The Determination of Mobius

Aboard the merchant ship, Teach was alone in his cabin. Merchant ships often kept cabins available for travelers like him. It was a way to earn some extra money, and it could also prove useful when they ran into pirates.

Now and then, they might get lucky and have a powerful person aboard who could take care of the trouble. That happened often at sea. The merchant ship also had plenty of guards. It was bound for the Kate Kingdom, Teach's destination. They would pass three islands before finally reaching Pet Island, which was part of the Kate Kingdom.

Teach could sense all kinds of goods inside the merchant ship's cargo crates, along with a few small pets.

Teach was quietly training when he suddenly turned his head and looked beneath the bed. "Come out, kid."

"Huh? He found me?" A figure was hiding beneath the bed, perfectly still, watching Teach train. At the sound of Teach's voice, the figure shuddered. Having held the same position for so long, he lost his balance when startled and fell to the floor with a thud.

He froze, unable to believe he'd made such a huge mistake. From the darkness beneath the bed, he silently watched Teach.

"Come out. Do I have to drag you out myself?" Teach said calmly. He already knew who was hiding there.

As expected of Boss Teach. He'd found me so easily, the boy under the bed thought. He stopped hiding and crawled out.

He stood before Teach, straight-backed and silent, gazing at him with adoration.

It was Mobius, the boy with Snake-Head Tribe blood.

The night before, Mobius had said, "Boss, you're leaving! What are we supposed to do?" Dozens of boys surrounded him in the Annie Guard's base, a huge warehouse.

Mobius nodded. "I've made up my mind. I'm going to follow Boss Teach. I'm too weak. I have to get stronger if I want to protect you." He was resolute. Teach had saved him before, but the helplessness he'd felt because of his weakness had left a deep impression on him.

Mobius had always longed to grow stronger, but now that desire burned brighter than ever. He also wanted to follow Teach, a man with the qualities of a king.

"And you need to grow, too. You can't stay under my protection forever," Mobius said gently, looking at the friends he'd spent every day with.

At his words, they fell silent for a moment. "Boss Mobius, we support you. Boss Teach is so strong. If you follow him, you'll definitely become stronger."

"But don't underestimate us, either. You're planning to get stronger by following Boss Teach, but we've decided to join the City Guard. They used to be elite Marines. The City Guard is recruiting now, so maybe we'll be even stronger than you one day."

"You guys!" Mobius was deeply moved. Then he burst out laughing. "No way. Nobody can take my boss's place. I still want to become a pirate and take you all out to sea with me someday."

"But, Boss Mobius, how are you going to sail with Boss Teach? He never said you could come along," one of them asked.

At that, Mobius smiled, full of confidence. "Haha, I've already got it all planned. The merchant ship Boss Teach booked leaves tomorrow morning. I went to talk to its owner, and I'm going aboard too. Then I'll stick with Boss Teach. I'm sure I can win him over."

"Boss, we believe in you!" "You can do it!"

"What are you doing here?" Teach asked.

"Boss Teach, I want to go to sea with you. I want to get stronger, and I know you can help me." Mobius cried out excitedly. He dropped to his knees before Teach, pressing his hands and forehead to the floor.

Teach's eyes went wide, and an indescribable expression crossed his face. "Ah, I'm not suited to looking after kids." It already sounded like a hassle. Mobius was a pretty likable kid, but Teach was used to being alone. Having a child following him around felt strange. Kids were also naturally curious. Mobius was more mature than most, as his understanding of the value of strength showed.

Mobius trained regularly, too. It was clear he had a decent foundation.

"Please let me follow you. That's all I ask. I'll buy things for you, pour your water and wine, and help whenever there's trouble." Mobius shouted.

"All right, kid. I agree." Teach had heard enough. He could already imagine Mobius pestering him until he gave in if he refused.

"Really? Thank you so much, Boss Teach!" Mobius was thrilled.

"Fine. Get up and wipe your face." Teach tossed him a tissue, sounding exasperated.

"Kid, you said you want to follow me because you want to get stronger. But winning my approval won't be easy." Teach smiled.

"I'll earn your approval." Mobius stood before him.

Teach sat down and looked at Mobius. "Do you like snakes?" he asked with a smile.

"Snakes?" Mobius was confused about why Teach was asking. But he began to think about whether he liked snakes.

To be honest, Mobius had rarely seen snakes. He'd spent most of his life on Sess Island, where they were uncommon. Because of his Snake-Head Tribe heritage, he'd once hated himself, and that had made him hate snakes, too.

But he'd moved past that. He'd accepted who he was. So many people didn't care about his heritage—why should he?

What were snakes like? Mobius didn't have a very clear idea. Their twisting movements, cold blood, hunting, lying in wait—when he thought about it carefully, he didn't dislike any of it.

If he didn't dislike them, then he must like them.

"I like them," Mobius said firmly.

Teach smiled at his answer, knowing how to train him. "Do you know? The Snake-Head Tribe's bodies are built differently from ordinary people's. Most martial arts don't suit them, or can't bring out their natural talents. The Snake-Head Tribe doesn't have the well-developed arm muscles of the Long Arm Tribe or the powerful leg muscles of the Long Leg Tribe, nor do they have the ten times greater natural arm strength of fish-men."

"Every member of the Snake-Head Tribe is born with incredible flexibility. The martial art that makes the best use of that flexibility is the one that suits them best. I'll teach you a technique. If you can learn it, you'll have earned my approval, and then I'll teach you other things." Teach's expression turned serious. He wasn't going to teach just anyone so casually. If Mobius couldn't do it, he could go back where he came from.

Teach stood up and demonstrated for Mobius. He took out a sheet of paper, pinched it between the fingers of his left hand, then gently let it go. The paper drifted down through the air.

Mobius kept his eyes fixed on Teach's movements.

Teach's right arm suddenly changed. With a sharp crack, it shot out like a snake and lashed at the sheet of paper, twisting and coiling. Mobius could barely make out the shadow of Teach's arm.

In just one second, Teach struck so many times he lost count. By the time Mobius came to his senses, the entire sheet had been shredded into hundreds of pieces, fluttering down from the air.

"I call this technique Snake Hand. You rapidly dislocate your joints, then whip your arm out at incredible speed. That makes your arm extend and twist like a snake, crushing your opponent's bones. Its power depends on speed and strength," Teach explained.

"Next, you need to keep dislocating your joints until you can do it easily and at will. It'll be extremely painful," Teach warned. "And Mobius, you need to keep building your strength, speed, and power when you strike. When you can use Snake Hand and snap a tree in one blow, I'll accept you. I'm giving you just one month."

"One month. I'll master it within a month," Mobius murmured. He didn't care how difficult the training was; he'd expected it. He wanted to stay by Teach's side and see the ocean with his own eyes.

Besides, the technique Boss Teach had demonstrated was powerful. It had opened his eyes, and he was determined to learn it.

"Dislocate my joints..." Mobius looked at his arms, unsure where to begin. After a brief moment of confusion, he looked at Teach.

"Learning martial arts is about mastering your body. The arm has many joints, but there are three main ones: the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. I'll dislocate those three joints for you to train. I'll put them back in place when you're done," Teach explained slowly.

"But after that, you'll have to do it yourself. Your arms have plenty of other joints, too. Once you've mastered these three, you'll need to learn to control the others if you want to train further. You can ask a doctor about them when the time comes." Teach was serious about training Mobius.

Snake Hand training was extremely painful. Teach had seen others practice it aboard Whitebeard's ship, where there was even a manual devoted to the technique.

Teach could use his mastery of martial arts, combined with Life Return, to perform it. Others couldn't. But as Teach had said, Mobius had an unusual advantage when it came to learning Snake Hand: his incredible flexibility. As long as he had the willpower and endurance, he could learn the technique quickly. Besides, people's potential was forced out of them. Teach had given him a deadline because he wanted to see what Mobius was capable of.

The essence of Snake Hand was a whipping strike, like the crack of a whip.

"Ready?" Teach asked. "It'll hurt a lot at first."

"Yes, I'm ready, Boss Teach." Mobius held out both arms. He pulled out a rag from somewhere and bit down on it.

"Okay, three, two..." Teach began, but he didn't finish counting. He moved at once, acting quickly because he knew it was better to get the pain over with.

With a crack, Teach dislocated all six joints in Mobius's arms at once.

Mobius stiffened and stared at Teach, as if to ask, Weren't you supposed to count to three?

But then the overwhelming pain hit. "Mmmph!" Mobius's eyes flew wide as he bit down hard on the rag. Tears welled in his eyes. His knees bent and his back arched, nearly folding him in half.

The sharp, stabbing pain came from all six points at once, spreading through his entire body. Mobius trembled.

"That's enough. The worst of the pain only lasts for a moment. It still hurts, but it's already much better than before," Teach said, shaking his head as Mobius shuddered in pain.

"Hm?" At Teach's voice, Mobius came back to himself and checked how much it hurt. It was true—it was already much better than before. He could handle it.

"What should I do now? I feel like I have no control over my arms." Mobius released the rag from his teeth, letting it fall to the ground. He tried to control his arms, but as soon as he moved one, he winced at the pain.

"Practice whipping strikes. Use your arms to strike that piece of wood. You should be able to endure this much pain. Get used to the feeling. Once you're familiar with it, it'll fade. The beginning is always the hardest part of training," Teach said calmly. He pointed to a spot near the window, where a piece of wood about twenty centimeters in diameter was clamped in an iron stand. "Your goal is to snap it with your arms. Start with your right, then your left. You'll do two logs a day. Later, we'll use bigger ones."

As he spoke, Teach began doing push-ups. After yesterday's battle, he understood just how much his strength was lacking. Barton had overpowered him.

Teach longed to have overwhelming strength like Pops, combined with his Claw Strike. Pops didn't have Big Mom's powerful defenses and iron-balloon body that could absorb damage, nor Kaido's astonishing recovery and immortal body. But Pops had overwhelming strength, greater even than Big Mom's and Kaido's, despite both of them being far stronger than giants.

But strength didn't come overnight. It took constant training.

Watching Teach begin his training, Mobius couldn't help but feel a jolt of realization. Great strength didn't come naturally. Even someone like Boss Teach had to work hard. If I want to become stronger, I have to work even harder.