"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out. An unknown bird flying in the air dropped directly into the sea not far away.
"Aahaha... I told you! You, kid, are a genius at shooting. Why are you still learning swordsmanship from Mr. Rayleigh? Come on, learn shooting from me! Silly boy!" Seeing Fang Yi shoot down the flying bird in the sky with one shot, the sniper Peterm laughed heartily while patting Fang Yi on the shoulder.
Fang Yi, holding the sniper rifle, gave a slightly shy smile. That shot just now was definitely not the result of his aim, but the effect of triggering the skill [Precision]. This can be seen because the skill [Precision] had gained some experience.
Since Fang Yi gave gifts to the crew members, they had become a bit closer to him. Occasionally, some crew members would deliberately joke with him or teach him some practical combat skills.
"Xiaoyi really has a talent for shooting. Why don't you consider it? You can actually learn swordsmanship and shooting at the same time!" Rayleigh, standing beside them, nodded with a smile and said.
As the first mate and also an old and kind - hearted man who was willing to promote new talents, Rayleigh would never refuse Fang Yi's requests for advice whenever he had time.
They had been away from Water First Star Island for several days. But since they had no destination, they could only wander around aimlessly on the sea. The bored sniper Peterm dragged Fang Yi to try using a firearm, and that's how the previous scene happened.
In fact, Fang Yi also knew that with his [Precision] skill, this kind of long - range attack could achieve effects that an ordinary sniper couldn't.
But he didn't want to be a sniper because he was thinking further ahead.
In this world, if one wanted to become a strong person, Haki was indispensable!
However, even a sniper with Haki couldn't become a top - tier strong person. Why was that?
It was because of the existence of Observation Haki. Others could foresee your attacks, especially those top - tier strong people. Their alertness to danger was extremely high. This kind of ultra - long - range sniping, although it could keep oneself safer, also gave the opponent enough reaction time. So, real strong people must be extremely powerful in themselves, rather than relying on external objects like sniper rifles.
"Who told you that snipers can't fight in close - quarters? We can still fight up close while using firearms. Whether it's ultra - long - range or close - range, especially in close - range combat, because of the powerful shooting force of the sniper rifle, the bullets fly faster and are even harder to defend against!" After hearing Fang Yi express his opinion, Peterm curled his lips and said disdainfully.
"But... if you fight against Mr. Rayleigh, he won't give you a chance to fire, and even if you do fire, you won't hit him!" Fang Yi still shook his head and said stubbornly.
"Hey! You little rascal. You're so annoying!" Peterm felt that he couldn't win the argument with Fang Yi and immediately became a bit angry. After scolding Fang Yi, feeling refreshed, he left Fang Yi alone and went to drink by himself.
Fang Yi rubbed his head and secretly vowed in his heart that once he was strong enough to beat Petrem in the future, he would definitely teach him a lesson in the same way.
"Actually, what Petrem said isn't entirely wrong. A real sniper is indeed terrifying. Just as you said, if I were to fight him, I wouldn't give him a chance to shoot. But why? Because once a sniper gets to fire, the consequences can be dire!" Looking at Fang Yi, who was clearly dissatisfied, Rayleigh said with a gentle smile, "You have great talent in shooting. Don't waste it! The path is yours to walk. You need the courage to surpass yourself!"
Hearing Rayleigh say the same thing, Fang Yi began to seriously consider it.
First of all, based on his [b]Precision Skill[/b], using a sniper rifle or a flintlock pistol definitely wouldn't work. Their firing rates were too slow to give full play to his advantage. However, if he had a Gatling gun, Fang Yi wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Just imagining the scene, with thousands of bullets being fired in a minute, even if the skill trigger rate was only ten percent, there would still be hundreds of bullets hitting the enemy with absolute precision. If he coated all the bullets with Armament Haki, Fang Yi believed that no one would be able to stand against him at that time. That picture was both too beautiful and too cruel, but he could only dream about it.
So, after ruling out sniper rifles, the only type of firearm he could choose was the pistol.
Fang Yi knew quite a few powerful people who used pistols. Whether it was Izou, the captain of the 16th division of the future Whitebeard Pirates, or Benn Beckman, the vice-captain of the Red-Haired Pirates, one of the Four Emperors' pirate crews, they were all powerful figures who used pistols as their weapons.
However, Fang Yi's situation was different from theirs. His greatest reliance was his [b]Precision Skill[/b], so he needed a means to attack the enemy in large quantities and at high speed in a short period of time.
"Enemy ships spotted ahead!"
Just as Fang Yi was still immersed in his thoughts about the future, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, pulling him back to reality.
"Could it be the Navy again?" With this question in mind, Fang Yi immediately ran towards the front of the deck.
"Captain! It's the Rocks Pirates!" Just as Fang Yi had just reached the deck, he heard Rayleigh announce the identity of the enemy.
"The... the Rocks Pirates?" Fang Yi widened his eyes, asking in disbelief.
"Ah~~ Yes! The Rocks Pirates! A bunch of tough guys!" Hearing Fang Yi's involuntary exclamation, Roger smiled and said.
"Mr. Petrem, can you give me a weapon!?" Fang Yi swallowed hard and then looked at Petrem, the sniper who had come over, and said.
"Oh? Kid, what do you want to do? This level of battle isn't something you can get involved in!" Petrem frowned and asked.
"No!" Fang Yi shook his head and said, "I just want to protect myself!"
"Hahaha... Kid, you're quite smart! Come on, I'm rooting for you!" Petrem was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing and threw his pistol from his waist to Fang Yi.
Standing behind everyone, watching the two pirate ships getting closer and closer, Fang Yi's palms were already soaked with sweat.
He had never expected to encounter the legendary Rocks Pirates so soon. Everyone knew that they were a truly notorious pirate crew that committed all kinds of evil!
Opposite the Oro Jackson, on a huge tower ship, Rocks, the captain, was looking bleary - eyed. The hangover from last night made him seem a bit listless.
"Captain, there's a pirate ship over there. It didn't change its course after seeing us! Lord Silver Axe is already planning to take some men over!" A pirate whispered cautiously beside Captain Rocks.
"Got it. Leave it to Silver Axe to handle! Tell him to give me half of the spoils, and the rest is his!" Rocks yawned, turned over, and went back to sleep.
The reporting pirate opened his mouth, about to say something else, but seeing that Captain Rocks was already asleep, he wisely kept quiet and ran to convey the message to Silver Axe.
Silver Axe was one of the senior cadres of the Rocks Pirates. He and Shiki the Golden Lion were known as the Gold and Silver Admirals under Rocks, and he was one of the powerful big - time pirates.
"Oh? They're leaving half of the spoils to me. How sad! But in that case, none of you will step in, right? After all, if one more person gets involved, the rewards will be too meager!" Silver Axe said with a smile to several of his companions after hearing the message from Rocks.
"I'm not interested in treasure, but Silver Axe, Roger isn't that easy to deal with. You should be careful!" A man with long golden hair, holding a huge naginata and wearing a white hat, said softly.
"Hahaha... Don't worry, Newgate. Although the Roger Pirates has gained quite a reputation recently, they're still far inferior to our Rocks Pirates!" Silver Axe replied dismissively.
As for Shiki the Golden Lion, sitting on the ship's side, and the voluptuous Charlotte Linlin, both remained silent, seemingly waiting to watch a good show.
"Here they come!" When the two ships were quite close, Roger drew his weapon and said softly.
"Hahaha... You must be Roger, the captain of the recently - famous Roger Pirates! Hand over your treasure, and I'll let you go!" A huge man holding a silver one - handed axe jumped directly from the Rocks' pirate ship onto the Oro Jackson and said with a laugh.
"Hahaha... Lord Silver Axe, don't scare the hell out of them!"
"Yoo - hoo!"
Along with him, there were twenty or thirty rather fierce - looking pirates who were cheering him on.
"Who is he?" But before Roger could reply, Fang Yi asked the crew beside him looking completely bewildered.
Coincidentally, although Fang Yi's voice wasn't very loud, there happened to be no one speaking on the opposite side when he asked the question, so his voice carried over, and both sides heard it clearly.
The situation was a bit awkward at the moment. Both the Roger Pirates and the pirates who had jumped over were looking at him strangely, which gave Fang Yi a very bad feeling.
Actually, it wasn't Fang Yi's fault. The reason he knew about the Rocks Pirates was that three of the future Four Emperors were from this ship, and there was also a powerful figure like the big - time pirate Shiki the Golden Lion.
But obviously, this person wasn't any of the four people he knew.
"Kid... Are you provoking me? Good! You've successfully aroused my anger... Now I'm gonna kill you all and then take your treasures. Go to hell... and repent!" Although it was just a kid talking, this embarrassing situation still made him a bit angry.
Fang Yi, whose face was almost turning green, just wanted to find a place to hide immediately.
He didn't know this person, but since the Rocks Pirates sent him out, there must be a reason.
As you know, the Roger Pirates were no longer novices on the sea. Even in the New World, they had a certain reputation, and all of this reputation was earned through real battles.
But now, he had been targeted by such a person. Without a doubt, one [b]move[/b] from the opponent would likely cost him his life.