Marcus squinted at Kuro.
He showed no signs of panic. After all, his iron armor provided full-body protection, there was no such thing as a "weak point" when you were wearing Minecraft gear.
Kuro, on the other hand, looked grim but showed no fear toward Marcus. His speed was his greatest asset, and especially in the darkness of night, he was confident that catching him would be nearly impossible for anyone.
"Let go? You think you can actually catch ?"
Marcus raised his iron sword and shrugged. "As long as you're still on this island, I can track you down. If you don't believe , feel free to test it. But here's so friendly advice, Luffy and Zoro are both strong. The only reason they didn't finish you off was because of the darkness. When daylight cos, you'll lose every advantage you have."
He spoke with calm logic, and he could see his words hitting ho.
Kuro unconsciously touched his abdon where Luffy's punch had landed. He had to admit the rubber boy packed a hell of a punch. If it had connected just a bit more, internal bleeding would've been a certainty.
If he really dragged this fight out until sunrise and got cornered again, his situation would beco dangerous.
Still, he sneered contemptuously. Even if daylight wasn't ideal for him, he still had his pirate crew scattered around the island. He wasn't completely without backup options.
He was about to deliver so cutting remarks when Marcus didn't give him the chance, striking first.
The result was... less than impressive. His speed was slow, his sword grip looked awkward, his swinging technique had way too many unnecessary movents, and he was relying purely on arm strength. Even if the blow had landed cleanly, it probably would've only caused a superficial wound.
Compared to Zoro's strike that had nearly cut through bone, it was laughably weak.
He dodged easily, his Cat Claws slicing across.
The harsh sound of tal scraping against tal rang out.
"What exactly is your ability? Why is your body so ridiculously tough? The Iron-Iron Fruit?"
Marcus squinted against the moonlight reflecting off Kuro's blades. The constant glinting was uncomfortable to look at, and the attacks carried afterimages that made dodging nearly impossible.
"You could say that," he replied. He swung his sword again, this ti putting more force behind it.
This ti, Kuro didn't bother dodging. Instead, he used his Cat Claws to block directly, wanting to test exactly how much power his opponent could generate.
Clang, clang, clang.
"Just as I thought, completely amateur," he sneered dismissively.
Marcus wasn't offended. The truth was, the most strenuous physical activity he'd probably done in his entire life was his so-called "morning exercises," which really just ant rolling out of bed, stumbling to the bathroom, brushing his teeth, and maybe taking a shit if his stomach felt like it. He was a gaming nerd through and through, not so gym rat. anwhile, in the One Piece world, people like Luffy and Zoro had been training since childhood, and Kuro was a pirate with a multi-million berry bounty. If soone like him, who had only recently been transported here, could beat such a pirate imdiately, that would've been the real spectacle.
"I'm actually pretty curious. How does your technique achieve the sa speed as Soru?"
The Marine technique Soru required stomping the ground multiple tis in an instant, which made the idea of it being "silent" completely impossible. So powerful users even stomped so hard they shattered the ground beneath their feet.
Yet Pussyfoot Maneuver sohow achieved similar results while being soundless, which he couldn't wrap his head around.
Even while talking, he kept his sword moving. He was experinting with different techniques, trying to adjust how his body generated power. Things like using his legs to drive his waist, his waist to drive his arms, and finally his arms to drive his wrists... he understood the theory and was now testing it bit by bit.
"You think I'd actually tell you that?" Kuro replied mockingly.
"Your cover's already blown. Three years of planning have gone to waste, and you'll have to return to the pirate life whether you want to or not." Marcus paused his attacks montarily. "But I can offer you enough gold to pull you completely out of this ss. You could find so quiet village sowhere and live comfortably for the rest of your life."
As he spoke, he materialized a gleaming gold bar in his free hand.
Kuro froze mid-motion, his eyes locking onto the gold.
"What are you getting at?"
"Pure gold. If I'm not mistaken, it's 99.99% pure. I'm not sure of the exact market price, but it should definitely be worth several million berries at minimum."
Kuro adjusted his glasses, trying to look calm, but the slight tremor in his hands betrayed his thoughts. That much gold could set him up for life.
"So," Marcus continued, "tell the difference between your technique and Soru."
"Why should I—"
Before Kuro could finish his protest, the gold bar sailed through the air toward him.
He caught it clumsily, eyes wide with disbelief. The mont it settled in his hands, he could feel its weight, and from that alone, he knew it was genuine gold.
Even if it wasn't quite as pure as Marcus claid, it was still incredibly valuable.
He looked up.
Just like that?
So generous?
If he'd known this was an option earlier... why the hell had they been fighting at all? Weren't they all in this for money anyway?
The words he'd been preparing died in his throat, and he found himself honestly explaining the difference between the two techniques.
"The difference between Soru and Pussyfoot Maneuver is that Soru is faster overall. From what I understand, the minimum standard for Soru is stomping the ground more than ten tis in an instant. If you can achieve that, it ans you've mastered the basic technique. Pussyfoot Maneuver is essentially a weakened version of Soru, it's perford by quickly tapping the ground with your toes about six tis. That's the frequency I usually use, but that's its limit. If you try to reach ten taps like true Soru, there's a high chance your direction will beco unstable. While you can roughly determine where you want to go, the precision is much worse than proper Soru."
He finished his explanation, looking almost embarrassed at how readily he'd given up the information.
Marcus nodded thoughtfully. So it was another developntal path for Soru, basically a downgraded, more accessible version that sacrificed so power for stealth.
"Alright then!" he raised his sword again. "Let's continue practicing!"
Kuro's brow furrowed deeply. He was still holding the gold bar and didn't want to let go of it. The weight of financial security was intoxicating after years of planning and scheming.
He hesitated. Put it down, or keep holding it?
"I think we can work sothing out here. Kaya's father left behind a large inheritance. If you and your friends would be willing to—"
"I'm not interested in money," Marcus interrupted flatly.
That single sentence shut down Kuro's negotiation attempt completely.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he reluctantly tossed the gold bar into the nearby grass and resud his fighting stance.
But the longer the fight continued, the more frustrated he beca.
His attacks couldn't penetrate Marcus' defenses at all. No matter what angle he tried, what technique he used, the result was always the sa, he simply couldn't inflict any aningful damage.
Marcus, on the other hand, was clearly enjoying himself more and more. He fought with pure aggressive intent, attacking without defending, charging recklessly forward. Against a normal opponent, such tactics would've gotten him killed dozens of tis over.
What was worse, Kuro was shocked to notice that Marcus' strikes were becoming sharper and more refined with each exchange. Whether it was his sword work or his footwork, everything was gradually developing structure.
And maybe it was his imagination, but he could swear that Marcus' grin was becoming more and more obvious. The guy was clearly entering so kind of "battle high" mode, getting more excited with every clash.
anwhile, he was still feeling the effects of Luffy's punch and Zoro's sword strike from earlier, and his combat effectiveness was steadily declining.
If they kept fighting like this, there was a real possibility this crazy bastard might actually wear him down to the point of collapse.
The thought of being defeated by soone so inexperienced was infuriating, but he was pragmatic above all else.
Gritting his teeth, he suddenly leaped backward and vanished from sight using his Pussyfoot Maneuver technique.
Marcus, abruptly losing his sparring partner, froze for a mont before realizing what had happened. Kuro had fled mid-fight, which pissed him off more than he'd expected.
Who the hell runs away in the middle of a perfectly good training session? It was like... well, like soone promising to go all the way and then actually aning "just the tip."
Completely unsatisfying.
It was at that mont that Luffy and Zoro walked over.
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I don't know if so of you read the synopsis, but it already ntions that the MC joins Luffy. Ok, the exact word "join" wasn't used, but if you read between the lines, things like "team up with" and "travel with" Luffy basically an the sa thing.
So what does it an when the MC joins Luffy?
1. He'll be part of Luffy's crew (pretty obvious).
2. He'll be a pirate (also obvious if you know Luffy's a pirate, which ans you've watched One Piece).
So people stopped reading because of this… but wasn't there already a warning about it?
Here are the warning again.
Warnings:
- AU
- MC
- One Piece
- Traveling with Luffy
- Main Character will beco quite OP
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