One-Eye Worley hailed from the Grand Line. Originally the captain of a merchant ship's guard, his swordsmanship was formidable—just one step away from being a true swordmaster. During a battle with pirates, he lost an eye, but his fearless counterattack drove the pirates back.
Unfortunately, the merchant ship's captain was unsatisfied, berating him for incompetence and calling him trash for damaging valuable cargo. Though he never outright demanded compensation, he made sure to pin all the blame on Worley.
Already suffering from the loss of his eye, Worley now faced not just ingratitude but the threat of being scapegoated. In a fit of rage, he killed the captain, seized the ship, and began his life as a pirate.It's been five years now, and Worley's bounty has reached 35 million berries.
Worley was currently in a foul mood. Originally, he had planned to stay on Sabaody Archipelago for a week—just long enough to coat the ship and gather supplies before immediately heading to the New World. But one mishap after another kept occurring.
On the first day of their stay, Combat Captain Hook Hawk and several of his subordinates failed to return all night, and they still hadn't shown up by the next day.
Hook Hawk was a veteran on the ship, known for his bravery in battle. In one fight, he had lost his left hand to an opponent, but he had taken that opponent's head in return. After equipping a hook, Hawk became even more ferocious, fearless to the point of recklessness, earning him a promotion to Combat Captain under Worley, with ten men under his command. He was a man who knew the rules—if he hadn't shown up, it could only mean something had happened to him.
To maintain morale, Worley sent people to search for two days, but they found neither hide nor hair of him—not even a trace of information.
By the seventh day, yet another disaster struck: Navigator Pont had gone missing.
If losing Hawk had merely angered Worley, losing Navigator Pont drove him into a rage. Combatants could be found anywhere on the open sea, but navigators capable of guiding a ship through the Grand Line were rare. Especially since they were about to head to Fish-Man Island—without a navigator familiar with the currents, they'd be courting death.
Worley sent everyone out to search, and this time, they finally found Pont—on a flyer for a human auction on Grove 1. Pont was being auctioned off, starting at 2 million berries, with the sale set for seven days later. Worley nearly ground his teeth to dust.
Left with no choice, Worley began preparing funds to buy Pont back while secretly sending people to recruit a new navigator.
Navigators weren't easy to come by, especially for pirate crews. Before he knew it, the day before Pont's auction had arrived.
...
"Damn it, Iron Body again? Practicing Iron Body every single day—are they insane? Don't they know Iron Body gets people killed?"
"Oh ho! Someone's practicing Paper Arts, and they've even got the basics down! Not bad, not bad. Mine now."
Badak perched high on a redwood branch, gazing far into the Marine base's training grounds. At this distance, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to see a thing, but Badak took in every detail—he could even count the beads of sweat on the Marines' faces.
Badak had scouted this spot the first time he came to the Marine base to collect a bounty. He hadn't forgotten his goal of stealing the secrets of the Six Styles.
The Six Styles—Shave, Moon Walk, Iron Body, Paper Arts, Tempest Kick, and Finger Gun—were a collection of advanced martial arts techniques that surpassed human limits, encompassing movement, aerial mobility, defense, evasion, close combat, and ranged attacks. Only Marine officers were permitted to learn them, and most only mastered one or two styles.
Those who mastered all Six Styles had a chance to acquire a technique called Life Return, which allowed them to infuse consciousness into every part of their body, freely controlling their muscles, hair, and even internal organs.
Badak was most interested in Shave and Moon Walk. His transformed state already granted him strong defenses, and his swordsmanship covered offense—what he lacked was rapid movement skills. But the Marine officers present seemed mostly focused on practicing Iron Body, standing shirtless while letting their subordinates attack them to toughen their bodies further.
"Finally, here he comes. That old man—hurry up and start. I can't wait any longer." When Badak spotted the elderly Marine entering the training grounds, he immediately perked up.Badak had come to secretly learn at this hour precisely because he heard about the old man's training schedule when changing bounties yesterday. The old marine was none other than the base commander of Marine Base 66, Vice Admiral Pritz Ford. This was a vice admiral who hadn't appeared in the original story—an elderly man who only came to the training ground for an hour before off-duty time each day to stretch his limbs.
Ford waved at the marines greeting him, signaling them not to mind him. He stripped off his outer garments, revealing a muscular body covered in scars, and began his stretching routine.
This fluid series of warm-up movements drew the attention of the surrounding marines.
Ford officially began his training, starting with Shave—by stomping the ground dozens of times in an instant to generate explosive reactive force for high-speed movement. Ford appeared to teleport, flickering here and there, his speed completely beyond what ordinary people could follow.
Badak was the exception. His eyes tracked Ford's movements, and a slow smile spread across his face. He had grasped the key to Shave: the dozens of rapid stomps were important, but what mattered more was not releasing the force until the final stomp. This was also why Badak, despite knowing the principle, had failed to succeed before.
Without pausing after his high-speed movement, Ford stomped the air with powerful kicks, using the resulting lift to walk through the air as if climbing stairs. This was Moon Walk.
Badak realized that Moon Walk was closely related to Shave, with many similarities in the application of force.
Descending from the air, Ford faced a row of wooden stakes. He extended his index finger and rapidly jabbed, piercing hole after hole until all five stakes were riddled like honeycombs.
Stepping back, he unleashed several Tempest Kicks—slashing attacks created by whipping up vacuums with super-fast, powerful kicks—shattering the wooden stakes before him.
"Seems this old man can still fight!"
Ford didn't continue. Since mastering Armament and Observation Haki, he rarely used Iron Body or Paper Drawing anymore. Now, nearing retirement, this level of exercise was enough.
Badak looked thoroughly satisfied. He had finally gathered all the application methods of the Six Styles. Now, all he had to do was work hard in this direction.
...
On the way from Island 66 to his residence on Island 46, Badak, seeing no pedestrians around, couldn't resist trying out the Shave technique.
"I can start with fewer stomps and then increase the intensity."
Badak was a man of action. He attempted rapid stomps but failed to control the force, lunging forward several steps.
After pondering for a few seconds, he tried again.
Walking and experimenting, the sky gradually darkened.
"Swish!" Badak suddenly flashed a short distance away, then "swish!" back to his original spot.
"Finally succeeded! I've grown stronger again! This time, I'll go all out—let's see how far one Shave can take me."
"Boom!" This time, the sound was exceptionally loud, and the distance was several times greater—about 12 meters. Badak's body was still growing stronger. How far could one Shave take him in the future?
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Badak barked at the tree roots nearby. The killing intent emanating from there was far too intense.