Inside the training room.
The moment the alarm sounded outside, all the women froze and stopped chatting.
"What's going on? Why is there an enemy attack?"
Karina furrowed her brows, her beautiful face filled with confusion.
Sweetheart Queen shook her head. "Ever since I boarded this ship, we've never had an enemy attack. This is a first."
Betty took a puff of her cigarette, calm as always. "In the other three seas, no one dared to challenge us. Never thought we'd get threatened here in the weakest East Blue. What a joke."
Perona floated in the air, swinging her little fists angrily. "They even dared to shoot down our Direction Bird! Unforgivable!"
"I'm going to teach them a lesson. Let's see who else dares to provoke us!"
Nami blinked her large eyes. "The Direction Bird is so small. To hit it like that... that's unbelievable."
Nojiko nodded. "The attacker must be a sharpshooter. That's the only possibility."
Reiju leaned her delicate chin on her hand, looked ahead at the man swinging a sword, and smiled softly.
"Chris, aren't you going to check it out?"
Chris didn't respond. He swung his huge blade again, placed the blood-red sword in front of him, and slowly closed his eyes.
Seeing him like that, Nojiko asked curiously, "What is Chris doing? He doesn't look like he's thinking…"
"I know, I know!" Perona said with a bell-like laugh. "He's using Observation Haki! He did the same thing last time we encountered Golden Lion."
Karina nodded with a smile. "Yes, I thought the same as Nojiko last time. I thought he was just deep in thought."
At that moment, Chris opened his eyes, calm as always.
"Let's go take a look."
He sheathed his sword and walked toward the door.
Everyone understood—if it got Chris's attention, it must be serious.
"Let's go too. If Chris is interested, it has to be something worth seeing." Sweetheart Queen's eyes lit up with curiosity.
Betty nodded and brushed her golden hair. "For a training fanatic like him to stop, it must be rare."
Reiju looked at Baccarat and smiled. "Sounds interesting already."
"As long as Chris moves, something big is bound to happen," Baccarat said with a soft smile. "He's the kind of person you don't meet often."
"Honestly, I'm curious what he was like as a kid, but he never talks about it—he always just says 'training.'"
Betty lowered her sunglasses. "He was probably an annoying kid. No doubt."
Karina laughed. "Kids need friends. That's what makes a childhood."
"As for Chris… he probably grew up abnormally. No wonder he's so different."
The women chatted and joked about Chris as they walked toward the deck.
On the deck.
Burgess, always hot-tempered, stood up in anger.
"Damn it! Who the hell is picking a fight!? I'll kill them!"
Doc Q lay lazily on the deck, grinning. "Interesting… someone actually dared provoke us. Looks like the captain's authority is being challenged. Maybe it's time for a new leader, hehe~"
Gin raised his fists and said coldly, "This is the Chris Pirates. The captain can only be Lord Chris. Without him, there's no crew."
"In short, anyone else can be replaced—but not Captain Chris."
Since boarding the ship, and after witnessing Chris's strength, his Haki teachings, and his intense training, Gin had developed deep respect—just like Lafitte.
He had formed genuine loyalty to this crew.
Anyone disrespecting Chris would have to go through him.
Law, carrying the cursed blade Kikoku, looked up at the bird's perch. "The shot was incredible. We haven't even seen the shooter, and they hit the Direction Bird from so far away."
"No doubt about it. That person is definitely a sharpshooter."
Hawkins, as usual, flipped a card and spoke expressionlessly.
"Sharpshooter or not, the moment they fired that shot, it meant they were coming."
Lafitte adjusted his top hat calmly. "No matter who it is, they're destined to become our new crew member."
"Our crew doesn't have a long-range attacker yet. A sharpshooter would make us more complete."
Suddenly, another alarm rang from the lookout.
"Report!"
"Target spotted! A young man on a small boat several kilometers ahead!"
The lookout's voice was filled with disbelief.
To hit the Direction Bird from several kilometers away…
It left the lookout absolutely stunned.
Chris and the others arrived on the deck just in time to hear the report.
Everyone froze in shock.
Several kilometers away.
There was no need to explain how unbelievable that was.
"So scary…" Nojiko's eyes widened. "Nine kilometers?! Can anyone even see that far?"
Mehdi shook her head slowly. "Even our ship can't see that far. As for the Direction Bird? Forget it."
Perona floated in the air, scanning the sea. "So terrifying. I don't even see a shadow of a boat."
"This distance… it's insane!"
Sweetheart Queen also looked out toward the horizon. "The lookout used binoculars. We don't have those, so we can't see that far."
Nami used her hand to shield her eyes as she looked ahead—just blue sea.
Her beautiful face still full of shock, she forced a smile. "I've never heard of such a sharpshooter in East Blue."
"Looks like Chris was right. There's always someone stronger out there."
"This world is so big. What we've seen is only a small part of it. There's so much we don't know."
Karina patted Nami's shoulder teasingly. "You're our navigator—you're supposed to know the sea best, hehe."
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T/N:
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