The special power accumulated within Hiroto's body was consumed, corresponding to a sudden increase and strengthening of Armament Haki.
Both in quantity and quality, it skyrocketed within mere seconds, crossing a long threshold to reach the level of Advanced Armament Haki.
What does Advanced Armament Haki mean?
It is a level second only to top-tier Armament Haki, and those who possess top-tier Armament Haki are all powerhouses standing at the world-class or even peak level.
For example, Aokiji, Akainu, and others.
Advanced Armament Haki is basically the level of someone like Doflamingo during the Dressrosa incident, or the elite Vice Admirals of Marine Headquarters.
It can be said that this qualitative leap alone saved the decades of effort that ordinary geniuses would need.
Cheaters are terrifying like this.
Advanced Armament Haki, whether in quality or quantity, is already sufficient for Hiroto now.
What truly requires time and effort to learn are various techniques—Emission, Internal Destruction, all are worth investing energy in.
Additionally, from fighting Garp, Hiroto could clearly identify his weaknesses.
His proficiency in Observation Haki was still far from adequate, unable to contend with particularly strong enemies.
And then there's Conqueror's Haki. During the trigger of [Sit-ups], he had had a feeling of something being completed, but not fully formed.
He had a guess that it was the aptitude for Conqueror's Haki. It seemed that he would inevitably awaken Conqueror's Haki later.
Conqueror's Haki Infusion is incredibly impactful for boosting strength.
In the dark sea, Hiroto contemplated the future direction of his strength development and prioritized his goals.
Study the techniques of Armament Haki, raise the level of Observation Haki, and wait for the aptitude for Conqueror's Haki to be fully completed.
Kaido said it well: 'Only Haki can transcend all.'
In the original story, although Kaido was defeated by Luffy's Gear 5, and both were Devil Fruit Users, making this statement somewhat subtle, the fact that Kaido could say this seriously and with conviction shows the absolute importance of Haki.
After staying underwater for a while, confirming that Garp hadn't found him, Hiroto stealthily swam away, arriving at a deserted island far from Loguetown, where he called Issho.
While waiting, he wandered around the deserted island. The island was barren, with nothing but rugged rocks scattered everywhere.
After some thought, he looked at the rocks beneath his feet and became interested. Or rather, after the improvement, he couldn't help but want to test his strength.
Hiroto clenched his fist, and thick Armament Haki surged forth, covering his entire body like flowing water, forming a pitch-black, iron-like hue.
With Armament Haki covering his whole body, he suddenly vanished. The barren island rumbled the next second, as a figure moving at high speed—too fast for ordinary eyes to track—rampaged across the island, leaving one large crater after another, while throwing casual punches at the rugged rocks.
Amidst the swirling dust, house-sized rocks were sent flying and the ground cracked and even disintegrated. This barren island was disassembling at an astonishing rate.
When Issho found Hiroto, he saw the remains of an island so destroyed it was just a pit, barely recognizable as an island.
At the center of the large crater, Hiroto stopped moving, sensing the consumption of Armament Haki and the quality of Advanced Armament Haki.
He used this to gauge his progress this time, but the results weren't very good.
The higher the level of Armament Haki, the stronger its quality. Without intense combat, it's impossible to draw complete conclusions.
But one thing is certain: in low-intensity battles, Hiroto's Haki can last a full day even with full-body coverage.
Keep in mind, although the strong in the original story can fight for days and nights, they are very sparing in their use of Haki. From this alone, one can see how immense Hiroto's current quantity of Armament Haki is.
"This is... another breakthrough?!"
Above the large crater, Issho, who had witnessed the process, showed a shocked expression on his weathered face, even a bit of disbelief.
Originally, after witnessing Hiroto kill a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, he was already surprised by Hiroto's rapid progress.
But now...
No matter how much he understood that Hiroto couldn't be judged by common sense, he still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He could sense that Hiroto's Armament Haki level had risen from intermediate to advanced.
Back in his day, it took him a full six years to break through his limits after a major battle.
But now...
Didn't he first meet Hiroto just a week ago?
Thinking carefully, it should be related to that heartbeat—whether it's a Devil Fruit Ability or something else.
But regardless of the method used, Issho couldn't help but feel a bit envious, even a hint of jealousy.
Then he dismissed that hint of jealousy. After all, this is the man he sees potential in, one who could change the world's situation.
Isn't the incredible just Hiroto's standard?
After killing a Vice Admiral, he still had energy left to exchange blows with the Marine Hero Garp and escape smoothly.
Koushirou, I didn't misjudge him, and you didn't choose the wrong person either.
Next, let's watch how Hiroto steps onto the world stage and brings change.
Issho murmured to himself internally, then descended.
"How do you feel?" Issho asked.
"Garp is strong, I'm still far from the world's peak." Hiroto honestly expressed his feelings.
"That's already quite good, your speed of improvement is already unbelievable. I think it won't be long before you can spar with the Marine Hero Garp, there's no need to dwell on this setback now." Issho said helplessly.
The two exchanged a few pleasantries, then Issho took Hiroto back to where the Going Merry was.
On the way, Hiroto pulled out the invitation letter obtained from Dalmatian.
Soon, Hiroto realized the situation.
"An auction house on Drum Island, three Devil Fruits?"
Hiroto stared at the first picture on the invitation letter, half-black and half-white, with cloud-like stripe swirls. The stripes had many small raised patterns, highly symbolic.
Symbolic patterns of lightning, wind, rain, and even heat.
This peculiarity made Hiroto vaguely understand that this was a Logia type Devil Fruit.
Although Devil Fruits in the One Piece World require an encyclopedia to distinguish specifics, their type can be judged by their appearance.
For example, the appearance of Zoan-type Devil Fruits is generally related to the characteristics of the animal they belong to.
Paramecia types, like the Hollow-Hollow Fruit looks like a bunch of bananas, with mini-ghost patterns on the banana heads.
In other words, Hiroto's judgment is mostly accurate.
Logia type...
It's worth a trip, but let's see how things develop.