I Was Here First

Longinus didn't pay much attention to World's last shout.

His thoughts at the moment were stuck on Haoshoku Haki that had just erupted.

"Ten years of buildup, one burst." Longinus whispered in a voice that only he could hear, "The power of this one seems a little different than what I perceived, and I had only intended to suppress World's momentum."

"It seems that my previous assumptions were indeed correct, Haoshoku Haki is definitely more than just a waste skill used to clear away the miscellaneous soldiers." Longinus pulled his right hand out of World's chest and looked at ease, "This time back, it looks like I'll have to ask Admiral Sengoku for advice on how to use Haoshoku Haki!"

Losing Longinus's support, World fell in response, his massive body crashing into the ground after the storm had raged.

Just then, a clear, resonant cry resounded through the clouds.

In that voice, it was humanized to contain a variety of emotions.

Longinus looked up and saw a golden streak of light across the sky as if it were sunlight, and it was too dazzling to look at that.

"The griffin? It's not dead?" Longinus was indeed a bit surprised, World's last move, but even Akagami and Katakuri had to temporarily dodge the attack, not to mention that Kairoseki imprisoned the griffin at the time. Even if it broke free, it would be hard to survive that kind of natural disaster level attack, right?

But in the next moment, Longinus had some idea of how the griffin had survived.

Only the griffin's wings were vibrating, and it appeared like lightning across space before his eyes. That kind of speed was already not much slower than after World's hundredfold increase!

"It's Soku Soku no Mi! I learned that World was deliberately feeding it the fruit so that he could sell it another favor after the griffin escaped from the BIG-MOM Pirates."

Longinus had some realization in his mind, "It should be that the Kairoseki chains happened to be shattered by World's attack, and the griffin, on the other hand, escaped from the edge of the storm using its fruit ability while being blown away."

Just as Longinus was thinking this, the griffin lay down and leaned over him, with a cheerful low cry in its eagle's beak.

"Is this ... a sign of submission?" Longinus was slightly surprised; legends said that griffins were incredibly proud creatures, as evidenced by the two griffins that died at the hands of World and Big-Mom.

But why did this "little" griffin submit of his own accord?

Seeing that Longinus was a bit stunned, the little griffin became anxious, his thick, mighty wings beating the ground hard.

The young griffin is highly intelligent, but it doesn't know how to hide its emotions, so it's easy to judge its inner thoughts.

Longinus reached out and pressed his right hand directly on Griffin's bird head, intending to read the memory.

He wasn't worried about the griffin getting violent and hurting people; even World's speed couldn't hold him; this little griffin was naturally far worse.

And indeed, the little griffin was not hostile but tilted his bird's head, his sharp eyes filled with confusion.

Quickly, Longinus withdrew his right hand.

The reason for this little griffinn's submission is quite simple.

First, the large griffin that died at World's hands was his father, which is why the young griffin would want to follow to repay the favor voluntarily.

Secondly, it was also because the aura he had just burst out was too fiery, and for beasts whose nature aspired to be powerful, only the truly strong were worthy of their following.

"Little one, then you'll be following me from now on!"

"Jaw!" The little griffinn flapped its wings happily, and with its intelligence, it clearly understood the meaning of Longinus' words.

Naturally, Longinus would not refuse such a good gift.

With the powerful talent of the Griffinn species, coupled with the Devil Fruit's power, even some sea pirates in the New World might not be a match for the little Griffin!

What's more, in many epic legends, the griffin has always been a symbol of justice and courage, and having a mount like this will undoubtedly make the banner of "justice" on his back even brighter.

"I can't call you griffin from now on, so what should I name you?" Longinus had a bit of a problem; he had never had many talents for naming names, "Never mind, let's just call you Minos."

Jaw! Jaw!

The little griffin crowed merrily, apparently not offended by the name.

...

Not long after, several figures jumped out of the giant pit in the distance in one after another.

"That's ... World!" Katakuri's eyes were drawn to the headless corpse that had fallen to the ground and said in a deep voice, "Now it seems that the previous Haoshoku encounter really was better for Longinus!"

"The great sea pirate World who almost destroyed an entire island ended up losing in the hands of that marine." Smoothie said incomparably scrupulously, "Obviously not much older than me, that guy, how in the world did he do it?"

"I've heard that many in the Marine Headquarters regard him as the successor to the marine hero Vice Admiral Garp, but now it seems that even that assessment is just an underestimation!" Beckman said in a low voice, "What do you think, Shanks?"

Seeing Shanks didn't respond for half a day, or even though he was the first to jump up to now, he didn't say a word.

"Are we going to sneak up on Katakuri and the others while we're at it?" Beckman was instantly alert and gave Shanks a subtle poke, "Wanna do it?"

"Ahhhhh!" Suddenly, Shanks screamed, not to mention Beckman, and even Katakuri and a few others were startled.

"That bastard, he's taken my griffin!"

Seeing Shanks roar at the sky, Beckman and the others followed his gaze.

There was a bit of light shining at the edge of the sky, and people were still visible.

It was only a few people with strong eyesight who could roughly make out Longinus's outline from this distance.

"Is this ... that marine that took in the Griffin and left here? Isn't it said that this creature is extremely proud and would rather commit suicide than submit?"

Cracker and the others were secretly shocked and sputtered, "What the hell is this Akagami guy? Can you even notice that? It's a shame he's not going to be a sniper."

Beckman even more helplessly covered his head, "Damn, am I sure I'm infected too? I can't believe you think this Shanks guy is starting to get ambitious!"

"Obviously I was here first, chasing or dreaming or planning to get that griffin ... Why did this happen?" Shanks reeks of a defeated dog, like a tragic man who has been confronted ntr.

Katakuri and the others were even more confused; the griffin was rare, but it was just a beast, so why would they be sad like this?

"Gentlemen, that's enough for today." Before Shanks disgraced himself, Beckman grabbed him by the back of his collar and walked straight back.

"This guy, he's really a pirate captain?" The corners of the mouths of people like Cracker twitched, only to feel that all three views were refreshed.

Wasn't the captain supposed to be the most majestic and powerful person on the pirate ship in their minds?

What the hell was that Akagami doing?