Mobius's Persistence

On the merchant ship, Teach was alone in a guest room. Merchant ships often had guest rooms for travelers. For someone like Teach, it was a way to earn some money, and it also served a purpose against raiding pirates.

Perhaps there was a strong individual among the passengers who could directly resolve any trouble. Such things happened frequently at sea, though merchant ships also had many guards. This merchant ship was heading to the Kingdom of Kate, which was Teach's destination. It would pass through three islands before finally reaching Pet Island, the Kingdom of Kate.

Teach could sense the cargo on the merchant ship; each crate contained various goods and some small pets.

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

"Huh? You found me?" A figure was hiding under the bed, motionless, watching Teach train. Hearing Teach's voice, the figure suddenly flinched. Because the figure had been holding the same pose for a long time, the scare caused him to lose his balance and fall to the floor with a "thump!"

He froze, not expecting such a major mistake. He just stared at Teach from the darkness.

"Come out, or do you want me to drag you out myself?" Teach said calmly. He already knew who was hiding inside.

As expected of Boss Teach, he found me so easily, the person hiding under the bed thought. He no longer hid and crawled out from under the bed.

He stood in front of Teach, standing straight and solemn, looking at Teach with adoration.

This person was Mobius, the boy with the bloodline of the Snake-Head Tribe.

Last night, "Boss, you're leaving! What about us?" At the Annie Guard's base, a large warehouse, dozens of youths surrounded Mobius in the center.

Mobius nodded. "I've made up my mind. I'm going to follow Boss Teach. I'm too weak. Only by becoming stronger can I protect you all." Mobius was very determined. Although Teach had saved him before, the feeling of weak helplessness had left a deep impression on him.

Mobius yearned to become stronger; it had always been like this, but now his desire was immense. He also wanted to follow Teach, who was a man with the potential to be king.

"Besides, you all need to grow. You can't always be under me," Mobius said softly, looking at his companions with whom he had spent so much time.

Hearing Mobius's words, they fell silent for a moment. "Boss Mobius, we support you. Boss Teach is so strong, and following him, you'll definitely become stronger."

"But don't underestimate us either. You plan to follow Boss Teach to become stronger, and we've decided to join the City Guard. They were all elite Marines before, and now the City Guard is recruiting. Perhaps we'll be stronger than you then."

"You guys!" Mobius was deeply moved and then burst into laughter. "That's impossible. No one can shake my boss's position. I even want to become a pirate and take you all out to sea with me someday."

"But Boss Mobius, how will you go out to sea with Boss Teach? He probably hasn't agreed to you yet, has he?" someone asked.

Hearing this, Mobius couldn't help but smile, his face full of confidence. "Haha, I'm all prepared. The merchant ship Boss Teach is looking for will leave tomorrow morning. I've also found the owner of that merchant ship and boarded it. Then I'll follow Boss Teach. I believe I can definitely impress Boss Teach."

"Boss, we believe in you too." "You can do it."

"What are you doing here?" Teach asked. "Boss Teach, I want to go out to sea with you. I want to become stronger, and you can definitely help me." Mobius said excitedly, kneeling before Teach and placing his hands on the ground, supporting his head.

Teach rolled his eyes, a look of indescribable emotion on his face. "Ah, I'm not suited to taking care of kids." The thought of it was troublesome. Although Mobius was quite to his liking, he was used to being alone, and having a child around felt strange. Moreover, children were generally more curious, and Mobius, despite being more mature than the average child, knew the value of strength.

Mobius himself exercised regularly, possessing a good foundation, all of which Teach could see.

"Please let me follow you. Just let me follow you. I'll help you buy things, fetch water, pour drinks, and handle any trouble," Mobius shouted loudly.

"Alright, kid, I agree." Teach's head was pounding. He could already imagine that if he didn't agree, Mobius would pester him until he did.

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

"Enough, get up and wipe your face," Teach said irritably, tossing him a tissue.

"Kid, you say you want to follow me to become stronger, but it's not that easy to earn my approval." A smile spread across Teach's face.

"I will definitely earn your approval," Mobius stood before Teach.

Teach found a place to sit and looked at Mobius. "Do you like snakes?" Teach asked with a smile.

"Snakes?" Mobius was confused, not understanding why Teach asked. But at this moment, he began to ponder whether he actually liked snakes.

To be honest, Mobius had rarely seen snakes. Having lived on Siss Island, he seldom encountered them. He had once disliked himself because of his Snake-Head Tribe heritage, and consequently, he had disliked snakes.

However, he had now let go of that, accepting his identity. If so many people didn't care about his identity, why should he?

Snakes, what did they look like? Mobius didn't have a very clear image. That twistedness, cold-bloodedness, hunting, lurking... thinking about it carefully, he didn't dislike them at all.

Since he didn't dislike them, it meant he liked them.

"I like them," Mobius affirmed.

Upon hearing Mobius's words, Teach smiled, knowing how to teach him. "Do you know? The physical structure of the Snake-Head Tribe is different from ordinary people. Conventional taijutsu is not suitable for the Snake-Head Tribe, or rather, it cannot bring out their innate talents. The Snake-Head Tribe doesn't have developed arm or leg muscles like the Long-Hand or Long-Leg tribes, nor do they possess ten times the wrist strength of ordinary people like the Fish-Men."

"Every member of the Snake-Head Tribe is born with astonishing flexibility. The taijutsu that maximizes this flexibility is the most suitable for the Snake-Head Tribe. I will teach you one move. If you can learn this move, you will have earned my approval, and then I will teach you other things." Teach's expression turned serious. He wouldn't casually teach just anyone. If Mobius couldn't do it, he'd have to go back where he came from.

Teach stood up and demonstrated for Mobius. Teach took out a piece of paper, held it with his left hand, and let it go gently. The paper fell through the air.

Mobius's gaze was fixed on Teach's movements.

Teach's right hand suddenly changed. With a "crack," Teach's right hand elongated like a snake and struck the paper in front of him, coiling and twisting. All Mobius could see was the shadow of Teach's right hand.

In just a second, Teach had made countless strikes. When Mobius snapped back to attention, the entire sheet of paper had been torn into hundreds of pieces, drifting down from mid-air.

"I call this move Snake Hand. It involves rapidly dislocating your joints and striking with extreme speed, making your hand extend like a snake, coiling and twisting to crush the opponent's bones. Its power requires extreme speed and strength," Teach explained.

"Next, you need to continuously dislocate your joints until you can do so easily and at will. This will undoubtedly be very painful," Teach warned. "Furthermore, Mobius, you must constantly train your strength, the speed and power of your strikes. When you can master Snake Hand and break a tree with a single strike, I will acknowledge you. And I will only give you one month."

"One month. I must master it within a month," Mobius murmured. He didn't care about the difficulty of the training; he had expected something like this. He wanted to stay by Teach's side and witness this sea with his own eyes.

Moreover, the move Teach had just displayed was incredibly powerful, making his eyes light up. He was determined to learn it.

"Dislocate my joints." Mobius looked at his arms, unsure how to begin. After a moment of daze, Mobius looked at Teach.

"Learning taijutsu is a process of mastering your body. The human arm has many joints, primarily three: the shoulder joint, the elbow joint, and the wrist joint. I will help you dislocate these three main joints for training and will reattach them after the training," Teach said slowly.

"But in the future, you'll have to do it yourself. Also, there are many other joints in the arm. After you master these three, you'll need to master those joints for deeper cultivation. You can ask a doctor about them then," Teach instructed Mobius quite earnestly.

The training for Snake Hand was extremely painful. Teach had seen others train it on Whitebeard's ship, and there was even a secret manual for Snake Hand on board.

Teach can use this move by combining his superb taijutsu mastery with Life Return, which others cannot. As Teach said, Mobius has an unusual advantage in practicing this Snake Hand technique: he possesses astonishing flexibility. With perseverance and endurance, he can learn this move in a short period. Moreover, people's potential is often unleashed under pressure. Teach gave him a deadline because he wanted to see just how far Mobius's potential could go.

The essence of Snake Hand is a whipping strike, but it's a whip-like lash.

"How is it? Are you ready?" Teach asked. "It's going to be very painful at first."

"Yes, I'm ready, Lord Teach." Mobius spread his arms and, pulling a rag from who knows where, bit down on it.

"Alright, 3, 2..." Teach began to say, but before he could finish, he acted. His speed was incredible. For Mobius's sake, he knew that a short, sharp pain was better than prolonged agony.

With a "crack!", the six joints in both of Mobius's arms were dislocated simultaneously by Teach.

Mobius's body stiffened, and he stared blankly at Teach, as if to ask, "What about the 3, 2, 1 you promised?"

But what followed was endless agony. "Waaaah!" Mobius's eyes widened, and he bit down hard on the rag in his mouth, tears welling up. His legs bent, and his entire back arched, as if he were about to form a ninety-degree angle.

The sharp, stabbing pain, occurring in six places at once, then spread throughout his body. Mobius trembled.

"Alright, that's enough. This intense pain only lasts for a moment. While it still hurts, it's much better than before," Teach said, shaking his head as he looked at the trembling Mobius.

"Huh?" Hearing Teach's voice, Mobius snapped back to attention. He felt the pain in his body and realized it was indeed much better than before, completely bearable.

"So, what should I do next? I feel like I have no control over my arms." Mobius loosened his grip on the rag, letting it fall to the ground, and asked. He tried to control his arms, and as he moved them, Mobius couldn't help but frown; it still hurt.

"Train your whipping strikes. Use your arms to strike that piece of wood. You can endure this pain. You need to get used to this feeling. Once you're familiar with it, the sensation will gradually fade. The beginning is always the hardest part of any training," Teach said calmly, pointing to a wooden block, about twenty centimeters in diameter, clamped in an iron frame near the window. "Your goal is to break it with your arms. Right hand first, then left. Two pieces of wood a day. Later, I'll give you larger ones."

As he spoke, Teach began doing push-ups. "After you finish, I'll help you reset your arms, and then we'll work on strength and stamina training."

"However, for now, I have only one request: focus on your own training and don't disturb me."

Teach began to fully immerse himself in his training. After yesterday's battle, he knew his strength was insufficient; he had been suppressed in terms of power by Barton.

Teach yearned for the overwhelming strength Pops possessed, combined with his own claw attacks. Pops didn't have the formidable defensive power of Big Mom, with her steel-like body that could absorb damage, nor did he have the incredible recovery ability of Kaido, his immortality. But Pops had overwhelming strength, a power that even Big Mom and Kaido, whose strength far surpassed that of giants, couldn't match.

But this wouldn't happen overnight; it required constant training.

Watching Teach begin his training, Mobius felt a jolt in his heart. Great strength isn't innate. Even someone like Teach has to work hard, so I must strive even harder if I want to become stronger.