Chapter 13: Iron Fist
Kaya sat on the ship, lost in thought.
Suddenly, a familiar sound of footsteps startled her awake.
"Kaya, are you alright?"
As Apollo entered the room, a figure lunged at him.
He reached out and embraced the girl's beautiful, soft body. "What's wrong? Were you scared? Or are you sad because of that liar?"
Kaya remained silent, burying her head in his embrace. After a while, she mumbled, "Teacher, are you leaving?"
Apollo was stunned. "Leaving? Why would I leave?"
Kaya looked up at him, two tear streaks on her delicate face. "Didn't you specifically come to capture Kuro… Klahadore?"
Apollo patted her head and chuckled. "What are you thinking, little one? When did I become someone who specifically came to catch Kuro? He's not that important!"
"Ah!"
Kaya froze, a blush slowly creeping onto her face. She quickly buried her head in his arms like an ostrich, but a faint smile secretly played on her lips…
Soon after, the fog gradually dispersed, and the Golden Snail resumed its normal voyage.
They made a brief stop when passing through Swan Town.
Apollo exchanged the heads of the Black Cat Pirates for bounties at the Marine base, earning a total of 18 million Berries.
Jango's head was worth 9 million Berries, the Nyaban Brothers were 5 million each (combined or individually, usually implies combined or lower, but sticking to text logic), and the others had no bounties.
He did not turn in Kuro's head.
To the Marines, Kuro was already dead.
Although the one who died before was an imposter, the one he had was the real deal.
However, to claim the bounty, there would undoubtedly be a lot of bureaucracy and wrangling.
Apollo couldn't be bothered with the hassle; he wasn't short on money anyway.
Upon returning, the servants in the villa were amazed and also terrified after hearing about Kuro's affair.
He was a fierce pirate with a 16 million Berry bounty, and they had been living in close proximity for over two years. The thought alone sent shivers down their spines.
However, people are forgetful, and Kuro's matter quickly became a thing of the past.
The only lasting impact of this incident was that Apollo's status became even higher.
He had essentially become half the owner of the villa; sometimes his words carried more weight than Kaya's.
It's worth mentioning that after returning, Apollo moved into the villa and began living the life of a young master, with meals served and clothes provided.
For the next six months, Apollo frequently went out to sea, sometimes with Kaya, sometimes alone. These trips lasted anywhere from three to five days, but never more than half a month.
Most of the time was spent traveling and exploring, occasionally moonlighting as a pirate hunter.
Although it was mostly for fun, he had a high success rate. Any pirate he encountered never escaped.
Apollo's name gradually gained some notoriety in the circles of the Marines and pirate hunters, even earning him the nickname "Iron Fist."
That's right, the same title as the Marine Hero.
Mainly, people in the East Blue were ignorant and didn't know there was already an "Iron Fist" in the Grand Line.
Upon hearing that Apollo never used weapons and could beat pirates senseless with just his bare fists, they bestowed this title upon him.
They had no idea that Apollo always used his fists against enemies simply because he had never encountered an enemy that required him to use the Golden Staff.
The East Blue was simply too weak. In half a year, he hadn't even seen a single pirate with a bounty exceeding 10 million.
Over these past six months, Apollo's training had not stopped, and his strength had improved further, but compared to the progress of the first half of the year, it was a world of difference.
He realized that the period of rapid improvement in his strength had passed, and a situation like the leap in power he experienced in the first half of the year would likely not happen again.
This made him consider leaving.
After leveling up for so long, it was time to test himself against the heroes of the world!
To journey through the world of One Piece, he might not change the world, but he certainly wanted to leave his own mark.
Furthermore, combat was the most effective way to increase his strength.
Apollo could feel that the Mythical Zoan fruit he had eaten still had a lot of untapped potential.
Continuing to train rigorously would yield minimal results. Perhaps, through extensive combat, gaining a deeper understanding of the Mythical Zoan fruit's power was the secret to another rapid increase in strength.
"Well then, let's tentatively set the next goal as 'World's Strongest'!"
Apollo stood at the bow of the ship, arms crossed, enjoying the sea breeze, idly thinking.
"Currently, the title of strongest still belongs to Whitebeard, but he's old now. How much strength he can still exert is an unknown."
"If he were to go all out, after one battle, his life would probably be pretty much over."
"Or perhaps I should first seize Kaido's title of 'Strongest Creature on Land, Sea, and Air'? A mere dragon. When the Great Sage entered the Dragon Palace, the Dragon King had to humble himself! Since I inherited the Great Sage's power, I can't let him down in this regard."
"Lord Apollo, there are pirates ahead!"
A shout startled Apollo.
He looked up and indeed saw a sailing ship flying a skull flag.
"Pirates again? Good luck, I guess! I wonder how much bounty this time."
Apollo stretched his wrists, just about to make a move, when he suddenly noticed something was off.
"Brothers, that's the pirate hunter Iron Fist Apollo! If we kill him, we'll be famous! Then we'll have money, beautiful women, everything!"
On the pirate ship, a guy with a mob-character face was shouting loudly.
Behind him were more than a dozen minions with generic faces, all looking fanatical.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
"Steal all the treasures and women!"
"…"
"They're treating me as prey?" Apollo laughed, but his smile was extremely cold.
"Sir, we haven't found their wanted posters. They must be a new pirate crew!" Jorgina shouted, her eyes filled with fanaticism as she looked at Apollo.
After witnessing Apollo's strength, she was completely won over, becoming his fervent admirer, determined to follow him.
Apollo didn't need such weak subordinates, but during his free time, he trained her and discovered she had unexpected talent.
With a master like him sparring with her, and after half a year of hard training, Jorgina could now single-handedly deal with small pirates with bounties under three million without any problem.
Don't underestimate three million.
The average bounty in the East Blue was only three million.
In other words, among the bounty-carrying pirates in the East Blue, half of them were not as strong as her.
Since she was someone he personally trained, Apollo always took Jorgina with him whenever he went out to sea, and he would let her practice when they encountered suitable enemies.
These rookies were undoubtedly suitable targets.
Jorgina looked at him eagerly: "Sir, how dare they disrespect you? Let me teach them a lesson for you!"
"No, I'll do it myself this time!"
Apollo said indifferently.
He disliked the way those people looked at him; they had ruined his good mood, and he had to personally make them realize the consequences!
Without any visible movement, his figure silently vanished.
The rookies on the opposite ship were still shouting when they suddenly realized their target was gone.
"Are you looking for me?"
A faint voice sounded behind them. They turned their heads and their faces instantly changed dramatically.
Apollo, who had just been on the opposite ship, had actually appeared on their ship!
"Boss, what's going on?" Pirate B asked nervously.
Pirate A was also a little panicked, but quickly calmed down and put on a fierce expression again: "Don't be afraid! It's just a trick of the eye! There are so many of us, are we afraid of just one of him?"
"The boss is right, hahaha, watch me kill him!"
Pirate C was an honest man. He meant what he said, raised his long sword, and charged towards Apollo.
"Sometimes, numbers are meaningless."
Apollo threw a punch, and Pirate C flew back even faster than he had charged forward, a deep fist mark left on his chest. Before he even hit the ground, he lost his life.
The boisterous atmosphere instantly fell silent.
The rookies all swallowed hard, watching this scene in disbelief.
Pirate C was the third strongest among them, only slightly weaker than their boss.
They were terrified, but Apollo wouldn't stop.
He slowly walked over, delivering one precise punch to each of them.
Regardless of whether they ran or resisted, begged for mercy or cursed, that punch would land on them without mercy.
In a blink of an eye, only Pirate A remained among the living pirates.
He no longer had his previous arrogant demeanor, revealing a smile uglier than crying: "Spare…"
Puff.
As Pirate A just opened his mouth, the punch landed, and he followed in the footsteps of his companions.
Apollo didn't kill every pirate he encountered now.
He certainly did at first, but then he realized that was foolish.
Chopping off heads caused blood to splatter everywhere, making the ship dirty and messy, and it was difficult to confirm identities when claiming bounties at Marine bases.
Instead, bringing them alive, where they could speak, was much simpler.
These rookies could only be considered unlucky. They had no bounty and had displeased Apollo, so they were all sent to meet their maker.
Returning to the Golden Snail, Apollo ignored Jorgina's fanatical gaze, shook his hand, and returned to the cabin.
Bullying weaker opponents was fun at first, but after doing it too much, it became tiresome.
It was like playing a video game; constantly playing against AI quickly became boring. Only by playing against opponents of similar skill could one ignite their fighting spirit and achieve a sense of accomplishment after winning.
"It's decided, I'll set sail soon and head to the Grand Line! But… how should I tell Kaya?"
Apollo fell into deep thought.
Swan Town Marine Base.
Apollo was very familiar with this place; most of the pirates he had captured over the past six months had been brought here.
Walking through it, people kept greeting him, and he responded to each one.
This time he wasn't here to claim bounties; he walked directly towards the Marine Base's office building.
Seeing it was him, the guards didn't stop him.
The top floor of the office building belonged to Captain Cynthia, the commanding officer of the Swan Town Marine Base. He was about to push the door open when his movements suddenly paused.
"Such a powerful aura!"
Apollo's pupils contracted, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.
The person in this room was definitely the strongest he had ever seen!
In his perception, that person's aura was simply like the sun, as if getting close would cause him to be scorched.
In comparison, all the people he had seen before were mere stove fires.
"Who could it be?"
With a hint of anticipation, Apollo pushed open the door and walked in. Ten gazes simultaneously turned towards him.
At the same time, he also clearly saw the situation in the room.
There were five people in total, three men and two women.
Sitting at the forefront was a seductive, voluptuous young woman. She was Captain Cynthia, the commanding officer of the Swan Town Marine Base.
As for the other four, they were all relatively unfamiliar and should not be from the Swan Branch.
Apollo's gaze quickly locked onto one of them.
This was a white-haired old man with a scar over his left eye. He was tall, broad-chested, and muscular, sitting there like a city wall.
That sun-like aura came from this old man.
At the same time, Apollo also recognized his identity.
Marine Hero, Garp!
This was definitely one of the strongest figures in the world of One Piece!
Garp was originally drowsy, but after Apollo entered, he sobered up completely, all sleepiness gone, and looked at him in surprise.
A man in gray, near the door, asked confusedly: "Captain Cynthia, who is this?"
Cynthia gracefully walked over: "This is Apollo, whom I mentioned to you all. He is a very excellent pirate hunter."
The other people's gazes immediately became strange: "So, you are Iron Fist Apollo!"
Cynthia quickly introduced: "Little brother, these gentlemen are from headquarters. This is…"
"I know him."
Apollo interrupted her: "Marine Hero, Iron Fist Garp, right? Anyone who wanders the Grand Line would know that name!"
Garp slapped his knee and laughed heartily: "Bwahahaha, what a coincidence! We're both called Iron Fist!"
Apollo shook his head: "Your Iron Fist is well-deserved, but mine… it's just something people in the East Blue called me out of ignorance."
"Kid, you're too modest."
Garp's eyes twinkled with wisdom.
Don't let his constant laughter and eccentric behavior fool you; in reality, he was a man of great wisdom pretending to be foolish, with precise and far-reaching vision.
Apollo could feel his powerful strength, and Garp, naturally, was not oblivious to Apollo's abilities either.
Apollo shrugged and didn't deliberately hide anything: "What I mean is, I'm actually not very good at fighting with my fists."
Garp paused, then slapped his leg and laughed again: "Bwahahaha, how interesting!"
The others were all bewildered, not knowing where the humor was.
Only Cynthia, who had some understanding of Apollo's strength, vaguely grasped something.
She pulled Apollo aside: "Little brother, do you want to join the Marines? There's an opportunity now. If you're willing, Vice Admiral Garp can take you directly to headquarters."
Join the Marines?
Apollo was startled.
It didn't seem bad.
Currently, if one were to ask which faction on the Grand Line was the strongest, it was undoubtedly the Marines!
Joining them would be equivalent to having a powerful backer.
With his strength, it wasn't impossible for him to become an Admiral in the future.
However, after thinking about it, he still refused.
"Forget it. Although the Marines are good, they have a corrupt father above them and an even dirtier grandfather. I don't want to be the unfortunate grandson caught in the middle."
Upon hearing this, everyone present, except Garp, had somewhat unpleasant expressions.
After all, they were all Marines, and this was practically calling them grandsons to their faces.
But they had no reason to refute him.
Especially the several Marine headquarters officers.
They all understood what Apollo meant: the "corrupt father" referred to the World Government, and the "dirty grandfather" undoubtedly referred to the Celestial Dragons.
They all knew in their hearts that although the words were unpleasant, they were precisely the truth.
Only Garp was laughing very happily: "You are truly an interesting fellow! Bwahahaha… snore… snore…"
As he laughed, he actually fell asleep just like that.