"Today, I, Lao G~!, will be guiding you through physical training."
A strange man dressed in a blue tracksuit and wearing a rabbit hat struck an embarrassing pose as he shouted, completely unconcerned by the looks everyone gave him.
It was the same training ground, but this time, the "teacher" was Lao G instead of Diamante.
And this time, it wasn't just Abel and Luo who had to learn. Baby-5 and Buffalo were included too. After all, physical training was highly practical and had a low barrier to entry. Mastering it was difficult, though, and becoming strong through physical training alone was even harder!
Doflamingo probably didn't expect them to accomplish much through physical training. It was more about building a solid foundation.
Although Lao G belonged to Diamante's combat unit, he was level-headed and took his work seriously.
So he treated everyone equally. Unlike Diamante, he didn't deliberately devise some nearly impossible exercise to make things difficult for anyone. He simply taught them methodically.
Of course, there were punishments when necessary, but they were just "normal punishments," like extra laps or more push-ups.
That suited Abel perfectly. He could finally focus on building a solid foundation and getting stronger!
To that end, he ate enough breakfast to feed ten adults for a day, right under everyone's eyes, so he could enter the "Full Stomach" state whenever he wanted.
He also made up an excuse and strapped the freshly painted tortoiseshell to his back.
He set the weight to twenty kilograms to start, giving himself time to adjust. He had always felt a sense of urgency and wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible!
"Doing all right?"
"N-no problem."
As Abel practiced his punches, he watched Luo out of the corner of his eye. Luo's face was a little pale.
That guy was really pushing himself for the sake of revenge. Just yesterday, when he'd passed out, his arm had been so swollen he couldn't even lift it.
But after waking up, he'd managed to reduce the swelling with medicine he'd prepared himself.
Doflamingo had been ready to let him rest today, but the guy had insisted on coming anyway.
If he'd pushed himself this hard in Abel's previous life, he would have wrecked his body for sure.
But this was the world of pirates, a place where common sense didn't apply—a world that would make even Newton fall to his knees.
So Abel didn't try to talk him out of it. It was his choice.
Compared to him, Abel was undoubtedly the luckier one.
Without his cheat, he would have been just as miserable as Luo, if not worse.
But now, he realized he was getting a little addicted.
The more intense the training, the more feedback he got from his body's cells.
The pleasure of clearly feeling himself grow stronger was truly intoxicating!
After learning swordsmanship on the first day and physical combat on the second, Abel and the others would be learning firearms on the third.
This time, their instructor was a "Super Saiyan."
All right, Gladius's hairstyle wasn't nearly as outrageous as it would be in the future, but he was already in "Super Saiyan 1" form. The only real difference was the color.
Gladius wore a mask with round lenses and a dark blue trench coat decorated with metal embellishments like gears.
At first glance, he looked more like a bassist in a heavy metal death-rock band.
In reality, he was a member of the Donquixote Family's special attack unit. He was extremely loyal to Doflamingo and would never tolerate anyone who betrayed the Donquixote Family.
"Is everyone here? Where's Buffalo?"
Gladius saw that only three people had shown up at the training ground, and a vein immediately bulged at his temple.
He hated people who went off schedule or failed to be punctual more than anything.
"I-I'm here!"
As soon as he spoke, a chubby guy in his pajamas came sprinting toward them, drenched in sweat. It was hard to tell whether he was exhausted or panicking.
Gladius pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. Without mercy, he said, "You were ten seconds late according to the meeting time. As punishment, your dodge training will be twice as intense today."
Buffalo's chubby face looked so frightened it seemed to shrink into a bolt of lightning!
He immediately dropped into a full kowtow and begged, "I know I was wrong! Please let me off this time. I swear I won't be late again!"
"You think there'll be a next time? Hmph!"
Gladius sneered and ignored Buffalo. Then he kicked open the box in front of him, revealing the weapons inside.
"Out at sea, guns and cannons are the most common means of ranged attack. Mastering them takes talent, but it also takes constant practice."
"Starting today, I'll teach you how to use them, how to fight with them, and how to defend against attacks like these."
"First of all, the most important thing when attacking with guns and cannons is judging the distance."
Gladius's lesson was new and fascinating to Abel.
After all, what man didn't like guns?
He hadn't had the chance in his previous life, but now he'd finally gotten one.
The models and designs didn't look very advanced, but being able to enjoy them at all was more than enough.
After Gladius finished explaining the theory, Abel and the others finally got their hands on the weapons they'd been dreaming of.
Then came the simplest exercise: target practice.
Abel and Luo both took the lesson seriously. Abel even activated [Full Stomach], entering a learning mode with a tenfold boost.
His physical abilities had already improved, and now he had a cheat on top of that. Naturally, he learned incredibly fast. His accuracy shot up in no time, catching Gladius's attention.
"Hmm. Looks like you've got some talent."
By comparison, Luo acted more like an ordinary person.
He fired shot after shot. He was making progress, sure, but not much.
Gladius gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
Even so, Abel wasn't the best performer.
Baby-5 was.
The little girl simply raised one leg, and her left foot instantly turned into a pitch-black cannon barrel.
With a boom, she blasted the target in the distance to pieces.
Baby-5 seemed more wild and excited than usual.
"What was that?"
Luo froze.
"Baby-5 ate the Arms-Arms Fruit. She's a weapon human who can turn any part—or all—of her body into various weapons, such as guns, cannons, and swords."
Gladius explained, then told Luo to keep training and stop getting distracted.
Then Luo suddenly began to lose focus.
He had remembered what Doflamingo had said to him back then.
Could there really be a Devil Fruit that can cure my illness and Abel's?
What surprised him even more came next: Baby-5 wasn't the only Devil Fruit User. Even Buffalo, whom he'd always thought was an idiot, had eaten a Devil Fruit?!
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