The Results of a Year's Training

A year passed quickly.

On Flour Island, Minos wore a strange black helmet that blocked both his vision and his hearing.

Across from him, Talon gripped his Iron Mace and brought it crashing down on Minos's head. Amid the howling wind, the entire mace blurred into afterimages.

Minos shifted his body slightly, and the Iron Mace slammed into the ground beside him. Talon's expression did not change. Using the rebound, he turned the vertical strike into a horizontal sweep.

With a light leap, Minos avoided the sweeping Iron Mace as it skimmed beneath his feet. It looked incredibly dangerous, yet it still failed to touch even a single hair on him.

"Haaah!" After missing several times in a row, Talon threw back his head and roared. The Iron Mace in his hand transformed into countless shadows that rained down upon Minos.

Minos showed little reaction. His body trembled faintly as he evaded every attack with perfect precision. In the end, every single strike missed.

"Phew, phew, phew..." After smashing away for over ten minutes and leaving the entire training ground covered in craters, Talon finally stopped. It was not because he had run out of stamina, but because he simply could not touch Minos. Once the frustration in his chest had faded, he no longer wanted to waste his effort.

Minos pulled off the black helmet. "It feels like your rate of improvement has slowed down, Talon."

"No, your Observation Haki is just too ridiculous." Talon rolled his eyes and said between heavy breaths, "Seriously, the Three-Eyed Tribe is truly blessed when it comes to Observation Haki."

Minos smiled. "Talon, you do not need to put yourself down. At least when it comes to Armament Haki, I am nowhere near your level."

After a year of training, Minos's strength had naturally improved by leaps and bounds. He already possessed a great deal of experience in his memories. Although the differences between worlds meant that he could not completely apply it to this pirate world, his training still progressed far faster than someone starting from nothing.

In terms of physical training, Minos had not only caught up with Talon, an Oni Clan member who had trained since childhood, but had even gained the upper hand through the more advanced Life Return brought by National Arts. Even when their physical strength was nearly equal, Minos could still overpower Talon, and his future potential was greater as well.

After all, National Arts emphasized control over the body, making it similar in principle to Life Return. Even if only a small portion of that experience was truly useful, it still greatly enhanced his control over his own body.

Pirates did not have the World Government's or Marines' Marine Rokushiki, which could systematically hone Life Return. However, through long periods of training, they had naturally developed some crude methods of their own. Combined with the experience from Minos's memories, these methods pushed the efficiency of his bodily training to the limit.

As for Observation Haki, Minos possessed memories of reaching the realm of utmost sincerity, where one could foresee what was coming, along with the perception boost of the Evil Eye. His talent for Observation Haki was practically heaven-defying. He awakened it as soon as he began training, and after only a little practice, he expanded its range across all of Wheat Island.

By now, Minos could occasionally use even the future-sight form of Observation Haki. It could be said that within the entire Charlotte Pirates, aside from Katakuri, even Charlotte Linlin's Observation Haki might not be stronger than his.

His only weakness was Armament Haki. During this period, Minos had devoted more of his energy to Observation Haki and tempering his body. He had never been particularly invested in training Armament Haki, nor did he have any cheat-like advantage to rely on. Thus, even now, his Armament Haki had only just awakened, and he could not even perform hardening.

Other than dealing with elemental transformations, it provided almost no enhancement to either his defense or attack power.

Talon, on the other hand, could already perform localized Armament Haki hardening. The Oni Clan was clearly extraordinarily gifted in both physical training and Armament Haki.

However, once they had reached this point, their training had also hit its limit. After all, the fastest way to grow in the pirate world was not through training, but through battle.

Just as Luffy's two years of training under Rayleigh had brought him far less growth than fighting Katakuri and Kaido, their current training was ultimately just laying a foundation.

Once the foundation was solid, further improvement required real combat. Those who survived became strong, while those who died were called cannon fodder.

Of course, as members of a major pirate crew, their chances of survival were naturally much higher than those of ordinary pirates. Still, that did not mean there was no danger.

With their Observation Haki training complete, Minos drew the longsword in his hand, preparing for a close-combat training session with Talon.

"Alright, stop!"

At that moment, a voice came from the distance. The tall, cool-looking Katakuri walked into the training ground.

"Boss Katakuri!" Talon gripped his Iron Mace, a hint of delight appearing on his face. "Are we finally going to sea?"

Katakuri glanced at the two of them. "That's right. Over the past year, you have built a solid foundation. At the very least, your combat power is already comparable to some pirates worth over a hundred million. It is time for you to see the world."

"Minos, didn't you say some time ago that you saw members of Doflamingo's pirate crew in Dressrosa? Then this time, we will go to Dressrosa and take a look!"

"I heard Dressrosa has the Glint-Glint Fruit. It happens to be an excellent match for your ability!"

Minos was slightly surprised. Ever since awakening Observation Haki, the range of observation provided by the Evil Eye on his forehead had continued to expand.

In the Yu Yu Hakusho manga, Hiei's Evil Eye was said to see through the three realms. However, it was obvious that its owner had to develop it personally. With Minos's current strength, seeing several hundred kilometers away already pushed him to his absolute limit.

Within that range of several hundred kilometers, apart from Whole Cake Island, the territory of the Charlotte Pirates, there were only a few scattered countries such as Dressrosa. As a result, it became Minos's target for practicing his Evil Eye ability.

The main reason Dressrosa could remain beside Whole Cake Island without being affected was that it had been one of the twenty Member Nations that originally formed the World Government. Even for the sake of its own reputation, the World Government could not allow Whole Cake Island to occupy it.

The Charlotte Pirates were likewise unwilling to openly tear things apart with the World Government over such a tiny island nation. This was why Dressrosa, while often harassed by small pirate crews, had never become territory of one of the Four Emperors.