Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice

Chapter 535: The Drum of Liberation Sounds!! But Only Once

The battle situation reversed instantly.

Facing the giant mochi fist infused with Ryuo Armament Haki, Luffy was nearly unable to maintain Gear Fourth after taking just one hit.

He spat out a mouthful of old blood that flew far into the distance, and collapsed onto the ground, continuously coughing up blood.

"How is this possible..."

"Tap... tap... tap..."

Katakuri’s tall figure slowly approached Luffy. He didn’t seem as eager as before to kill him, but instead kept steadily applying pressure.

"Too weak, Straw Hat boy Luffy..."

Black · Katakuri approached Luffy and casually kicked him again, sending him flying into the distance.

Faced with the Snake-Man’s punches, he could effortlessly dodge every single one. His mochi transformed fluidly without taking any damage as he calmly walked toward Luffy.

"If this is all you’ve got, then after I kill you, I’ll kill everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates too."

Black · Katakuri said coldly.

Severely injured, Luffy froze for a moment when he heard those words, then staggered to his feet.

"Who the hell are you?!!!"

Yes, Luffy could already vaguely sense that the person in front of him was not the Katakuri he had just come to know, but someone else entirely.

"Oh???"

Orin hadn’t expected Luffy’s intuition to be this sharp, to actually sense that the person before him was not Katakuri himself.

But he had no intention of explaining.

As the two began their second round of battle,

Orin’s attention was instead drawn elsewhere.

It was a birdman who had secretly snuck in somehow.

"Caw—"

The Seagull King noticed Orin’s gaze and voluntarily flew out, heading toward a corner of the Mirror World.

Riding the wind, the Seagull King hovered in midair and saw Morgans holding a Den Den Mushi, snapping photos nonstop with an excited expression on his face.

"Caw—"

Morgans was in the middle of enthusiastically taking photos when he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a seagull. Irritated, he waved it away.

"Be quiet! Don’t you see I’m gathering news material?!!!"

"The strongest Supernova VS the strongest of the Sweet Commanders—this is huge news!!!"

He resumed taking photos, but as he continued, he suddenly sensed something wrong. A few drops of cold sweat formed on his face.

Slowly turning his head, he found himself face-to-face with the Seagull King’s indifferent gaze.

"What the... it’s the Seagull King!!!"

Morgans let out a sigh of relief. He had wondered how he ran into one of his newspaper delivery seagulls here.

But if it was this freak, then it wasn’t surprising.

Still, he felt a bit resentful.

This guy used to be just one of his subordinates—a slightly special newspaper delivery seagull. Ever since following Orin, he gradually stopped listening to him.

It was only because the bird occasionally brought back explosive news from Orin’s side that Morgans managed to keep his inner balance.

As for the Seagull King, he didn’t feel much attachment toward this former boss.

After all, back then he had to fly around delivering newspapers all day for such pitiful pay. It was nothing but slave labor. Naturally, the Seagull King didn’t have a good attitude toward him.

"Caw—" (Orin-sama noticed you. I came to see what you’re doing here.)

"What?! Orin-sama is here too?!!!"

Morgans clearly hadn’t expected Orin to also be paying attention to the duel between these two "little pirates."

Yes—little pirates.

Even though Luffy was the strongest Supernova, and Katakuri was the Yonko crew’s right-hand man and the Big Mom Pirates’ number two with a bounty exceeding one billion Belly, in his eyes, compared to Orin, the two of them were still small figures.

After all, even a mere Yonko was still an entire tier below Orin-sama.

Relying on Orin’s name, the conflict between the Big Mom Pirates, Bege, and the Straw Hat Pirates barely affected him.

Whenever people encountered him, most would silently step aside, allowing this News King to gather information freely.

"Of course I came for news..."

But as he spoke, Morgans suddenly felt something was off. Cold sweat trickled down his face.

Wait a minute.

Why would Orin-sama appear here for no reason?

Based on past experience and precedent, whenever Orin-sama appeared somewhere, it usually meant...

Huge news!!!!

Morgans looked toward the distance, where Black · Katakuri and Luffy were clashing violently. He also noticed Katakuri’s abnormal state.

Black substances flowed continuously around his body, and crimson light occasionally flashed in his eyes.

"Isn’t that Orin-sama’s Devil Fruit ability?!!!"

Morgans stopped talking to the Seagull King and instead focused intently on recording the battle with his Den Den Mushi, noticing Katakuri’s unusual condition.

As one of Orin’s intelligence specialists, he naturally knew the characteristics of Orin’s Devil Fruit ability—that pitch-black "mysterious power" capable of shattering space and destroying the heavens and earth.

And that Straw Hat boy Luffy was fighting Katakuri, a billion-Belly pirate who had obtained Orin-sama’s power?

That was equivalent to...

Fighting Orin-sama himself?

At that thought, his eyes lit up brightly, and he pressed the shutter of his camera Den Den Mushi so fast it was practically smoking.

"Ignore him, Seagull King."

At that moment, Orin understood the News King’s intentions and didn’t care to interfere.

After all, the livelier the seas were, the better~

Morgans had long mastered the art of writing exaggerated news. Orin was already used to it.

He turned his gaze back to the battlefield.

There is always a limit to sit-ups, and Gear Fourth also has its cooldown.

Facing Katakuri strengthened and controlled by [King Turn — Domination], Luffy was completely outmatched. His attack was easily dodged again, and he was kicked hard in the stomach.

"Ugh—"

Blood mixed with stomach acid was kicked out of his body in one blow. Luffy’s eyes rolled back.

The air maintaining Gear Fourth escaped from his stomach, and his entire body collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

"I-Is it... over?"

Morgans still hadn’t finished taking photos to his satisfaction. He hadn’t expected Luffy to burn out so quickly.

But Orin kept staring at Luffy, not lowering his guard.

Because he was waiting for someone’s arrival.

After waiting for a long time with no movement, Orin frowned, crimson light blooming in his eyes.

He saw a scene, and a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.

Not long after, a drumbeat sounded from within Luffy’s body.

But as if restricted or hesitant, when Black · Katakuri stood in front of him watching, it sounded only once—saving Luffy from the brink of death.

And then...

Nothing happened.

Orin: "..."

Could it be because his foundation wasn’t solid enough, and he hadn’t yet learned Conqueror’s Haki Infusion?

But the drum had already sounded once.

When he meets Kaido, he’ll probably transform soon enough...