"Why?"
Rayleigh was stunned by the scolding; his beard twitched twice, and then he burst into laughter.
"You're still the same as always. That puts my mind at ease. Seeing how conflicted you looked before, I thought something had happened to you."
"Hmph, Rayleigh, even you have no right to laugh at me!"
Hancock disdainfully raised her head, her left hand on her hip, and her right hand pointing fiercely at Rayleigh Kuma, Lucci, and the others.
"And all of you, stay away from me. I don't want to be near you filthy..."
"Hancock, be quiet!"
Gawain suddenly spoke, Hancock's voice abruptly stopped.
Seeing Gawain return to his inverted position, Hancock blushed and lowered her head.
"I understand..."
Hancock responded timidly and looked at Rayleigh and the others.
"Snort!"
She narrowed her eyes in displeasure. "Since you won't leave, then I will!"
So Hancock walked about twenty steps away from them, and much further away from Gawain, and sat down at the edge of the dense forest, watching Gawain's training with concern.
Shirahoshi moved closer to Hancock. Strangely enough, although Hancock and Gion were at odds, Hancock was surprisingly nice to Shirahoshi.
The two were actually able to have a normal conversation, and Hancock even shared some tips about the princess cut hairstyle with her.
However, Hancock occasionally showed a look of fear while chatting.
In her eyes, after Gawain's frantic training, he finally collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.
Upon seeing this, Hancock immediately abandoned Shirahoshi and lunged at Gawain.
However, Gion was faster than him.
"Bartholomew Kuma, use your Devil Fruit power to expel the adult's fatigue from your body!"
Gion gave a low shout, then gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, watching the bear's every move with utmost care.
She absolutely cannot let the Kuma take this opportunity to harm the adults!
Meeting Gion's worried gaze, Kuma walked forward noncommittally and gently patted Gawain and abdomen.
As soon as a ball of red Cat Claws energy burst out of Gawain's body, Gawain immediately scrambled to his feet, invigorated.
"Whoa!"
With a deeply moved exclamation, Gawain's eyes lit up.
"Kuma, you're strong!"
In a split second, all my fatigue vanished, and I felt like I could train for another year!
"Then you're mistaken, sir. You'll definitely have to lie down again in less than half an hour."
Gion teased her while feeling relieved. She placed her long sword beside her and then clenched her fist.
"Continue, sir. Your basic skills have improved significantly in the past week. You are now ready to begin combat training!"
Across from him, listening to Gion's words, Gawain nodded slightly.
He then fully learned what it meant to take a beating before you can hit someone...
After confirming that Kuma's abilities could easily render him exhausted and severely injured, Gion attacked him far more severely than Gawain had anticipated.
There are no set patterns in the fighting here. You learn by doing; practice makes perfect. After taking a lot of hits, you'll naturally know how to fight others.
So, not to mention half an hour, even though Gion controlled her strength very well, Gawain couldn't even last half a minute.
A beginner's punches are not only difficult to control, but their postures are also incredibly chaotic. How could such Wild Fist possibly withstand Gion?
In an instant, Gawain felt a sharp pain in his cheek, his head spun, and he collapsed to the ground.
After letting Gawain remain dizzy for a moment, and making sure the adult remembered the taste of pain, Gion pulled Gawain up and continued!
What is unrestricted combat? It's being knocked down again and again in all sorts of ways, both expected and unexpected. In just three or four minutes, Gawain was covered in bruises, with not a single good spot left on his body.
Only then did Gion summon Kuma and give Gawain another slap.
Moments later, another huge red Cat Claws appeared in the dense forest, and Gawain's nightmare began.
Seeing Gawain being beaten so seriously, Rayleigh and his group sighed deeply. Then, chatting and laughing, they gathered in the distance, set up a fire, and started cooking a hot pot on the spot.
At that moment, Shirahoshi leaned close to Hancock and asked a question.
"Sister Snake Princess, why are you grinding your teeth? Does grinding your teeth make us girls more beautiful?"
"No, I'm just itching to do something. That damned rabbit really dares to do that!!!"
With Snake Princess clenched fists clenched tightly as she watched Gawain fall repeatedly into Gion's hands, Hancock finally realized the truth.
She and this vicious woman will eventually have a showdown!
The kind of life-or-death struggle!!!
While Hancock was getting angry, Shirahoshi belatedly smelled the aroma of hot pot.
With a whoosh, she leaped dozens of meters into the water and landed in Kalifa's arms as she prepared the food.
Kalifa struggled for a long time after being pinned to the ground, and finally managed to break free. After pressing Princess Shirahoshi to sit on the edge of the hot pot, Kalifa began to prepare sauce bowls for everyone.
Shirahoshi tapped her cutlery on the plate, waving to Hancock in the distance.
"Sister Snake Princess, come eat with us!"
"Hmph, how could I possibly sit at the same table as that stinky man!"
The Snake Princess ignored him and, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach, stared intently at Gion, who had been so ruthless towards Gawain.
In particular, Gion would occasionally exchange glances with her, which was a clear provocation!
And so, both Hancock Gion's anger flared up rapidly!
And so, time passed second by second, accompanied by the singing of Grandpa Rayleigh once again, and the chewing sounds of Shirahoshi Muma.
Time slowly passed until noon.
Around noon, Gawain finished his training and came to the table that had been set out, looking refreshed.
Behind him, about three hundred red Cat Paw Balloon were fluttering in the wind.
As soon as Gawain sat down, Hancock, whose chest had almost shrunk from hunger, quickly moved closer. She unceremoniously pushed aside Jinbe, who looked completely bewildered, and gracefully sat down to Gawain's right.
Jinbe stared at Hancock in disbelief. "What happened to your 'I won't sit at the same table with stinky men' thing?"
Did you get so hungry that you ate it?!
Hancock didn't care about the other men's gazes. After gracefully sitting down, she cautiously glanced at Gawain.
Hancock smiled gently at Gawain, then quickly and shyly avoided Gawain gaze. But then, she immediately noticed Gion to Gawain's left...
Then she bared her teeth and glared fiercely at Gion.
Seeing this, Gion snorted softly, ignored the Snake Princess's gaze, and poured Gawain a glass of wine.
While pouring the sake, Gion gave an evaluation of the morning's training.
"The bear's effect is remarkable, sir. Each of those red clouds floating behind you is the result of your training or fighting to the limit."
From this perspective, several hundred times is an exaggeration, but if we say several tens of times, it's almost accurate!
Especially now, in the very early stages of your training, is when your skills improve the fastest.
Because you are currently physically weak and in poor physical condition, you can easily reach your physical limit.
Before your physical strength becomes so great that you can no longer reach your limits, one day of your training is equivalent to at least half a month of training for an average person!
"Very good!"
Hearing Gion's words, Gawain nodded in satisfaction. To achieve such efficiency, all the beatings and sweat he had just shed were truly worthwhile.
Even he himself could feel the power flowing within his body, although it was mostly wishful thinking, but overall, he could be said to have made remarkable progress.
However, while Kuma's abilities improved training efficiency, they also caused a significant increase in Gawain's physical exertion.
Before he knew it, Gawain had lost over ten pounds of fat in just one morning!
Of course, his muscles had also become much more muscular, so his face just looked sharper, not skin and bones.
Besides, he was starving, so he immediately started a scavenging spree. He didn't even bother to say anything, and just kept scooping up all kinds of meat and stuffing it into his mouth.
Clearly, after a week in the Pirate World, Gawain has mastered the basic elements to become powerful in this world.
Eat and drink to your heart's content!
As Gawain ate, he suddenly realized that he had another source of food.
It turned out that, in addition to Gion and Shirahoshi feeding him, Hancock, who was to his right, had also joined in.
Hancock kept her head down and didn't say a word. As she brought her legs together, she also placed her right fist on her lap.
Then, she nervously held the meat chop in her left hand and gently handed it to Gawain.
"Please accept my... kind offer, sir..."
Hancock was extremely nervous.
Thank you.
Gawain smiled politely, then casually picked up a steak and stuffed it into his mouth. He swallowed a steak the size of a regular steak in just three or four bites.
Seeing the food she had brought being swallowed, Hancock's heart skipped a beat. The feeling of feeding Lord Gawain was like finding a lost piece of her heart!
In her excitement, Hancock kept handing her pieces of meat. Ten minutes later, Gawain rubbed his stomach helplessly and kept waving his hands at Hancock.
"That's enough for now, I really can't eat anymore..."
Once Hancock finally stopped feeding him, Gawain took advantage of the brief rest to explain the next steps to everyone.
He addressed everyone first.
"In the afternoon, Grandpa Rayleigh and I practiced Conqueror's Haki until about six o'clock, and then we continued to train our physical fitness."
While I'm training my Conqueror's Haki, you might as well make use of Kuma.
"I can improve my training efficiency through his Devil Fruit ability, so you guys should be able to too, right?"
"That's what they say, but it's actually very difficult."
Gion gently shook her head.
"My lord, as I said before, your training efficiency has greatly improved, mainly because your physical limits have been reached very quickly."
But for Jinbe and me, even if we trained like crazy for days and nights, we might not actually be able to improve ourselves again.
Even after days and nights of continuous training, we rarely feel too tired!
At this point, Gion paused for a moment in thought.
"Let me give you an example, sir."
After defeating Rocks, Garp reached the pinnacle of his power.
But at that time, he still felt that his Armament Haki was not perfect enough.
So he found the strongest user of Armament Haki on the high seas at the time, Chinjao, the commander of the Happo Navy.
After being imbued with his strongest Armament Haki, the cone-shaped tip of the Chinjao can be described as the hardest sharp angle in the world!
Grandpa Garp gave it a try, using his fist, which was imbued with Armament Haki, to directly clash with Chinjao's cone-shaped head.
Unfortunately, although Chinjao was no match for him, he couldn't break Chinjao's cone-shaped head with just one punch.
So from that day on, Garp spent three months using his fists imbued with Armament Haki to flatten seven mountains.
That wasn't Devil Fruit ability, or a fist deliberately designed to spread its attack effect; it was simply a fist imbued with Armament Haki.
Three months later, feeling he had honed his skills enough, Garp approached Chinjao again. This time, his Armament Haki had indeed improved slightly.
With just this slight improvement, he not only broke through Chinjao's Armament Haki with a single punch, but his punch even dented Chinjao's cone-shaped head.
At this point, Gion smiled helplessly.
"For people at our level, every slight improvement in strength requires a thousand times more effort than before."
Our physical strength is too abundant, and our bodies are too strong. Unless it's a life-or-death battle between evenly matched opponents, most methods won't allow us to improve.
Especially as we get older, we'll have to put in tens of thousands of times more effort to maintain our strength.
Mr. Rayleigh should be aware of this."
"Stop fooling around!"
Rayleigh took a sip of his drink, dissatisfied.
"I have no such worries at all. I'm still very young, Momousagi, don't talk nonsense!"
As Rayleigh finished speaking, everyone present burst into laughter. But as everyone laughed, Hancock subtly pursed her lips.
She stared at Gion and said coldly.
"All you've said is that you're getting old, you vicious old woman!"
Click!
The wine glass in Gion's hand shattered instantly. She narrowed her eyes, looked at Hancock with a cold smile, and said...
"Hehe, sir, although it's difficult to reach our physical limits, so the Kuma's abilities aren't very helpful in improving us."
But a truly exhilarating battle—that's something I could definitely give it a try!
As soon as she finished speaking, Gion raised an eyebrow at Hancock.
"Especially that snake, she's probably itching for me to give her a good beating!"
"Hmph, that vicious old rabbit has probably wanted to die at my hands for a long time!"
Hancock's eyes met Gion's in a flash. After a brief exchange of glances, they decided not to wait any longer and rushed into the dense forest one after the other.
Soon after, amidst the ever-swirling sword energy and Conqueror's Haki sweeping from afar, Gawain slowly exhaled.
"It's really lively."
He smiled, waved his hand, and continued speaking.
"Let them have fun. I need to take care of some things, and then my time will belong to Teacher Rayleigh."
Lucci, from now on, while you're recruiting people, also find someone for me.
His name is Issho. He is blind but extremely strong. He has mastered the Gravity Fruit and his Observation Haki is so Press-Press Fruit that he can even see above the clouds!
This person frequents various casinos, and while the exact locations are difficult to pinpoint, investigating large casinos should yield clues.
"Yes, sir!"
Lucci bowed deeply, then immediately left the table, carrying his Den Den Mushi, and went off to make solemn arrangements in the distance.
After Lucci left, Gawain looked at Kalifa again.
"How's it going with the assistant team I asked you to build?"
"My lord, although I have been by your side, I have already begun recruiting assistants in Water 7, Sabaody Archipelago, and Puffing Tom City through Den Den Mushi. My team is currently being assembled."
"Okay, after we set up the team, let's do these things first."
First, I will occupy five islands in the Sabaody Archipelago in my name, choosing the largest possible islands in lawless territory.
These islands will be left to the Fish-Man. You will send someone to negotiate with King Neptune of the Ryugu Kingdom.
Also, receive my and Mjosgard's annuities as soon as possible and invest them in Water 7. Once our business plan in Water 7 is officially launched, coordinate the money transactions!
Finally, please contact the deputy warden of Impel Down prison for me. By the way, is his name Shiryu?
When Gawain asked, Kalifa quickly nodded.
"Yes, sir, Shiryu of the Rain is indeed the current deputy warden of Impel Down Impel Down, while the warden is Magellan."
"Okay, I've found Shiryu's Den Den Mushi number. I'll talk to him when I have time."
Gawain said meaningfully.
Our average subscriptions per Celestial Dragon have reached 800. Just six days ago, when it was first released, we only had 460 average subscriptions per user. In just six days, it has almost doubled. The progress is so fast! I am so excited!
As it turns out, even if a book misses the new book recommendation period due to its slow-burn nature, it can still gain readers' recognition as long as the quality of the work is high enough!
Come on, I'll keep sending 10,000 votes a day, so please keep sending your monthly votes! If you could help me recommend our Celestial Dragon to your friends, that would be even better.
In the end, I want to see just how far our Celestial Dragon can go!
Does an initial order of 500 mean there can't be a bright future?
Even if I didn't live in the world of One Piece, no matter how excited I am, I would never develop Conqueror's Haki, but no matter what, I will never give up!