War

After an exhilarating morning run, Sirius was once again so exhausted that he could only lie sprawled across Jack's shoulder and let him carry him forward.

But Jack and Black Maria were not much better off. Both of them were drenched in sweat, panting heavily, and unsteady on their feet. Jack was slightly better, still walking fairly steadily, but he had ultimately failed to fulfill his boast of running ten laps.

Black Maria needed to hold onto the wall just to walk.

Yamato was in the best condition.

That girl only had a fine layer of sweat on her forehead. She truly had inherited Kaido's bloodline; the morning run that had left Sirius unable to get back up twice was probably nothing more than a warm-up for her.

After morning training came breakfast. The four of them went to a small cafeteria specially prepared for them.

Black Maria looked worriedly at Sirius, who was lying motionless on the table. "Sirius, are you still going to eat?"

Sirius shakily raised his right hand and struggled to make an OK sign.

"Ha ha ha, Sirius, then let's settle this once and for all!"

Yamato was full of fighting spirit. "This time, I definitely won't lose to you!!"

She was still bothered by having lost to Sirius in terms of appetite last night, even though she had beaten him in the run earlier.

Sirius laboriously lifted his head, resting his chin on the tabletop as he weakly said, "Bring it on!"

After delivering that threat, he feebly pressed his face back onto the table.

Jack could not help saying speechlessly, "If you're this weak, then stop talking."

"I can't lose in spirit." Sirius sounded like he was on his last breath.

"You've already lost completely looking like that!" Jack rolled his eyes.

Yamato burst into laughter. "Sirius, you're seriously super funny!"

At that moment, the chefs pushed over several food carts and placed steaming dishes on the table.

The food was remarkably lavish—so lavish that it should no longer have been called breakfast.

Fish and meat, mixed with cakes, bread, and desserts. It was nothing but a calorie bomb.

"All right, let's eat first."

Black Maria smiled. "Sirius, do you need me to feed you?"

Sirius waved his hand and slowly raised his head. The next instant, his head turned into a black wolf's head once more. His mouth expanded enormously, and with a slight inhale, a wild gale swept across the table as all the food flew straight into his mouth.

"A vacuum cleaner?" Jack's mouth twitched.

The same thing as before happened again. Sirius, who had looked completely spent moments ago, immediately became radiant and vigorous. His back straightened, his legs stopped trembling, and even color returned to his face.

"You recovered again?"

Black Maria looked at Sirius' transformation in amazement. "Is this your ability too, Sirius?"

Sirius returned to human form and nodded. "Yeah, so I told you, I'm very confident in my appetite!"

"It's not an appetite issue!" Black Maria said helplessly.

This was the final ability of the Devil Fruit Sirius possessed, and probably its most crucial, core ability.

Devouring.

In mythology, Fenrir's two sons devoured the sun and the moon, heralding the beginning of Ragnarok.

Fenrir himself, after breaking free of his chains, rushed to the battlefield and devoured the great god Odin, making the king of the gods the first deity to fall in Ragnarok.

The core of Old Fenrir's family abilities lay in one word: devour.

Put simply, Sirius could eat anything, and whatever he ate would become nourishment for his growth.

Until one day, he truly became the Giant Wolf that devoured heaven and earth!

Restoring stamina and healing injuries could only be considered incidental abilities.

But without question, that was already powerful enough.

After all, it meant that as long as Sirius had something to eat, he could continuously recover his stamina. In battle, he could easily drive all sorts of stamina monsters to despair, and in training, it was like having an endless supply of Senzu Beans.

"That's practically cheating."

Even Jack sighed like that. Then, with a serious expression, he said to Sirius, "Sirius, Boss Kaido was right. You really are the one most capable of inheriting the title of Calamity!"

"Mhm, mhm, mhm."

Yamato's cheeks were puffed out with food as she repeatedly nodded. "Sirius, that ability of yours is super amazing! That means you can keep training without stopping, right? You'll become really strong soon!"

Keep training without stopping?

Sirius shuddered as a terrible premonition suddenly struck him.

How was that a good thing?

This was hell, right? He had never gotten the chance to experience the nine-to-nine-six schedule in his past life, so was he getting it in this one?

"What's the schedule after breakfast?"

Sirius hurriedly asked. Please do not let it be round-the-clock devil training.

"After breakfast, it's Uncle Queen's class."

Black Maria picked up a napkin, wiped her mouth, and smiled. "Until lunch, we'll all be studying with Uncle Queen."

"Studying?" Sirius picked up a piece of bread and took a bite, asking indistinctly, "Studying what?"

"A lot of things," Jack said. "Writing, math, navigation, geography, probably things like that."

Oh, got it. Academic classes.

Sirius understood.

Uncle Kaido was quite forward-thinking.

Being strong alone was not enough. Their overall abilities needed to keep up too.

Wasn't there something called Bucket Theory?

"That sounds nice."

Sirius grinned. In that case, he could take it easy for a while. "What about the afternoon?"

"From the afternoon until dinner, it's Uncle King again!"

Yamato said loudly, counting on her fingers. "Mm, first Uncle King demonstrates, then we practice on our own, then we spar with Uncle King, and finally there's actual combat training."

"Spar with Uncle King?"

A terrible premonition suddenly rose within Sirius.

"Brother King is very dedicated," Jack said quietly.

Sirius instantly understood what Jack meant by dedicated.

Afternoon physical education might be a bit of a headache.

After quickly finishing breakfast, Sirius followed his companions to find Queen.

That fat man looked greasy, but he was actually one of the most learned men on the seas. His scientific knowledge was exceptionally advanced, more than enough to serve as Sirius and the others' teacher.

But when they found Queen, he was adjusting his Mechanical Left Arm.

Seeing the four arrive, Queen, with a cigar still clenched in his mouth, blew out a smoke ring. Under Sirius' curious gaze, he pressed bullets one by one into his mechanical arm.

"What are you little brats doing here? Didn't I tell you your classes were canceled for the next few days?"

"You absolutely never said that," Black Maria said with a smile.

"Oh, then I've said it now."

Queen impatiently waved his hand. "Go play by yourselves. I don't have time to deal with you right now."

"Uncle Queen, did something happen?" Sirius asked curiously.

Queen pushed up his tiny sunglasses and gave Sirius a malicious grin. "That isn't something a little brat should worry about. What you should do now is enjoy yourselves as much as you can over the next few days!"

"After seeing your ability, that bastard King said he'd make the fullest possible use of your recovery ability! Muhahahaha!"

The terrible premonition had come true.

Sirius felt a chill run down his back. The days ahead were probably not going to be pleasant.

"But if you really insist on knowing, it's not like I can't tell you!"

Before Sirius could say anything, Queen, who had just said he would keep it secret, suddenly started grinning again.

There was definitely something wrong with this guy.

I didn't say anything at all, okay?

"War is about to begin."

That was what Queen said.

"War?"