"Newgate~~"
Hachinosu Tavern.
After storing his share of the treasure, Whitebeard came here to drink.
Stussy sat opposite him, complaining somewhat resentfully: "That brat York ambushed me on Punk Hazard! With his Devil Fruit ability, you can guess what he wanted to do by ambushing me!"
"Oh~ You mentioned this on the ship."
Whitebeard drank calmly, as if Stussy's complaint was merely about choosing the wrong shade of lipstick before going out that morning.
"Newgate~~"
Stussy stomped her foot in embarrassment and anger.
"Why don't you have any reaction at all! I am your woman!"
"Huh? Since when are you my woman?"
Whitebeard looked confused, while Stussy angrily turned her head away.
"If you keep acting like this, I'm ignoring you!"
"Oh, ignore me then."
"Newgate!!"
"I actually think that kid York is pretty good. Young, good Devil Fruit ability... just don't know how his Haki is."
Stussy was thoroughly infuriated by Whitebeard and stormed off her seat.
"Pay for your own drinks today!!"
"Hey! Wait! Wait a minute!!"
...
"Hey! York, your bounty is out!"
Before York had time to put his treasure in his room, Rocks walked over with a newspaper and a wanted poster.
"Guess how much your bounty is, kid."
"I can't guess, but I imagine it should be at least 100 million Berries."
After all, his ability had a huge range of effect, and anyone who had tasted "meat" and didn't have strong Haki would be instantly neutralized.
The World Government's standard for bounties was based on the threat level, not entirely on combat power.
So, there was a high probability that York's initial bounty would exceed the initial bounties of Charlotte Linlin and Kaido.
"Wahahaha! 600 million Berries!!"
Rocks laughed loudly and showed the wanted poster to York. Besides the photo of York activating his ability, there was the number 600,000,000.
"How much? Six hundred million?!"
York was slightly surprised. He didn't expect his bounty to be this high.
This was his first bounty. To give 600 million right off the bat—what was the World Government thinking?
Whatever happened to the inflation of the Luffy era?!
When things are abnormal, there must be a demon at work!
York began to think deeply about the underlying intention of the World Government giving him such a high bounty.
"Could it be... they want other pirates looking to rise up to kill me?"
It was possible!
But his ability was so useful, Rocks wouldn't let him be killed easily.
Of course, just in case, he needed to improve his strength as soon as possible.
Only when he was strong enough could he be fearless against all kinds of schemes and tricks.
Thinking of this, York took the wanted poster and newspaper from Rocks.
He wanted to see what kind of story the World Government had fabricated about him to make other pirates want to kill him.
Quickly scanning the newspaper, the content wasn't fabricated much, but it clearly introduced the characteristics of York's ability.
For example, not being touched by the light, or that virgins could ignore York's ability, etc.
"Heh! The World Government's desire to have me killed is known to everyone on the street!"
"Are they that afraid of my ability?"
"Wahahahaha!"
York's reaction made Rocks laugh heartily. Suddenly, he changed the subject.
"I heard that you seemed to make a move on Buckingham at Punk Hazard?"
"Ah~ Is there a problem?"
York asked Rocks directly.
"In the pirate crew rules Kaido told me, there was no rule forbidding making a move on crewmates!"
"Or, Rocks, do you want to establish this rule today?"
"No, I don't."
Rocks shook his head.
"I just came to tell you to restrain yourself while on this island."
"This is a territory I occupied with great difficulty. I don't want it ruined by you guys over some messy affairs."
York sneered inwardly.
Who was the one who almost caused a crew-wide brawl earlier?
But since Rocks personally came to tell him this new rule, he naturally had no intention of challenging Rocks' authority unnecessarily.
"So I can't make a move on Stussy on Hachinosu, but it's fine elsewhere, right?"
"Also not on my ship!"
"Just these two places? Anywhere else?"
"No more! Just these two places!"
York nodded, indicating he understood.
After quickly storing the treasure he had been holding, York actively sought out Rocks.
"Back on Punk Hazard, you said you would teach me advanced application of Haki. When do we start?"
"In a hurry, aren't you, kid?"
"Of course! The sooner I get stronger, the better!"
"Makes sense!"
The next instant, Rocks drew his sword. Black and red Haki wrapped around the blade like lightning, and he slashed at York from a distance.
*Boom!*
With a loud bang, York was sent flying backward. He smashed through countless buildings along the way, knocked over countless pirates, and finally embedded himself into the outer wall of a building in the town center.
From the foot of the skull mountain all the way to the town center, York flew across almost a quarter of the island—almost equivalent to Luffy punching Doflamingo away.
"This... This is..."
"York, who joined the Rocks Pirates just a few days ago?!"
"Infighting?"
"Was he killed?!"
"Bring that brat York back to me in one piece!!"
Rocks' voice rang through the entire island via broadcast.
The pirates on the island trembled in fear, but no one dared to disobey Rocks' order.
They carefully pried the unconscious York off the wall, carefully laid him flat on a stretcher, and carefully carried him all the way back to Rocks at the foot of the skull mountain.
"Get a few more doctors! Treat this kid!"
...
When York woke up, he was wrapped up like a mummy.
"Ruthless enough! That bastard Rocks!"
He figured out who Kaido learned his "Kanabō Teaching Method" from.
But to be honest, after taking that slash from Rocks, he really did gain some insights and understanding.
Before this, York's training had always been unorthodox.
Armament Haki was learned purely through getting beaten up, relying on the instinct of not wanting to get hurt to successfully master it, but it was limited to the two basic applications: Hardening and Imbuement.
Observation Haki was the same: getting hit by sticks while blindfolded, learning through bodily instinct.
Similarly, his application of Observation Haki was limited to normal dodging.
Conqueror's Haki had been mentioned before.
From the moment York realized he had transmigrated to the One Piece world, it successfully awakened.
Currently, it remained at the level of proficient release, still far from Advanced Conqueror's Haki (Haoshoku Infusion).
As for his Happy-Happy Fruit, that was even more unorthodox.
It wasn't stolen, nor did the fruit actively seek him out.
It was purely created out of thin air by him constantly making wishes to a small melon, distorting reality with his will.
That was why his fruit ability was so outrageous. It not only had the application characteristics of the Mero Mero no Mi (Love-Love Fruit) but also the characteristics of an ability from another anime he had watched in his previous life.