In the New World, a Marine warship slowly departed from the Red Port beneath the Red Line.
On deck, Nate had immediately discarded his ugly sailor uniform now that he was a Marine Headquarters Major.
He wore a loose black hoodie and dark gray knit joggers beneath his coat of justice.
Without the coat, he looked less like a Marine officer and more like a student who had just walked out of school.
At the moment, however, Nate was staring at the man in front of him with mild surprise.
Zephyr was doing squats with a barbell far larger than the one Nate normally used for training.
The weight was so enormous that the deck beneath his feet had visibly sunk.
To keep the planks from breaking, Zephyr had even coated the deck beneath him with Armament Haki.
“Instructor Zephyr.” Nate sounded almost moved.
“You’ve finally been inspired by me and decided to start training seriously?
As long as you have determination, it’s never too late, no matter how old you are.” “If you don’t know how to talk, then shut up, brat.” Zephyr’s mouth twitched.
Since he’d decided to return to the front lines, he could no longer afford to slack off.
During his battle with Edward Weevil, Zephyr didn’t even want to imagine what might have happened if Nate hadn’t been there.
At Sabaody, he’d once again been unable to stop the escapees and had watched helplessly as they disappeared into the deep sea.
Zephyr had long known he was no longer at his peak, but only now did he truly understand just how far he’d declined.
‘This isn’t enough.’ ‘I’m nowhere near strong enough.’ Nate, Ain, and Binz had chosen to follow him.
The Marines joining the Marine Guerrilla Unit had also placed their trust in him.
Zephyr had no intention of betraying that trust.
His current strength was more than sufficient against ordinary pirates, but what if he actually caught up to the fugitives?
What if they encountered some of the other monsters of the New World?
‘Can I protect my subordinates from people like that?’ The answer was probably unpleasant.
So Zephyr had decided to reclaim the strength he once possessed.
The first step was rebuilding his conviction.
The second was waking up a body that had nearly rusted from years away from real combat.
“Hm?
Wait.” Zephyr suddenly looked suspiciously at Nate, who was standing with his usual terrible posture.
“What’s wrong with you today?
G-1 Base isn’t far away, but knowing you, you should be training right now.” Nate’s dedication was beyond question.
Unless he had literally trained himself into exhaustion and fallen asleep, it was almost impossible to catch him resting.
“This is training.” Nate yawned.
“Instructor Zephyr, I want to learn more advanced Armament Haki techniques.” “More advanced Armament Haki?” Zephyr raised an eyebrow.
It seemed the fight at Sabaody had hit this arrogant brat harder than expected.
Nate had used everything he had against that Lunarian woman and still couldn’t properly hurt her.
“Then let me see how far you’ve developed your Hardening.” “Got it.” Nate gave a small nod.
In the very next instant, a pitch-black fist smashed directly into Zephyr’s chest.
Zephyr didn’t move an inch.
“Oh.” Nate’s eyes widened slightly.
“Instructor Zephyr, your reactions are pretty fast.” His black fist had struck an equally black chest.
Zephyr smiled without warmth, released one hand from the barbell, and knocked Nate on the head.
“I never said I was volunteering as your punching bag.” “Ow.” Nate covered his head.
‘That really was fast.’ He’d barely been able to react.
“Still…” Zephyr’s expression gradually softened as he examined Nate.
“Your Armament Hardening is already extremely refined.
You’re ready to begin learning how to make your Armament Haki flow and extend beyond your body.” Nate had always possessed an exceptional physique, but his truly absurd talent lay in Haki.
Among the Six Powers, Tekkai and Kami-e could be considered foundation techniques for Armament and Observation Haki respectively.
Someone who mastered them could use those principles as a path toward awakening Haki.
But that didn’t mean everyone could do what Nate had done.
He’d awakened Haki less than two weeks after mastering Tekkai and Kami-e.
After awakening Armament Haki, it had taken him only two months to reach the threshold for Hardening, then barely more than a week to fully grasp the technique.
Just over two months in total.
And even that was partly because Nate possessed far more Haki than ordinary people, making it much harder to control precisely.
With a normal amount, Zephyr suspected Nate could have done it within a month.
Only a little over four months had passed since Nate mastered Hardening.
Yet his Armament Haki was already comparable to that of veteran Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals, excluding exceptional figures like Garp, Tsuru, and Gion.
And Nate had achieved that without experiencing many truly desperate battles.
“Listen carefully, Nate.” Zephyr set down the barbell and instantly shifted into instructor mode.
“Different levels of Armament Haki techniques are, at their core, simply different levels of control.” He raised his right arm.
Invisible Haki seeped outward and wrapped around it.
Then the loose energy abruptly compressed, condensing into a layer of pitch-black Hardening over his skin.
“I’ve already taught you basic coating and Hardening, so I won’t waste time explaining them again.” Basic coating meant releasing the Haki stored within a specific part of the body and wrapping it around that area.
It was the simplest and loosest application of Armament Haki.
Hardening required far greater control, compressing the Haki together to dramatically increase both offense and defense.
It was, in the truest sense, invisible armor.
“What I’m teaching you now is the next step beyond Hardening.” Zephyr’s gaze sharpened.
“Flow.” Invisible Haki suddenly surged from his entire body, wrapping him from head to toe.
“A single body part can only contain so much Haki.
The purpose of Flowing Armament Haki is to gather Haki from other parts of your body and concentrate it wherever you need it.” Nate watched as the Haki covering Zephyr’s body gradually moved toward his right fist.
The energy around his arm grew denser and denser until powerful currents of Haki churned outside the already blackened fist.
“Fundamentally, it’s similar to Hardening.
You’re still concentrating Haki through precise control.” “But the area involved is much larger and the precision required is much higher, so the difficulty rises dramatically.” Zephyr clenched his fist.
“Even in the New World, there aren’t many people who can do this.
Most Vice Admirals can only look at this level and sigh.” “But once you master it, that’s when Armament Haki begins to reveal its real power.” “Your offense and defense both rise dramatically, and differences in raw physical ability start becoming much less important.” Zephyr’s voice grew more serious.
“At this level, you can even concentrate nearly all of your body’s Haki into one attack and unleash power far beyond your normal limit.” “Of course, if that attack fails to defeat your opponent, you’ll have nothing left and can only wait to be slaughtered.” After finishing the demonstration, Zephyr dispersed his Haki.
“How about it?
Start with gathering your Haki into one location.
Once you can do that, I’ll teach you how to emit it outward.” For someone like Nate, whose total volume of Haki far exceeded the norm, this technique couldn’t have been more suitable.
Once he mastered it, his combat strength would rise dramatically.
“All right.” Nate didn’t hesitate.
Invisible Haki began seeping from the surface of his body.
Thanks to the countless fists he’d thrown every day with complete sincerity, his stray thoughts disappeared almost instantly.
His concentration narrowed entirely onto controlling the Haki wrapped around him.
Under Zephyr’s expectant gaze, the Haki surrounding Nate slowly began to move.
“Oh?” Zephyr’s eyes lit up.
‘His foundation really is absurdly solid.’ The invisible currents continuously gathered toward Nate’s right hand.
The Haki around his right arm visibly thickened as more and more power accumulated there.
Then, just as it seemed about to stabilize—The flowing Haki suddenly scattered and returned to Nate’s body.
“Haa…” Nate exhaled.
“Failed?” “That was already incredible.” Zephyr smiled.
“Doing that much on your very first attempt is ridiculous enough.” “Instructor Zephyr, don’t judge me by the standards you use for ordinary people.” Nate sounded dissatisfied.
Zephyr’s eye twitched.
‘This brat…’ What Nate had just done was already shocking.
On his first attempt, he’d nearly succeeded in gathering the Haki from his entire body into one place.
Yes, he’d failed in the end, and yes, the process had been painfully slow, but he’d still taken an enormous first step.
At this rate, Zephyr estimated Nate would begin grasping Flowing Armament Haki within two weeks at most.
Nate had already started his next attempt.
“Huh?
Instructor Zephyr!
Are you teaching Nate some new technique?” Binz’s loud voice suddenly came from nearby.
“That’s not fair!
We want in too!” He had also changed out of his sailor uniform and was now wearing a red ninja outfit beneath his coat of justice.
Ain stood beside him in her usual sleeveless top and short shorts, looking every bit like an energetic young Marine officer.
“Instructor Zephyr.” Ain’s expression was serious.
“We want to become stronger too.” “You don’t need to tell me that.” Zephyr nodded.
“Once you enter the New World, both of you will indeed need much more strength.” He looked between them.
“Start by mastering the remaining Six Powers.
Once your foundation in those techniques is solid enough, you can begin proper Haki training.” “As for what Nate is practicing right now, you’re still far from that stage.” ‘Far from it…’ Ain unconsciously glanced toward Nate, who remained completely focused on manipulating his Haki.
Her delicate fist slowly clenched.
“Understood, Instructor Zephyr!” Binz answered loudly.
“Train us as hard as you want!” ‘Nate was right.’ ‘There’s no reason to compare myself to him.’ ‘I only need to become stronger than I was yesterday.’ And so, throughout the remaining voyage to G-1 Base, Zephyr trained his own body while simultaneously instructing Nate, Ain, and Binz.
It was especially rough on Binz, who somehow had to practice while still hobbling around on crutches.
Fortunately, Red Port wasn’t far from G-1 Base.
Before long, the enormous Marine fortress appeared ahead of them.
Even among all the G-Series Bases, G-1 was unique.
It stood across the Red Line from Marineford like its twin, serving as one of the great fortresses protecting Mary Geoise.
Its facilities and defenses rivaled those of Marine Headquarters itself, and an Admiral was stationed there year-round.
Just as their warship approached G-1 Base— A brilliant yellow light suddenly descended from the sky.
“Oh, Instructor Zephyr.” A lazy-looking man emerged from the light, wearing a yellow-striped suit beneath his coat of justice, sunglasses resting across the bridge of his nose.
“Long time no see.” Zephyr finally lowered the enormous barbell and glanced at the newcomer.
“Borsalino?” Nate’s gaze shifted toward him.
Admiral Kizaru.