Chapter 185: Two Advanced Conqueror's Haki Forms
Loki's long-standing crime of patricide was finally cleared.
The giants still could not say they liked this notoriously troublesome prince, but at least they no longer saw him as a criminal who needed to be driven out.
For the moment, the cloud hanging over Elbaf finally dispersed.
After settling the internal matters of the giants, Kai sought out Gaban again, who had been watching quietly from the side.
Gaban frowned slightly. "You want to know what happened after God Valley?"
"By now, you should see it too. Whatever changed Harald back then was exactly the same as what happened to Rocks."
Kai's tone was heavy. "If I want to topple the thing hiding deep inside the Government, I need more information. Especially…"
He paused.
"…ways to effectively deal with those immortals."
"You know quite a bit," Gaban said.
He gave Kai a long look, fell silent for a moment, then finally began to speak. "Given what you have done for Elbaf and for Jarul, there is no harm in telling you. Back then at God Valley…"
"…So you are saying Rocks' Conqueror's Haki was so overwhelming that Roger and Garp had to combine their full power into one ultimate strike just to shatter it?" Kai asked.
He could not quite keep the shock off his face.
Roger and Garp at God Valley might not yet have been at the absolute peak of their lives, but they were unquestionably already Emperor-level.
Two Yonko-class monsters joining forces in a single all-out blow, just to break Rocks' Conqueror's shield and empty his health bar.
No wonder he had used Admirals like speed bumps.
Defeating Im was going to be a long road.
Still, Gaban's story filled in a lot of blanks that had been bothering Kai.
As expected, Conqueror's Haki could not only be used to attack immortals, but also as a form of defense.
In other words, in the current "version" of the world, Conqueror's was undeniably the top-tier stat.
Old man Rayleigh had been right. Haki really did sit above everything.
"Gaban," Kai said, pulling his thoughts back together.
He looked at the old man, eyes bright, and cut straight to the point. "Will you teach me those techniques?"
Gaban froze, clearly thrown, then pointed at himself in disbelief. "You… are asking me? Oi, brat, do not forget whose friend I am. I practically watched Shanks grow up."
Kai waved a hand, unconcerned, even sounding a little self-righteous. "Different issues, different ledgers. Besides, you have lived in Elbaf for years. Paying a little 'knowledge tax' to the king of Elbaf is only reasonable, right?"
Looking at Kai's completely shameless, dead-serious face, Gaban could only shake his head.
Honestly, if he ignored the rivalry between Kai and Shanks in the New World, he had no personal dislike for Kai at all. He even admired the kid's nerve and ability.
All the more so because…
His gaze slid, almost by accident, toward Ace.
"Fine. Put it down as this old man owing you one," Gaban sighed, like someone setting down a burden. His tone eased.
Over the next stretch of time, Gaban began to explain and demonstrate two advanced applications of Conqueror's Haki.
"So that is how it works," Kai murmured, deep in thought.
While Kai was digesting the lesson, Ace stood nearby, face shifting through different expressions, clearly shaken to his core.
The old man… had once fought side by side with that man?
In Ace's mind, Garp might look carefree and unserious, but when it came to right and wrong, especially evil, his principles were absolute. He never let filth slide.
And yet he had stood shoulder to shoulder with Roger.
Maybe… Roger had not been as unforgivable as Ace had always thought.
Sensing the storm inside Ace, Gaban spoke, voice low. "Ace. You really are Roger's son, right?"
Ace jolted, staring. "You… recognized me?"
Gaban's eyes softened with complicated emotion and distant memories. "Hard not to. Your face, especially your eyes and the way you smile… it is like looking at a young Roger."
Seeing that Gaban clearly had more to say to Ace alone, Kai tactfully patted Ace on the shoulder and gave him a look that said, "Talk it out properly."
Then he led the rest of the crew away, leaving the quiet space to the man and the son of his old captain.
On the way back to their rooms at the tavern, the crew inevitably ended up talking about Rocks.
A legendary pirate with that much strength was hard not to be curious about.
That was doubly true now that they knew Loki had actually crossed paths with the man himself.
"Rocks was strong. No doubt about it," Loki said. "And his ambition to swallow the world was just as real."
His eyes went distant and complicated, as if he were looking back through time at that wild figure.
"For a while, I honestly suspected he was Nika, the Warrior of Liberation from giant legend, the one who would laugh while destroying the world."
"But Rocks shot me down. Liberation never interested him. His goal was simple…"
Loki's gaze slid meaningfully to Kai.
"…to be King of the World."
Part of the reason he had agreed so readily to join Kai's banner was that he had seen that same overwhelming will to sit on the throne burning in Kai.
"King of the World?" Yamato said, eyes lighting up. "Then your goal is the same as Rocks', Kai."
Kai did not deny it, but he did not act particularly animated either. He only nodded once, calm and sure.
"I am not him. I will win."
"Of course you will," the crew answered at once.
In their hearts, Kai was already the strongest.
"Oh, right," Loki added suddenly, as if remembering something. "Rocks once told me the reason he wanted to work with my father was for a force called the Great Hammer Warband."
"He said that warband was dormant somewhere in the world, in a place no one knew. And my father was the one man who could command them."
"The Great Hammer Warband? What is that?" the crew asked, intrigued.
Loki shrugged. "No idea."
He had grown up half-ostracized in Elbaf. Hajrudin probably knew more about the country than he did.
Let alone some half-mythical warband.
Kai, however, did know a few things. "The Great Hammer Warband is an organization of giant shipwrights who specialize in building colossal ships," he said.
"The Ark Noah on Fish-Man Island was their work."
"So just a bunch of shipwrights?" the others said, more confused.
Even if giants were born warriors, what kind of destructive power did shipwrights have? Why would someone like Rocks covet them so much?
"Do not underestimate the Great Hammer Warband," Kai said with a small smile. "Their most frightening trait is that every member carries the blood and strength of the Ancient Giants."
That made everyone stare.
It was also why Rocks had wanted them so badly.
A single elite giant warrior was already enough to wear a Marine Vice Admiral's rank.
Ancient Giants, with physical abilities and potential that put ordinary giants to shame, were something else altogether.
With Harald, the Great Hammer Warband would not be much weaker than a Yonko crew in its own right.
"Kai, do you know where they are?" Yamato asked, fully hooked now.
Loki cut in, sounding skeptical. "How could he? Rocks spent years looking and never found a trace."
"I do have one possible location," Kai said.
That caught Loki off guard.
Punk Hazard. The island that would later be called the Island of Fire and Ice.
Ancient Giants had been seen sealed in ice there.
If Kai's guess was right, that was where the Great Hammer Warband was imprisoned.
Loki looked at him in quiet surprise.
Was the era-toppling tide he had been waiting for truly going to crest around this man?
How else could something Rocks had never found feel like common knowledge to Kai?
This was what fate looked like.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let us go free them right now," Yamato said at once, practically bouncing.
"There you go again," Kai said, quickly stopping her. "That island is a key Marine base at the moment. Until we are fully prepared for an all-out war with the Marines and the World Government, we cannot move on it."
Not to mention, there was a certain genius scientist there he desperately wanted to steal: Vegapunk.
Unfortunately, this was not yet the right moment to pry the "world's greatest mind" out of Government hands.
"Fine," Yamato muttered.
Her energy deflated in an instant, like a plant wilting under the sun.
The next day.
Rayquaza raised sail again. Gaban and his family came all the way to the harbor to see them off.
"Bye, big brother Kai! Bye, everyone!" Colon shouted, jumping and waving with all his might.
As the ship shrank into the distance, Ripley asked quietly, "Ashan… do you think Kai will be the next Rocks?"
Gaban thought back to the long, private talk he had had with Ace the day before.
He smiled and shook his head.
"No, Ripley."
"He will surpass Rocks."
The sky was clear. Sunlight spilled over the blue sea without restraint.
Rayquaza's massive hull cut through the water like a blade, trailing a long wake of white foam behind it.
On deck, everyone had dispersed to their usual spots, training in their own ways. Kai was no exception.
Gaban had given him two advanced Conqueror's Haki techniques.
Strictly speaking, only one of them was complete.
Even Gaban himself had never fully mastered using Conqueror's for defense. All he could offer was a rough direction.
Use your will to guide Conqueror's Haki, let it flow through your entire body like water, and use that to resist and wear down incoming attacks.
It was similar in concept to Armament hardening, but several orders of magnitude harder.
Most people with Conqueror's could only project pressure outward. That was because the energy itself was so notoriously difficult to control in detail.
Even simply coating blows with it was an Emperor-level threshold.
Spreading that wild power evenly over your whole body was another leap entirely.
The second trick, on the other hand, was not so demanding. Luffy himself had once picked it up and used it almost immediately.
The idea was simple: like napalm, you coated Conqueror's onto an enemy's wounds to prevent them from healing.
Gaban had defeated Sommers using that very move.
Right now, Kai was chewing on meteorite chunks out of habit while focusing all his attention on a water balloon in his hand.
Broken rubber scraps from earlier experiments were already piled around his feet.
Every crew member who had awakened Conqueror's Haki was trying the same thing. Balloons popped across the deck in irregular bursts.
The surface of Kai's balloon started to waver. It was as if the water inside had begun to boil. Tiny bulges scuttled under the thin skin, and faint threads of black and red lightning flickered at the edges.
Pop.
The balloon burst.
Bonney, acting as his assistant, barely flinched. She deftly handed him a fresh water balloon and said in a bright, encouraging tone, "You held it two seconds longer this time, Kai."
Kai showed no hint of frustration. If anything, his smile was more confident. "Feels like I am close."
As soon as he said it, his gaze sharpened.
Black and red Haki lightning erupted in his palm and sank straight into the balloon.
Bonney reflexively slapped both hands over her face, bracing for another "shower."
She had been blown up often enough the past few days to expect it.
But several seconds went by, and nothing happened.
Cautiously, she parted her fingers and peeked through the gap.
The balloon in Kai's hand was still round and full, perfectly intact.
And Kai was smiling.
"You did it!" Bonney cried at once.
Kai nodded. To test it, he squeezed.
Pff.
The balloon burst.
The Conqueror's Haki stored inside slammed into his own palm, sending a strange, numb, gnawing sensation crawling up his skin.
He focused on the feel of it, the way the Haki clung and chewed.
"Yes. That is it," he said.
His Conqueror's now truly behaved like maggots on bone, able to keep eating away at a target without letting go.
Finally.
His mood soared.
With this technique, he now had a real answer for anyone with an undying body.
It was a stopgap, though.
From what he had learned of God Valley, the only way to truly break immortality was to burn away the curse inside with absolute, overwhelming power.
As for the defensive form of Conqueror's, he already had a rough plan.
In the end, it would be like learning Armament hardening. You learned by taking hits.
Under heavy blows, the body would reach on its own for Conqueror's as a shield.
If he took enough punishment, quantity would become quality. One day, the barrier would just click.
Right then, a sweet, rich smell drifted from the direction of the galley, tugging at every appetite on board.
Chiffon came out holding a huge tray piled high with freshly baked, golden cupcakes and delicately shaped cookies, all still steaming and fragrant with butter and cream.
"You have all worked hard," she said with a gentle smile, setting the tray on the table in the middle of the deck. "Come take a break and try the new snacks I made. You need to refill your energy if you want to keep going."
The crew crowded around at once. Even Ace, Zoro, and the others who had been fully absorbed in training found their feet moving toward the table on their own.
Bonney was first, of course. She grabbed a still-warm cupcake and shoved it into her mouth, eyes squeezing shut in bliss. "So good. You are the best, Chiffon."
Kai took one too and bit in. The soft crumb and just-right sweetness melted across his tongue.
"Excellent," he said, nodding to Chiffon. "Thank you."
Surrounded by his companions' laughter and easy chatter, Kai let himself relax into the brief pocket of peace and warmth.
For the sake of protecting moments like this, no amount of harsh training felt too much.