Seeing the hooked Kōzuki Oden, Brook chuckled coldly.
"If I don’t put you in your place for life, I’m not Brook."
Daring to call Whitebeard -kun? You’re wrecking the order aboard the Moby Dick!"
Even Marco, the captain of the First Division, respectfully called Whitebeard "Old Man." Yet here was the Second Division captain calling him "Newgate-kun"?
Brook sneered. "From now on, if you want to stay on my Golden Ark, Kōzuki Oden, you’ll have to call Newgate ’-san’!"
"You have two options," Brook said with a grin. "One — beco my adopted son. Two — beco my disciple. Choose either, and you can stay aboard this golden ship and be one of us. Otherwise..."
Brook shrugged, his tone light but chilling.
"Sorry, but I’ll have to toss you overboard and let Shogun Sukiyaki drag you back to prison — where you can get busy picking up soap."
Inside, Brook was already laughing.
Forget about even being an apprentice deckhand! You’ll even have to call Fisher Tiger, who’s your age, ’senior’!
"Young Master Oden, don’t!!"
The gathered samurai were already numb. This foreigner actually dared say such things — adopted son? Was he asking to die? He wanted to beco the cheap adoptive father of their future ruler?
Still, considering Brook’s strength as a master swordsman, taking Oden as a disciple was at least... sowhat acceptable.
"Such a hassle," Oden muttered. Then he smirked defiantly. "If you can defeat within ten moves, I’ll acknowledge you as my master!"
The samurai stared, wide-eyed. Was their young master truly an idiot? He was already frozen in place — how was he supposed to fight back? Clearly, he just wanted to stay aboard and made up so random excuse!
"Does this count as the first move?" Brook asked, pointing at Oden’s legs, which were frozen solid in ice. No matter how gifted he might be, he was still an eight-year-old kid. He wasn’t breaking free anyti soon.
Oden struggled uselessly against the ice.
"That doesn’t count!" Oden shouted stubbornly. "We’ll fight fair and square! I want to see if you’re really worthy of teaching !"
Even stuck frozen to the deck, Oden’s pride refused to yield. He hadn’t even seen these foreigners’ true power yet — he was caught and thrown into prison before he had the chance.
"And I want to see if you’re worthy of being my disciple," Brook replied coolly. "First, prove you can break free."
This was Brook’s ship — the Golden Ark — his domain. No way was he letting this brat dictate the rules.
...
"Good, good," so of the samurai whispered gleefully among themselves. "Brook-sama is making things difficult on purpose. Maybe Oden-sama will give up and co back ho to the Flower Capital."
...
"You’re the first man who dared question like this!" Oden yelled, veins bulging from his forehead. "I’m the guy who fought my way through half the streets of the Flower Capital! Don’t underestimate !"
Gritting his teeth, Oden gathered all his strength, trying desperately to move. His little waist twisted so hard it looked like it might snap. His face turned beet red. The samurai began to sweat nervously
.Is he gonna break himself trying?
Oden clenched his fists and hamred down on the ice trapping his legs.
Bit by bit, he worked his two swords free, tearing them from the frozen mass and hacking down at the thickest part of the ice binding his feet!
Shards of ice flew everywhere. A few blood droplets mixed in, drawing gasps from the samurai.
...
"Sha-ha-ha-ha! Brook, this little prince is sothing else! If you don’t stop him, he’ll chop off his own feet!"
Even the Golden Lion, Shiki, found himself admiring the stubborn brat.
Not bad. Not bad at all. Even at eight, this kid’s fiercer than I was.
...
"That’s enough," Brook said, satisfied.
With a casual flick of his Shichiseiken, a flurry of small sword slashes shot out, shattering the ice around Oden’s lower half. In an instant, Oden was freed.
"Whoa!" Oden exclaid, eyes wide. "That sword control — amazing! I admit it — you have what it takes to be my master!"
He sheathed his swords, grinning ear to ear, completely ignoring the small injuries on his feet.
...
"Now — make your choice," Brook said.In a blink, he disappeared and reappeared beside Oden, the tip of his icy Shichiseiken resting lightly on the boy’s shoulder. A cold killing intent radiated from the blade, chilling the air.
Oden swallowed hard. He could sense it — Brook was truly dangerous. For the first ti, he was cowed, realizing he wasn’t the one in control.
"So fast...!" Oden thought in awe.He couldn’t even see Brook’s movents. It was unlike anything he’d ever faced.
...
"Master!" Oden shouted, falling into a deep dogeza bow. "I want to learn that technique! I want to sail on this ship and see the strong fighters of the outside world!"
...
Brook grinned. "Good. Then you’ll be my first official disciple. Welco to the Hell Pirates!"
He laughed joyfully.
Another one! And not just any recruit — the future ruler of Wano, a kid with potential!
Kōzuki Oden was the sa age as Kaido. At 39, he would single-handedly scar Kaido permanently with the strike — a blow so fierce the Azure Dragon himself would crash from the skies. If it hadn’t been for Kurozumi Higurashi’s treachery — impersonating Oden’s son Momonosuke to distract him — Oden might have won that duel outright.
...
"Thank you, Master!"
Oden leapt up, nearly vibrating with excitent.Finally — freedom! He had escaped Sukiyaki’s suffocating control and joined the crew of the legendary Golden Ark.
...
anwhile, Crocus, the ship’s doctor, stomped over and slapped a thick layer of ointnt on Oden’s injured foot. The force of it made Oden yelp in pain.
This guy’s way too rough!
But when he t Crocus’s dead-fish eyes glaring at him, Oden swallowed back his curses. For freedom’s sake, a little pain was nothing.
...
"Sha-ha-ha! Since you’re Brook’s disciple now, does that an you gotta call Tiger-san?"
The eight-year-old Fisher Tiger, already towering over everyone at two ters tall, laughed heartily as he approached.
...
"Whoa!! What are you?" Oden cried, staring up at him in awe. "So cool! You look like a monster from legend! Are there lots of people like you out there?"
Oden had no idea that Tiger was only a few months older than him — otherwise, he might have been more indignant than impressed.
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122 Chapters on p@treon/tambeerg
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