"Your Highness..."
On the deck of a luxurious cruise ship.
A guard, running quickly from behind, reached the bow and shouted towards the little boy's retreating figure.
"Your Highness, a ship has been sighted ahead."
"Oh! What kind of ship?"
"Don't know, too far to see the flag."
The little brat prince immediately stopped what he was doing, dropped his whip, and jumped off the man's back, taking the telescope handed over by the guard.
He excitedly ran to the bow, raised the telescope to his eyes, and through the lens, saw that in the distance where the sea and sky met, with the air distorting, a small sailboat was rapidly approaching them from their right front.
"It's really a ship!"
The little boy lowered the telescope, clapped his hands excitedly, then turned to stare at the guard and ordered loudly, "Hurry and bring out my cannon."
"Understood."
The guard quickly turned and entered the cabin next to them, pushing out a massive cannon.
"Your Highness, perhaps we should take a good look at what kind of ship it is before firing!"
The butler, looking at the excited child, hurriedly advised.
They had bombarded five or six ships on their journey, both merchant ships and pirate ships. If not for the deterrence of two warships,
They might have already been annihilated by pirates.
Don't look at them as if they are so mighty, acting as if they don't value human lives, but that's only within their own country.
Once at sea, no one recognizes the kingdom's flag they carry!
"Are you teaching me how to do my job?"
Hearing the butler's words, the little boy turned to stare at the butler, his smile disappearing from his face, replaced by a cold indifference.
Although he looked like a child, his body exuded a terrifying killing intent.
It was evident that this child had already killed quite a few people.
"No."
The butler trembled all over from the boy's cold gaze, his face rapidly turning pale.
Don't think that just because he's the ship's butler, his life is valuable.
In reality, on this ship.
No...
In their entire country, only the lives of the royal family were valuable.
Everyone in this country could be said to be a slave to the royal family.
They had the right to decide anyone's life or death.
Bang—!
He quickly knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and repeatedly kowtowed.
Dong dong dong dong dong!!
"It is I, the servant, who deserves to die, for disturbing Your Highness's enjoyment. I beg Your Highness for mercy. Consider that I have served the royal family for so many years, and treat me like a fart and let me go!"
As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at the child with anticipation.
The child met the butler's eyes, his gaze flickering, then he turned away and waved his hand, "Forget it, get out! You're really spoiling the mood. Next time you say something like that, you'll die! Don't forget your place, you are merely a slave of our clan. When did a slave ever dare to speak to their master."
"Yes, yes, yes!! Your Highness is right, I'll get out now, I'll get out now."
The butler watched the child's retreating back and breathed a huge sigh of relief. He dared not get up, nor even wipe the sweat that had appeared on his forehead.
Kneeling, he shuffled his legs and quickly moved backward.
The guards nearby, seeing all this, were already accustomed to it, their faces full of calm. It was only when they saw the butler wriggling backward like a maggot that a hint of mockery flickered in their eyes.
This guy usually bosses them guards around, but now, facing His Highness, he's just a dog like them.
"What are you staring at? Hurry and fire the cannon."
The child lowered the telescope and stared at the guard, impatience flashing across his face.
"Oh... yes, yes, yes, I'll fire now, I'll fire now."
Hearing the child's shout, the guard trembled all over, and a look of panic appeared on his calm face. He quickly picked up a cannonball from the basket beside him and rapidly loaded it into the cannon's barrel.
Then, he skillfully picked up a torch from the side, lit it with a lighter, and handed it to the child.
"Your Highness, the cannonball is loaded, the aim is corrected, and it's ready to fire."
This was not the first time the guard had accompanied the child in his cannon firing games; everything was very familiar.
The child took the torch, gazed at the small sailboat on the distant sea, whose silhouette could now be seen without a telescope, and a smile reappeared on his face.
He widened his eyes, excitedly raised the torch, and without hesitation, lit the cannon's fuse.
Boom—!
Amidst rising smoke and flickering flames, a black cannonball shot out of the barrel, rapidly heading towards the small sailboat in the distance.
"Yip!"
From the crow's nest of the Going Merry, Aro suddenly sensed something, and a red light flashed in his eyes.
He put down the telescope in his hand, turned his head, and stared to his front left, his expression turning cold.
"Isn't this asking for death?"
They had already spotted the navy and the luxurious cruise ship. Since the other party was not a pirate ship, and their routes were staggered, they didn't pay them any attention.
Gazing at the cannonball rapidly falling from the sky, he quickly drew the long sniper rifle from his waist and shouldered it.
This gun was found on Valpo's Iron King, and while it wasn't the best, it was barely adequate.
He held the gun with his left hand, gripped the stock with his right, and hooked his index finger around the trigger. A black Haki began to flow from his arm, gradually moving up his finger, into the gun barrel, and finally wrapping around the bullet in the barrel.
After countless beatings in Little Garden and fighting with two giant warriors,
The three of them had awakened their Armament Haki long ago.
It was just that their Armament Haki was not like that of Kuina and Kouta. Although they had awakened it, the amount of Haki they possessed was vastly different from Kuina and Kouta.
Currently, their Armament Haki could only manage to coat, and couldn't even achieve widespread coverage or maintain it for long.
And to improve further, they would probably need their bodies to evolve again, to improve their physical fitness, increase the amount of Haki, and then through training, they could continue to improve.
However, this was not something that could be achieved in a short period.
Even with the help of Rob and Kouta's domains, they would still need a lot of training, plus further development of their Devil Fruits, to improve.
It couldn't be helped, their physical talents determined the upper limit of their achievements.
If not for their Zoan Devil Fruits, which improved their physical fitness, they would never have awakened Haki in their lifetime.
However, compared to A'tao and A'hua, he was still much luckier.
Because he had awakened Observation Haki, which only Kuina and Kouta possessed.
This made his shooting more accurate and his range even greater.
Before awakening Observation Haki, he was just an ordinary marksman.
Even with the boost from his Devil Fruit, his perception wasn't far-reaching or as convenient, so he was only slightly better than an ordinary marksman.
Now...
With the boost of Armament Haki and Observation Haki, coupled with the keen double horns he naturally possessed from the Ant-Ant Fruit,
He felt that he was now a world-class marksman.
If he were given a high-quality sniper rifle, he was confident... he could hit anything within his sight and perception.
Crack—!
The trigger was pulled.
Amidst flickering orange light, a black bullet shot out of the barrel, piercing the air.
With a "whoosh," it rapidly headed towards the cannonball, which was completely disproportionate in size. kanδん
Bang—!
The bullet and the cannonball met in mid-air.
Without any pause, without any obstruction, the bullet directly pierced the cannonball and continued forward.
The cannonball immediately froze in mid-air, then exploded like a firework.
Boom—!
Flames flickered, and smoke billowed, obscuring the Going Merry within.
The navy, who noticed the commotion, all turned their heads to stare at the right front, covered in smoke, with disgust in their eyes.
"It's probably that disgusting prince bombarding passing ships again!"
All the ships they encountered on their journey, that so-called Prince, would bombard them.
Sometimes he would even make them bombard ships.
Pirate ships were one thing.
But he actually made them bombard merchant ships.
If the other party wasn't a member of the World Government, they would have already arrested that guy as a pirate.