Bonez thought about it and felt that what Vane said made a lot of sense.
What he had to do was become a strong person, not a sturdy punching bag. Only having defense wasn't enough; he also needed powerful strength and a certain level of combat skill.
"Besides defense training, I'll also strengthen my strength training from now on! I hope you can accept my challenges in your spare time and train my combat skills."
Vane nodded. Bonez being willing to improve was a good thing for both himself and this team.
Wait… a body as hard as alloy—after strength training, his build would probably grow even further, his muscles might become very bulky, and if he later learned to cover his whole body with Armament Haki and turn black…
Am I not cultivating a super-alloy Black Shining from One Punch Man? It feels like the setup is a bit similar in every aspect.
"Boss, how should I improve?"
"Zoan Devil Fruit users just need to keep improving their hand-to-hand combat. Don't think too much about other things—just honestly take hits and hit back."
Compared to Paramecia, which need to practice imagination-based development, Zoan types just keep fighting—keep getting hit and hitting others—working hard to train their bodies and techniques, striving for the day they can achieve Devil Fruit awakening.
However, although Zoan Devil Fruit awakening can bring a considerable boost in strength, the risk also seems to be the greatest.
In the great prison at sea, there are several Zoan users who failed their awakening and remain in a half-human, half-beast state, with no mind to speak of, completely dominated by animal instincts.
The sign of successful Zoan awakening is that black flame-like clouds appear around the body, drifting like ribbons.
"Martha, help these two reduce the swelling."
The stronger a person is, the faster they usually recover. For mere bruises and swollen faces, after applying medicine and the time of a meal, there wasn't much trace left.
But very soon, Vane beat both of them up by himself. Tant and Bonez didn't use their Devil Fruit abilities; they fought Vane using only the purest physical bodies.
This kind of basic training is very important. Powerhouses like Garp and Aokiji most often train by punching decommissioned warships with their bare hands—showing how important this kind of pure physical training is.
The next day, the shipbuilding work hosted by Meowth officially began. Because they were building a ship with modern power, the speed wasn't very fast.
Vane and the others weren't in a hurry to set sail, so they let Meowth take it slow. Bliss Island also had enough conditions for them to stay for a while.
The resources on Bliss Island were enough to upgrade all the equipment on Vane and the others, which made Meowth extremely busy—every bit of spare manpower was assigned to it.
Even Bonez had to follow Meowth's commands at this time. This human-shaped cutting machine was incredibly handy for Meowth to use.
As for Vane, he was probably the only one who didn't have to take orders. His daily tasks were to train Haki and keep an eye on news from the Bliss Island auction house.
Whether it was Devil Fruits or Haki training methods, they occasionally appeared at the auctions on this island.
"It's just that the money in my pocket might not be enough…"
According to Meowth's estimate, it needed to keep at least two hundred million Belly on hand for shipbuilding. Buying materials had already cost nearly one hundred million, which meant one hundred million Belly still had to be kept as backup.
They also needed to set aside money for food and upkeep, for equipment upgrades, and for miscellaneous expenses like medical costs.
Ordinary spending would definitely be sustainable, and buying things like Haki training manuals would also be fine. Many people buy those and can't train anything out of them, so they're far less sought-after than Devil Fruits, and Vane could still afford them.
Devil Fruits were different. They didn't require training—eat one and your combat power increases.
The rumor that one is worth at least one hundred million Belly wasn't just talk.
"I want to make some big money."
There weren't many ways Vane could think of to make big money. The bounties on other pirates were a good source of income. The gang on Thorn Rose Island could help exchange pirate bounties—there was no reason the gangs on Bliss Island couldn't.
And Bliss Island really had a lot of pirates.
...
The largest casino on Gambling Street.
Vane walked into this biggest casino with three hundred thousand Belly in cash.
Among the things pirates like most, gambling definitely takes one of the spots. One of Vane's purposes in coming here was to look for suitable targets.
The ideal target would have an appropriate bounty and be a Devil Fruit user—not only providing financial support, but also potentially dropping Pokémon-related items.
"Big! Big!"
"Small! Small…"
"No more bets! Four, five, five! Big!"
"Damn it! I should've bet on big!"
"You bastard! It was you who wanted to bet big!"
"I won, it's all my money."
The casino was extremely noisy, and the people who came here were basically rough types. An atmosphere like gambling gods quietly reading each other's cards simply didn't exist in this hall.
With a cat-demon mask on his face, Vane carefully observed the surroundings.
There were quite a lot of people who could be identified at a glance as pirates, but most of them were obviously not wanted criminals.
He wasn't in a hurry either, slowly wandering in front of the various tables.
The gambling here was the most classic—shaking dice.
Simple, crude, and fast, very much in line with the style of pirates and bottom-tier gang members. Letting these impatient people slowly draw cards—most of them wouldn't be able to stand it.
Not finding a suitable target for the moment, Vane came to a table that didn't have many people.
He had another purpose in coming here: to try training Observation Haki.
Armament Haki is a means for attacking; Observation Haki is a means for sensing in all directions without blind spots.
Observation Haki also has differences in strength.
Ordinary people can only sense their surroundings in 360 degrees, enough to deal with situations where vision is limited.
The strong among them can use Observation Haki to foresee a short segment of the future and act in advance.
The first to display the ability to foresee the future was Charlotte Katakuri of the Yonko Charlotte family. Later, Luffy learned it, and the Yonko Red-Haired also clearly demonstrated the ability to foresee future scenes.
There is also possibly a variant of Observation Haki—the Sky Island Enel's Mantra. That requires the Rumble-Rumble Fruit; ordinary people definitely can't do it.
Vane's eyes could open the Transparent World, but honestly that relied too much on his eyes. Wanting to awaken Observation Haki would definitely be rather difficult.
The noisy environment of the casino was actually very suitable for trying to train. In such an environment, let the mind calm down, close the eyes, and sense the surrounding auras.
"No more bets, no more bets!"
Vane's eyes suddenly opened, and he took out five thousand Belly and bet on [Big].
"Three, two, two! Small."
Vane: "..."
I knew it wouldn't be that simple.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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