On every Grand Line route, every initial island is the gathering place for Pirate Hunters, which is also the first test that all pirates who set foot on Grand Line need to go through. Only by passing this step can they become a pirate of the Grand Line.
After killing the three Pirate Hunter gangs that control Luton town, no one dared to fight them. Ross and others spent three days on the island. After the magnetic storage of the Log Pose was full, they left the Luton town and headed towards the next island.
At the same time.
Marine Headquarters has already received news of Ross's appearance in Luton town and they have also determined Ross' route.
Compared with the numerous islands of West Blue, the first half of the Grand Line also has a large number of islands, but on the Grand Line the navigation depends upon the Log Pose and Eternal Pose, plus a Log Pose needs to stay on the islands for several days to store magnetism. Routes are easy to judge.
And corresponding.
Marine owns almost all of the Eternal Pose of the islands in the first half of Grand Line. Once deployed, Marine can reach their designated location directly without the trouble of Log Pose.
"He's really here."
"Very well, I won't give you any more chance this time… Transmit orders to the G8 Branch Base!"
Doberman listened to the reports from his subordinates about the appearance of Ghost Hand Pirates and the following slaughter that took place in Luton Town, his eyes revealing a killing intent in them.
He did not intend to give Ross an opportunity to continue his journey and get stronger, He will work together with other Marines to eradicate Ross on the starting point of the Grand Line.
Under his command.
Within the G8 Marine base nearest to Ross' route, the atmosphere became serious. Numerous Marines with solemn expressions were ready for departure and a large number of Battleships gathered quickly.
Marine seldom initiates obliterating actions against pirates, but once they really focus upon a group of pirates, it is almost impossible for the pirates to escape!
Because.
In this sea, the most powerful forces are not the New World's Yonkō (Four Emperors) Pirates, not even Seven Warlords of the Sea, but World Government and Marines!
This is the period where Marines are the strongest.
Zephyr hasn't broken his arm, Garp hasn't retired and the strongest older generation are still at their peak and there are currently three Marine Admirals, Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru behind them.
It would be difficult to send troops to the sea to destroy a Yonko force, but if one of the Yonko's forces were to engage Marine head-on, there was hardly any chance for the Yonko force to win!
...
It has been five days since they left Luton town.
In the Ghost Shadow Ship practice room, Ross is standing in front of a square piece of steel, clenching his fists and punching it continuously.
He is practicing Busoshoku Haki.
With Ross' current physical strength, even while using beginner level Armament Haki, any punching bag will burst open under a single punch and only the block steel can withstand his punching power.
"Armed!"
In the process of punching, Ross constantly manipulated Busoshoku Haki around his arm to make it cohesive. Finally, after several tries, Busoshoku Haki is condensed to a certain extent, producing a qualitative change, which instantly turned his fist black.
Bang!
He punched the square steel block and the sound produced shook the whole practice room. This punch leaves a very obvious punch mark on the huge and strong steel block.
"I can only succeed about one or two times out of ten…"
Ross looked at his fist and before he could swing it again, the dark color on his fist could no longer be maintained. Once again, The Busoshoku Haki on Ross' fist collapsed.
Starting from changing the focus of his practice and upgrading his physical fitness and Busoshoku Haki, his physical fitness and Haki have been continuously improving.
By the time he arrived at Luton town, he had been able to occasionally release Busoshoku Haki hardening, but in most cases, it collapsed and could not be perfectly controlled.
And now.
Over the past five days, he has gradually mastered the real point of Armament Haki hardening and his Busoshoku Haki is strong enough to support the hardening of both of his fists. He has been gradually able to control the strength of Busoshoku Haki hardening slightly.
"Haki is up to standard, but it would be easier to harden if it could be strengthened a little more…"
Ross looked at the square steel in front of him, with a hint of thought.
Compared with Busoshoku Haki, he did not practice Observation Haki during this period, but his Kenbunshoku Haki is not low. Because Kenbunshoku Haki's practice and its use are related to keeping calm, Ross can keep calm in most cases, so he is better at Kenbunshoku Haki.
In addition to Haki.
Ross has not fallen behind in the development and practice of his Neji Neji no Mi. Although right now his focus is on Busoshoku Haki, Neji Neji no Mi is still his most important power.
From the Battle on Luton town, where he lifted the power of distortions slightly and extended it to a deeper level, it was clear that he had taken full control of the upgraded power of distortions.
Ross walked out of the practice room and was about to find something to drink and he happened to see Robin sitting at the table with a cup of lemon tea on it. He walked over and took it.
Robin put down her book and showed a palpitating smile and said.
"Captain, can you stop being so casual?"
"Don't worry, I don't mind the casualness, where are we now? How far till the next island?" Ross asked as he put down his cup and looked at the sea.
"The distance between Luton town and Elias Island, at the speed of Ghost Shadow Ship, it should be about ten days." Laffitte's figure appeared this time, responding to Ross.
Ross nodded, looking at the sea and thinking.
Robin's eyes paused for a moment on the cup Ross put back on the table, put down the book in her hand and said to Ross, "We may be blocked by the Marines on the next island."
"Oh?"
Ross turned to Robin.
Robin said in a positive tone: "Before, on Luton town, I gathered information about several islands in the nearby sea and found that Marine's G8 branch base is very close to our route."
It's almost impossible for the ordinary Pirates who has just set foot on the Grand Line to attract an all-out encirclement and suppression from a Marine branch, but the Ghost-Hand Pirates are different, It is impossible for Marines to not move against them.
The Marine branch on the Grand Line is not comparable to the West Blue branch, here they are equipped with at least two Vice-Admirals branches and a large number of Battleships.
The heavy cannons loaded on the large Battleships are far more powerful than the small cannons. It will not take them long to destroy a ship like Ghost Shadow Ship in the case of concentrated bombardment.