Longbread found Kaizer on the top-floor terrace of the castle, overlooking all of Totto Land.
The sun was setting. Lights gradually lit up along the port, and people in the fields finished their day's work, heading home in small groups.
"Decided?" Longbread jumped onto the railing. His short stature made him look like a child beside Kaizer, but his sharp eyes gleamed in the twilight. "You're really going with Linlin to Wano to help that madman Kaido?"
Kaizer didn't answer immediately. He gazed at the sugar factory under expansion in the distance — Longbread's idea, using the island's tropical fruits to produce syrup as Totto Land's signature product.
Next to the factory stood the newly built schoolhouse. A few long-armed children held simple literacy textbooks, reciting under the guidance of a fish-man teacher.
"You know Linlin's personality," Kaizer finally said. "If she agreed to help Kaido, she will definitely go."
"I know she'll go," Longbread pulled a cigar from his pocket — no one knew where he got it — bit off the tip, and lit it with his fingertip. "I'm asking about you. Are you really going?"
Kaizer turned to look at him.
Longbread took a deep drag and slowly exhaled. "Wano is a powder keg right now. Kozuki Oden, remnants of the Roger Pirates, Kurozumi Orochi, Kaido… plus those stubborn samurai. With your current strength, ten lives wouldn't be enough to survive."
"That's exactly why I need to go," Kaizer replied. "Linlin is pregnant. She looks fine now, but what about during battle? What if someone targets her abdomen? Will Kaido protect her?"
Longbread smoked in silence.
"The situation at sea is too chaotic," Kaizer continued calmly. "Rocks is dead, Roger has become the Pirate King, Shiki is expanding, Whitebeard is gathering sons… All the big pirates are fighting for territory. Totto Land is still just a small island, held up by Linlin's reputation alone. But if a real powerhouse attacks one day—"
He paused.
"If we don't seize this chance to ally with Kaido, gain resources, and strengthen ourselves, it will be too late when others come knocking." Kaizer looked at Longbread. "We can't defend by staying passive. We have to grow strong enough that no one dares to target us. Only then can we protect this home."
Longbread stared at him for a long time. The glowing tip of his cigar flickered in the twilight.
"You kid…" he finally sighed. "Sometimes you really don't sound like a man in his twenties."
He jumped down from the railing, turning his back to Kaizer. "Don't worry about Totto Land. The foundation is already laid. As long as we follow the rules you set, nothing major will go wrong. The sugar factory will produce its first batch next month. I've made contact with a few underground merchants — we can trade for grain and building materials. The guard team is also mostly trained. They can't fight experts, but they're more than enough against ordinary pirates."
Kaizer nodded. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me." Longbread waved his hand. "I'm part of Totto Land too. As for you…"
He turned around. The cigar smoke blurred the expression on his face.
"Come back alive. Linlin needs you. The child needs you. And," he paused, "Totto Land needs you too."
Kaizer smiled. "I will."
Longbread nodded and walked away with his cigar dangling from his mouth. At the staircase entrance, he suddenly stopped and said without turning back:
"Oh right, that barrel of wine in the deepest part of the kitchen cellar — I buried it twenty years ago. Open it when you return."
Then he disappeared around the corner.
Kaizer watched him leave for a long time, then turned and headed toward the training ground.
The training ground was brightly lit — Linlin had the Homies create simple street lamps using glowing moss, so training could continue at night.
"Mamama! You're here, you're here!" Linlin waved excitedly when she saw Kaizer. "Come on! Today I'm teaching you Observation Haki!"
She held a black blindfold in her hand.
"The foundation of Observation Haki is perception," Linlin said. "Not with your eyes, not with your ears, but with this—"
Her massive finger tapped her own temple.
"Sense the flow of air, sense the enemy's 'presence,' sense killing intent… Mamama! In short, cover your eyes and 'see' with your body!"
Kaizer took the blindfold. The fabric was thick and completely opaque.
"You're going to attack me?" he asked.
"Yes! I'll use ten percent power — no, five percent! Try to dodge!" Linlin grinned. "Don't worry, I won't kill you! At most a few broken bones!"
Kaizer said nothing and silently tied the blindfold over his eyes.
Darkness descended.
With vision stripped away, his other senses became unusually sharp. He could hear the distant sound of waves, smell the mixture of dust and blood on the training ground, and feel the night breeze brushing against his skin.
But it wasn't enough.
"I'm coming~" Linlin's voice came from the left.
But the fist came from the right.
Kaizer only managed to tilt his head. The punch grazed his ear. The force scraped his cheek painfully, and his eardrums rang.
"Mamama! Wrong!" Linlin laughed. "Sound can lie, but the attack cannot!"
The second punch came without warning.
Kaizer felt no prelude at all before his chest took a solid hit. Three ribs broke, and his body flew backward, rolling across the ground for more than ten meters before stopping.
[Severe injury recovery in progress] [Observation Haki awakening progress: 1%]
He spat out the blood in his mouth, stood up, and got back into position.
"Again."
Third punch. Fourth punch. Fifth punch.
Kaizer was sent flying like a sandbag over and over. With his eyes covered, he couldn't even tell where Linlin was, let alone predict her attacks. Death, revival, death again, revival again — the cycle repeated.
After the seventh time being knocked away, Kaizer lay on the ground, breathing heavily.
Wrong.
Continuing like this was just taking a beating. Awakening Observation Haki required "perception," not "endurance."
He closed his eyes — even though they were already blindfolded — and focused.
Vision was gone. Hearing could be misled. Touch was too slow… What else was there?
Soul.
The Soul Affinity granted by the Ghost-Ghost Fruit.
Kaizer took a deep breath and directed all his attention to that soul perception. At first there was nothing — only darkness and pain. But gradually, deep within the darkness, he "saw" light.
A blazing, massive, constantly rotating soul orb.
That was Linlin.
He could even "see" the subtle fluctuations inside the orb — when Linlin prepared to attack, a part of the orb would suddenly contract, then explode outward.
"Again," Kaizer said.
Linlin's fist came as expected.
But this time, 0.1 seconds before the punch was thrown, Kaizer "saw" the contraction in her soul orb.
He dodged to the left.
The fist grazed past his right shoulder and missed.
Linlin let out a surprised "Eh?"
Second punch. The soul orb contracted at the abdomen.
Kaizer stepped back in advance.
It missed again.
"Mamama!" Linlin grew excited. "You're sensing it?"
"Yes." Kaizer kept his eyes covered. "I can 'see' your soul fluctuations."
"Soul fluctuations?" Linlin thought for a moment. "Makes sense! You have that Soul Affinity! Mamama! Genius! Using your Devil Fruit to assist Observation Haki awakening!"
She increased the attack speed.
But Kaizer dodged.
Not all of them — Linlin was too fast. Even if he predicted the attack, his body couldn't always keep up. Out of ten attacks, he could dodge three or four.
But this was a qualitative change.
From zero to something.
Training continued deep into the night. Kaizer kept the blindfold on, relying entirely on soul perception to evade attacks. His progress was astonishingly fast — after two hours, he could dodge half the attacks; after four hours, seven out of ten; and by the time dawn approached, he could even move to a safe position before Linlin struck.
"Stop!" Linlin suddenly called out.
Kaizer removed the blindfold. The sky was already turning pale. The training ground was dyed a soft gold by the morning light.
Linlin crouched in front of him, her massive face full of amazement.
"Mamama! Your Observation Haki is progressing faster than your Armament Haki!" She patted Kaizer's shoulder — carefully controlled so she didn't knock him over. "It took me three whole months to awaken Observation Haki back then! You got the basics in one night!"
"It's thanks to the Ghost-Ghost Fruit," Kaizer rubbed his throbbing temples — prolonged high-intensity soul perception had given him a splitting headache. "Being able to see soul fluctuations directly is basically cheating."
"Who cares if it's cheating! If it works, it works!" Linlin grinned. "And your Observation Haki… is a bit different from the normal kind."
"How so?"
"Normal Observation Haki perceives 'presence,' 'emotions,' and 'movements.'" Linlin tilted her head. "Yours… directly perceives 'souls.' It's more fundamental and harder to interfere with. Mamama! Maybe in the future you'll even be able to sense my hunger pangs in advance!"
Kaizer's heart stirred.
Sense hunger pangs ahead of time? If he could really do that…
"Keep training!" Linlin stood up and stretched. The bulge of her belly was even more obvious under the loose maternity dress. "We still have twenty days until departure! I'm going to train you until you can last ten minutes against twenty percent of my power!"
Kaizer looked at her belly. "Are you… really okay?"
"Mamama! Of course!" Linlin patted her stomach. "This little guy is tough! Much tougher than you!"
She said it lightly, but through Soul Affinity, Kaizer could sense the soul fluctuations of the small life inside her — steady and strong, with no abnormalities.
A monstrous constitution. Even pregnancy didn't affect her combat ability.
"Oh right." Linlin suddenly remembered something. "Where are those two black followers of yours? Call them out to train together!"
Kaizer focused. Shadow and Phantom emerged from the shadows.
After this period of growth, the two IBMs were far more solid than before. Their bandages were wrapped more tightly, the black particles flowed like breathing, and the two red lights at their heads glowed brighter.
"Mamama! Let them join too!" Linlin said enthusiastically. "Observation Haki isn't just for solo use! You need to coordinate with your partners!"
From then on, training became Kaizer plus two IBMs against Linlin.
At first it was one-sided crushing — Linlin could scatter an IBM with a single punch, and the aftershock would send Kaizer flying. But gradually, Kaizer found his rhythm.
He had Shadow and Phantom handle feints and distractions while he focused on predicting Linlin's attacks. With full soul perception active, he could "see" her attack intent 0.5 seconds in advance, then use the IBMs to create openings for himself to dodge or block.
He still got hit, but at least… he could last longer.
Twenty days passed in the blink of an eye.
The day before departure, Kaizer stood on the top floor of the castle for one last check of Totto Land's status.
The port expansion was complete. The new docks could accommodate five medium-sized ships. The sugar factory had begun production, with the first batch of syrup already barreled and ready for shipment. Children's voices reading aloud drifted from the schoolhouse — Longbread had found a few elderly scholars among the refugees to teach.
The fields were nearing harvest, and the orchards were heavy with tropical fruit. The guard patrols ran daily. Their combat strength was average, but their discipline was solid.
Totto Land was getting on track.
And he was about to leave.
"Master," Shadow's voice sounded behind him. "Supplies have been loaded onto the ship. Includes food, medicine, spare weapons, and the special items you requested."
"And Phantom?"
"Checking the propulsion system on board. Mr. Longbread provided improved sailcloth — sailing speed can increase by thirty percent."
Kaizer nodded. He looked toward the distant horizon — Wano lay in that direction, a half-month voyage away.
"Kaizer." Linlin's voice came from the staircase entrance.
She wasn't wearing her maternity dress today. Instead, she had changed into combat gear — a custom pink battle outfit with reinforced armor over the abdomen. Her belly was clearly showing, but her movements were still frighteningly agile.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Yes." Kaizer turned. "What about you?"
"Mamama! I've been waiting forever!" Linlin grinned. "Staying on the island all day, my bones were starting to rust!"
She walked to Kaizer's side and placed her massive hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry," Linlin said, unusually serious. "I'll protect you. If that bastard Kaido dares to make you throw your life away, I'll snap off his dragon horns."
Kaizer smiled. "I'll protect you too."
"I know, I know!" Linlin ruffled his hair. "Then it's settled! We go together, we come back together! And then…"
She looked down and gently touched her belly.
"When this little guy is born, the three of us will make Totto Land even bigger! Mamama!"
The setting sun stretched their shadows long across the ground.
Where the two shadows overlapped, a new shadow was quietly growing.
[Current Strength Assessment Updated] [Physical Techniques: Marine Rokushiki Basics (Under intensive training)] [Armament Haki: Beginner (Small Success)] [Observation Haki: Beginner (Entry level, Soul Perception Specialized)] [Devil Fruit: Ghost-Ghost Fruit (Awakened, deeply integrated with IBM)] [Special Abilities: Demi-human Bloodline (Fusion 29.1%), Pseudo Steel Balloon (Fusion 25.7%), Soul Affinity (Enhanced)] [Overall Rating: Marine Headquarters Commodore Level (Perception/Regeneration Specialized)]
Commodore level.
Still not enough.
But at least he was no longer cannon fodder.
Kaizer took a deep breath and looked toward the distant sea.
Wano Country. Kozuki Oden. The Roger Pirates…
He clenched his fist.
One month.
He would return alive.
For Linlin. For their child. For this newly started home.
"Let's go," he said.
Linlin grinned and took his hand.
Side by side, they walked down the stairs, toward the port, toward the ship ready to set sail.
Longbread waited for them at the dock. The short chef handed over a package.
"Food for the journey," he said. "And that barrel of wine I buried deepest in the cellar — remember to open it when you return."
Linlin took the package, opened it, and found neatly packed desserts — tiramisu, Black Forest cake, macarons — all carefully wrapped in oil paper.
"Mamama! You really understand me!"
Longbread ignored her and looked at Kaizer instead.
"Come back alive," he said again.
Kaizer nodded. "I will."
Kaizer stood at the stern of the ship, watching Totto Land shrink in the distance until it became a small dot on the horizon.
Linlin stood beside him, her massive hand resting on his shoulder.
"Will you miss home?" she asked.
"Yes," Kaizer replied. "That's why we need to finish things quickly and come back soon."
Linlin grinned.
"Mamama! Then let's make it fast!"
The sails swelled with wind as the ship sped full speed toward Wano Country.
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