"That guy... Is he a Monster? How could he withstand this?" Yaoichi, the cook of the Roger Pirates, looked at the scene before him in disbelief.
At this moment, Barrett's upper - body clothes had completely burst. There was blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and an arrow was stuck in his heart. However, he had just endured Fang Yi's charged arrow at close range with his own body.
"You're probably some weird Devil Fruit user, ain't ya?" After the dust had settled and he finally regained his senses, Barrett yanked out the arrow from his heart, splashing a handful of blood. He looked up, stared at Fang Yi not far away, and actually showed a strange smile.
"Are you kidding me? You can even withstand this?" Fang Yi began to doubt his own attack power for the first time.
He had only felt this way during the battle at God Valley. Whether it was against Kaidou or Big Mom Charlotte Linlin, Fang Yi's attacks couldn't break through their defenses at all.
But after that, he had become much stronger, and he hadn't encountered any more physically - dominant powerhouses. So he had never felt that his attacks were completely useless against an opponent again.
Of course, Garp, who had been chasing them, didn't count as Fang Yi's opponent because Garp was going after their captain, Roger.
However, now, when facing Barrett, he actually felt that sense of powerlessness again, and this time his opponent was even around the same age as him.
"Never thought I'd meet someone this amazing in this place. You've really got my blood boiling!" Barrett stared at Fang Yi, grinned, and said with a smile.
He wasn't rushing to attack right now, not because he didn't want to, but because his head was still a bit dizzy.
Just now, Fang Yi's trident attacks triggered his Dizziness Skill once and Precision Skill twice. One could say he had truly endured Fang Yi's three attacks head - on.
Especially that last charged arrow. If it weren't for his powerful Armament Haki, he would definitely have been killed by that single arrow.
Fang Yi naturally knew the opponent's current state. Thanks to the system's prompts, he could figure out which skills his attacks had triggered. The charged arrow had broken through the opponent's defense, but the damage was limited. If the fight went on, he'd have to use his last AOE ultimate move.
Fortunately, after seeing Fang Yi's signal arrow, Rayleigh had brought Part of the crew back.
"Xiao Yi, what happened?" Seeing Fang Yi facing off against a burly young man, Rayleigh asked in surprise.
He was well - aware of Fang Yi's strength. On the ship, only he and Roger could outshine Fang Yi. Even Jabba and the rest weren't confident enough to claim they could beat Fang Yi. The thing was, Fang Yi's attack style was so freaky. You'd dodge or block his arrows, but they'd still find their mark.
Once, Rayleigh and the others had suspected that Fang Yi was a Devil Fruit user. But they knew that Devil Fruit users lose their ability to swim in the sea. Since they had seen Fang Yi and Wangzai playing in the sea more than once, they could only assume it was Fang Yi's unique ability.
"Mr. Rayleigh, he's Douglas Bullet. He's really strong! He took my charged arrow at close range and didn't even seem to be affected!"
But I don't know why. As soon as he approached, he attacked us, and many of our companions were injured by him!" Fang Yi briefly told what had happened and subtly reminded Rayleigh that the other party was not an ordinary character.
After Douglas Bullet saw Rayleigh and the others coming, he was not afraid at all. Instead, he seemed eager for a fight.
"Leave this to me! The captain has found the treasure and is on his way back!" Rayleigh nodded to Fang Yi, signaled that he understood, and then walked towards Douglas Bullet and said to him, "I wonder what this friend's reason is for attacking our crew?"
"Nothing. I just felt the aura of a powerful person from him, so I just wanted to challenge him!" Douglas Bullet pointed at Fang Yi, grinned, and said with a smile.
"In that case... then I'll accompany you for a while!" Rayleigh said with a slight smile.
"I'm fine with that. As long as it's a powerful person, it doesn't matter who it is! Anyway, you'll all be defeated by me!" After Douglas Bullet finished speaking, he rushed directly towards Rayleigh. Just now, he had eliminated the negative impact Fang Yi had brought to him.
Although there was still blood on his chest, he didn't mind.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..." The fight between the two was quite violent. Different from Fang Yi, as a swordsman, Rayleigh was better at close - combat. When fighting a fighter like Douglas Bullet, it was basically a fight where every punch landed.
All the crew members watching the battle, including Fang Yi, had to admit that this young man named Douglas Bullet was really incredibly powerful.
His strong physique allowed him to ignore most attacks, but his attacks were simply impossible to ignore. Fang Yi felt that if he took one of his blows, he might lose most of his fighting power.
The fight between the two continued until Roger and his men came back without a clear winner. However, Fang Yi could tell that if Douglas Bullet really fought Rayleigh to the death, it was very likely that Rayleigh would be seriously injured and Douglas Bullet would die.
Of course, this was the case if Douglas Bullet had no other tricks up his sleeve. After all, he had already revealed the Fusion Fruit, and Fang Yi didn't think he had any other tricks.
"Wow haha... This is really awesome, Rayleigh... Where did you find such a powerful young man?" After watching the fight between the two for a while, Roger said with a big laugh.
"Bang!"
"You'll have to ask Xiao Yi about that!" After exchanging a blow with Douglas Bullet, Rayleigh quickly backed out of the battle circle and said with a smile.
He already knew how strong the young man in front of him was, so there was no need to keep fighting.
"Another one?" Douglas Bullet felt a sense of danger from Roger, a pressure that neither Fang Yi nor even Rayleigh could put on him.
"Hey, kid! Who are you?" Roger looked at Douglas Bullet and asked with a smile.
"Douglas Bullet! I'm going to be the strongest man in the world! Who the hell are you?" Douglas Bullet replied in a deep voice.
Only then did he realize that he had never figured out who the strongest among these people was, and had wasted some energy fighting Fang Yi and Rayleigh for nothing.
"Captain of the Roger Pirates, Gol D. Roger!" Roger replied with a slight smile.
"Captain? That means... you're the strongest among these people?"
Barrett looked at Roger, his eyes ablaze with fierce determination, and asked.
"Our captain is not only the strongest on our ship but has also sailed these seas for several years without ever losing a battle!" Fang Yi, who had been watching the fight from the side, said proudly.
After hearing this, Barrett's eyes lit up. He said to Roger, "Very well, then... accept my challenge!"
"You? Beat me first before you even think about it!" Fang Yi didn't care who Barrett was when he saw his own captain had come.
Barrett glared at Fang Yi but didn't say a word because he really hadn't defeated Fang Yi just now. Moreover, Fang Yi's attacks were quite strange. Although they didn't pose a great threat to him, he might still have some tricks up his sleeve.
"Alright, since you want to challenge... then come on!" Roger was clearly intrigued. Such a powerful young man was really rare, so he also wanted to test the other's strength.
After Roger spoke, Fang Yi didn't say anything more. To be honest, he wasn't very confident in his ability to fight Barrett.
The fight started shortly thereafter. Different from what Fang Yi had imagined, Barrett was defeated quite quickly. It wasn't as exciting as his previous fight with Rayleigh. From start to finish, he was completely suppressed by Roger until he lost.
In the evening, the entire Roger Pirates held a banquet by the beach. Barrett was alone, hiding in the shadows, looking at them indifferently.
He had lost, and very thoroughly. He couldn't even come up with a proper excuse for himself. Although he had fought with Fang Yi and then with Rayleigh before, he knew that even without those fights, he still wouldn't be a match for Roger. Roger's irresistible momentum had completely crushed him.
"Hey... You've worked so hard today. Why don't you come over and have something to eat?" Fang Yi held a large piece of roasted meat and offered it to Barrett, asking with a smile.
Barrett glanced at Fang Yi but didn't reach for the food. He just sat there motionless.
"Are you unhappy because you lost to the captain?" Fang Yi plopped down next to Barrett and asked with a big grin.
Barrett shot Fang Yi a sidelong glance but still didn't answer.
However, Fang Yi didn't mind. While eating the food and drinking the wine, he said, "Our captain is no ordinary person. It's normal that you can't beat him! Do you know the Rock Pirates?"
"They are known as the world's top pirate group. Their captain, Rocks, is even regarded as the world's strongest pirate. But even such a powerful group was wiped out. Do you want to know how they lost?" Looking at the silent Barrett, Fang Yi smiled slightly and said.
Sure enough, after hearing the words "world's strongest" and "world's top", there was more light in Barrett's eyes.
But then, Fang Yi stopped talking and started eating instead, as if waiting for Barrett to inquire.
Seeing Barrett looking eager to ask but a bit embarrassed, Fang Yi smiled slightly and offered the food on the plate to him again. He said with a smile, "Captain Rocks, known as the strongest being in the world, was defeated by Rear - Admiral Monkey D. Garp, a legendary figure in the Navy! But that's what outsiders say. In fact, it was Garp and our captain who joined forces and just managed to defeat Captain Rocks!"
This time, Barrett hesitated for a moment and didn't refuse Fang Yi's food. He was mainly afraid that Fang Yi would stop talking halfway again.
Taking this opportunity, Fang Yi touched Barrett and completed his first contact record on Barrett.
"Is that Navy guy named Garp really that good?" Taking the food from Fang Yi, Barrett stopped being silent and asked curiously.
"Good? That guy can't even be described as good. He's just a freak! Like you, he's also a master of martial arts, and he's a powerful fighter who has never eaten a Devil Fruit. So he has no weaknesses at all!" Fang Yi sighed and said.
"Weaknesses?" Barrett was stunned and looked at Fang Yi in surprise.
He himself was a Fusion Fruit user. This ability had only brought him strength and didn't seem to be his weakness!
"Don't you know that Devil Fruit users can't swim? In other words, Devil Fruit users are beings disliked by the sea. So if we met at sea, I wouldn't even have to fight you. Just by destroying your ship, you'd be dead for sure!" Fang Yi curled his lips and said.
"… …" Hearing Fang Yi's words, Barrett was left speechless for a moment.