Kon eyes locked on a pirate vessel closing in
towards the ship.
He gripped the railing, his grin wide with excitement. 'A new ship!' he thought, his heart racing. 'More people to meet and party with!'
He turned to Rick. "Are they more friends?" Kon asked, bouncing on his toes. "Will they party with us too? It'd be so much more fun!"
Rick stared at Kon, his mouth half-open. 'This guy's clueless,' he thought, shaking his head. 'A dumb one, no idea how the world works. Probably grew up sheltered somewhere.' He forgot the approaching ship for a moment, too stunned by Kon's innocence. 'Seventeen, and he thinks every pirate's here to party?'
"Kid, not every ship's friendly," he started to say, but his words were cut off.
Goku, Kon's four-armed monkey, stopped dancing with the crew and leaped onto Kon's shoulder. With a quick jab, he punched Kon in the face, making him yelp.
Goku then waved his arms in a series of gestures—sharp chops and points toward the enemy ship. Kon tilted his head, understanding instantly.
"They're bad people?" Kon asked. Goku nodded, his eyes glinting.
Kon's grin widened. "That means it's time to fight?" he asked, his voice brimming with excitement. Goku chirped and nodded, bouncing on Kon's shoulder.
Rick gaped at the exchange, his mind reeling. 'The monkey's smarter than the kid,' he thought. 'It's calling the shots, and Kon just gets it? And he's excited to fight? This kid's either a battle maniac with no fear for his life or something is wrong with his head. My bet is on the second option.'
Before he could process further, a crewmate's shout snapped him back to reality. "Captain! We need you!"
Cannon fire erupted from the enemy ship, the balls whistling through the air toward the Ironfang's deck.
Kon's eyes lit up. "Here we go!" he shouted, stepping forward. He clapped his hands together, moving them in a circular motion, compressing the air into a tight, swirling ball.
He fired one air ball after another, each slamming into the incoming cannonballs, knocking them off course. They exploded harmlessly in the sea, sending up sprays of water.
The Ironfang crew scrambled, firing their own cannons and pulling out firearms. The enemy pirates, caught off guard by Kon's air blasts, ducked for cover but kept shooting.
Goku's eyes gleamed as he spotted the guns. His curiosity was piqued by them. Skyloft had no firearms, just bending and other traditional weapons.
He darted forward, snatching a pistol from an Ironfang pirate's belt. The pirate yelped, but Goku ignored him, turning the gun over in his four hands.
Goku examined it for a few seconds. Then, with a chirp, he aimed at the enemy ship and fired, the bullet hitting a pirate square in the shoulder with pinpoint accuracy.
Kon laughed, watching Goku. "Nice one, buddy!"
Kon turned to Goku, his grin wild. "Let's try our own version of cannonballs, just like we practiced!"
Kon raised his hands, bending the air into a small funnel shaped like a cannon.
Goku chirped excitedly, opening his backpack and pulling out a handful of rocks they'd collected from Skyloft.
He stuffed them into the air funnel as Kon aimed at the enemy ship. "Fire!" Kon shouted.
The rocks shot out at bullet-like speed, punching holes through the enemy ship's hull. When they hit pirates, the impact sent them flying, some with broken bones, others clutching cracked ribs or worse broken skulls.
Both crews froze, stunned by the carnage. The enemy ship groaned, water pouring through the holes as it began to sink.
The Ironfang pirates erupted in cheers. "Victory!" they shouted, raising their fists.
Rick stared at Kon, his jaw slack. 'Definitely not a normal kid,' he thought, his heart pounding. 'He and that monkey just sank a ship with rocks and air. What the hell is he?'
Kon high-fived Goku, who chirped and spun in a circle. 'We nailed it!' Kon thought, laughing. 'Those guys didn't stand a chance.' He looked at the sinking ship, unbothered by the violence.
'Wonder if they had ice cream, What a waste!' he thought, licking his lips. He turned to Rick, grinning. "That was fun! Think we'll fight more pirates soon?"
Rick shook his head, still processing.
'He's not even fazed,' he thought.
'Sank a ship and wants more?'
"Kid, you're something else," he muttered. 'He knows Iroh D. Ryūkami and the guy must have trained him too, huh? No wonder he's a monster.'
He remembered their earlier talk—Kon's connection to Iroh, the Demon of the White Fire. 'If the Navy finds out this kid's tied to Iroh, we're all dead.'
"Just… keep quiet about Iroh, okay?" he said, his voice low. "You don't know who's listening."
Ken nodded as the other crew members surrounding him, patting him on his back and asking questions about how he did what he did. Ken just gave the answer that Iroh had said to give someone who asks about his Airbending. He moves and punches so fast that they create strong winds that let him do such things.
Of course experienced people could see through this and thus reason won't work when Ken starts bending other elements.
In the East Blue sea, not many people knew about the existence of devil fruits and those who did had limited knowledge about it.
Rick replayed the powers that Kon had shown.
'He is able to fly. He can throw compressed balls of air and create a cannon made of fire that can send out rocks at bullet speed. So he has some kind of air or wins devil fruit. I should have bought that devil fruit encyclopedia during our last shopping session. It would have come in handy right now.'