[Hm? That energy again...]
Ra at once sensed the same kind of power emanating from Bullfart's leg—the unmistakable aura of Armament Haki, identical to what she had felt from Kaido himself.
"Gwah! That hurts! What is that power?"
Ossi clutched her nose, blinking back tears as she stared at the faintly shimmering sheen on Bullfart's leg and arm. She could tell it wasn't ordinary strength.
"Huh? You mean you don't even know what Haki is, brat?"
"...Am I supposed to?" Ossi rubbed her reddened nose, sounding both hurt and confused.
"Heh! In that case, let me, your senior, give you a proper lesson!"
"Fishman Karate—Thousand Brick Fist Barrage!"
Having roughly gauged Ossi's toughness, Bullfart showed no intention of holding back. In an instant, countless fists wrapped in Armament Haki came crashing toward her—but Ossi dodged every single one with inhuman reflexes and dynamic vision.
"Don't dodge! Taking hits is the fastest way to awaken your own Armament Haki! Feel my blows with your body!"
"You're kidding, right?! Only an idiot would stand there and take that!"
"You think you can trick me into getting beaten up? Keep dreaming, cow-head-uncle!"
Ossi darted left and right, narrowly avoiding each punch.
"You little brat! Fine then—Fishman Karate: Mist Mirage Fist!"
When his regular attacks failed to land, Bullfart switched tactics. Moisture gathered in his palms, and with each high-speed punch, the droplets burst into mist, shrouding his movements completely.
"Gwah! So dirty!"
Unable to see his punches anymore, Ossi was soon yelping as she got smacked around, flailing her arms wildly to block.
Watching her little sister being tossed around like dough, Obel instinctively stepped forward—only for Ra to raise a hand and stop her.
"Big Sis? You're just gonna let him—"
"Don't worry," Ra said calmly. "Those attacks won't hurt Ossi."
It wasn't arrogance—she simply trusted Ossi's monstrous physical durability.
"Let her get a feel for battle. She'll need that experience soon enough."
"Still… she can't just keep taking hits like that."
Despite their constant bickering, seeing Ossi used as a punching bag was more than Obel could stand.
"You're right."
Ra thought for a moment, then raised her voice.
"Ossi! Don't rely on your eyes to track his attacks. Use your consciousness to sense his energy."
It was the same principle she had discovered while fighting Kaido—reading an opponent's movements by perceiving the flow of energy within their body.
Their current forms, infused with divine power, had both high resistance and high adaptability to energy.
High resistance allowed them to endure or even nullify energy-based attacks—Ra herself was completely immune to heat and cold.
High adaptability, on the other hand, meant they could manipulate and perceive energy with precision beyond ordinary comprehension.
It was like the difference between a fire Logia user who could only produce flames, and Ra, who could weave them into clothing indistinguishable from the real thing.
Now, by asking Ossi to "sense energy," Ra was really telling her to harness that innate sensitivity to feel Bullfart's movements without relying on sight.
But in the middle of a beating, Ossi had little room to ponder philosophy.
"What energy? How do I sense that?!"
"Everything—people, animals, even stones—has energy.
You can't see or touch it, but it's there—just like the divine power within you.
You already feel the energy flowing inside your body, right? Try using that same sense to feel what's outside.
Don't rush. Close your eyes, and let your body listen. It's easier than you think."
Ra spoke in Chinese, ensuring Bullfart wouldn't understand.
If he had, he would have right away realized she was describing the essence of Observation Haki.
Only, instead of using the vague word "aura," she used something far more tangible: energy.
Patiently, she explained the theory and guided Ossi step by step, like teaching a baby to walk—though the background soundtrack of Ossi's shrieks made the scene somewhat less dignified.
"Close my eyes and just feel? Ra-sis, are you serious?!"
This sounded exactly like something out of a comic, and Ossi couldn't help but wonder if she'd somehow made Ra mad.
"Whatever. I can't dodge anyway, might as well try."
Resigned, she shut her eyes—and right away found that the punches hurt even more.
One hit. Two. Three. Shoulder, cheek, forehead—
[Sense... energy... feel...]
Gradually, as she grew numb to the pain, Ossi began to see faint points of light accompanying each blow.
[So this is the energy Ra-sis was talking about?]
Her focus sharpened.
The glowing points spread from Bullfart's fists across his whole body. In her mind's eye, his outline became perfectly clear.
[No wonder his punches felt so hard—it's because he's coating them with that special energy!]
Instantly, she understood the secret of Armament Haki.
And with her new perception awakened, Ossi grinned, ready to strike back.
"Hah! Your tricks won't work on me anymore! My turn!"
"Take this!—Thunder Cannon!"
She tilted her head to dodge Bullfart's next punch, then thrust out her left hand. A miniature thunderbolt burst forth and struck his stomach dead-on.
"Wha—?!"
Caught off guard, Bullfart was blasted backward. But his battle instincts kicked in midair, twisting his massive body to land safely on his feet. Smoke curled up from his abdomen.
"Heh~ So you managed to guard just in time, huh?" Ossi noted. She could sense that he'd instinctively concentrated energy on his stomach right before impact—a reflex honed through countless battles.
[Observation Haki first, huh?] Bullfart thought, rubbing his aching gut with mild astonishment.
[I figured I'd help her awaken Armament instead... but damn, she's a natural. No wonder Boss Kaido brought these girls in.]
"Hey, Bull-something-uncle! You wanna keep going?" Ossi asked, blowing playfully on her tiny fist.
"No need. I've seen enough—you're strong enough to deserve your officer's rank."
He crossed his arms, his expression softening.
"But you've still got a ways to go before you can handle real combat—you haven't mastered Armament yet."
Having gauged their abilities, Bullfart no longer felt like fighting.
"By the way, that lightning earlier—are you a Devil Fruit user?"
Ossi blinked in confusion, her expression pure innocence.
"Big guy, I have no idea what you're talking about. What's a Haki? What's a Devil Fruit user?"
"Would you mind explaining, Mister Bullfart?" Ra stepped forward. "We grew up on a remote island, so we're unfamiliar with these terms."
Since the fight had ended, she took the chance to ask about the world's power system—it seemed far too important to ignore.
"Well, you don't look like you'd know, that's for sure. Fine—come with me, I'll explain inside."
Bullfart gestured toward his villa, then glanced over at Dirk—still standing there, frozen with his jaw hanging.
"Dirk, you can go now," he added.