The aftereffects of Haki training were brutal. Kyle felt as if Roger and Rayleigh had taken every bone in his body apart, piece by piece, then haphazardly glued them back together—and now, they were threatening to fall apart at the slightest touch.
By the time their little shabby boat finally landed on an uninhabited island that looked like a forsaken wasteland, Kyle practically crawled onto the shore, slumped forward with one hand planted in the sand.
"Kuhahaha! Adventure! Adventure!"
The moment Roger's feet touched solid ground, his eyes lit up like a wild dog that had just broken off its leash. With a shout that made no sense to anyone but himself, he sprinted straight into the dense jungle, vanishing in seconds.
This was Roger.
"Doesn't he worry there might be venomous snakes or man-eating beasts in there?" Kyle muttered weakly.
"He's probably hoping for them." Rayleigh leapt lightly from the boat and landed beside him. "He said he sensed something interesting."
"Interesting, huh? More like he got bored and needs something to break." Kyle rolled his eyes, struggled to sit up from the sand, and brushed the grit off his body.
Rayleigh didn't answer. He simply strolled along the shoreline, quietly observing the island's vegetation and tide patterns.
Kyle had no choice but to follow, stretching his sore limbs while glancing around. The island pulsed with primitive vitality—towering trees blotted out the sun, and the air smelled rich with earth and green leaves.
"By the way, Rayleigh-san," Kyle said as he kicked a stone aside, "how did you and that lunatic Roger first meet?"
Rayleigh adjusted his glasses and gazed at the distant horizon, as if briefly caught in memory.
"My house burned down. I live on a boat."
"My name's Roger! Our meeting was destiny, Rayleigh!"
"Want to join me in turning the world upside down?"
Kyle scratched his chin, clearly unimpressed by the so-called legendary first encounter. Before he could comment on that,
BOOM—!!!!
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion erupted from the center of the island, cutting their conversation short. The ground rumbled violently, as if something massive was tunneling beneath it.
In the sky above, flocks of birds shrieked and scattered in chaos. A thick pillar of dust surged upward, mingled with the sounds of trees being violently shattered, crackling like bones breaking.
Kyle and Rayleigh exchanged a look, and in that glance, shared the same thought.
"I knew it..." Kyle groaned, facepalming with resignation.
Rayleigh sighed, though behind the glint of his glasses, his eyes grew sharp. "Let's go see what kind of mess Roger's created this time."
Without another word, the two of them shot off, their silhouettes vanishing like twin blurs as they sprinted toward the chaos.
When they arrived at the center of the island, the sight before them brought them to a halt.
The once-dense jungle had been blown wide open—now a devastated clearing full of massive gashes in the earth and enormous craters. Broken trees lay scattered like corpses, many still smoldering from the blast.
And in the middle of this battlefield, two figures were clashing with the force of a natural disaster.
"Kuhahaha! Not bad! Not bad at all!" Roger wielded a long sword, laughing uproariously with each swing. Every slash of his blade seemed powerful enough to cleave mountains.
Opposite him stood a tall young man, long-haired and wild-eyed, wielding two massive battle axes with brutal strength and terrifying speed.
Every clash of axe and sword unleashed a blinding burst of sparks and a deafening metallic shriek. Shockwaves burst outward, stripping the topsoil from the earth around them.
Kyle's pupils contracted sharply. Dual axes. Towering frame. Black sunglasses. That fierce and unrelenting battle spirit...
It couldn't be—
"Scopper Gaban!"
Kyle exclaimed inwardly. In the original story, he would go on to become the third-in-command of Roger's Pirate Crew—the 'Bronze' in the legendary trio of "Gold, Silver, and Bronze!"
In the field, both Roger and Gaban had clearly noticed the two newcomers arriving.
"Oh? You're here!" Roger grinned, but his gaze shifted sharply. "Then we can't waste any more time!"
In an instant, his entire aura transformed. Gone was the easygoing fighter enjoying a brawl—in his place emerged a force of sheer Haki, an overwhelming pressure that felt like it could shake the heavens!
Black and red lightning-shaped energy crackled furiously around his blade, producing a chilling sizzling sound that pierced the air.
Gaban's expression shifted drastically. The pressure Roger now released was in another league altogether. Still, Gaban didn't retreat—instead, he roared and channeled every ounce of strength into his twin axes, charging at Roger with wild determination!
"Nice eyes!" Roger roared with approval, lifting the weapon in his hand and aiming it squarely at Gaban.
"Divine Avoidance!!"
No exaggerated animation. No excessive flair. Just a clean, horizontal slash.
The arc of the attack, wrapped in terrifying Conqueror's Haki, seemed to collapse the distance between them. It struck directly at Gaban's crossed axes with impeccable timing and force.
Time seemed to freeze.
Before the stunned expression could fully leave Gaban's face, an unstoppable, incomprehensible wave of raw power exploded through his weapons and slammed into his body like a runaway train.
"Crack!"
His beloved twin axes screamed as fine spiderweb cracks raced across the blades. Then, Gaban's entire body was hurled backward like a ragdoll. His eyes rolled back, blood burst from his mouth, and he crashed through seven or eight massive trees before finally slamming to the ground, unconscious.
One strike. Victory decided.
Silence reclaimed the clearing, leaving only Roger standing there, sword slung over his shoulder, grinning.
Kyle gulped, stars shining in his eyes. So this... this is the power of Conqueror's Haki Infusion?
Captain! I want to learn this!
Roger strolled up to the fallen Gaban without a word, first looking at him, then glancing at the fractured axes at his side.
"Kuhahaha! What a funny guy!"
As if he weren't the very reason for all this, he turned to Rayleigh and Kyle and shouted: "Oi! Wake him up! I've got questions for him!"
Ten minutes later, Gaban—roused by a light shockwave from Kyle—was sitting against a tree, visibly wary as he stared at the three eccentric figures before him.
"You're strong!" Roger squatted in front of him and handed over a water pouch, flashing a bright, toothy grin. "I'm Gol D. Roger! These guys are Rayleigh and Kyle. What's your name? Got a dream?"
Gaban blinked, clearly thrown off by the sudden shift in tone. He hesitated for a moment, then accepted the water, took a few sips, and answered with a deep, steady voice:
"Scopper Gaban… My dream is to travel the world. I want to see every sight this sea has to offer with my own eyes! And then marry a tall woman as my wife."
"OHHH—!" Roger's eyes lit up instantly. He slapped his thigh and leapt to his feet, ecstatic. "Traveling the world? That's an awesome dream! I like you!"
Kyle: Shouldn't we be focusing on the "tall wife" part? Excuse me??
Roger reached out a hand and gave Gaban a smile that could brighten the entire jungle.
"Gaban! Come aboard my ship! Join us—and shake the world to its core!"
Gaban froze as he looked into Roger's clear, sincere eyes. The boldness on Roger's face wasn't arrogance—it was a contagious, radiant confidence.
After a few seconds, a smile finally softened Gaban's tense expression, and he gave a firm nod. "Good!"
Kyle stood nearby, watching the whole scene unfold. In his heart, a storm of complaints raged.
That's it? They fight once, swap dreams, and then—"I like you, join my crew"—and boom! SSS-level recruit complete?!
He glanced at Roger and Jabba, now deep in cheerful conversation, then looked at Rayleigh—who bore the weary look of someone long used to this chaos—and finally concluded: This world is just one big, unplanned party.
Eh~ Wait a second... Rayleigh is the Pirate King's right hand. Gaban is the left hand.
Then what about me?!