Chapter 41: Duel Challenge
Fenrir Island, also known as “Snow Wolf Island,” is the second largest island in John’s territory, second only to Pirate Island Hachinosu.
Due to its superior geographical location and the surrounding trade route sea lines, Fenrir Island once vaguely showed a trend of rivaling Hachinosu Island, and John once considered moving his main base there.
But after some weighing, he ultimately gave up.
On one hand, the resources of Hachinosu Island and its surrounding islands are also quite abundant, no worse than that side.
On the other hand, from the overall layout of John’s territory, Fenrir Island’s location is actually quite remote; once the main base is moved there, it would almost equal giving up control of a small half of the territory.
And compared to John’s various considerations, this island rich in produce was truly perfect in the eyes of the starving Beasts Pirates.
First, this island is not too far from the Beasts Pirates’ current stronghold, almost in the adjacent sea area, which can be reached in a day.
In contrast, Fenrir Island is separated from Charlotte Linlin’s territory—Totoo Land Sea Area—by Hachinosu Island itself and a bunch of affiliated small islands, making the distance too far for her to compete with the Beasts Pirates.
As for Shiki, his territory is in the middle of the New World, quite a distance from Hachinosu Island.
Moreover, the islands under him are generally floated in the sky by his ability, so he has little interest in those islands with good locations; this time’s goal is just for Rocks’ treasure to expand his large fleet’s scale.
……
“I understand, Boss Kaido! This time I will definitely take these islands.” Burufaruto made a solemn promise.
“What islands? What are you talking about~ Why didn’t you wait for this little J… me?”
Aoxi’s light voice came from outside, followed by two small heads—one red, one blue—passing through the gate and appearing behind the wine barrel.
Burufaruto looked at the two little ones behind the wine barrel, with only half an ahoge showing, and his mood couldn’t help but lighten up.
“It’s you two brats. How’s the Haki training going?”
“Hmph~ Such a simple thing as Haki, this genius naturally mastered it easily.” Aoxi crossed her arms and proudly stuck up her little nose.
“Oh? Then later I have to test it out. At that time, you little genius better not cry from getting beaten by me~”
Burufaruto teased with some interest.
“Ho ho~ You dare challenge me even after knowing this lord has already mastered Haki? Minotaur Uncle, you guy…”
Aoxi’s ahoge shook; having achieved great accomplishment in her divine skill, she just wanted to find someone to spar with.
She crossed her arms, like a card player who had already summoned the Twelve Star Boss deck, smirking provocatively:
“Well~ I don’t dislike people with courage like you, but reality is cruel. I’ll make you know how reckless it is to challenge a god! Hahahaha!”
“Uh… huh? What sea king whip did you eat these past few days, brat? How did you suddenly get so arrogant? Also, this old man is called Burufaruto, not some minotaur!”
Burufaruto directly put his hand on Aoxi’s little head and rubbed it hard.
“Hey, mask guy, spar with me outside later too.”
Obei now spoke like a delinquent girl, challenging Ember to a fight.
“Sure.” Ember had no objection; he also wanted to see Obei’s progress these days.
“Uro-ro-ro-ro~ Interesting! Later this old man will properly see just how much you two brats weigh. If you fight well, this time I’ll take you out for a stroll too!”
Kaido has always had great interest in battle-related matters, and he also wanted to see how effective Ra’s teaching was.
“Ember, Burufaruto, don’t hold back later!”
If these two brats’ strength had reached a level that satisfied him, it wouldn’t be impossible to let them join this action too.
“Huh? We can go out to sea to play?”
Hearing Kaido’s promise, the two little ones immediately perked up; after all, they had already explored this not-so-big small island thoroughly these past few days looking for inspiration and were getting a bit bored.
However, Aoxi and Obei didn’t nod right away but looked at Ra together.
Seeing the two little ones’ eyes full of longing, Ra said flatly: “You can, if you complete my homework before Captain Kaido sets off.”
“Ehhh~~~”
Mentioning homework, Aoxi and Obei wilted a bit. Five days had already passed, and the two still hadn’t made much progress; going on like this, they really would end up bare-bottomed.
“Hm? What homework?” Burufaruto nearby asked curiously.
“Nothing! Stinky thug!” Aoxi snapped back directly.
“Why curse this old man out of nowhere, you rude little brat!”
Having been cursed for no reason, Burufaruto felt he’d asked for trouble.
“Hmph~ Have you finished your meeting? If you’re done, hurry out! This lord can’t wait to beat you up!”
Thinking of the headaches these past few days, Aoxi was eager to find a target to vent on; maybe after beating them, an idea would come—”Eh!”—just like that~
“Uro-ro-ro~ Let’s go. What’s said is said; now let this old man properly enjoy your battle!”
Kaido ended the pre-battle meeting and led the way to the training ground. Ember gave Obei a look and followed closely; the group thus arrived at the training ground.
……
Once again that clearing—
The training ground at this time was no longer empty like before; after two rounds of devastation by Kaido and Ra as well as Aoxi and Obei, it had attracted some curious Beasts Pirates members with its seemingly reshaped environment.
Quite a few members had started treating it as a daily practice and sparring venue again, after all, it was a rare open area on this island.
“It’s Boss Kaido! Why is he here?”
“Behind him are Lord Ember and Brother Burufaruto.”
“And that newly joined executive, Ra, right?”
……
“Boss Kaido, why are you here?” a combat team captain asked.
“This old man is here to watch the fight. All of you make way, clear the ground for these two to fight!”
Kaido waved his big hand, and the pirates on the training ground all moved to the sides, leaving a huge empty space in the middle.
“Hey, who do you think Boss Kaido came to watch?” Someone couldn’t help starting to discuss.
“Dunno, haven’t heard of any captains challenging each other.”
“Could it be Captain Taolong? I heard he always wanted to challenge for an executive position.”
“Possible, maybe he’s challenging the new guy Ra?”
“Shouldn’t be; Captain Taolong was just taught a lesson by Lord Ra a few days ago for causing trouble in the canteen. Lord Ra just glanced at him, and he didn’t dare say a word, slunk away.”
“Then who exactly is fighting…”
……
Amid the pirates’ discussions, Aoxi and Burufaruto walked to the center of the training ground.
Seeing it was these two, the surrounding noise instantly quieted! But it was followed by an even louder uproar.
“Ah, ah?!”
“No way! Brother Burufaruto and that red-haired brat?! How is that possible?”
“This… this, what’s going on?”
“Some kind of prank? No way?”
“That red-haired brat isn’t even ten yet, right? She doesn’t even reach Brother Burufaruto’s thigh!”
“I remember she’s Lord Ra’s sister, maybe…”
……
“Ready, brat? If you’re ready, come at me.” In the center of the clearing, Burufaruto crossed his arms and looked down at Aoxi.
Aoxi showed no intention of moving, instead dangling her hands casually and looking composed at the tall figure opposite.
“You attack first, Minotaur Uncle. After all, you’re the challenger!”
“Good kid!”
Burufaruto was also a bit speechless at Aoxi’s arrogant attitude and prepared to properly teach this brat a lesson.
“Hope you don’t cry for your sister later! Fish-Man Karate—3000 Tile True Fist!” Without saying more, Burufaruto’s fist covered in Armament Haki struck straight at Aoxi’s face.
“Whoa! Brother Burufaruto is serious, straight to Fish-Man Karate!”
“And covered in Haki, is he gonna smash that brat dead?”
“Nooo, I kinda like that red-haired brat; she helped me win a lot of money.”
The surrounding pirates seemed to see Aoxi’s small body knocked away by Burufaruto’s huge fist; some who got along with Aoxi had already turned their heads away.
However, the anticipated hitting sound didn’t come.
Just as Burufaruto’s fist wind was about to touch Aoxi, the Aoxi who had been standing still as if completely unresponsive suddenly grinned wickedly, then dodged the punch with an unbelievably fast sidestep.
“Extreme evasion, achieved! Then temporal fracture!”
Aoxi muttered game terms; of course, there was no temporal fracture in reality, just her dodge too fast.
A red flash, and under Burufaruto’s incredulous gaze, a fist wrapped in crimson Armament Haki struck his chest directly!
In an instant, his body—huge compared to Aoxi’s—flew out like a cannonball.
This scene directly dropped the surrounding pirates’ jaws; some people’s eyeballs seemed about to pop out!
“Th-that what was that?”
“Brother Burufaruto flew out! Brother Burufaruto got knocked away by that red-haired brat with one punch?!”
“This, this some illusion-type Devil Fruit ability?”
“What was that red? Ability? Or Haki?”
“Done for, I called that little radish head brat so many times; she’ll definitely get revenge!”
……
Even Kaido, seeing this, put down his wine pot and stared at the field in surprise.
At this moment, his gaze seemed to have spotted something extremely interesting.
“Cough, cough~ What a powerful fist! And this Haki color!”
Burufaruto crawled up from the distant ground, clutching his chest and looking at Aoxi. “Red-haired brat, no, Aoxi! You’re indeed no ordinary guy!”
“Didn’t I say so already? This lord is a genius; mere Armament Haki, as long as I feel like it~”
“How’s that? Still coming, Minotaur Uncle~”
“Hahahaha! Of course, this old man hasn’t met a good opponent in a long time; today perfect to show real skills!” Burufaruto dropped his hand from his chest and twisted his neck left and right.
“By the way, you little girl ‘this lord, this lord’ all day; can’t you be ladylike like your sister? What a waste of such a cute face.
Also, don’t call me Minotaur Uncle anymore!”
“Want this lord to change my words? Then you gotta win first; after all, the victor sets the rules.” Aoxi still wore a confident smile.
