Sharingan-version Observation Haki?

Hearing that, Austin, who had been sitting on the bed, was the first to jump up excitedly and dash toward the door.

Buggy, on the other hand, wore a bitter expression.

He really did not like grueling training. There were plenty of experts on the ship anyway, and he would not be the main force when it came time to seize treasure.

But when he saw Austin and Shanks sprinting toward the stern, he reluctantly followed so he would not be left behind. "Wait for me, you two!"

The three left the cabin and headed for the stern, passing several burly men who had drunk too much and collapsed on the ground.

The three had long grown used to these impromptu banquets, and each found a weapon in the storage room.

Buggy chose throwing knives, while Shanks preferred a rapier.

After considering it for a moment, Austin picked up a flintlock rifle.

This was the result of careful thought.

Besides fitting the advantages of his Innate Observation Haki and making him well suited to lurking in the shadows, there was another reason...

The sword-and-blade field was far too competitive.

There were Golden Lion, Roger, and Rayleigh in the past; Red-Haired and Hawk Eyes in the present; and Three Sword Style Liu Zoro in the future...

Austin felt that standing out among sword users was not particularly cost-effective.

If he was going to become something, he should become the world's greatest. Only then would his absurdly fortunate start be worth it. But on the path of becoming a Great Swordsman, setting aside whether he even had the talent to learn swordsmanship...

Even if Austin endured countless hardships and became the so-called World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawk Eyes and Zoro would probably keep chasing after him, trying to cut him down.

Every day, he would hear, "Accept my challenge! I am the man who will become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

It would be annoying enough to drive him to death.

He might as well become the World's Greatest Gun Master!

After all, as a former Blue Star Person, Austin had an innate fondness for firearms, and he also possessed Innate Observation Haki.

Most importantly, this field was not crowded.

The only snipers who would make a name for themselves in the future were Yasopp, Usopp, Van Augur, and perhaps Ben Beckman. It was a niche field without much competition.

Austin did not think he was inferior to anyone.

Once he developed Conqueror's Haki Infusion, Observation Killing, or Future Sight, and bought some Seastone Bullets...

One shot per Four Emperor might be unrealistic.

But one shot per Emperor's First Mate was not too much to ask, right? Shanks could still one-shot someone worth three billion with a single slash.

Once his divine art was complete and he possessed the strength of a Four Emperor, he would travel the world and enjoy life, witness all the famous scenes, then buy a few maids and live in a small estate when he grew old.

He had suffered enough as a corporate slave in his previous life. This time, he had to live more freely and enjoy himself properly.

But ideals were plump while reality was skinny. Right now, he was only a slightly sturdier child with Innate Observation Haki.

Although Rayleigh really was a mediocre teacher who misled his students, he should still be fine at laying the foundations.

He would just make do and learn.

Thus began Austin's first lesson after boarding the ship.

"Physical arts are the foundation of all combat methods. Whether you use a blade or your fists,

"Even if you use a firearm for long-range attacks, you still need powerful reflexes and Haki to remain invincible."

For the three little ones living in the New World, Haki was not an unfamiliar term, so Rayleigh did not explain much.

Instead, he looked over the weapons each of them had chosen.

"Beyond physical arts, everyone pursues the combat style they are best at. So..." Rayleigh looked at them and took a sip of wine.

"Tell me what you want to learn. If I know it, I can teach you my experience and techniques."

"I want to learn swordsmanship!" Shanks had been single-minded from the start, perhaps influenced by Roger and Rayleigh. He had a particular fondness for longswords.

"Swordsmanship?" Rayleigh smiled. "Then starting today, swing five thousand times every day. First, learn the most basic way to hold a sword."

He then turned his gaze to Buggy. "Short blades and longswords are mostly similar. Start by practicing swings."

Lastly, he looked at Austin, whose eyes were shining. Since he did not know the child very well, Rayleigh first asked what he wanted to learn.

"Can I learn anything?"

"Of course. But if you want to learn marksmanship, Bitam, the ship's sniper, is a dead-shot..."

"Then I want to learn Conqueror's Haki Infusion!"

"Pfft...!!!"

Austin's shocking words nearly made Rayleigh spray his wine five meters away.

After a long moment, Rayleigh wiped the corner of his mouth and said irritably,

"Brat, I don't know where you heard that term, but leaving aside anything else, such an advanced technique at least requires someone with the potential for Conqueror's Haki!"

What he meant was that Austin might not even possess Conqueror's Haki, so how could he talk about Conqueror's Haki Infusion?

But Austin did not care. With the attitude of trying his luck, he asked,

"Then... if I have Conqueror's Haki, Uncle Rayleigh, can you teach me?"

"Why not?"

Rayleigh merely took it as a child's ignorance and agreed casually.

The idle chatter did not last long before Austin and the other two began their most basic training.

With a huge slab of iron strapped to his back as a weight, Austin did one-handed push-ups on the ground while reading a newspaper.

At the same time, he did not forget to train his Observation Haki.

Within his perception, Shanks was practicing sword swings, his face covered in sweat and his young features filled with seriousness.

Buggy was training too, but the way he deliberately slowed his movements made it obvious that he was slacking off.

"Shanks seems to be making every swing sharper than the last." By the time Austin finished his strength training, Shanks had finally completed his daily sword-swinging practice.

As expected of a swordsmanship genius.

His progress was visible to the naked eye. Like a sneaky lurker, Austin secretly observed Shanks's improvement and quietly recorded the techniques in his mind.

While Shanks trained his strength, Austin picked up the longsword Shanks had left on the ground. Recalling the way Shanks exerted force and the changes in the airflow that he had sensed,

he began practicing sword swings as well.

"What a greedy little brat."

Up in the crow's nest, a long-haired burly man wearing small dark sunglasses watched Austin training hard at the stern and said to the blond fat man beside him, "He wants to learn guns and swords. If he comes to me wanting to learn axes too, I won't teach him."

"Normally, I don't approve of snipers playing with blades, but he is a little different." As the Roger Pirates' sniper and an Observation Haki expert, Bitam could see some clues.

"That brat Austin is stealing Shanks's hard work."

That was indeed the case.

The techniques Shanks had only summarized and mastered after swinging five thousand times were perfectly learned by Austin after merely imitating them a thousand times. The discovery delighted Austin.

Holy crap, Sharingan-version Observation Haki?

The range of his Innate Observation Haki was not actually very broad. Even after Austin had worked hard to develop it over the years, it only extended a few dozen meters.

But Austin's Observation Haki differed from everyone else's. Although its level of detail was not quite comparable to a microscope, it was naturally maxed out.

No subtle change or technique could escape his eyes.

Therefore, aside from raw strength, he could learn any skill twice as fast with half the effort.