The Golden Lion's Guidance

Seven or eight days had passed since Minos boarded the Golden Lion's floating island.

Minos hadn't been idle during this time. The Big Mom Pirates didn't have many members known for their swordsmanship. If we're talking purely about the highest level of swordsmanship, that would be Big Mom's daughter, Charlotte Amande, also known as the Demon Wife.

However, this third daughter of Big Mom had a rather unpleasant personality—cold and melancholic. Minos couldn't even get a word in with her, let alone ask for advice on swordsmanship.

Among the remaining members of the Big Mom Pirates, there were quite a few who used swords, but none were exceptionally skilled. Even Big Mom's own swordsmanship was merely mediocre; she relied entirely on brute force to achieve results.

The Golden Lion was different. In his prime, the Golden Lion was definitely a strong contender for the world's greatest swordsman! At the very least, he was in the same league as Hawk Eyes and Kōzuki Oden.

Even though his strength had declined, instructing Minos was more than enough for him.

Since they hadn't found Germa 66 during this time, Minos trained with the Golden Lion every day, and his swordsmanship level had improved significantly.

After hearing Minos's words, the Golden Lion had been trying to track down Germa 66's whereabouts. Although the Flying Pirates' mobility was unmatched throughout the Great Sea, their intelligence gathering was severely lacking. Germa 66, being a mercenary group that roamed all over the sea, had managed to evade the Golden Lion's grasp until now!

Fortunately, Germa 66 was a mercenary group, not an assassination organization. The Golden Lion simply captured some nobles and kings and interrogated them, which led him to Germa 66's contact information and the intelligence that they were currently in the East Blue quelling a rebellion in some kingdom.

Although Germa 66 was an army from the North Blue, their specially made bio-snail ships could effectively cross the Red Line, giving them a wide operational range. Minos and the Golden Lion hadn't expected them to have already reached the East Blue. However, with the Flying Pirates' unparalleled mobility, they quickly pursued.

The reason Minos told the Golden Lion this information was naturally because he had the intention of stirring up trouble. Now, he felt that joining the Golden Lion Pirates was a good thing; his original thought of fleeing at the first sign of danger had faded considerably.

Although the Golden Lion Pirates' strength was far inferior to the Charlotte Pirates, and the Golden Lion, with his mental state, was significantly weaker than Charlotte Linlin, it was precisely because the Golden Lion's crew lacked reliable subordinates and the Golden Lion himself was mentally unstable that Minos could influence or even decide the direction of the Golden Lion Pirates.

If it were the Charlotte Pirates, Minos would never have had the chance to offer suggestions unless in very special circumstances. Among the entire family's officers, where did he rank? There were at least a dozen people stronger than him!

Within the Golden Lion Pirates, the Golden Lion was mentally unstable, and Dr. Indigo was also somewhat of a jester. His intelligence aside, his emotional intelligence was roughly equivalent to the average level of pirates on the Great Sea—somewhere between intellectually disabled and normal.

In this pirate crew, Minos could truly shine. He could proclaim himself the mastermind of the entire Golden Lion Pirates. After all, he believed his intelligence level was already rare in the entire pirate world.

Even if he couldn't be called the Zhuge Liang of the pirate world, he could at least be called the Wu Yong, the resourceful strategist, of the pirate world. He was confident he could reach the level of a Dog-headed Strategist.

For example, this time, influenced by him, the Golden Lion directly went after Germa 66. This would undoubtedly have a significant impact on the plot of the entire pirate world and would surely bring him a lot of Karma Points.

If any further problems arose, Minos could directly use the Golden Lion as a shield against the backlash from the world's will. It was truly a delightful prospect.

With the Big Mom Pirates, this maneuver would be much more difficult. The key was that Big Mom hid on Cake Island and rarely moved. If Minos truly caused any trouble, he'd likely be dead before he even reached Cake Island.

"Your swordsmanship is too rigid. Don't always stick to the old ways; feel the sword's breath carefully!"

"A true swordsman's every move resonates with the surrounding environment. Even the same move, performed by the same person, will have subtle changes based on the external environment to achieve harmony with it!"

"Consider yourself the wind! Treat the sword in your hand as lightning! Don't think of it as ordinary steel!"

On the floating island, the Golden Lion levitated. The two swords under his legs, Withered Tree and Cherry Blossom Ten, unleashed several beams of light, relentlessly suppressing Minos.

As the Golden Lion, who once chased the title of world's greatest swordsman, his current swordsmanship was far superior to Minos, who hadn't even reached the swordsman realm! Even though he could only use his two legs to wield his swords now and his physical condition was suppressed, and it was a sparring match, he still forced Minos to exert his full strength just to defend.

As an old-school pirate, the Golden Lion's teaching methods were simple and brutal. Don't know how? Get beaten until you do! As long as you don't die, beat them to a pulp. While fighting, you'll eventually learn something through your body.

Due to the figurehead on his head, the Golden Lion's Armament Haki and Observation Haki had significantly declined. However, perhaps because it wasn't yet time to fight the destined child, these two types of Haki had only weakened, not completely disappeared.

While the Golden Lion's Armament Haki had declined greatly, Minos's own Armament Haki wasn't very strong. If not for the Dragon Blood Ritual, his current Armament Haki wouldn't even be able to harden! Compared to the Golden Lion's weakened Armament Haki, Minos was still far inferior.

However, in terms of Observation Haki, Minos's level was quite high, almost reaching the pinnacle. The Golden Lion in his prime might have been comparable to Minos, but now he was far behind.

But even with powerful Observation Haki, if his body couldn't keep up, it was useless! The Golden Lion's speed was already lightning-fast, amplified by the Float-Float Fruit, which expanded his attack range and angles into three-dimensional space. His attacks were everywhere at once, leaving afterimages and making it extremely difficult for Minos to fight, with bloodstains appearing on his body one after another.

They fought for over two hours, and the bloodstains on Minos's body had soaked the entire training ground. Only then did the Golden Lion withdraw, "Alright, bandage your wounds. Your rate of improvement is quite good. However, you still haven't gotten rid of your habit of over-relying on Observation Haki!"

Minos was covered in blood and swaying precariously. If not for his special physique, a normal person would have long since fainted in this condition. Hearing this, he merely rolled his eyes.

There was nothing he could do about over-relying on Observation Haki. His Observation Haki had improved so much more than his other abilities. If he didn't rely on it in combat, he might die!