Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice Chapter 52:  - 52 Defeated by Orin? That Too Is a Kind of H

A beast that knows how to endure is even more terrifying than a hunter.

That was Sammi’s instinctive impression.

He had Conqueror’s Haki Infusion, after all. At best, he could be called a rebellious flamingo.

Of course, before releasing this flamingo back into the wild, Orin had also attached a leash:

He kept a piece of his life card. No matter where he fled, even to the ends of the earth, if Orin wanted him back, there’d be no escape.

"Don’t worry,"

Orin slowly leaned back, resting his head against soft white plush, looking up with a smile at Sammi’s delicate face:

"As long as you point a gun at its head, he will be obedient."

Not to ntion—

This was a gun that ignored space and speed!

And naturally, as an angel investor, Orin also gave the guy a little bonus.

For instance—

Techniques for using Ryuo.

After all, he had made a promise to the World Governnt. Sure, breaking it as a pirate was no big deal, but he still had a bit of pride.

If the kid set sail and got himself killed right after Orin vouched for him, that’d be kind of embarrassing.

What about maintaining so cool credibility?

...

Exactly three days after releasing the flamingo—

A major headline, under the push of so mysterious force, rapidly spread across the entire world!

"Extra! Extra!!"

"Rising Pirate Star!! Heavenly Yaksha!!!"

"Recently, on the Sabaody Archipelago, he clashed with the legendary great pirate, forr Roger Pirates crew mber, next-generation king Black Gun... And was forced to retreat!!!"

From bustling cities filled with shouting newsboys to countless News Coo soaring across the seas,

They were all desperately delivering this news to the world.

...

On a deserted island—

One of the main characters in the report, Orin, had just finished another day of Warp-Warp Fruit training.

"Beru beru beru beru..."

Click.

"Moshi moshi? Trouble again, i?"

While chewing on his food, Orin looked at the Den Den Mushi that now had the cute features of a girl, and asked casually.

The Den Den Mushi’s appearance kept shifting—black hair one second, white fur the next:

"Orin-sama, the report you’ve been waiting for is out!"

"Yes! You still look super dashing, as always!!!"

"Orin-sama, should we co over to assist you—"

The topic derailed fast. Sotis overly clingy maids could be quite a headache.

Orin didn’t know about others, but he’d definitely had enough of it.

A gentle embrace can be a hero’s grave.

Politely rejecting both girls’ offers to serve, Orin hung up the Den Den Mushi.

Co to think of it, it had been quite a few days since he last read the news.

Back at the Sabaody Archipelago, he never needed to buy newspapers himself. Sammi would always send soone to handle it all.

Now, though, he had to do it himself.

So... where was a News Coo when you needed one?

Orin looked up into the sky.

It was as if the heavens knew his needs—or perhaps it was a unique ability of News Coo. Whenever soone at sea wanted to buy a paper, they always showed up at just the right ti.

"Squawk—"

Just then, a News Coo glided across the sky and spotted the uninhabited island.

These kinds of islands rarely had custors, other than the occasional docked ship.

So the seagull figured it’d just do a quick flyover and move on to the next spot.

But just as it was circling—

It noticed sothing strange: soone was actually waving at it!

An actual custor?

The seagull began descending, eager to make a sale. But at about a hundred ters up, it suddenly froze mid-air.

Like it realized sothing.

It abruptly stopped, refusing to descend any further.

Orin, seeing the tily arrival of the News Coo, was just thinking how lucky he was—talk about a pillow falling into your lap when you’re sleepy.

But just as he was reaching up for a newspaper—

The seagull stopped coming down.

Worse, when it got a clear look at his face, it squawked angrily.

The aning was clear:

"You’re that bastard on the blacklist!"

Then it turned sharply and flew away.

Orin, still holding his hand up mid-air to signal, froze.

Orin: "..."

Letting out a slow breath, his gaze turned cold.

...How ungrateful.

Eyes locked on the fleeing seagull, Orin activated his ability and instantly appeared a thousand ters above ground.

The sight of it scared the News Coo half to death. It forgot how to fly and plumted downward—luckily, Orin grabbed its tail just in ti.

"Huh? All I did was forget my wallet one ti and freeload a paper. Is that really worth blacklisting ?"

"And I didn’t even steal it—I used your own money to pay for it!"

"Go tell Morgans: blacklist again and I’ll pluck every damn feather off his bird body."

"I’ll let you go this ti!"

After using the money in the News Coo’s pouch to buy a paper,

Orin released the terrified bird and warped back to the deserted island.

Still chewing on his at stick, he unfolded the paper. The first thing he saw was a striking photo—

It was from when he and Doflamingo clashed in the red-light district, Conqueror’s Haki blasting everywhere. Must’ve been taken by a seagull without him noticing.

They called it a clash, but it was really a one-sided crushing. With red and black lightning crackling everywhere, who could even tell which burst ca from who?

Classic clickbait: one image, all made-up story.

"After eting, neither side backed down. A fierce burst of Conqueror’s Haki followed, the aftershocks knocking everyone unconscious, then an all-out brawl broke loose...

...Ultimately, he was defeated. His n were slaughtered, but in the end, he successfully retreated."

When did I slaughter his n?

They really can turn the smallest scrap of info into a whole drama.

Orin didn’t mind the edits—none of it hurt him.

But the strong n out at sea who read this paper definitely didn’t think the sa.

They didn’t know it was actually just marketing orchestrated between Orin and the World Governnt.

So after reading it, they imdiately etched Doflamingo’s na into their minds.

This guy’s the real deal.

Even though he was defeated and fled, it all depended on who he was up against.

And Orin now—

He was one of the most famous n on the sea. A top-tier figure in the world of One Piece:

"Infiltrated Marine Headquarters," "Split the sky at Loguetown," "Forr Roger Pirates crew mber," "Fought three Logia one-on-one"...

For a young man to escape soone like that was no small feat. No one would look down on it—they’d just think: badass.

Just like how Crocodile survived a fight with Whitebeard, or how Moria escaped from Kaido—both were actively recruited by the World Governnt.

Sa logic.

...

And across the sea—

A few n who cared most about Orin’s news read the report multiple tis in detail.

Like Shanks, Buggy, Mihawk...

Each with their own reaction.