"Fix a match? Uncle, that's not my style," Riven's eyes revealed disdain. He was determined to suppress the red-haired brat, only then could he always remain at the top in the new era.
He wanted to become a man undefeated in his lifetime.
Perhaps it was seeing the resistance in Riven's eyes that made Bittam helplessly curl his lips.
After a while, he squeezed out a line, ["When it's done, I'll split half of my earnings with you."]
"Master, you're really good at reading people," Riven's mouth couldn't help but curl upward.
It wasn't that he had no backbone, it was just that being an intern didn't pay enough to be motivating. He had no choice but to give in to the allure of benefits.
"Shanks! Let's settle it in one move."
"Huh?", Hearing Riven's words, the panting Shanks gritted his teeth, "Fine! Just what I wanted."
The surrounding onlooking crew members all shouted excitedly, "Are we finally getting a winner? Go, Shanks, don't embarrass us!"
"Same to you, Riven, stay sharp! Don't get overturned in a headwind!"
In an instant, the place was abnormally lively and the crowd was boiling with excitement.
Seeing that the atmosphere had been hyped to this point, Riven also got serious. His five fingers clenched tight as he looked at the equally serious Shanks across from him. In those slightly narrowed contemptuous eyes, faint strands of red light actually began to burst out.
"That's…?", Among the onlookers, Gaban was the first to speak, with a few drops of cold sweat falling from his forehead. He opened his mouth wide as if he had seen something unbelievable.
Beside him, Rayleigh's pupils also contracted slightly, and he stared at Riven with a very serious expression, "No, it's just that he has the potential. That level of advanced Observation Haki is not something a brat of his age can grasp yet."
Roger was also shocked, and his smile looked a bit stiff, "The king of the next generation… looks like he's met his match. Wahahahahaha!"
At this moment, Riven, who was completely focused, was clearly unaware of the high praise from the three legendary pirates. He was just trying hard to see more clearly the trajectory of Shanks' sword swing.
He was trying to anticipate.
Just as Shanks swung out his highest-level slash with full effort, Riven merely watched as that sharp blade light flashed past the side of his cheek.
He saw a fleeting blur of "trajectory,"
The trajectory where the blade was about to cut.
'Not bad slash, Shanks, but unfortunately…'
"Huff…"
Riven held his breath and focused, seizing the opening after Shanks used his skill. He clenched his fist and delivered a full-powered punch to his stomach. The dull thud was so solid it made even him a little dazed.
"Bleagh—", Even bile was vomited out. Riven relied solely on his monstrous strength to abuse this fledgling brat Shanks.
Plop!
The young redhead's figure staggered, his eyes rolling white, and he looked like he was about to fall any moment.
"Ah—", Seeing that Shanks probably couldn't stay conscious anymore, Riven sighed, then suddenly raised his fist high, his face wearing an exaggerated and perfunctory expression, "Ah ah ah, my fist hurts, I got hurt from the rebound, ouch, it hurts so much I passed out, ugh (sticks out tongue)."
Riven glanced at the crowd, then decisively and resolutely closed his eyes and fell to the ground. Coincidentally, he hit the ground at the exact same moment as Shanks, both of them sprawled out in a starfish pose.
Then, the whole place went silent.
"Holy sh—", Bittam couldn't hold it in, even his snot was about to spray out.
'You were acting, couldn't you be a bit more restrained, you bastard?'
'Can you be even more exaggerated?'
There was no helping it, Bittam had to brace himself and speak, "Looks like it's a draw then, sorry everyone."
"EH??" ×N
At this moment, Buggy, who had just secretly hidden away some private stash of money, walked out from the cabin. He looked at Uncle Bittam being mobbed by the crew, the motionless Shanks, and Riven lying on the ground picking his nose, he was completely dumbfounded.
———
"Don't be like that, Shanks. Balancing work and rest is also very important, you know," Riven looked at Shanks, who was doing squats with a barbell on his back, and advised kindly,
"Shut up, bastard! Say that again after you put down that steel weight on your back," Shanks transformed into a sharp-fanged fury. Even someone with a good temper like him couldn't help but be enraged by a guy like Riven.
"Ah… hahahahahahaha," Riven was speechless and could only laugh awkwardly, then continued doing one-handed push-ups while carrying tons of steel on his back.
"You two monsters! Can't you be quiet for a while?", Buggy on the side, hearing the conversation between these two overachievers, also heated up with rage.
He could still only do some curls with small dumbbells. Forget Riven's monstrous physique, even Shanks could now easily surpass him.
Because Shanks had been provoked into crazily powering up, and Riven, while training himself, also "stole" a lot of his progress, even Buggy, the master of slacking off, had to increase his training intensity, and he had plenty to complain about because of it.
The days that followed became rather monotonous.
So much so that the limited joy in Riven's day became reading newspapers, fighting, training, and fishing.
However, because there were too many things he wanted to learn, even the hobby of fishing was hard to make time for.
But that couldn't stop the clever Riven.
"Hey! Riven, haven't you caught anything yet?", Buggy lay beside him, watching Riven sit motionless on the edge of the boat with eyes closed, "It's almost training time, right?"
Hearing this, Riven, who had just been practicing extending the range of Observation Haki, slowly opened his eyes. A faint red glow faded from his pupils.
"Relax, have I ever not caught fish before training?"
"But Shanks has already started…"
"Alright, alright… I get it,"mRiven sighed, then simply pulled a pistol from his waist.
'Ever heard of… American fishing?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several crisp gunshots rang out, and soon a few fish bellies floated up on the sea's surface, even with wisps of smoke curling above them.
Riven flicked his hook, immediately snagging the unlucky ones and tossing them into the fish basket, slinging it on his back and heading to the cabin.
"Let's go, Buggy."
"Wait for me!"
———
"Riven has gotten stronger again, huh."
"Yeah, he's a total monster. Reminds me of someone."
"I bet you were gonna say… Redfield?"
"Uh… close, but I was actually thinking of Whitebeard."
On the deck, watching the little guy sparring with the vice-captain, Dark King Rayleigh, many crew members were discussing. Especially the two little guys in the front row.
"That guy Riven… no matter what, he's unbeatable, right?"
"Don't be so pessimistic, Buggy. We'll definitely get stronger and stronger too," Maybe because he'd been crushed by Riven too many times, Shanks had gradually let go of his hot temper and returned to his easygoing nature.
"What kind of stupid thing are you saying, Shanks? Even if we get stronger, can't Riven get stronger too?",bBuggy didn't feel comforted at all. If anything, he wanted to give up even more.
It was already enough of a blow to have Shanks on the ship, who was favored by almost everyone while Buggy was just a side character.
Now here came Riven, how could one not feel despair?
"Don't be so down. Look, Riven and the vice-captain's sparring match is starting."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y