Two weeks later,
A pirate ship flying the Jolly Roger blocked their path.
"It's the Bone Crusher Pirates!" Rhett yelled from the crow's nest, "Hank 'Bone Crusher' with a bounty of 980,000 Beri!"
He'd spent a thousand Beri on wanted posters and pirate intel since landing here.
On the deck, a nearly three-meter-tall brute hefted a spiked club and sneered, "Gol D. Roger? Never heard of 'em! Hand over your treasure, and I'll make your deaths quick."
Roger picked his nose lazily. "Silvers Rayleigh, you take this one today? I'm not in the mood to move."
"Let the kid try," Rayleigh pushed up his glasses, "He's been itching for a fight lately. I'm getting tired of sparring with him. Let's see how Rhett's strength measures up now."
Rhett took a deep breath and stepped to the bow.
"You're sending a brat? Is there no one else on your ship?" Hank roared with laughter, "I'll crush him with a single—"
"You're really noisy. Mist Realm: Silent Cage."
In an instant, thick fog enveloped the area within a hundred meters. Hank suddenly realized his voice was gone—even the sound of his club slicing through the air had vanished.
What was worse, his skin began to sting—the mist was seeping into his pores!
"Damn it!" He swung his weapon wildly, but it hit nothing.
"Ahhh!" Hank suddenly dropped to his knees, screaming in agony. His eyes and airways burned as if on fire.
Rhett walked to the bow, his four-year-old frame dwarfed by the towering brute.
He knew how this went. In the manga...
"Are just experience points for the protagonist."
"How does it feel to lose your sight, hearing, and touch?" The child's voice drifted eerily through the mist. "By the way, the pH level of this mist is currently 0.5..."
Hank's bloodshot eyes darted frantically, but all he could see was the faint silhouette of a small figure moving through the white haze. The shadow flickered from the port side to the mast's peak, ghostly and elusive.
Rhett reveled in the sensation of moving freely within his domain. His resolve to grow stronger burned brighter than ever. He would never let his life be controlled by others. He would stand at the pinnacle of the world.