On the deck of the Roger Pirates' ship, the three men exchanged glances and then fell into silence.
Bob was the first to speak.
"I'm sure you can guess why we're here. Our captain wants to invite you to join the Rocks Pirates!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gaban, who was holding two axes, leaped up and swung them straight at Bob.
"Hey! Why not let me finish what I was saying?" Bob shook his head and raised his right hand, clashing with the axes.
A thunderous sound echoed, and Gaban was sent flying back over ten meters.
If it weren't for Rayleigh stepping in to catch him, Gaban would have fallen into the sea.
"What just happened? That was so fast!"
"I couldn't see clearly. All I heard was a sound, and then Gaban was sent flying after attacking Bob!"
"..."
Gaban, who had been knocked back, looked furious and wanted to charge at Bob again, but Rayleigh stopped him.
"Gaban, your axes!"
Hearing this, Gaban looked down and was shocked to see that his axes were now covered in cracks.
"Crack! Bang!"
The axes in his hands shattered into several pieces mid-air, falling onto the deck with a series of crisp sounds.
"This..."
Gaban stared at the scattered fragments of his axes, utterly stunned.
"Don't cause any more trouble. This level of confrontation is not something we can interfere with!"
Rayleigh spoke with a serious expression, emphasizing his words.
Among the Roger Pirates, Captain Roger was known as "Gold," Rayleigh as "Silver," and Gaban as "Copper."
Gaban was the third-in-command of the Roger Pirates, but compared to Roger, his strength was far inferior, let alone Bob.
Bob had clearly held back in that strike.
"Hahahaha! Your strength is indeed impressive. It seems your reputation is well-deserved!"
Roger laughed as he saw Gaban axes shattered by Bob single strike.
"Let's continue our earlier conversation," Bob said, ignoring Roger praise.
"We'll talk about that later. I said we'd have a drink first!" Roger seemed to know what Bob wanted to say and cut him off directly.
"Our ship may not have much else, but we've got plenty of fine wine. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
"Gurarara! Then let's drink first and talk later!"
Whitebeard, hearing that Roger ship had plenty of fine wine, couldn't hold back any longer.
At Roger command, the crew brought out various types of strong liquor.
"Come, let's toast!"
Three large bowls clinked together, producing a clear, crisp sound.
"Sip~ Ah! This is indeed good wine!" Whitebeard said with a look of contentment, praising the drink.
Bob downed his wine, grabbed a chicken leg beside him, and began chewing heartily.
"So, here we are—two commanders of the Rocks Pirates and the captain of the Roger Pirates—drinking and chatting together!"
Such a scene would astonish any pirate on the seas.
If the Marines were to see this, the entire headquarters would be in an uproar.
Were the two greatest pirate crews of the New World about to form an alliance?
"At the moment, it certainly seems that way!" Roger poured himself another wine, looking thoroughly satisfied.
"The question is, are we enemies or friends?" Bob tossed the gnawed chicken leg aside and spoke slowly.
"Hahahaha! That depends on whether you want to be enemies or friends," Roger laughed heartily. At this point, he put down the large bowl in his hand, and his expression suddenly turned serious.
"Bob, how about joining my Roger Pirates?"
He had already thought of this idea when he first saw Bob bounty.
After seeing Bob in person this time, he became even more convinced of his decision.
After all, someone who could come out with Whitebeard and have a good relationship with him definitely wouldn't be an ambitious schemer like Rocks.
Moreover, during their brief interaction, Roger felt that Bob was very much to his liking.
Hearing this, Bob wine bowl paused mid-air, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
"Want me to join the your Pirates crew? Are you worthy of me?"
"Try it and you'll know!" Roger laughed in response.
As soon as he finished speaking, Bob aura suddenly surged, and his Conqueror's Haki was fully unleashed.
Seeing this, Roger clapped his hands, and his own aura also rose sharply.
In that instant.
Both of them simultaneously released their Conqueror's Haki, colliding with each other.
Everyone present could see that this wasn't a duel, but a contest of Haki.
The next moment.
The weather changed abruptly, the waves surged, and the surrounding air seemed to be sucked dry, making it difficult to breathe. The space itself appeared to distort.
The intensity of their clash made Whitebeard, who was standing nearby, unable to hold back any longer. Flames ignited in his eyes, and he tossed his bowl aside.
"Boom!"
Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki was unleashed.
The Haki of the three collided on the Roger Pirates' ship, directly stirring up a storm.
The aura shot straight into the sky, twisting the clouds above, and the sky gradually darkened.
For a moment, the wind and clouds changed drastically, and a fierce gale blew.
The faces of all three showed extreme excitement, and their Haki continued to rise.
Under the pressure of this Haki, almost all the crew members on the ship were lying flat on the deck, leaving only the three main fighters still struggling to hold on.
Rayleigh, Gaban, and Douglas Bullet.
"What's going on? How did it come to this just from drinking?"
"I don't know! If they keep this up, we crew members are going to suffer!"
"Three Conqueror's Haki clashing at the same time, how terrifying!"
All three of them possessed Conqueror's Haki, but compared to these three, they were not on the same level.
Even for them, holding on required a great deal of effort.
A few more minutes passed, and only Rayleigh and Gaban were still standing on the ship.
Bullet was already half-kneeling on the deck.
Rayleigh could no longer hold back and said to the three, "If you don't stop now, something big is going to happen!"
"..."
"It seems we need to stop here for today!" Roger said regretfully.
Without waiting for the other two, he immediately began to withdraw.
Seeing this, Bob and Whitebeard didn't hesitate and quickly retracted their haki.
"Hahaha! I didn't expect you to be so young, yet your Conqueror's Haki is so profound. It's truly surprising!"
Roger picked up his wine cup and laughed.
Hearing this, Bob shrugged.
The reason he chose to use Conqueror's Haki was mainly to see how the future Pirate King Haki measured up.
He wanted to see if he could learn a thing or two and improve his own Haki level.
After all, his Armament Haki and Observation Haki had already reached advanced levels, and only his Conqueror Haki was still lacking.
"Actually, this is just my weakest aspect!" Bob raised an eyebrow and spoke slowly.
"Oh~"
"It seems I still have to give it a try!"
With that, Roger lifted one of the supreme-grade swords, 'Ace' and swung it directly at Bob.
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