“4787, 4788…”
The Little Red Flower Invincible floated on the sea surface.
Kane swung a barbell like a sword as he trained.
The barbell was loaded with five 100kg plates on each side.
Beside him, the three little ones sat sprawled on the deck, while Law lay motionless on his back.
They had trained alongside him, but Kane’s training intensity was still beyond what they could handle.
Round after round of training, the three little ones collapsed first.
But that also gave them more rest time.
By now, they had recovered quite a bit and could sit up to watch Kane train, feeling somewhat involved.
Then there was Law — he had lasted more than twice as long as the three little ones before falling.
He still hadn’t recovered, his chest heaving like a bellows.
He didn’t want to move at all.
“4899, 4900…”
Seeing Kane’s training finally nearing its end, the three little ones jumped up and dashed into the cabin.
“4998, 4999, 5000.
Whew~”
That felt good!
Buck truly lived up to being a pirate who had sailed the Grand Line — he gave Kane the highest potential boost so far.
The training results over these past few days had been noticeably better than before, which made Kane feel great and set off a chain reaction.
He kept raising the training intensity, and the potential gains each day grew accordingly.
“Brother Kane, you’re amazing!” Shachi handed over a damp towel, then muttered quietly, “When will I be able to train at your level?”
“Hohaha!
As long as you keep at it, you’ll get there soon.”
“Captain, have a seat.” Bepo brought over a chair and placed it behind Kane.
“Thanks, Bepo.
I’m fine sitting on the ground.
You don’t have to go through the trouble.”
“Captain, I’ve got juice ready in the kitchen.
Have a sip of water for now — I’ll bring the juice out in a bit.” Penguin handed over a glass of water and headed back to the cabin.
“Alright.
You’re very thoughtful, Penguin.”
From a scientific standpoint, after intense exercise, you shouldn’t chug water.
You should take it slow and rehydrate gradually.
However, Kane could basically ignore that advice.
With his current physical condition, he’d be a minor superhuman compared to his previous life.
Even if he chugged water or gorged on food right after exercise, it wouldn’t be an issue.
But since Penguin had gone to the trouble, Kane decided to listen anyway.
Besides, he was trying to avoid doing it himself.
You might not see any immediate problems, but if some hidden ailment or long-term issue cropped up later, who would he even complain to?
It wasn’t like he was on a battlefield fighting for his life where he couldn’t afford to be careful.
After all, it was his own body.
Kane took a sip of water and looked at Law: “Hey.
You dead yet?”
Law raised a hand and waved it weakly.
“If you can’t even handle this, what are you going to do when you face Doflamingo?”
“Are you going to ask him to stand still, stick his neck out, and let you chop away?”
Kane habitually ran his mouth.
Seeing Law suddenly sit up, he added: “That wouldn’t work either.
He has Haki to protect himself.
Even if he stood there and let you swing until you collapsed from exhaustion, you probably couldn’t even break through his defense.”
“Bullshit!
That’s never going to happen!
I will kill that bastard with my own hands!”
Law roared — and it was only in front of Kane and the others that anyone would ever see him like this.
Just as Law was about to continue, a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind.
“Haki…
what did you just say?
What’s Haki?”
“Is it some hidden trump card Doflamingo has?”
“No — you’re not a prince of some great kingdom, nor are you a high-ranking official’s descendant with access to Doflamingo’s secrets.”
Law wasn’t tired anymore.
His eyes gleamed: “So Haki is something many people have.
And since Doflamingo — the Heavenly Yaksha — is famous in the North Blue, and you’re certain he has Haki, that means every strong fighter at a certain level has it.”
“Amazing!” Bepo looked at Law, stars in his eyes.
Shachi leaned in closer.
Even with his sunglasses, Kane could tell the kid was burning with curiosity.
Just then, Penguin came out with juice and handed it out to everyone.
Kane waited for him to sit down before beginning his explanation.
“Haki is a latent power that all people are born with.
It comes from intangible spiritual energies like willpower, intimidation, and fighting spirit.”
“It’s one of the core combat abilities of true strong fighters, and an important tool for ordinary people to close the gap with Devil Fruit users.”
“It’s mainly divided into three types: Armament, Observation, and Conqueror’s Haki.”
Seeing how intently they were listening, Kane cleared his throat, took a sip of juice to wet his throat, and continued:
“Armament Haki — you can coat your body or wrap it around your weapons to greatly enhance your attack and defense power.”
“Most importantly — it allows you to grasp the physical form of Devil Fruit users, letting you touch Logia-type users and counter their Elementalization.”
“Logia-type…
Elementalization…” Bepo scratched his head, sipping his juice with a puzzled look.
The kid had fallen into the sea and left Zou at a young age, so he’d never received that kind of education.
“Logia-type Devil Fruits are widely considered the strongest of the three Devil Fruit types.”
“Elementalization allows the user to transform their body into the corresponding element depending on the fruit, making them immune to ordinary physical attacks.”
“For example — if you ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, Elementalization would let you turn your whole body into fire.
Ordinary punches, kicks, and blades can’t hurt fire.”
Kane glanced at Law as he spoke.
“That’s right — Buck’s ability was similar to Elementalization.”
“Alright, back to the main topic.”
“Now that Armament is covered, let’s talk about Observation Haki.”
“This is a powerful sense of perception — the ability to even hear the presence of others.”
“Observation Haki lets you sense the auras, positions, numbers, emotions, and strength levels of people around you.
You can predict an opponent’s movements and avoid attacks.
The range and precision vary from person to person.”
“There’s one important thing to note — Observation Haki can only be used reliably when you’re calm.”
Kane paused, giving them time to absorb the information, and slowly finished his juice.
“Conqueror’s Haki — is an innate talent possessed by one in several million people!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
They sat up straight, looking like model students.
“It manifests as releasing powerful spiritual pressure to intimidate enemies — even knocking out weaker opponents.”
“Numbers become meaningless in front of a Conqueror’s Haki user.
No matter how many grunts there are, they can’t wear you down.”
“However — Conqueror’s Haki can’t be trained.
It only grows stronger with one’s willpower, unlike the other two.
So don’t dwell on it.”
Shachi and the others couldn’t hide their disappointment.
But Law’s pupils contracted slightly, as certain details from his time living with the Donquixote Family came back to him.
He’d never paid attention before, but now — in hindsight — that bastard Doflamingo…
Had Conqueror’s Haki!
“Alright, don’t make that face.
What you need to do now is train your bodies, strengthen your physiques, and awaken Armament and Observation Haki as soon as possible.”
“That’s what you should be focusing on right now.”
Kane’s expression turned serious.
“Even though Haki is an innate talent that everyone is born with, the vast majority of people never unlock it in their entire lives.”
“But you will definitely awaken this power.
I believe in you!”
They exchanged glances and nodded firmly: “Yes, Captain!”
“Hohahaha!
That’s my crew!
Lots of spirit!”
“Get stronger!
Shed your apprentice pirate status as soon as possible.
I look forward to the day you become full-fledged members.”