Chapter 491: Progress

Chapter 491: Progress

Leo, Zoro, and Sanji go to the source of the explosion sound while the coward trio tries to stop them. Now it's not that they are worried about the 3 boys, but they don't want to cause any problems before entering the New World. Their Captain hasn't even arrived too, so they shouldn't cause commotion.nove(l)bi(n.)com

But they can't stop these boys who have been out of real action for some time. So in the end, the coward trio can only hide in the back when they arrive at the location while the 3 boys are openly watching the situation.

"What the hell are they doing?"

"A competition maybe. It can't be a war with spectators cheering on them."

What they see is a war between 2 pirate crews that is watched by so many people. The spectators are even betting on which side will be victorious. This is like a tournament instead of a war, but they truly try to kill each other.

"Are you guys new here?"

A hunched old man suddenly shows up beside them and asks.

"Yeah, we've just arrived."

"No wonder you don't know. This is actually something that started after the War of Gods. Many pirate crews tried to enter the New World, but they were stopped and could only stay here. They didn't even dare to sail around Paradise because the Marines were very active. So they stayed here and you can guess what would happen when many pirates were gathering in one place."

"They clashed."

"Correct, they started fighting each other. They fought everywhere, causing problems here and there, endangering civilians. So the Red Hair Pirates that stopped them from entering the New World took action. They forbid the pirates from fighting in any location. They could only fight here where no civilian lived. Also, they could only fight one at a time, either it's a personal battle or a crew battle."

"That really looks like a competition."

"Yeah, you can say that. This thing then becomes something like a tradition. Now pirate crews often fight here to see which one is more qualified to enter the New World. Of course, they started fighting because of arguments."

"Heh, sounds interesting. Should we join after Luffy comes?"

"Not a bad idea, Leo. We can warm ourselves up before going to New World."

"No can do, mosshead, fire brain. If we join the fight, we will draw too much attention. We should remain low before leaving Sabaody. 2 years aren't that long for people to forget. We were causing so much problem back then and our Captain was gaining too much attention in Marineford. At least wait for Luffy before you go make trouble."

Leo and Zoro click their tongues but don't say anything because Sanji is right. It will be very problematic if they gather too much attention before Luffy arrives. So they only watch the show and don't join for now.

They return to Shakky's bar after a while and finally get to meet with the others who have come here too. Everyone else has met 2 days ago and shared their experience, so now it's Leo's turn to share his experience as he has just arrived.

"Ooh, you guys look stronger now."

"Aye, big bro fire, you're here now. You can tell, huh? We are now the strongest bounty hunter group on Sabaody."

The idiots start posing to show their muscles that have developed a lot in the last 2 years. Rayleigh then tells Leo that they have protected Thousand Sunny for 2 years. The 1st year was very difficult for them as many people were attacking.

But their luck changed after the War of Gods when Red Hair Pirates came. They were trained by Red Hair Pirates who were impressed by their loyalty. It was just a few weeks, but the training given by an Emperor crew has made them get much stronger.

"Heh, should we test how strong you've become now?"

".... Y-you must be joking, big bro fire. We are stronger now, but we are not as strong as you."

"As I said, it's just a test. I want to see how strong you've become and maybe I can give you some advice so that you'll be even stronger."

Leo grins while playing with his blades, making the Duval gang cower in fear. They might be very confident with their power, but it's just among the bounty hunters and average rookie pirates here. They are not arrogant enough to face the Straw Hat Pirates' members, especially the main fighters after 2 years of training.

Too bad, Leo was not listening. He was having too much fun brawling with Sanji, so he is a little pissed they come and stopped that. Then they get into a little game of fire shooting with Leo as the shooter, of course.

Anyway, Luffy still hasn't come after a day and they wait again. Leo mostly stays in Shakky's place while waiting to play music. He didn't have that much time to play the music he loved when he was training on the island, so he takes his time to do it now.

Leo pours all the song ideas he has while training on the island. He had too many ideas in his mind but didn't have the tools to play them. He has tried to make musical instruments using anything available on the island, but he realized he isn't good at all at crafting, so he could only sing the song ideas without any instruments.

Also, he used his imagination to play the instrument in his head. He was worried that it would lower his skills, but he actually gets better now after some adjustments with the instruments after not playing them for a while.

Leo keeps playing music happily all the time that he doesn't realize 3 days have passed since he arrived here. He only realizes it when his crewmates tell him that Luffy has finally arrived. Now they can finally continue their journey after 2 years. It's time to enter the New World.

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You can read more chapters ahead of my fanfics and more pictures on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.

Voting for this book is highly appreciate. Cover image is the MC, artist's ig: @fatmaqn_

I've uploaded Chapter 529. Unworthy Yet

- Pictures of both stories (ex: bounty poster & magazine cover) by /CaptMermain

(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)