Chapter 153: Two Months Later, a New Warlord
"A monkey that uses a sword!"
Before Shane could react, Nami's eyes were already sparkling. "Whoa, that's so cool! Kuina, let me borrow your Kashu! I want to have a go with them!"
The Kashu was the Skillful Grade Sword that Robin had given to Kuina. Kuina was very fond of it and always kept it with her as a spare.
"Stop messing around. You don't know a thing about swordsmanship. Just use your fire to drive them away," Nojiko said, tugging her ear.
"That's just bullying a monkey! Don't worry, I learned a few moves from my brother back in the day. A few monkeys are no problem for me!"
"..."
Kuina shook her head and reluctantly tossed the Kashu over.
"Hoo-hoo! Here I come! Little monkeys, take this!"
Nami charged forward excitedly.
And of course, she didn't even last a minute before she was sent running back, her head in her hands.
"Waaah, these stupid monkeys are so strong…"
"I'll handle it," Kuina sighed, drawing the Wado Ichimonji.
She looked at the baboons, a look of interest in her eyes.
At first, she hadn't paid much attention to the sword-wielding monkeys.
But after watching their fight with Nami, she realized that their swordsmanship was not random. In fact, it was quite refined. Some of their combinations had even made her eyes light up.
They were worthy opponents!
Afraid of accidentally killing the baboons, Kuina didn't use Haki and did her best to use only the back of her blade, holding back her strength.
But the gap in their stats was too great.
After a few rounds, the baboons were all easily defeated, and they lay on the ground, their eyes spinning, foaming at the mouth.
"Very impressive swordsmanship," Kuina said, sheathing her sword. "A pity there are only a few of them. If there were more, even I would have been in for a tough fight."
"Is that so?"
Shane smiled. "Then your wish is easily granted. I just did a quick scan with my Observation Haki, and there are at least a few hundred sword-wielding baboons on this island."
"A few hundred?"
Kuina was stunned. "So many sword-wielding baboons? Who has the time to teach them all swordsmanship?"
"Not necessarily taught. Baboons are creatures that like to imitate humans. They probably learned by watching someone practice swordsmanship over the years."
"Just by imitating, their swordsmanship can reach this level?"
Then what level of swordsmanship does the person they were imitating have?!
Kuina looked up at the castle, which was shrouded in a thick fog. "It seems the master of this castle is a very powerful master swordsman…"
"Let's go and take a look," Shane said, pushing open the door and striding inside.
At this point, he was a hundred percent sure that this was Hawkeye's residence.
The name was long, something like Kuraigana Island.
It had once been a normal town, but a brutal war had broken out here, and very few had survived. The place had gradually fallen into disrepair.
Hawkeye, who was used to being alone, had made his home here.
The castle's decor was elegant and classical, but the furniture and floors were covered in a layer of dust. The master of the castle had clearly been away for some time.
Where did you go, Hawkeye…
Shane was a little disappointed that he hadn't been able to meet the man himself. He wondered if he had ever heard of his name. He had been looking forward to a duel with the world's greatest swordsman.
Kuina probably wanted to as well, right?
"Let's set up our training camp in this castle," Shane decided, after touring the entire place.
This castle, in the center of the island, was the perfect place for secluded training.
The surrounding area was wide and deserted, fulfilling both of Shane's requirements. And the numerous, sword-wielding baboons…
For others, they might have been a big problem.
But with a young swordswoman on the crew who was eager to improve her skills, Shane was actually a little disappointed that there weren't more of them.
But, if he remembered correctly, there was also a massive baboon king here, who wielded a broadsword that was very similar to Hawkeye's Black Sword, Yoru, and whose swordsmanship was quite impressive.
For Kuina, he would be the perfect sparring partner.
After exploring the surrounding area, the group, as per Shane's instructions, temporarily settled in the castle.
The first floor was spacious, with many empty guest rooms, more than enough to accommodate the crew.
Kitchen, bathrooms, everything was there… there was even a small vegetable patch and a fish pond in the backyard. They didn't have to worry about supplies; they could be completely self-sufficient.
As for the second floor, that was the master's room. They were, after all, borrowing the place, so they had to show some respect.
The other crew members weren't a problem. Shane only had to specifically warn Nami and the two pets not to go up there and mess around.
…
In the blink of an eye, it was the next day.
At five in the morning, before the sun was up, Shane was already awake.
He first spent half an hour running ten laps around the island as a warm-up, and then he found an open space in the forest and continued to practice the "Destructo Disc."
For the past few days, he had read all the instructions in the manual and had tried several times, but he had failed every time.
The biggest problem was that in the world of One Piece, there was no such thing as "ki" from the Dragon Ball world.
It seemed like an impossible problem, but in the end, what Shane was learning was a technique. What he was gathering in his palm and releasing was just a form of energy.
After thinking about it for a while, Shane decided to try substituting it with Haki.
And today was his first real attempt.
"The key to the Destructo Disc is to rotate and compress the energy into a disc shape…"
He closed his eyes and recalled the contents of the manual. His Armament Haki began to gather in his palm.
Unlike the "ki" of the Dragon Ball world, the energy form of Haki was more physical.
And as its name suggested, when it was released from the body through the emission technique, it often had a brutish force—
Wild and unrestrained, powerful…
To control it, he had to be much more precise.
VWOOM!
A thick, black Haki gathered in his palm, quickly forming an irregular, oval-shaped sphere, and it began to slowly rotate.
Shane looked at the black vortex above his head and, feeling the energy contained within, he frowned slightly.
"It's not compressed enough, and the rotation speed is too slow."
At this level, it would be a soft, easily dodged projectile with little to no destructive power.
He took a deep breath and suddenly increased his Haki output.
Sizzle, sizzle!
More Haki poured into it, but under Shane's deliberate compression, the vortex didn't grow much larger.
This time, the rotation speed gradually increased.
But the edges were uneven, and the shape was irregular. Haki was constantly being thrown off, and it was far from the perfect, saw-like disc described in the manual.
BOOM!
With a dull thud, the Haki vortex suddenly exploded, and a terrifying shockwave spread out, instantly flattening a large circle of trees.
"The rotation speed is not enough. If I keep it in its externalized state for too long, it will explode on its own," Shane said, shaking his numb right hand, lost in thought.
He had been training Haki for many years and was very proficient in the "emission" technique. Even so, after leaving his body, he couldn't control the Haki with the same precision as the martial artists of the Dragon Ball world.
And the "Destructo Disc" required extreme precision.
Haki is not 'ki' after all. A direct copy just won't work.
Shane sighed, stood up, and began to pace back and forth, stroking his chin.
Perhaps he should try a different approach. Since he couldn't perfectly replicate the original, then he would have to modify it to suit the characteristics of Haki.
But how…
Just then, a "ooh, ooh, ooh!" came from the distant deadwood forest.
Shane used Moonwalk to get to the top of a tree and, following the sound, he saw the baboons from yesterday. They had brought a large number of reinforcements and were now heading for the castle.
Revenge?
Kuina should be up by now. She'll be happy to have so many sparring partners delivered to her doorstep.
Shane watched with interest.
One of the baboons, as it walked, casually swung its sword in a beautiful arc, the glint of the blade catching Shane's eye.
"A flourish…"
Shane narrowed his eyes, and a flash of inspiration struck him.
He returned to his original spot, raised his right arm, and gathered his Haki.
But this time, instead of trying to form it all at once, he first divided the released Haki into dozens, hundreds of fine threads, and then wove them together.
"SPIN!"
With a low cry, the sword-like threads of Haki began to rotate at high speed in one direction, gradually forming a disc about half a meter in diameter.
Although the edges were still a little rough, the overall shape was there.
"That's it!"
Shane's face lit up. This method fit perfectly into the "Destructo Disc" mold. All that was left was to continue to refine and optimize it.
He immediately tried to compress more Haki into the edge of the disc, making it as thin as a cicada's wing, and the rotation speed became terrifyingly fast, almost a blur to the naked eye.
The dark energy disc let out a piercing hum, and it was on the verge of losing its stability.
"GO!"
Shane's right hand suddenly shot out, and the rapidly rotating Haki disc flew from his hand, whistling as it headed for a hill that was about a hundred meters high in the distance.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the entire hill was sliced in two.
The upper half of the hill slowly slid down, kicking up a cloud of dust. Shane used Moonwalk to get into the air and, looking down, he saw that the cut was as smooth as a mirror. It had been completely leveled by the one blow!
I did it!
A sharp glint appeared in Shane's eyes. After several days of research, he had finally overcome the most difficult hurdle. He couldn't help but clench his fist in excitement.
So what if the original "Destructo Disc" can't be replicated in this world?
The technique is universal!
And now, he had finally created his very own "Haki Disc"!
"That name isn't very good. I'll have to change it."
But not now.
Shane's gaze fell on the broken hill. He could have achieved a similar effect with a casual punch, so he wasn't really satisfied with the current power of this move.
So, for the next little while, he had to focus on two things at once!
—He had to continue to consolidate and optimize the power of the Destructo Disc, and he had to continue to practice Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
And then…
He would combine the two!
That's right!
The "Destructo Disc" manual had a very high ceiling. Just modifying it for Haki wasn't enough!
To turn it into his ultimate trump card, how could he not mix in a large amount of Conqueror's Haki, just like Kaido-sensei?!
Just imagining it…
His right arm raised, the high-speed rotating disc exuding a terrifying aura, and at the same time, thick, black and red lightning crackling and spreading out in all directions…
Even the Four Emperors and the Admirals, would they dare to take it head-on?
Shane had already thought of a name.
Just like the "God's Departure" and "Godslayer" series, he would give it a similar name—
Its name would be—
Godsplitter!
As for now…
Shane clenched his fists.
Time to train!
————
In secluded training, time seemed to fly by even faster.
In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.
Ever since Roger had started the Great Pirate Era, the sea had never been calm.
And this period was no exception.
First, a major war had broken out between the Beast Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates in the New World.
The cause of the incident seemed to be related to the disappeared Tachi Swordsman, Shane.
In short, after the battle of Enies Lobby, the Beast Kaido's temper had grown even more volatile. After a few days of drinking his sorrows away in his lair, he had gone out looking for a fight and had, by chance, run into Red-Hair, which had eventually led to the outbreak of the war.
While the war in the New World had not yet subsided, another, even more eye-catching news story had broken in the first half of the Grand Line.
The two vacant Warlord positions had finally been filled.
One was a long-famous great pirate, known as "Raging Rhino" Akshan, with a former bounty of 430 million Berries, an old-timer who had even spent some time in the New World.
For a figure like him to become a Warlord was to be expected, and it didn't cause much of a stir.
As for the other, it had made many people's jaws drop.
Known as "Thunder God" Enel, he had no former bounty, and no one had ever heard his name. The guy had just appeared out of nowhere and had been chosen by the World Government.
It made one wonder.
Is this guy really worthy of being a Warlord?
And on what grounds did he dare to call himself the "Thunder God"…
As for the big news of the past few days, a massive explosion had been heard in Dressrosa, which was under the rule of the Donquixote family, and it had shaken the entire island.
Someone had seen something fly into the sky and escape.
But as for the details, the Donquixote family seemed to have locked down the information, and reporters from the World Economic Journal were currently undercover, investigating.
There's always a new wave to replace the old.
One headline-grabbing news story after another kept popping up.
In comparison, the remnants of the Curtain Call Adventurers, after the death of their leader, Shane, who had once created so many big news stories, had completely disappeared from the spotlight and had lost most of their public attention.
There were rumors that the group had been successfully captured and wiped out by the Marines, and there were also rumors that, with their captain gone, the group had disbanded and gone their separate ways.
In any case, Shane's story had faded from the world stage, and according to past experience, it wouldn't be long before he was completely forgotten by most people…
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