Diligent Training

Afterward, Zephyr pointed out the mistakes the two had made in battle and answered some of the questions they had about their training.

Only Doflamingo and Tokikake received this special treatment, getting private lessons from Zephyr. The other trainees who trained under Zephyr usually got beaten up once, then went to attend the regular classes.

Of course, even more trainees did not even have the chance to be beaten up by Zephyr. They were directly taught by retired Navy Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals, and could at most listen to Zephyr lecture during public classes.

What Zephyr excelled at most was physical training. He could not offer Doflamingo much guidance in Devil Fruit development or swordsmanship.

But in the Pirate World, the body could be said to be the greatest foundation of combat power. As long as one's physical strength improved, both swordsmanship and Devil Fruit abilities would naturally rise with it. Therefore, Doflamingo approached Zephyr's instruction with utmost seriousness.

Compared with Bell's previous instruction, Zephyr was more than a hundred times better. He explained exactly how to exert force when using the Navy Six Styles, how to train every muscle in the body, and the various precautions for improving Haki.

Under this near-perfect instruction, Doflamingo's strength steadily improved once again. Even the Navy Six Styles, which he had thought he had developed to the limit of his current physique, began displaying even more variations.

What delighted Doflamingo most, however, was that he had finally learned Life Return through the Navy Six Styles.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he had not learned Life Return, but had developed it to the point where he could use it.

Everyone in the Pirate World inherently possessed a certain degree of Life Return, and all forms of training were ways of developing that ability. Among them, the Navy Six Styles were the most efficient.

An incredibly vigorous appetite, a remarkably powerful physique, nearly unbelievable vitality, and the stamina to fight for days and nights on end were all manifestations of Life Return.

Many pirates who had trained to a certain level actually possessed considerable mastery of Life Return. They simply had no way to manifest it as visibly as the Navy did through practicing the Six Styles.

Now that Doflamingo had mastered Life Return, the abilities he used most every day were digesting food and recovering from injuries.

"Pfft, pfft!" He swallowed an entire chunk of bone-in meat, bones and all, chewing it to bits. Amid the crunching sounds, Doflamingo spat out some bone fragments.

The dining table was a complete mess. The piled-high plates had contained hundreds of pounds of meat alone, yet he and Tokikake had eaten every last bit.

Even the meals in the Elite Training Camp varied greatly among trainees. What he and Tokikake ate every day was food prepared from Sea Kings. The other members training with Zephyr enjoyed a mix of smaller Sea Kings, vegetables, sea fish, and the like.

As for the greater number of ordinary trainees, they could only eat at the cafeteria.

Different foods contained vastly different nutrients. Given the same physical condition, trainees who ate grand Sea King meals could endure training intensity far beyond those who ate ordinary Navy cafeteria food.

Doflamingo reached into his mouth and felt around, then contentedly picked at his teeth. The two molars Zephyr had knocked out earlier had already grown back.

After moving his body a little, he went into deep sleep for half an hour after eating. Now, he felt that all his injuries had completely recovered, as though endless energy flowed through his body.

"All right, time to continue training." After psyching himself up, Doflamingo turned to Tokikake beside him.

"Hey, Brother Tokikake, come out and do some sparring with me!"

"Ahhh! Spare me!" Tokikake's face was full of helplessness. "Steve, what kind of monster are you? Do you only know how to train every day? Instead of wasting time on that, why not go check out the pretty girls in the training camp?"

Tokikake felt that he was already considered diligent in the training camp. His training intensity was nearly three or four times greater than usual. Yet compared to Doflamingo beside him, the gap was simply enormous.

He trained eight hours a day, while Doflamingo trained sixteen hours a day. Of the remaining eight hours, he spent another four developing his Devil Fruit ability.

Was there any enjoyment in a life like that? Aside from training, did he not have any other pursuits? Like pretty girls, for example.

The most miserable part was that, with Doflamingo as a comparison, Instructor Zephyr always seemed displeased whenever he looked at him, feeling that he was holding back the training.

Heavens knew he was already working hard, all right? In the previous training camps, he would have been considered among the most diligent.

How many people could train nearly twenty hours a day like the freak beside him?

The other training camp members only trained around six hours. He only added another two hours because the freak beside him trained every day, making him feel inadequate by comparison. Even so, Instructor Zephyr was still dissatisfied with him!

"All right." Doflamingo grabbed Tokikake's arm without hesitation. "There'll be plenty of time to look at pretty girls later. The training camp only lasts two years. After two years, you'll have all the time in the world to look at them. For now, let's go do combat training!"

"No!" Tokikake struggled miserably as Doflamingo dragged him to the Training Grounds.

Of course, if he truly had no desire to train at all, Doflamingo would not have been able to drag him along. That was the so-called catfish effect. During this period of sparring with Doflamingo, he had clearly felt his progress speeding up more and more.

If this continued, after two years, he might not necessarily be able to keep his little brother in check. If Doflamingo could defeat him without relying on his Devil Fruit ability by then, he would be utterly humiliated.

"Brother Tokikake, I feel like I've improved quite a bit lately, so you'd better be careful!"

Upon arriving at the Training Grounds, Doflamingo drew Chidori, his face eager for battle. Black Haki instantly wrapped around Chidori's blade.

"Hmph, when you don't need anything, you call me Uncle Tokikake. When you need my help, you call me Brother Tokikake." Tokikake grumbled resentfully. "You brat really know how to adapt to the situation."

"Let's be clear first: you can't use your Devil Fruit ability."

Although Tokikake complained, the moment he saw Doflamingo draw Chidori, his expression immediately turned serious.

Doflamingo's strength had been improving faster and faster recently. Tokikake had no desire to suffer an embarrassing defeat this time.

"Don't worry. I never use my Devil Fruit ability during training." The moment Doflamingo finished speaking, he unleashed a Flying Slash.