Since Fang Yi's victory in the battle against Barrett, Barrett had always been trying every means to get Fang Yi to fight with him again.
However, Fang Yi kept finding various excuses to avoid it. Only when he couldn't put it off any longer would he have a spar with Barrett, but he never gave his all. Naturally, Barrett was not satisfied with such results.
"Fang Yi! Do you look down on me? Do you think it's not worth using your full strength against me?" One day, after another spar between Barrett and Fang Yi ended with Fang Yi conceding defeat, Barrett finally couldn't hold it back and questioned Fang Yi.
"No, Barrett!" Fang Yi shook his head and said, "There's no doubt about your strength. You don't have to prove yourself by defeating me! It's not that I didn't use my full strength in our battles, but I really can't beat you! Of course, it's a different story in a real life - and - death battle. But in a spar with a companion, I won't use some moves that might cause problems!"
Fang Yi's words made Roger and Rayleigh, who were standing beside them, nod involuntarily. They also thought Fang Yi was right.
The move Fang Yi used that day was very strange and quite powerful. But they could also tell that Fang Yi himself probably hadn't fully mastered it, otherwise he wouldn't have shown a surprised expression after using it.
Roger highly approved of Fang Yi not using such moves in a spar with a companion.
But in Barrett's view, it was a different story. It was obvious that Fang Yi still had some tricks up his sleeve but just didn't want to have a serious fight with him. This really dissatisfied Barrett, who had always aimed to become stronger.
"Barrett!" Fang Yi looked at Barrett seriously and said, "Do you still remember what I told you? Becoming strong is a goal, but what do you want to do after you become strong? What I hope is to protect my companions! So, no matter what, I definitely won't use such dangerous moves against you, my companion!"
After hearing Fang Yi's words, the confusion in Barrett's eyes reappeared. He felt that the longer he stayed on this ship, the more confused he became, because he just didn't fit in with the people on this ship.
He had tried to change. After Fang Yi talked to him before, he had also thought about the purpose of his becoming strong.
After thinking carefully for a long time, he felt that he wanted to become strong so that he wouldn't have to rely on others and could do whatever he wanted on his own.
However, the members on this ship all trusted their companions so much. They believed that having companions was surely better than going it alone.
So Barrett also began to try to accept this view. After all, whether it was Roger and Rayleigh, who were stronger than him, or Fang Yi, who was about the same as him, they all thought so.
Yes, in his heart, he thought Rayleigh was stronger than him. As for Fang Yi, he still thought he was stronger.
But after he lost to Fang Yi in the last battle, Barrett felt a deep sense of betrayal. Didn't they agree to be honest with each other among companions? Why did Fang Yi have more powerful moves but never use them?
Besides this sense of betrayal, Barrett also started to question himself. Was he really not suited to this way?
When he focused on himself, he clearly got stronger very quickly. However, when he was influenced by Roger, Fang Yi and others, he felt that he not only failed to get stronger but even started to regress.
So, taking all these reasons into account, Barrett began to have self - doubts.
Watching Barrett leave quietly, Roger and Rayleigh frowned. They thought what Fang Yi said just now made a lot of sense and was without problems, but Barrett seemed very down.
After thinking for a while, Roger walked directly towards Barrett. It seemed like he had something to tell Barrett.
After this event, Barrett never looked for Fang Yi to fight again, not even for a spar. But he still challenged Roger from time to time.
As time went by, Roger, who was nearing fifty, still was full of vitality. Even though he was terminally ill, he still lived a magnificent life, whether it was in battles or at banquets.
"Hey~~ Captain, look! That guy Sengoku... has actually become an Admiral!" One day, while sailing on the sea, a newspaper was delivered by a news bird.
"Really didn't expect that guy Sengoku... actually became an Admiral!" Looking at the news in the newspaper about Sengoku's promotion from rear - admiral to Admiral, Roger couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Eh? Captain! Will Sengoku stop chasing after our tails from now on? That guy is really annoying!" Upon hearing that Sengoku had been promoted to Admiral, Fang Yi actually let out a sigh of relief.
Unlike naval officers like Garp who rely directly on their strength, Sengoku preferred to plan battles meticulously before engaging. And Roger had a personality similar to Garp's, which led to the Roger Pirates often being outwitted by Sengoku. So Fang Yi had reached the point where he got a headache just hearing Sengoku's name.
Now that Sengoku had been promoted to Admiral, as far as Fang Yi knew, Admirals of the Navy didn't go out on missions as frequently as rear - admirals. Unless there was a major event, they generally stayed at the Navy headquarters of Marineford.
"That's hard to tell. I heard that a lone pirate has emerged recently, a guy called The Red - Haired Recluse. He's incredibly powerful. So even though Sengoku has been promoted to Admiral, he definitely still has to take part in battles. After all, the Navy won't let such combat power go unused!" Rayleigh shook his head and said.
"The Red - Haired Recluse?" After thinking for a moment, Fang Yi finally recalled who Rayleigh was referring to. That was a tough guy who didn't need companions and could roam the seas on his own. He was a bit similar to Barrett, but his style wasn't as extreme as Barrett's.
"That doesn't concern us. We still have our own business to attend to!" Roger grinned and said cheerfully.
"By the way, Roger... regarding the clues to that thing we found last time... what are you going to do with them?" Rayleigh hesitated for a moment and then asked.
"Rayleigh, we don't need such a thing! That thing is good for nothing but triggering a world war. What we're after... is just freedom!" Roger replied with a smile.
"I see. That's it. I understand!"
Rayleigh nodded and said, "Then do we need to destroy those clues?"
"No need. As long as people continue to pursue the answer to freedom, this will never come to an end! And what we need to do is to record and observe all this, and guide it to where it should go!" Roger shook his head and replied.
Fang Yi, standing beside them, remained silent.
Some time ago, when they were searching for the Poneglyph, they accidentally discovered something extraordinary, the so - called Ancient Weapons.
When the clues were found, Fang Yi got excited for a moment. After all, these were the legendary Ancient Weapons!
However, Roger didn't care at all. He thought that the existence of such things would only bring disasters and have no benefits at all. So they didn't follow the clues to continue searching, which made Fang Yi feel a little regretful.
Of course, he didn't necessarily have to obtain the Ancient Weapons. Just like what Roger said, he also thought that these things were not good. Once you got them, it would inevitably arouse the jealousy of various forces, and you would very easily become a target of public criticism.
"Brother Yi!" Just when Fang Yi was still deep in thought, suddenly Shanks' shout interrupted his train of thought.
"Oh, it's Shanks! What's up? Do you need something?" Fang Yi asked with a smile.
"Yeah! Can you spar with me? I seem to have made some progress recently!" Shanks said somewhat shyly.
"No problem! Can I use a dagger?" Fang Yi nodded and replied.
"Well... all right!" Originally, Shanks hoped that Fang Yi would use a bow and arrow. But when he thought about the continuous attacks after Fang Yi used the bow and arrow, he estimated that he wouldn't be able to show his full strength at all. So he had to nod and agree.
"Then let's get started! Don't underestimate me just because I'm using a dagger!" Fang Yi took out the dagger from his thigh, twirled the dagger in a fancy way, and said with a smile.
"Yes! I'll go all out!" Shanks nodded and replied.
"Then I'll attack first! Shave!" As soon as Fang Yi finished speaking, he disappeared from the original place. When he reappeared, he was already behind Shanks, and the dagger in his hand was directly stabbing at the other person.
"Clang!" Fang Yi's attack was directly blocked by Shanks.
"Brother Yi, I can handle this level!" Shanks, holding a sword in both hands, blocked Fang Yi's dagger and said with a smile.
"Really? Don't be careless!" Although he only had one dagger, Fang Yi's attack speed suddenly increased. The dagger fluttered up and down, instantly creating a large number of afterimages.
The source of this increased speed is the Rapid Fire skill. When using a bow and arrow, it can increase the speed of shooting arrows. In close - combat, it can increase the speed of attacks. It's a very useful skill, but unfortunately, it can't be upgraded.
Facing Fang Yi's rapid attacks, Shanks didn't dare to be careless. He quickly stepped back while trying to dodge Fang Yi's attacks. Only when he really couldn't dodge did he choose to block.
Because of the Accuracy skill, even when using a dagger, as long as the target is within his attack range, the Accuracy skill may be triggered.
Shanks clearly knew this fact, so he kept backing away, trying to get out of the attack range of Fang Yi's dagger.
But Fang Yi wouldn't let him go so easily. He kept chasing after Shanks and launching continuous attacks.
In this way, from the onlookers' perspective, it was Fang Yi chasing Shanks with a small dagger and activating the Precision skill from time to time, making Shanks look quite embarrassed.
"Hey... Shanks, seriously? Xiao Yi is just using a dagger!"
"What a [Monster]-like figure! Xiao Yi's current strength is probably no less than that of Mr. Rayleigh!"
"I don't know. Anyway, he could completely defeat me a long time ago!"
The onlooking members chatted while watching the battle between the two.
"Ah... Ha!"
Just when Shanks was forced into a corner by Fang Yi and had nowhere to retreat, Shanks let out a loud roar, and a terrifying aura emanated from his body.
"This... This is... [Conqueror's Haki]?" Fang Yi's movements immediately became stiff. When the [Conqueror's Haki] swept over, he felt like being targeted by a wild beast. All the muscles in his body seemed stiff, and his brain was even hit by a strong shock, almost making him pass out.
After all, it was quite difficult to face the [Conqueror's Haki] directly without any defense.