awe and reverence.
To them, he was like a god.
"Follow me, and one day, you'll all wield this kind of power."
Chris crossed his arms and said coldly,
"No more chatter—if you want to become stronger, then keep up."
With that, he turned and led Baccarat onto the large ship.
"Wehahahaha…"
Burgess got up, ignoring the pain in his hand, and laughed heartily.
"That kind of power… no way I'm missing out!"
He turned to glance at Doc Q and said quickly:
"If you want in, decide for yourself!"
Without waiting for a response, he hurried after Chris, his face full of excitement.
He was a battle junkie who admired strength above all.
Chris defeated him, so he accepted it wholeheartedly—and would now follow him without complaint.
"Cough… wait for me…"
Doc Q patted Stronger. The sickly horse trudged forward, step by step, as if both man and beast might collapse at any second.
The sight was… downright eerie.
Before long, everyone boarded the ship.
"Ship Rule: The Strong Rule!"
Burgess immediately noticed the carving on the mast.
"Captain, what's that ship rule mean?"
Chris stuck his hands in his pockets and said casually:
"There's only one rule on this ship—strength talks."
He looked at the two of them and added,
"If your fists are tougher than mine, then you're the captain."
"So if you want the title of captain—train hard. I'll be waiting for your challenge."
Before setting sail, Chris had already planned all this.
He personally carved those words into the mast yesterday.
To inspire everyone on board.
To always maintain a fighting spirit.
Because the weak… will be eliminated.
"Captain, you're totally my kind of guy! Wehahahaha…"
Burgess was thrilled. This was exactly the kind of pirate crew he had always dreamed of.
He was a pirate, after all. If there were a bunch of rules, might as well go home and be a farmer.
Strength above all—that was the best rule of all.
"A captain like this… I like him…"
Doc Q smiled, though his expression looked more like he was crying.
At that moment, Chris looked at his crewmates and shouted:
"All hands! Set sail!"
"Aye, Captain Chris!"
With that command, a pirate flag was raised high.
A white skull with two crossed swords behind it.
The hilt of the left sword bore the word "Power," and the right sword had "Wealth."
Chris had designed it himself.
Its meaning? Anyone with eyes could see it.
Burgess didn't care much for the flag, though—he looked at Chris and grinned:
"Boss, since we've got a 'Captain Showdown,' does that mean we'll also have 'Division Commander Battles'?"
Chris nodded calmly:
"Once we have more members, we'll hold a proper fight to decide the division commanders."
"You two better train hard. Otherwise, you won't even qualify to be one."
With that, he ignored them and headed straight for the training room.
To him, improving strength was everything. He wouldn't waste even a single minute.
The definition of a training maniac.
Baccarat, having nothing better to do, followed Chris as usual—curious to watch his training.
She'd done this a lot over the past two days.
To her, it was fascinating.
"Doc Q, we've got to train hard. That Division One Captain spot is mine!"
Burgess clenched his fists and declared boldly:
"Anyone who tries to take it from me—I'll beat 'em down!"
Doc Q coughed and gave a twisted smile.
"What? Don't want to be captain anymore?"
Burgess glared at him:
"You want me to die, you bastard?"
"That captain… he's a monster."
"If I tried challenging him and lost, I might really get killed!"
Burgess banged his fists together and laughed wildly:
"Forget the Captain Showdown—count me out!"
"But the battle for Division Captain? I'm in for sure! Wehahahaha…"
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T/N:
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