Farewell

Just as Cifer had guessed, the Little Ul descended near the G-8 base.

Cifer had no intention of staying at Nabarro Fortress. They still had not found King Luffy's wanted poster, so he planned to head to the East Blue. As for KureKke, Hina could give him a ride along the way.

"Then it's time for us to say goodbye too, Hina."

He had delayed long enough. It was time to let her return to the Marines. He believed that next time, Hina would willingly become his navigator.

The World Government's disguise would be stripped away bit by bit. She still needed time.

The moment had finally come. Hina had been prepared ever since they left Sky Island.

"Hina is leaving!"

She turned to jump from the ship to the shore. Jonathan and Jessica were waiting for her, while Uncle Wright had already packed his luggage and disembarked, leaving her and Cifer space to say goodbye.

When she reached the side of the ship, she suddenly looked back and threw herself into Cifer's arms.

"Hina has been very happy this past month! Thank you!"

She left a light kiss on Cifer's cheek before turning away, as though she no longer had any lingering attachments.

"Yeah~ Hahahaha~ Mortals will always be mortals!"

After Hina disembarked, Enel emerged laughing from the cabin where he had watched everything unfold, apparently finding it worthy of mockery that someone liked Cifer.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a dog?"

"I am a god! Who would dare compare me to a dog?"

Cifer ignored Enel and guided the Little Ul away from the G-8 base. After all, the generation gap between worlds was not so easily bridged.

"Little Hina is still watching? We've already gone so far."

Jessica teased her, pinching Hina's reddened cheek, but Hina paid her no mind.

The next time they met, Hina would become stronger!

Having made up her mind, Hina immediately took out a Den Den Mushi and prepared to call a warship from her branch to pick her up.

"Cifer, how are we supposed to sail the sea without a navigator or a cook?"

Enel would not stop Hina and Wright from leaving, because it was Cifer's choice. But a new problem now lay before them.

How were two men who could neither cook nor read sea charts supposed to find their destination in this vast ocean?

"Hahaha, don't be impatient, Enel. Fate will naturally bring us to our next stop."

Cifer was not worried. Not only was there still a huge supply of ready-made food aboard the ship, but he could tear through space to any place he had been before. If all else failed, they could simply go to the Sabaody Archipelago, Kakaman Island, or Fish-Man Island.

They picked a random direction and let the Little Ul drift with the currents. There was nowhere in the world they could not go!

"By the way, you need to learn Haki!"

A Logia Devil Fruit User without Haki could only bully rookie newcomers here in Paradise.

Enel's offensive power was immense, so immense that even Cifer in his normal state had to take him seriously. But his weaknesses were far too obvious.

He was like an archer with high attack and low defense. He could not use Haki, his physical skills were lacking, and his defense was nothing special. In the end, he had poor endurance and a thin health bar.

Therefore, the first lesson Cifer intended to teach him was Haki. Though he did not truly understand it himself, anyone could imitate what they saw, right? Perhaps Haki was simply another form of Spiritual Pressure.

"The Mantra you use is what the Blue Sea calls Observation Haki. There is no need to say more about that. What you are curious about is why Hina and I were able to hit you back then. That was Armament Haki."

Cifer did not plan to explain the use of Spiritual Pressure. First, it was troublesome to explain, and second, he could not sense any Spiritual Pressure in them. It was better to explain things according to this world's understanding.

Enel shed his usual carefree attitude. Before they had thoroughly beaten him, he had always believed that no one could strike his elemental body.

Under Enel's eager gaze, Cifer explained the various forms of Haki as he understood them.

Since most people could train in the Two Types of Haki through acquired effort, the essential difference between those two types should not have been too great.

Observation Haki gathered a certain power within the head, allowing the brain to perceive all kinds of energy and sounds around it. Armament Haki was merely another application of that same power.

Letting that power overflow across the surface of the body was like forming a suit of armor. Armor could serve as a defensive tool, but it was also a means of attack.

Its ability to strike Logia Devil Fruit Users in particular was why Armament Haki was one of the thresholds to the New World.

In the New World, there were countless Devil Fruit Users and countless powerful people. Without mastering the Two Types of Haki, one could not even enter the door.

However, the armor formed by Armament Haki did not exist forever. It required powerful physical skills to maintain, which was one reason why experts renowned for Armament Haki generally possessed such formidable physical abilities.

Conqueror's Haki, meanwhile, was mostly used to intimidate the weak and could even make them faint.

Since that kind of Haki could not be learned through training, it naturally relied on a different power from the Two Types of Haki. Cifer believed it was closer to sheer force of spirit.

As for when that spirit would reveal itself, even Cifer could not explain it clearly. As he remembered, those people's awakenings had all seemed to occur in desperate situations.

Then they would see when Enel fell into a desperate situation! Should Cifer force him into one? Forget it. They were companions now, after all.

Besides, if someone was too powerless, Cifer did not think they could still summon the spirit of a conqueror.

"Another application of power?"

As someone born with powerful Observation Haki, Enel quickly tried to use Armament Haki. Without question, he failed.

That power seemed rooted in place. No matter what he did, he could not move it, and could only use it within his mind.

"How is that possible? I am a god! How could I fail to learn it?!"

Enel was somewhat irritated. Cifer had said this was the threshold for entering the New World, yet he, the god of Sky Island, had failed. Could it be that the people of the Blue Sea were more gifted than a god like him?

As for Conqueror's Haki, Enel was not worried in the slightest. How could a god like him possibly lack it? He merely needed to wait for the right moment to awaken it.

"Don't rush. One top-tier genius I know took a full year and a half to completely master the use of the Two Types of Haki."

Hearing that, Enel felt somewhat better. The top-tier genius Cifer spoke of was undoubtedly one of the most promising people on the seas. If even he needed a year and a half, then Enel truly had been too hasty.

"Then how long did it take you to learn all three types of Haki?"

On Sky Island, Enel had learned from the others that Cifer was one of the strongest people in the entire world. He wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with this man.

Cifer only smiled without answering. He was a "monster," after all. He could not exactly tell Enel that he had been born with it. That would be too discouraging.

Since Cifer would not say anything, Enel did not press the matter. He ran into the training room in the cabin and began figuring it out on his own. He was going to become stronger and catch up to this man!

"I should have waited before teaching him."

After Enel went inside, Cifer became bored again. Wright was gone, so there was no one to play chess with. Hina was gone, so there was no one to bicker with.

It would be nice if I had a phone...

With nothing better to do, he took out a dusty fishing rod and secured it to the bow, then put on his sunglasses and lay back in a beach chair to bask in the sun.

Until a massive body blocked his sunlight.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't you know I'm looking for the Shichibukai? You still dare to run right into my gun?"

"Tyrant—Bartholomew Kuma!"