Escape Training (1)

"Hehe, what do you think? Not bad, right?" Grandpa Nick asked with a smile after turning around.

"Much better than when you were just a head," Fanxin said, nodding with a smile. Beside him, Little Black Cat nodded repeatedly. Although Little Black Cat was no longer afraid of Grandpa Nick's appearance as a head, it still felt rather awkward whenever he appeared beside it as just a head. Now, it felt everything was normal again.

"Tch, you have no taste at all." Grandpa Nick was somewhat displeased. He had put a lot of thought into dressing up, yet they had actually said something like that.

"All right, all right, let's not talk about that." Worried they might say something even worse, Grandpa Nick immediately changed the subject and stopped discussing it.

"Next, we'll begin training," Grandpa Nick said. "But before we do, you must understand what you're best at. That way, you can get twice the result with half the effort when you train."

"I know what Fanxin is best at. Although I haven't appeared by your side all these years, I know everything you've done. So there's no need for you to tell me much."

"Your main focus should be developing your body's potential and drawing out the explosive power within it," Grandpa Nick said. "That way, your strength will increase many times over."

Fanxin nodded without objecting. Strength really was his specialty. He often fought wild beasts at close quarters and rarely used weapons unless he had no other choice.

"There isn't much guidance I can give Little Black. You just need to slowly develop your Devil Fruit ability," Grandpa Nick said, glancing at Little Black Cat.

Little Black nodded silently without saying much.

"The key is Ren Fang. You've never practiced martial arts or fought before. So if you want to grow stronger, you must choose the fighting style that suits you best. That way, your combat strength will improve quickly," Grandpa Nick said.

"Mm, what kind of fighting style do you want me to learn, Grandpa Nick?" Ren Fang asked, nodding obediently.

"You're a girl, so strength certainly isn't your strong suit. I think you should fight with a weapon. Use a gun and practice your marksmanship until it's as good as it can be. That way, you won't have to get close to your enemies; you can snipe them from far away," Grandpa Nick said.

"All right, I'll do as you say, Grandpa Nick." Ren Fang nodded slightly and agreed. Strength really wasn't her strong suit. If she ran into a strong opponent, she would be in danger.

"Mm, since Little Black can make weapons and conduct long-distance reconnaissance, you two should team up from now on. You can complement each other. You'll do the sniping, while Little Black handles your weapons, ammunition, and intelligence. That way, your combat strength will increase greatly," Grandpa Nick said.

"I have no problem with that," Ren Fang said with a nod.

Little Black glanced at Fanxin. It had always been with him before, and now that they were about to separate, it was somewhat reluctant.

"It's all right. Stay with Ren Fang. The three of us will still be together from now on, with no distinction between us," Fanxin said with a smile, looking at Little Black Cat.

Little Black Cat thought that made sense, so it didn't object and immediately agreed.

"Very good. That way, you can complement each other."

Grandpa Nick nodded, walked over to Ren Fang, and said, "I'll give you another ability. If you use it well, it will protect you."

"What ability?" Ren Fang asked curiously.

"My ability," Grandpa Nick said.

With that, he took Ren Fang's right hand and inserted his fingertip into her palm. Ren Fang cried out in pain. In the end, though, she endured it. Grandpa Nick was helping her, so she had to bear it.

A strange energy flowed steadily from Grandpa Nick's fingertip into Ren Fang's body. As the energy continued to pour in, her body began to glow with an earthy yellow light.

The glow lasted for about ten minutes before slowly fading away.

At that point, Grandpa Nick withdrew his fingertip.

"This is my ability. I'm giving it to you. From now on, you can control soil too. If someone tries to attack you, you can quickly make a wall or an object of another shape-in short, something like armor. It's very hard and can protect you."

"But it only works within a small area," Grandpa Nick said. "This isn't your innate divine ability, so you can't develop it to my level and control the entire earth. But you'll have no trouble using it to protect yourself."

"You can give it a try," Grandpa Nick said with a smile.

Ren Fang was pleasantly surprised. She stretched out her right hand and slapped the ground, shouting, "Earth Wall!"

A moment later, an earthen wall rose from beneath the ground, blocking her front. She kicked it and found it extremely hard, comparable to steel.

"Thank you, Grandpa Nick," Ren Fang said respectfully, bowing slightly. With this ability, she had a better way to save her own life. Grandpa Nick had given it to her, so naturally she had to thank him.

"Hehe, you'll have to practice more if you want to make it more powerful," Grandpa Nick said with a smile. "But this ability has a weakness. Did you notice it?"

"I did. It needs soil. Without soil, I can't use the ability at all," Ren Fang said with a nod.

"That's right, but that only applies to you. I don't need to worry, because I can control soil from very, very far away," Grandpa Nick said, nodding as he looked at Ren Fang. "So don't push yourself when you're somewhere without soil. Make sure you find a good spot and hide, understand? Otherwise, you'll die."

"I understand, Grandpa Nick," Ren Fang replied with a nod.

"Very good." Grandpa Nick stepped back several paces and said, "All right, I've made all the arrangements I needed to. Now let's begin training!"

"The first part of our training is running away!" Grandpa Nick called out.

"Aren't you teaching us to fight? Why do we have to run away?" Fanxin asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Hehe, because you have to learn to run away before you can learn to fight. If you can't even run away, how can you talk about fighting?"

"When you encounter a powerful enemy, you need to know how to protect yourselves, and running away is one of the best ways to do that," Grandpa Nick said. "That's why you have to be good at escaping. Only then will you live to fight your opponents, understand?"

"We understand." Everyone nodded.

"Good. From now on, you run, and I'll hunt you down. I hope you'll use everything you've got," Grandpa Nick said, nodding and calling out loudly.

A moment later, everyone stopped hesitating and immediately headed into the forest.

After entering the forest, they made their preparations and got ready to fight.