Malice and Haki

"You got a good look too, didn't you?" Vidal swallowed a piece of meat and reached for another.

Before transmigrating, he had loved meat too, but it had been so expensive and he had been so short of money that he could barely afford a proper barbecue a few times every six months.

After transmigrating, his family was naturally very well-off, and he could take his pick of meat from all kinds of Sea Kings and rare beasts. But before long, he ate a Devil Fruit.

Of course, Photosynthetic Energy only meant he didn't need to eat, not that he couldn't. Those were two entirely different things.

It was just that, after becoming a plant man, he found he didn't enjoy eating those things as much as before, though they hadn't become as tasteless as wax and difficult to swallow as the stories said.

Rather, the meat was in his mouth, but it tasted bland, and he didn't want to eat much. Fruit, on the other hand, filled his mouth with fragrance and gave him a sense of satisfaction in both body and mind.

Second, if he ate something, wouldn't he have to pass it afterward? What a hassle!

So he chose to avoid eating those things as much as possible. But today, with his good friend there, he had to have a couple of bites. It was just a shame there was no alcohol.

"I didn't look closely. Aren't the Six Powers a secret Marine technique?" Issho drained the juice in his cup and held it out. "Another bottle."

"They call it a secret technique, but as you saw today, even a pirate like Byrnndi World could learn it," Vidal said, picking a fruit from the tree beside him.

"Actually, I'd really like you to learn them, especially Geppo. Your Fruit power lets you fly easily, but there'll always be times when you can't use it."

Issho thought it over for a long time and decided Vidal made good sense. He lowered his head and took a sip from his freshly refilled cup.

"All right. Tell me how to train in the Six Powers later, and I'll find time to practice on my own."

"Why wait? You eat while I tell you. Just remember it." Vidal set his chopsticks on the table. A couple of bites were enough, and it really didn't taste that good.

About half an hour later, just as Bullet came over, Vidal finished explaining every detail of how to practice the Six Powers.

But Issho had kept his head down, eating meat and drinking juice the whole time, so Vidal didn't know whether he had remembered any of it. Still, he trusted that Issho would have no trouble.

Just as Vidal finished speaking and picked up his juice to wet his throat, Issho contentedly swallowed the last piece of meat in his mouth, gently put down his chopsticks, and wiped his mouth with the purple handkerchief he carried.

"Actually, I'm more interested in Armament Haki, and you haven't learned Observation Haki yet. How about we exchange some pointers?"

"Sure!" Vidal's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea!"

He had planned to ask his father for advice when he got home, but wasn't there an Observation Haki expert right beside him?

"By the way, I noticed earlier that your Observation Haki seems to have an especially large range. Why is that?"

"I'm not sure either. Its range used to be normal." Issho patted his swollen belly, pursed his lips, and let out a breath.

"But ever since I ate the Gravity Fruit, I've noticed that my Observation Haki spreads along with something."

Issho frowned and thought hard. A moment later, he said hesitantly, "How should I put it? It's a bit like the ripples that spread when you throw a stone into a calm sea."

"Gravitational waves?!" Vidal raised an eyebrow and immediately understood.

So he was expanding its range by attaching his Haki to gravitational waves. It was the same principle Enel would use in the future to expand the range of his Mantra with electromagnetic waves and even hear sounds.

Come to think of it, when it came to that additional ability to hear sounds, the future Issho seemed to have his own distinctive ability in that regard too.

It was just that his friend didn't seem to have realized it yet.

"Issho, close your eyes and use your Observation Haki to sense Bullet and me. See if there's anything unusual," Vidal said at once.

Issho gave him a puzzled look. He had been about to ask what gravitational waves were, but in the end he held back and slowly closed his eyes.

"Nothing unusual."

In Issho's world of perception, he could clearly sense the two men's auras, the sounds they made, their locations, and even some of their emotions, but those were all basic functions of Observation Haki.

"What about now?"

As soon as Vidal's voice fell silent, Issho suddenly noticed a somewhat subtle malice emanating from his friend!

Issho opened his eyes at once and found that the malice was gone. When he closed them again, he could sense it once more. It was truly a strange thing.

"I think I understand what you mean. Beyond basic emotions, my Observation Haki can also detect deeper thoughts like malice and hostility."

"Mm. You should find a way to develop that ability. It would be best if you could sense them with your eyes open too."

Issho's ability reminded Vidal of Naruto Uzumaki's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode in Naruto, which could also sense people's malice and hostility.

But Naruto didn't need to close his eyes at all, much less damage them, and Vidal really didn't want Issho to blind himself in the future.

What a waste it would be to ruin a perfectly good pair of eyes!

If he didn't want to see filthy, depraved people, he could just find a way to clean them out!

Returning to Issho's ability, it was a godly skill for building an organization. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about spies infiltrating the core leadership.

That was also one of the main reasons he was so determined to bring Issho into the Marines.

It wasn't just Vidal. Even Bullet, standing nearby, understood how powerful the ability was. Aside from anything else, if he had possessed it, he wouldn't have nearly died because of a betrayal back then.

He was envious again.

Ever since coming out with Vidal and Issho, Bullet had been cycling through tension, shock, and envy. He couldn't act cool at all!

"Then, in return, let me share what I've learned about Observation Haki," Issho said solemnly to Vidal.

To be honest, although he had spent the past few days working as a driver and had even gotten into a big fight earlier, he had gained an enormous amount as well.

"Can I listen too?"

Bullet looked expectantly at Vidal, though even he didn't know why he was looking at this man instead of Issho.

Vidal smiled and vigorously ruffled the boy's hair. "Of course. We're family!"

He did think thirteen was a little young to be introduced to Haki. Within the Marines, it was generally only taught to officers who had reached at least the rank of lieutenant commander.

Of course, how long it took to master was up to the individual. Someone like the future Smoker, who still couldn't use Haki even as a headquarters colonel, was actually quite rare.

Just look at the twenty-three-year-old Tashigi. She was also a headquarters colonel, and hadn't she already learned Haki?

So it could only be said that Smoker lacked talent for Haki, or that he relied too heavily on his Logia power and hadn't paid much attention to training his Haki.

Still, just listening should be fine. It'll definitely take him a few years to actually master it, Vidal thought.

Even the Destined Protagonist Straw Hat Luffy took two years, despite being personally taught by someone as formidable as Dark King Rayleigh, didn't he?

A reader said this book doesn't make them want to post any chapter comments at all. Is it not interesting?