Elementary school or university.

That was the question.

The voyage from the giants' land of Elbaf to Sphinx took one month.

And in that month…

Magnus found himself facing a new dilemma.

Ripley's feelings for him had become impossible to ignore — and as a mature man, Magnus wasn't about to pretend he hadn't noticed.

He was the White King, the sea's overlord, Magnus!

If he didn't even dare respond to a woman who loved him…

What kind of pirate would he be?

This wasn't a world where you had to drag things out after confessing.

How long had he known Ripley?

He'd met her twelve years ago. She'd sailed with him for over a year now.

What was there to hesitate about?

Besides, Ripley was a warm, passionate person.

The first day she confessed.

The second day, seeing he didn't respond.

The third day, she snuck into his cabin at night.

"Captain, I'm starting to think you're a real playboy."

Lying beside Magnus, Ripley murmured.

"You don't take initiative, you don't say no, you don't take responsibility… I put my feelings out there and you just sit there, isn't that what Lily-nee called a playboy?"

"You're mistaken!"

After a night of Ripley's soft, fiery attentions, Magnus kept a perfectly serious face.

"I don't take initiative, I don't say no — but I do take responsibility!"

"So if Miss Toki made a move on you, would you accept her too?"

"…"

"Playboy!"

Ripley bit him hard.

"Tch…"

Magnus put on an innocent look. In this sea, there was no such thing as one man, one woman. Marriage was a nobleman's privilege.

For normal people, being together and having children meant you were husband and wife.

Besides, it wasn't like he forced anyone.

Magnus didn't believe in doing whatever you wanted — he believed in the freedom to not do what you didn't want to do.

Whether it was Lily or Ripley, they'd both chosen him of their own will. Even knowing he already had other lovers, they didn't care.

A strong man owned everything. That was the law of this ocean.

But even a strong man shouldn't force others.

That was the line Magnus had drawn for himself — the change he wanted to make in this world.

If someone came to him of their own will, why should he refuse?

Of course, only if it was someone he approved of.

"Captain, I've rested enough."

"Want to train again?"

"Heehee, well I'm still young! Young people need to train a lot!"

"Why don't you grow bigger?"

Ripley's fruit let her freely change her size.

"Keeping this small must be tiring."

"What, you like bigger girls, captain?"

"You're wrong again. I like both big and small!"

Only young people cared about size.

As an old man, Magnus could only say: why not both?

September, Year 1462 of the Sea Circle Calendar.

The new White Wolf crew ship, Millennium Falcon, sailed smoothly over the waves, heading for Sphinx Island.

"Rocks-nii, the captain and Ripley-nee are training their fruit powers again."

Now nearly two heads taller than he'd been a year ago, Newgate looked toward the cabin, a little envious.

"I wish I had a Devil Fruit too."

"Hmph. Devil Fruits are weak and worthless."

On the deck, Rocks was training, sweat dripping as he swung his weapons.

"On this ocean, only Haki reigns supreme!"

"But doesn't even Haki have its limits?"

No longer the clueless rookie he'd been a year ago, Newgate now had a bounty of 30 million and was recognized as a threat.

The higher he climbed, the more clearly he felt it — humans had limits.

And if you wanted to get strong fast, a Devil Fruit wasn't a bad shortcut.

"If that's how you think, you're not worthy to be my rival!"

Rocks could feel it — his gap over Ripley was shrinking. Even with Magnus personally training her, Ripley's progress on fruit powers alone couldn't keep up with his relentless advance.

But it was Newgate who gave him the real sense of urgency.

Though Newgate's talent in physical technique wasn't quite as good, his mastery of Haki was just as fast.

And his natural physique was monstrous.

If Rocks slacked even a little, Newgate would catch up in no time.

As for Toki and Linlin…

Seeing them collapse after just a few laps around the ship, Rocks smirked. Once he beat Ripley, he'd be the strongest in the crew besides Magnus.

He'd finally shed the title of "trainee."

"Good. Just like that!"

Feeling Ripley's fruit compress his arm, Magnus nodded with satisfaction. Without using his Haki to resist, his arm had been shrunk down to a tenth its size, looking absurdly lopsided.

And that imbalance wasn't just visual — it was real.

Then…

Whum—

Haki erupted from Magnus' body, and the shrunken arm instantly returned to normal.

"If you just shrink someone's whole body, it doesn't really hurt their combat power. But if you shrink just one part — that's different."

In the cabin, Magnus lectured Ripley on how to better use her power.

Fun was fine once in a while.

But improving strength — that was a young person's true duty.

"On this sea, Paramecia Devil Fruits fall into five categories: superhuman, superbody, creation, partial abilities, and control."

"I thought the Mini Mini no Mi was a superbody type. But since you can change other things' size, that makes it a superhuman type at its core."

"Your Haki and technique have hit a bottleneck. To keep improving, you need to focus on your fruit powers now."

For someone gifted, honing one ability to its peak was far more efficient than spreading effort evenly.

But sometimes, no matter how much you poured into one path, you didn't get the results you wanted — that's when it was time to try another way.

Ripley actually had more potential than the others.

Her giant blood meant her body still had room to grow stronger.

But her Haki had stalled because the pressure on her wasn't high enough.

Unlike Rocks, who had a clear goal of surpassing Magnus, Ripley lacked that drive.

Without a sense of danger, Haki stopped progressing.

Even Newgate was showing the same signs.

That's why Newgate became "The World's Strongest Man" only after leaving Rocks and founding his own crew.

On this ocean, strength and ambition always went hand in hand.

Magnus made up his mind.

"How about a crew-wide tournament?"

He proposed.

"Whoever wins… I'll grant them one reasonable wish."

"As long as it's something I can do."

(End of Chapter)

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