Over the next week, the three ships sailed to Cocoyashi village and anchored there. Zeff's restaurant couldn't actually fit at the dock because it was so big, but it was anchored nearby and with its expandable deck opened up it touched the dock and was tied off. While Marcus's new ship was now tied off to the restaurant on the far side from the dock so he could easily go out and test his ship. With the restaurant now here, Zeff, Sanji and Gin transferred their personal belongings over and it was now used as their home base. It also acted as the new mess hall for everyone and Marcus's ship's galley was cleared out of food for now.
Within ten minutes of docking all the ships, Bellemere arrived and started checking over Nami and Nojiko. Marcus noticed each time she shot him a glare but he just waved happily in response. She ended up not saying anything, but she was definitely upset that the girls both had new scars. Genzo also showed up not long after and helped carry everything the girls bought to Bellemere's house.
The next day was scheduled as a rest day before the new increased training regiment started. Marcus started pushing everyone harder with an increased workload and when sparring started in the afternoon, Marcus, Ace and Sabo pulled Luffy, Zoro and Kuina aside for observation haki training. At first a couple people asked why they couldn't join in on the new training until they saw what it entailed.
Marcus was the main one to train Luffy because he used it as a chance to practice armament haki. He could only use it a few minutes until he needed a break and then used his sea stone knuckles until he recovered enough to do it again. It was great practice but Marcus quickly realized armament haki was a massive stamina drain. Not only would he have to increase his strength, but his stamina training would need to increase a lot too.
Luffy would also need to be pushed harder since his rubber body made it harder for him to gain muscle mass like everyone else. The sea stone necklace Marcus made for him helped a bit and Luffy isn't completely drained from touching it anymore. But there is still no way for him to train properly with it on.
Another new training regiment Marcus started was conqueror's haki with Ace. Marcus was able to use his meta knowledge and experience with it to draw it out easier for himself and with practice helped Ace figure it out. So now each day just before dinner, Marcus and Ace both fight with their conqueror's haki active.
It didn't last long, less than half a minute at best, but they've both learned how to pull it out at will now. They would do that practice while everyone else watched to help them get used to it and Marcus also hoped that it would help a few of them unlock it themselves.
Marcus also started everyone on running after dinner to help them increase their stamina. They would basically run until they dropped, afterwards Marcus would let them rest for a bit before they would get cleaned up and head to bed. Marcus wasn't completely sure if it was the best method for stamina training, but it seemed to work since everyone could run a little longer each day.
As for their after dinner haki training with Zeff, Marcus, Ace and Sabo still did that. But it was only after their stamina training drained them dry. They were always the last people who made it to bed. It didn't affect Ace and Sabo much, but Marcus was too tired to practice his guitar each night. He also told Uta that he was gonna focus on training so they could only talk on his rest days going forward.
Uta complained at first, but then Marcus told Uta to train more herself and then she would be too busy to worry about anything else. He wasn't completely sure if she followed his advice, but Uta only called on his rest days going forward. Even though the calls lasted for hours now and Uta insisted that they practice music together for part of the call. So it was pretty normal to find Marcus at his favorite spot playing guitar while Uta sang through the den den mushi. Uta also coached Marcus on how to sing since she wanted both of them to be able to sing together, so Marcus slowly trained his voice too.
Battle royal practice was also added to sparring practice each day which helped everyone gain better situational awareness. Another practice mode was also added called king of the hill, where Marcus would fight against everyone as they tried to take him down. Marcus was restricted in what he could do and was forced to use only his swordsmanship and observation haki to fight everyone. Marcus didn't really win the fights with those restrictions in place, but it helped push his limits and helped everyone else learn teamwork in fights.
The last thing Marcus implemented was he took the time to personally coach each person in combat. While he was only skilled in swordsmanship himself, he used his skills to find gaps in each of their defenses. It was a pretty brutal yet effective way to quickly learn from their mistakes. It was kind of the same way he trained Kuina, Zoro and Tashigi. But with them he could give advice as a sword user, with everyone else he only gave them bruises and showed them where to improve.
Besides training, Marcus found time to test out his boat each day. Marcus would do the morning warm up with everyone, eat breakfast and then head out to sea till lunch. While he lost about four hours of training, Marcus didn't mind since he just used the training harness on level five. While he couldn't fight properly at that level, moving around and running the ship definitely gave him a work out each day.
As for testing the ship, Marcus tried his best to push the ship to its limits. He quickly found issues with the rigging and after chatting with Frank he figured out a different rigging solution. It made it easier for Marcus to handle the sails alone and in bad weather. Speaking of weather, Marcus took the ship out a few times when he noticed storm clouds in the distance.
During those times Marcus would go out for a day or more and just sail the ship as long as possible. He didn't use his training harness to conserve his stamina and once he came back he would normally rest for a full day. All that testing made Marcus instantly change the ship's design though.
Before Marcus had almost everything exposed with only some living areas covered and sealed from the weather. But Marcus quickly realized that sailing in a storm for days on end soaked to the bone sucked. So Marcus told Frank to redesign the helm area to be covered.
It would be connected to both hulls and their internal compartments now. It would also hold the helm and drive train main gear. The drive train power source was basically a stationary bike that sat behind the helm. Whenever Marcus wanted to use it, he just needed to move it forward and lock it into place. The drive train was designed to help the ship reach its true top speed.
With its large sail and double hull design it was fast, one of the fastest ships Marcus had ever seen…
Until Marcus used the drive train and engaged the small propellers connected to the fins on the hull. It was incredibly hard to peddle if the ship wasn't already moving at a decent speed. But once the ship reached a certain speed it was easy to peddle with each rotation of the bike causing the propellers to spin six times. If the speed before was fast, its new speed was kind of ridiculous as the ship used its hydrofoils to skim across the water.
Marcus wasn't completely sure how high the ship could go, but it was easily four to five times faster than his other ship. And with Marcus's current strength and stamina, he could easily use the bike for hours on end without issue as he steered the ship. There were issues with adjusting the sails while doing it, but Marcus updated Frank every time he found issues.
He also took other people out on the ship to experience how fast the ship was. Surprisingly everyone liked it, but Nami loved how fast the ship was and even pointed out two things with the sails that could improve the speed.
It took them an hour to re-rigg everything, but once finished the ship could almost reach the proper speed to use the hydrofoils. The drive train still helped the most for engaging them, but if Marcus had a bigger sail, he could probably get rid of the drive train entirely…
Marcus already started decussing the idea with Frank, but even if it worked, Marcus would probably keep the drive train. It would help if he ever found himself without much wind or in the calm belt. Plus it was an easy way to train stamina everyday, so Marcus ended up keeping it but still implementing the new design in case he wanted to be lazy and not peddle his ship all day.
Months passed quickly under the new heavy training routine and before long Marcus received a call from Garp who asked, "I'm coming to East Blue, where are you at?"
"Still in Cocoyashi village training."
"Good, stay there." Garp said before he disconnected the call.
Marcus stared at the den den mushi and shook his head at how his grandpa acted. With Garp headed towards the island, he informed everyone over lunch the same day and said, "Grandpa is coming back to train us again. I expect him to arrive in a week or two… Get some sleep while you can, I doubt he is gonna go easy on us."
Ace, Sabo and Luffy all groaned since they knew just how brutal Garp's training was. Everyone else looked at them in confusion since the last time he visited, he barely interacted with anyone but Marcus, Ace and Sabo as he trained them in observation haki. This time though, Garp was definitely going to train everyone and they would learn just what that entailed.
It was almost two weeks later when Garp arrived and the first thing he did was drag a sword welding pirate out of his ship. He found Marcus training with the others and said, "Marcus! Fight this pirate scum and you better not lose or he gets his freedom."
Marcus glanced at the pirate who was fearfully looking at Garp with a little bit of hope in his eyes. Garp pushed the man forward as he said, "If you want your freedom you need to beat him."
"Really?" The pirate cautiously asked.
"Yes! Now hurry up before I change my mind!" Garp said as he glared at the man.
The man nervously focused on Marcus and after a few moments he started to laugh as he said, "You want me to fight a kid? This will be easy!"
The man drew his sword and charged towards Marcus who watched him for a few moments before he dodged the man's first slash. As the man attempted to recover Marcus uppercutted the man so hard he shattered half his teeth and knocked him out completely. Marcus glanced at Garp as he asked, "What was that about?"
Garp rubbed his chin as he said, "Just trying to figure out your current strength… That was just some Grandline starter trash, I'll be back."
Garp grabbed the knocked out pirate and headed back to his ship. Within a few minutes he reappeared with another sword welding pirate who didn't look fearful this time. He glared at Garp like he wanted to kill him but already knew he wouldn't be able to do it. Garp shoved the man forward as he said, "You want your freedom, you need to beat him."
The man turned his glare towards Marcus who instantly drew his sword and took a defensive stance. The pirate sneered as he said, "You really want me to kill this brat for my freedom? You're out of your mind old man…"
The pirate drew his own sword as he added with a wicked grin, "But I accept!"
The man was a lot faster than the first pirate but his swordsmanship was seriously lacking and Marcus beat the man in only a few exchanges. Marcus had his blade on the man's neck as Garp said, "Still trash huh…"
Garp grabbed the man and took him away before he quickly returned with another pirate. This one was older than the last two and seemed to accept his fate at being captured. Garp pushed the man towards Marcus as he said, "If you can beat him, you'll have your freedom."
"What's the point? The rest of my crew was already captured and probably in prison or dead by now." The man said as he sat down on the ground and refused to move.
Garp stared at the man for a few moments before he said, "Are you an idiot? I only captured you."
"You didn't catch the rest of my crew?" The man asked with a hope filled voice.
"You were the only one worth catching for this, now fight him and win if you want your freedom." Garp said as he pointed at Marcus.
The man glanced at Marcus for a few moments before he slowly stood up and pulled his saber free from its scabbard. He locked eyes with Marcus as he said, "I won't hold back just because you're a kid."
The man disappeared like Marcus normally would and a moment later Marcus deflected a slash. Marcus didn't attack at first and stayed completely defensive as he gauged his opponents strength. After a minute or so, Marcus switched his stance mid block and instantly followed up with an attack of his own. The pirate was caught off guard and barely missed losing his right hand at the elbow. Instead he received a small gash on his upper arm that he shrugged off.
Marcus and the pirate clashed back and forth for over ten minutes until Marcus disarmed the man and rested his blade on the man's throat. Garp nodded in approval before he said, "I could have done better, but not bad… I'll go grab the next one."
Marcus ended up beating two more pirates until he finally lost to the third one, who ended up being from the New World. Garp didn't let the third pirate go, but promised to release him once he returned to the Grandline as long as he continued to fight against Marcus every day and didn't lose. The pirate complained at first but Garp beat the man senseless and he quickly agreed.
Afterwards he took the pirate back to his ship before he returned and glanced over everyone as he cracked his knuckles as he said, "Alright brats, lets see what you got."
"Garp-san, we're not brats." Zoe said as she glared towards Garp along with the other women.
Garp waved them off as he said, "You can't beat my grandson in a fight and he's a brat. That makes you a brat too."
Marcus shook his head as Garp motioned everyone to attack him as he said, "Stop wasting time and attack."
Less than half an hour later everyone was laying on the ground groaning as Garp laughed over them. When he finally stopped laughing he said, "All of you are weak, but don't worry… I have almost three months to give you all some proper training."
Marcus who was bruised all over glanced towards Garp as he asked, "Three months? How did you pull that off?"
Garp chuckled as he said, "I made sure I left my den den mushi behind. It will take at least two months before Sengoku sends someone to find me and another month to find me."