"Throw a match? Old man, that's not my style."
Aos's eyes flashed with disdain. He's a man determined to keep Red-Haired under his thumb so he can stay on top in the new era,
a man who never loses, ever!!
Maybe seeing the resistance in Aos's gaze, Petermoo curled his lip helplessly,
and after a pause squeezed out a line,
"Once it's done, I'll split my cut with you—half."
"Master, you read people too well!" Aos couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting,
It's not that he lacked pride; it's just that an intern's pay didn't cover expenses. Backed into a corner, he had no choice but to eat his words.
"Shanks, settle it in one move!"
"Huh?" Panting from being toyed with, Shanks clenched his teeth. "Fine—just what I wanted!"
The onlooking crew cheered. "We finally getting a winner? Go, Shanks, don't embarrass us!"
"Atta boy, Aos! Stay sharp—don't choke in the clutch!"
The place erupted, spirits running high!
With the mood stoked to a fever pitch, Aos got serious too, fingers clenched. Facing the equally focused Shanks, he narrowed those world-weary eyes—and faint threads of red light seemed to spark within them,
"Is that…?!"
Among the onlookers Scopper Gaban spoke first, cold sweat beading on his brow, mouth agape as if he'd seen the impossible,
Nearby, Silvers Rayleigh's pupils also tightened. Fixing Aos with a grave stare, he said, "No—only the potential. That level of advanced Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) isn't something a brat his age can truly wield yet."
Gol D. Roger was shocked as well, his smile a little stiff. "So the king of the next generation has met his match, eh? Hahahahaha!"
But the fully focused Aos had no idea he was being praised by three legendary pirates; he was just straining to read the path of Shanks's blade,
trying to anticipate it.
As Shanks unleashed his best slash, Aos simply watched the keen arc of steel flash past the side of his cheek,
and for an instant he saw a blurred "trajectory,"
the line the blade was about to carve.
"Nice slash, Shanks—but too bad…"
"Huff…"
Aos held his breath, seized the end-lag of Shanks's move, and drove his clenched fist full force into the boy's gut. The dull thud even left him a little dazed,
"Urk—"
bile spraying out. Relying on brute strength alone, Aos manhandled the greenhorn Shanks,
"Thud—"
the young Red-Haired swaying, eyes rolling white, about to collapse,
"Ah—"
Seeing there was no way Shanks would stay conscious, Aos sighed,
then suddenly raised his own fist, plastering on an exaggerated, half-baked expression,
"Ahhh, my fist hurts so bad—did the recoil get me? Ow, I'm passing out from the pain, ugh (tongue out)."
Aos glanced back at the crowd, then resolutely shut his eyes and toppled over. As luck would have it, he and Shanks hit the deck at the exact same moment, both spread-eagle on the floor.
Then,
dead silence.
"Holy crap…" Petermoo couldn't hold it in; his snot nearly sprayed out,
We asked you to act—could you at least try, you bastard?!
Could you be any more over the top, hey?!
With no choice, Petermoo forced himself to speak. "Looks like it's a draw. Sorry, everyone!"
"Eh???!!!" ×N
Just then, Buggy—who'd been hiding to count his secret stash—came out of the cabin, took in Uncle Petermoo being mobbed by the crew, the motionless Shanks, and Aos lying on the floor picking his nose,
and was completely baffled.
......…
"Don't be like that, Shanks. Work–rest balance matters too."
Watching Shanks squat with a barbell across his shoulders, Aos advised kindly,
"Shut it, you jerk! Put down the metal on your back before you lecture me!!!" Shanks roared, fangs practically bared. Even someone as good-tempered as him couldn't help getting riled by Aos.
"Ah… hahahahahaha!!!"
Aos had no reply, just laughed awkwardly—and went right on doing one-armed push-ups with tons of steel on his back.
"You two monsters! Can't you be quiet for a minute?!" Hearing these two try-hard kings, Buggy saw red as well,
He was still stuck curling little dumbbells; never mind Aos's monstrous physique—even Shanks could easily outpace him.
Spurred on, Shanks started getting absurdly stronger, and while training his body, Aos poached plenty of gains too,
and even Buggy—the master slacker himself—got dragged into upping his regimen, grumbling all the while.
The days that followed were pretty monotonous,
so Aos's few daily joys were reading the paper, brawling, training, and fishing,
though with so much he wanted to learn, it was hard to squeeze in time for his fishing hobby,
but clever Aos wouldn't be stumped by that.
"Hey! Aos, haven't you caught anything yet?" Buggy leaned beside him, watching Aos sit stock-still on the gunwale with eyes closed. "It's almost training time, right?"
At that, Aos—who'd been practicing expanding the range of his Kenbunshoku Haki—slowly opened his eyes, the faint reddish glow fading from his pupils,
"Relax. When have I ever not landed fish before training?"
"But Shanks already started…"
"Alright, alright… I know."
Aos sighed, then simply drew a pistol from his waist,
Ever heard of American-style fishing?
"Bang bang bang—"
A few crisp shots rang out, and soon fish bellies were bobbing up on the sea—some still wreathed in wisps of gun smoke,
Aos flicked his hook, snagged the poor suckers at once, tossed them into the basket, and shouldered it toward the cabin.
"Let's go, Buggy!"
"Wait for me!"
...
"Aos has gotten stronger again, hasn't he."
"Yeah. He's a monster—reminds me of someone."
"I'm guessing you mean Patrick Redfield?"
"Uh… close, but I actually meant Whitebeard."
On deck, watching the little guy trading blows with the vice-captain, "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh, many crewmen murmured—among them the two small fry up front.
"There's no beating that Aos, no matter what, right?"
"Don't be so gloomy, Buggy. We'll only get stronger and stronger." Maybe because Aos had crushed him so many times, Shanks had cooled from seeing red back to his original easygoing self,
"What dumb talk is that, Shanks? If we get stronger, won't Aos get stronger too?" Buggy was anything but comforted—in fact, he only felt more like giving up,
With just one Shanks on the ship he already took enough hits; almost everyone favored him, leaving Buggy as mere foil,
and now along came an Aos—hard not to despair.
"Don't be so down—look, Aos's spar with the vice-captain's starting!"