As the saying goes, going from zero to one is far harder than going from one to ninety-nine.
On his very first day of training, Caesar was already adept at releasing it and executing the most basic coating and hardening.
By the fifth day, he successfully made his Armament Haki flow!
By the eighth day, he mastered Armament Haki Emission!
By the fifteenth day, he successfully mastered Internal Destruction!
*BOOM—* Delivering a punch through the air that detonated a massive tree trunk from a distance, Caesar looked toward King, who stood nearby, with a trace of smugness.
“Mastering Internal Destruction in half a month—what do you think?” “Not bad.” King’s reaction was far more indifferent than Caesar had imagined.
“Just…
‘not bad’?” Caesar’s eyes widened slightly.
“How long did it take you to master Armament Haki?” King thought back for a moment, crossed his arms, and said plainly, “About a year.” “Then what does that make me?” “It means I was stupid.” “…” Caesar was left momentarily speechless.
“So in your eyes, what counts as fast?” “You should know about Big Mom of the Four Emperors, right?” King explained.
“According to Lord Kaidou, that woman mastered the power of Haki after witnessing it just once.” Caesar was so exasperated he burst into a laugh.
“Listen to what you’re saying!
With her Iron Balloon constitution, she could flatten a giant village at five years old.
In other words, she was qualified to use it at age five!” “Speaking of which, what about my father-in-law?
How long did it take him?” “If we’re just talking about basic coating and hardening, one day,” King explained.
“Though in terms of pure comprehension, Lord Kaidou really doesn’t match you.
Back then, no one taught him those advanced techniques either.
He mastered them through combat with the samurai after coming to Wano.” *How is that even comparable?* *No matter what, I’m someone who knows the plot.
I had expectations in mind…* Besides, Caesar considered himself fairly sharp.
A power driven by willpower was hard to awaken, but mastering it once awakened simply required dedicating enough thought to it.
Mentors in the pirate world all seemed to suffer from the same flaw: if you didn’t ask, they wouldn’t teach.
When Luffy first set sail, his sheer physical power could suppress Arlong with one hand and beat Crocodile to a pulp in hand-to-hand combat.
He was even Navy Admiral Garp’s grandson, yet he knew neither the Six Powers nor Haki.
And then there was Rayleigh, that terrible teacher…
Spent two whole years teaching nothing more than coating and hardening!
He didn’t teach flowing emission or internal destruction at all.
Even if time was tight, couldn’t he have at least mentioned them?
Hell, if Luffy hadn’t taken that club strike from Kaidou, he wouldn’t even have known that Conqueror’s Haki could be infused!
At this thought, Caesar suddenly turned to King.
“Speaking of which, is flowing emission the only advanced application of Armament Haki?
Does Conqueror’s Haki have any other uses besides infusion?” King fell silent for two seconds.
“You’ll have to ask Lord Kaidou about that.
I can only teach you Armament Haki.” “Forget it, I’ll figure it out myself later.” Caesar waved a hand dismissively.
Even if there were further applications, they weren’t something he could master right now.
The core of Armament Haki didn’t lie in how fast you learned it, but in its intensity and total capacity!
Newly awakened Armament Haki was far from powerful.
To Kaidou, it was no different from paper.
When it came to capacity, one needed constant battle to force the body to adapt, gradually refining stronger and denser Haki using less physical stamina!
“Spar with me, King.” Caesar beckoned toward King with a hook of his finger.
“I want to see how far behind I am compared to established powerhouses like you in terms of Haki intensity and capacity.” King nodded.
He was equally curious about Caesar’s current strength.
“Come then.
Show me what you’ve got.” The two stood facing each other at a distance.
Caesar lowered his stance, resting his hands on his knees.
With a soft hiss, a pale pink glow enveloped his skin.
Seeing this, King secretly raised his guard.
He had seen Caesar use this technique of pumping his blood pressure more than once.
In this state, Caesar’s speed and strength increased by a huge margin.
Even without Haki, it was enough to give King a run for his money.
Incidentally, because it increased muscle hardness and strength, executing Armament Haki while in this state would exponentially boost the user’s speed and power even further.
So what would be the synergistic effect of combining them?
King watched Caesar’s form, his expression solemn and focused.
Caesar was now someone who deserved his full concentration.
Over the past two months, what shocked King most about Caesar was not his learning speed with Haki, but his terrifying physical body, which changed every single day as if it possessed no upper limit!
Physique was the foundation of Haki!
Lord Kaidou was right—no matter how fast a physique grew, it required at least a year of accumulation.
*Is this kid…
going through a growth spurt?* Quietly keeping his eyes fixed on Caesar, King didn’t dare slack off for a fraction of a second.
He knew Caesar’s fighting habits well.
The moment his attention faltered even slightly, the kid would instantly vanish from his sight.
Like a ghost!
Using Observation Haki to track Caesar’s aura, King’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Caesar, who had been over ten meters away a moment ago, appeared directly in front of his eyes!
King’s eyes widened slightly, reflecting the image of Caesar swinging a fist downward.
A subtle smile rested on Caesar’s face, dark red lightning coiling around his fist.
The air ignited into faint wisps of flame from the sheer velocity of the strike.
Strangely, despite being a punch of such terrifying power, King couldn’t hear a single sound!
*He really is much more confident than before…* The thought flashed through his mind just before an overwhelming force slammed into his face, causing King’s vision to go completely dark.
Only in the next instant did the deafening sonic boom explode across the area!
*** When King opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar ceiling of his own quarters.
Kaidou and Caesar, the cheap father-in-law and son-in-law pair, were sitting impudently nearby, drinking liquor.
“Worororo!
You’re finally awake, King!” Noticing King’s movement, Kaidou immediately burst out laughing.
“I heard you got knocked unconscious by a single punch from this brat!
How pathetic!” “Hahaha, a cheap victory, a cheap victory!” Caesar laughed heartily upon hearing this.
Unlike ancient Zoan types like dinosaurs or mammoths, the Vampire Fruit leaned much more heavily toward speed rather than brute force—to say nothing of his upgraded version.
If someone got caught off guard, it was indeed easy for things to go sideways.
“There’s nothing cheap about it.” King rubbed his face and shook his head slightly.
“Conqueror’s Haki infusion combined with Armament Haki Emission…
I was careless and failed to dodge.” “You just fainted from the shock, that’s all.
You don’t even have any obvious injuries.
Truth be told, the physique of you Lunarians is truly ridiculous.” Caesar marvelled as he sized up King, feeling in an exceptionally good mood.
He hadn’t expected that punch to knock King out either.
Though it was only for a short moment, even two seconds in a real battle were enough to decide life and death.
If even King couldn’t tank it directly, then very few people below the Admiral and Emperor level could withstand that strike.
What excited Caesar the most was that while King was knocked out just now, he had secretly added him to his collection!
[Collected Item: Lunarian] [Rarity: SS] [Collection Value: SS] [Evaluation: Naturally capable of flight with astronomical defense.
How on earth did a bunch of swine manage to drive them to near extinction?] [Achievement Unlocked: Collect a Rare Race] [Achievement Reward: Bloodthirsty Potential] [Bloodthirsty Potential: Further enhances the evolutionary capacity of your bloodline.
Upon acquiring an enemy’s Lineage Factor, permanently strengthens your bloodline and evolves adaptive capabilities.] [Note: Effective only on bloodlines.
Devil Fruit powers are acquired transformations and must be obtained through special methods.] When he saw this achievement reward, Caesar was completely stunned.
If he wasn’t mistaken, his vampire ability could evolve corresponding racial traits by ingesting Lineage Factors.
Though it used to be temporary, it was extremely practical.
And if not for this achievement reward, he wouldn’t have realized this for who knows how long.
Not that it mattered too much before—temporarily acquired power ultimately wasn’t his own, so even if he had noticed, Caesar wouldn’t have cared.
But now it was different: *permanently strengthen your bloodline and evolve adaptive capabilities.* The moment Caesar saw those words, he immediately released King from his storage, walked over without a word, and bit down hard on King’s arm…
Inside the room, King sat up and suddenly placed a hand on his forehead, feeling somewhat bewildered as he rubbed his head.
“Why do I feel…
a bit lightheaded?” *Probably because you’re a bit anemic…* Caesar thought silently.
The bite wound he made wasn’t large, and after biting, he had even transferred a mouth of blood back to help seal the wound.
Only then did he clear the thrall control with a slightly guilty conscience and act as if nothing had happened when he brought King back.
Right now, he could vaguely feel a certain power incubating within his body.
That power was fiery and warm, like a burning furnace continuously channeling strength into him.
“You took a hit to the head after all, so it’s probably a mild concussion.
Just eat some meat and you’ll be fine.” Caesar ordered some food to be brought in, then turned to Kaidou.
“Conqueror’s Haki infusion plus Armament Haki Emission—can I fight you for real now?” “Oh?
Interesting…
You’re already impatient to challenge me?” Kaidou gave him a slightly surprised glance.
“If things kept going like before, you might actually surpass me in two years.
But it’s only been two months—brat, you haven’t gotten arrogant, have you?” “No, I still can’t see into the future, and my Haki intensity isn’t enough.” Caesar shook his head.
“I just want to see how far my current strength is from the level of the Four Emperors.
Besides, didn’t you say you’d teach me personally?” “Hmph, suit yourself.
Either way, I won’t be holding back.” Kaidou gave a low laugh.
“Right now works just fine.
An unruly brat needs a good beating to straighten him out!” Since both of them could fly, they quickly arrived at a wide, deserted area within Wano.
Without a single word of nonsense, Caesar went all out right from the start!
Blood acceleration!
Conqueror’s Haki infusion!
Armament Haki Emission, layered with Internal Destruction!
His massive black wings boosted his speed to the absolute limit.
The near-teleportation speed brought a flash of surprise to Kaidou’s eyes, followed immediately by a long-absent thrill!
Swinging Hassaikai suddenly, the scent of alcohol surged in Kaidou’s throat.
“Thunder…
Bagua!!” *BOOM—* A sonic boom detonated.
After a brief collision, both of Caesar’s feet dragged two deep trenches through the earth as he slid back over ten meters.
“That speed of yours reminds me of a certain annoying yellow monkey.” A fierce, excited smile hung on Kaidou’s face.
“Your strength isn’t bad either.
But…
the purity of your Haki is still far too low!” *Purity?* Caesar’s eyelids twitched slightly.
*Are you Hanma Kaidou or something?* Before he could think further, Kaidou’s massive body—several meters tall—leapt high into the air.
He raised Hassaikai high above his head and brought it crashing down mercilessly toward Caesar!
“Three Realms: Fallen Hell!!” Seeing this, Caesar prepared to dodge, but a sudden sense of threat surged into his heart.
*He predicted the future?!* Realizing something was wrong, Caesar planted his legs firmly into a horse stance, gathering his breath to throw a punch.
It was still a punch infused with both types of Haki.
However, unlike the previous exchange, in just a single instant, Caesar felt the raw difference in force.
No, it wasn’t physical force suppressing him.
It was Haki!
Whether it was Conqueror’s or Armament, both were completely overwhelmed!
If his own Haki intensity was like wood, then Kaidou’s intensity was solid steel!
Noticing this, Caesar leaned to the side, using the momentum to fly back.
He flipped several times in midair to dissipate the force before flapping his wings to stabilize himself.
“What a slippery brat…” Kaidou snorted coldly upon seeing this, seemingly dissatisfied with Caesar’s evasive maneuver.
Caesar didn’t speak.
He merely looked at his fist thoughtfully, then suddenly raised his gaze to Kaidou.
“Lord Kaidou, is flowing the only advanced state of Armament Haki?” “Oh?” Kaidou rested his spiked club over his shoulder with great interest.
“Brat, have you ever heard of people who can read minds?
Those people are the darlings of Observation Haki, born with meticulously detailed Observation Haki.
And while the applications of Armament Haki are usually straightforward, a few rare individuals indeed manage to figure out unconventional methods.
Why, do you have an idea?” Caesar remained silent, continuing to drive his Armament Haki.
He caused it to condense and flow over his fist.
Then…
accelerate, and rub!
This was inspired by the method used in a neighboring village to manipulate chakra—the technique Uzumaki Naruto used when training his wind-attribute chakra nature.
If Haki could flow, shouldn’t it be able to generate friction as well?
The prerequisite, however, was splitting the Armament Haki into two portions.
No, maybe it didn’t need to be that complicated, given he had Conqueror’s Haki as well…
Yet whether it was splitting Armament Haki or precisely controlling two types of Haki simultaneously, the difficulty far exceeded single-type Armament Emission.
After a quick attempt, Caesar discovered that with his current level of control over Haki, it wasn’t enough to support this concept yet.
Furthermore, the rate at which his Haki was consumed was terrifying, several times greater than before.
Fortunately, he wasn’t entirely without gains.
Just now, as the two forces of Haki rubbed against each other, Caesar vaguely felt a microscopic increase in his Armament Haki’s intensity!
In other words, enhancing Armament Haki through friction was indeed viable.
Were there other ways then?
What about compression?
“Hey, hey, brat…” While Caesar was lost in thought, a shadow suddenly covered his head.
Kaidou had appeared before him at some unknown moment, stepping on flame clouds with a dark expression.
“To dare zone out while fighting me…
who gave you the courage?” Caesar laughed.
“Sorry about that.
I just had a sudden flash of inspiration.
Let’s call it a day.” “What are you daydreaming about, you fool?!” Kaidou let out a cruel laugh, bringing his spiked club smashing down with full force.
“Regardless of what ideas you have, battle is always the best catalyst for growth!
Since you had the nerve to swing your fist at me, fight until the very end!” “Thunder—Bagua!!”