Riven held his left eye shut, doing his best to calm his breathing, and locked his Observation Haki tightly onto the tall one among the many Marines.
His finger lightly rested on the trigger, then decisively pulled it.
"One-shot Style · Fate Kill," Aspiring to become someone who learns Naming-Naming Fruit abilities, Riven would never allow his sense of style to be lower than others, even if it was just one bullet fired using Observation Haki.
Puchi!
Along with a sound of flesh being torn apart, a splash of flying blood burst into the sea and began to scatter into the ocean.
The figure falling from the sky was extremely tall, clearly a head above the surrounding Marines in height, but appeared rather thin. His eyes still held an expression of disbelief, terror, and powerlessness,
Then slowly sank into the sea.
"Hey! Kuzan!", A nearby Marine who was participating in the battle shouted when he saw this, and didn't forget to use Moonwalk to rush to the rescue.
As a veteran from Vice Admiral Garp's ship, he clearly knew this young soldier's potential and Devil Fruit ability. He knew this kind of talent must not fall here.
"My ability…", Sinking slowly to the bottom of the sea, Kuzan felt the intense pain from the root of his thigh, as well as the powerlessness and the suffocating sensation all over his body.
In his mind, a ridiculous thought emerged, 'Who the hell uses seastone just to shoot at a grunt.'
However, just before he hit the water, he also vaguely saw the one who fired the dark shot, 'It seemed to be a guy with long black hair.'
———
"Tch! Is this a man's instinct or what, my Observation Haki's aim still missed?"
Seeing with Observation Haki that he didn't hit the spot he wanted to, it also meant that he couldn't give birth to the first female admirals in the history. [T/N: Because he aimed at Kuzan's crotch and it missed, saving him his male genitalia]
Riven curled his lips, feeling a little regretful.
But he wasn't the type to put all his eggs in one basket. Isn't sharing the blessings a good thing?
"Going up close with a knife fight or something... yeah, not my thing. Being a sneaky sniper from the high ground is the true path to victory."
Watching Riven's increasingly proficient marksmanship, Bittam, who was mainly responsible for intercepting flying cannonballs, felt a mix of comfort and cold sweat.
'This kid really doesn't act like a human being.'
The chase was somewhat tense, but overall, due to the high average combat power of the Roger Pirates, they still held the advantage and were gradually pulling away from the Marine battleships at a steady pace.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"My damn Armament Haki…"
Once again hit by a bullet sensed through Observation Haki, only for it to be blocked by the Armament Haki covering his crotch, Riven felt helpless.
Dealing with the low-level grunts was fine, but if the opponent had even a bit of dual Haki, he was completely out of options. None of his attacks could break through or even track them properly.
Of course, thanks to his extremely refined Observation Haki, no bullet had managed to hit Riven either.
"Just wait till I develop Armament Haki and Future Sight. Let's see if you can still protect yourselves then."
Clack!
With agile movements, Riven slung the gun over his back and slid down the rope from the lookout post like a wisp of smoke.
Since he hadn't developed yet, there was no need to force himself into such high-level confrontations. After all, those Advanced Armament Haki attacks, just touching them would kill him, grazing him would wound him.
The other crewmates on deck, seeing the small figure with the gun retreating into the cabin, said nothing.
After all, against this group of elite Marines, a nine-year-old child was of no use. Forcing himself to fight would only distract them as they'd have to protect him.
Same went for Buggy and Shanks. The crewmates didn't have time to worry about them either, making them no different from Riven.
Even though Riven believed that right now, Shanks and Buggy combined still couldn't beat him.
But in the eyes of the official crew, the three brats were all about the same, equally weak.
"Hey! Shanks, that Riven guy's definitely already hiding somewhere. We should hurry up too."
"Don't be like that, Buggy! This is the fight of true men upon the sea."
Sensing with Observation Haki that two figures were still lingering on deck, Riven paused and turned to head toward the other side of the ship.
In truth, Riven was essentially someone who sought fun, which is why he liked traveling the world and doing whatever he wanted.
Even his obsession with becoming strong came from a desire to have fun freely, not to be treated as the fun.
Seeing those two clowns still lingering on deck, Riven curled a smile and didn't rush back to the cabin.
On deck, a red-nosed brat was dragging a red-haired brat, while the black-haired kid with a gun was sneaking up on them.
It seemed that Shanks was holding a sword, eager to join the battle, while Buggy was trying to persuade him to hide together. Because he couldn't pull Shanks away, they were now arguing.
To be fair, though Buggy was a little jerk, he was still a guy with feelings.
"Buggy, who are you calling a coward hiding away?", Silently, Riven suddenly slapped Buggy on the back as he was struggling. His creepy voice whispered in Buggy's ear, nearly scaring both of them to death.
"Riven! You bastard! Can't you make a bit of noise when you walk?", Buggy was his usual hot-headed self, but after yelling, seeing Riven suddenly appear made him instantly want to drag him along with Shanks to go hide.
After all, they didn't dare go near Garp's warship, and standing here on deck, they had no long-range attacks, plus they had to dodge incoming bullets.
Not everyone can awaken Observation Haki at age nine.
"Hey, Riven, let's head back to the cabin together," Buggy took the lead and invited him to form a retreat team. Riven thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Just like Riven, Buggy had only recently joined the Roger Pirates. He wasn't yet the "three-days-no-sleep demon" of a few years later and hadn't experienced real combat yet, his reaction was normal.
But Buggy looked at Shanks, who was still crouching at the edge of the ship watching the action, and felt a headache. That guy had been adventuring with the Roger Pirates since birth, stubborn as hell.
"What's going on?", Riven casually blocked a bullet from afar with his black rifle and looked at Buggy's awkward expression, a bit confused.
But seeing that Shanks hadn't moved a step, he instantly understood.
The Three Idiots of the Underworld were always a trio. Shanks really was no help, just a burden.
This wasn't the future Wano War where generals face generals and grunts face grunts, with Whitebeard's apprentice sailors to stall Shanks.
Any one of these elite Marines, with a bit of Haki in their attacks, could easily take the life of a nine-year-old redhead.
'Sure, we know you'll be amazing in the future. But right now… You haven't grown yet. Don't be reckless.'
Seeing Shanks still crouching at the edge of the deck, watching the fight, Riven motioned for Buggy to step aside.
With Buggy staring blankly, Riven raised the black rifle and aimed at the back of Shanks' head.
Bang!
After all, with monstrous talent and relentless training, even now Riven figured he likely wasn't weaker than a young Whitebeard in terms of raw strength.
This rifle butt strike sent the future Emperor Red-Hair's eyes rolling white.
"Not bad. Young Riven vs. Young Red-Hair,"
"Young Riven wins," Riven nodded in satisfaction and, under Buggy's stunned gaze, dragged Shanks by the collar back toward the cabin.
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