Ancient Haki

Haki—

A power on these seas as renowned as Devil Fruits, it still held many mysteries to this day.

Presence, killing intent, fighting spirit, willpower...

These elusive things could be turned into weapons, ultimately giving rise to three different colors.

Namely, the Conqueror's Haki one was born with, Observation Haki for sensing one's surroundings, and Armament Haki, which was like armor.

With the power of Haki, even someone who wasn't a Devil Fruit User could rule over a region and make a name for themselves on these seas!

That much was common knowledge.

But as someone who had been sailing for a long time, Crocodile knew a great deal more.

After Roger, the Pirate King, died, the Great Pirate Era began, and countless experts emerged all over the world.

Not long ago, the New World had still been caught in a chaotic struggle between countless powers. Only recently had things finally begun to stabilize.

There were four great powers, either the strongest or the most celebrated, who gradually came to be known as the "Four Emperors."

Among them were no shortage of powerful figures who had mastered special forms of Haki.

There was Observation Haki that could sense the future, Armament Haki that could coat weapons, and even Conqueror's Haki that could inflict physical damage on one's surroundings!

But no matter how special they were, these abilities all stemmed from Haki's fundamental nature and followed a discernible pattern.

Yet what Crocodile had witnessed today was something he simply couldn't understand.

The black cloth that had been wrapped around Aiven Lindsey's entire body had long since vanished with the wind, leaving not a trace behind.

But Lindsey reached out and grabbed at the air, pulling out a strip of black bandage from nowhere. Then, with a few quick turns, he wrapped it around his hand.

"Good, I've pretty much got it!"

Lindsey nodded, then stood up from the ground and promptly grabbed Crocodile by the shoulder.

Crocodile instinctively turned his entire body into sand, only to find that Lindsey had already seized his shoulder in its solid form.

There was no doubt about it: the black cloth wrapped around Lindsey's hand had the ability to touch the solid bodies of Logia Type users!

That was one of the abilities of Armament Haki!

"Tch..."

Crocodile's expression changed.

He hated feeling like he was on uncertain ground, but Aiven Lindsey always made him feel that way. He had gradually gotten used to it.

After carefully examining the black bandages, Crocodile still found it hard to believe.

"You're saying this is Armament Haki?"

"Yes and no."

"What?"

"It's 'ancient' Armament Haki."

Lindsey patted Crocodile on the shoulder, then withdrew his hand. Flexing his fingers, he murmured,

"I started wondering about it back on the Sabaody Archipelago. I'd already fought Garp, so why had I only learned a tiny bit of Armament Haki?"

Crocodile: "..."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but given Lindsey's even more outrageous ability to learn, it somehow seemed perfectly reasonable.

Yeah, you'd already fought him. How had you, Primitive Man, only learned a tiny bit?

"Heh..."

"Tch!"

Lindsey knew he wasn't a genius.

He had simply spent a long time alone.

During that hazy stretch of time, Lindsey had endlessly contemplated all sorts of things whenever he had nothing else to do.

Developing Devil Fruits, techniques and abilities, the use of Haki...

And so on.

His mind held a wealth of theories, so all it took was an opportunity to put them into practice for him to bring them to life!

But when Lindsey had tried to learn Garp's Armament Haki, he had hit a wall.

Everything felt right, yet he could only mix a tiny trace of Armament Haki into his roars. Lindsey couldn't make sense of it.

Now, it seemed he had finally found an answer.

Garp's Haki—and perhaps that of everyone else alive today—might not be compatible with Lindsey, because he came from a far more distant past!

"The stone used to inscribe the Poneglyphs has to be forged through a special process. Armament Haki remains within it..."

Lindsey rapidly pieced together what he knew, then suddenly had another thought.

"No, there's more!"

He turned to look at Crocodile.

According to Crocodile, when Aiven Lindsey had awakened on Punk Hazard, an aura of Conqueror's Haki had once filled the area around him!

But when Crocodile had asked Lindsey about it, Lindsey had looked completely bewildered.

He didn't know how to use it yet?!

He had indeed imagined how Conqueror's Haki could be used, but he hadn't had the chance to put it into practice. He couldn't grasp the feeling at all.

If so, then that Conqueror's Haki back then hadn't belonged to Lindsey. It had come from the ancient stone tablet itself!

"Ancient Conqueror's Haki..."

Lindsey rubbed his chin and murmured,

"My stone tablet had Conqueror's Haki in it."

"And the Poneglyph in Alabasta has ancient Armament Haki integrated into it."

"Then what about Observation Haki?"

"There are only three colors of Haki, but there are far more than three Poneglyphs..."

Lindsey reached out toward the place where the Poneglyph had been buried, but he no longer felt what he had before.

In other words, the ancient Armament Haki inside this Poneglyph was all there was. Lindsey couldn't learn anything more from it.

"Could there be other Poneglyphs with different kinds of ancient Armament Haki forged into them?"

"If I come into contact with them again, I can learn more..."

"..."

"And those memories—what are they?"

"..."

The more Lindsey pondered, the more fascinating it seemed.

One of his pupils began to rotate and spread, the whites of his eye and his black iris becoming sharply distinct.

He curled his fingers into a claw, then slashed the air with two of them. It was as if a great chunk of space had been torn away, becoming Armament Haki that looked like a black bandage.

Lindsey wrapped the strip of Armament Haki around his arm, flexed his wrist a little, then casually punched the open space in front of him.

Whoosh!

An unusual sound of air being torn apart rang out. The air around them seemed to be disturbed by some strange force, shuddering several times.

"Ha!"

Light gleamed in Lindsey's black eyes as he looked at Crocodile and said excitedly, "These seas are truly amazing, aren't they?"

"..."

Crocodile was speechless.

But thinking it over, he found himself agreeing with Lindsey to some extent.

"'Amazing,' huh?"

"Hehehehe..."

Crocodile took a drag on his cigar and gave a few dark chuckles.

What he sought was the ultimate military power, and its culmination was the legendary Ancient Weapons.

The clues to the Ancient Weapons were inseparable from the Poneglyphs, so Aiven Lindsey's desire to search for them aligned perfectly with his own!

He just didn't know how far this unknown ancient creature would "evolve" if Aiven Lindsey continued learning ancient Haki.

It would probably be quite troublesome.

But for now, this "trouble" wouldn't cause Crocodile any problems. On the contrary, it would draw the World Government's attention elsewhere.

"Hehehehe, it really is fascinating..."

"..."

Some time later.

Cobra and the others finished dealing with the situation in the secret chamber, ensuring that the buried Poneglyph wouldn't be discovered.

Then they called for Lindsey and Crocodile, who were waiting nearby, to return to the royal capital.

The Poneglyph's existence had been confirmed. Next, they had to deal with the matter at hand.

That was the "war" between Alabasta and Drum Kingdom.

It was called a war, but so far, it seemed more like an unreasonable provocation by Drum Kingdom against Alabasta.

The royal capital, Alubarna.

Several adults had gathered in the palace conference room, while Princess Vivi bustled about at their side.

Although this was an internal matter for the Kingdom of Alabasta, it seemed likely to involve the underworld's forces. Cobra knew little about them, so he needed Crocodile's advice.

Crocodile didn't mind helping.

He was after the Poneglyphs and, ultimately, all of Alabasta. Naturally, he didn't want anyone else coveting what he was after. Besides, the more Cobra trusted him, the better.

Aiven Lindsey had indeed discovered something, but the information was too vague and disorganized to count as a lead for now.

So Crocodile could only try another approach: deal with Drum Kingdom first, then search for someone who could decipher the Poneglyphs!

As he pondered this, Igaram finished compiling the recent battle reports and handed them to Crocodile.

Crocodile took them and skimmed through them, immediately noticing something amiss.

"Hehehe, I knew it. Without someone egging them on, how would that little country dare provoke you?"

Crocodile spread the battle reports across the conference table and pointed to one section.

"These weapons are rarely seen in the first half of the Grand Line. They're the kind the New World's arms dealers like best."

"So the most likely explanation is—"

"For some reason, perhaps because of the Poneglyph or something else, one of the arms dealers has set their sights on you."

"..."

When he finished speaking, everyone understood. They fell silent, lost in thought.

Lindsey, meanwhile, clapped his hands in approval and said admiringly, "Wow, you're certainly used to working with arms dealers..."

Bang!

Crocodile slammed his fist down on the table, several more veins popping on his forehead for the umpteenth time.