Armament Haki

Seven's days of training on Sky Island were quite comfortable and carefree.

As the current God of Sky Island, he never had to endure hunger or cold, and in his spare time, he could sit atop the dome of the Thunder God Palace, watching the morning sun pierce through the sea of clouds and the sunset melt gold across the sky.

When night fell, he could even fall asleep under the vast starry sea and the clear glow of the Milky Way.

There was only one regret: the lack of news.

The wings of the News Bird could hardly cross the White Sea, ten thousand meters high.

All the turmoil on the sea surface was blocked by the thick clouds, cutting him off from the entire world.

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Of course, this also allowed him to truly settle down and throw himself entirely into training.

To merge with the Iron Balloon physique as quickly as possible.

Seven burned almost all his passion into every training exercise.

Sweating now was better than bleeding later.

Looking at the true apex powerhouses on the sea, almost all of them were all-around freaks.

Whether it was the Three Types of Haki, physical combat, Devil Fruit abilities, or the unique swordsmanship of a Great Swordsman, they covered everything, complementing each other, with none dispensable.

They never relied on a single method to win but forged all their abilities into an unassailable combat system.

Only then could they stand firm on the sea and pursue their dreams.

The weak could only drift with the current, losing their right to choose.

Having lived two lives, Seven had experienced that powerlessness and was long fed up with the torment of hunger and cold.

Before, he had no choice; now, he wanted to be the strongest.

Three months later.

Beneath the setting sun of the golden city of Shandora, Seven stood before the Poneglyph, casting aside all distractions.

Thump! Thump! Thump! His fists broke the air.

The dull impact echoed through the ruins.

The collision of fists and stone numbed Seven's arms, but he didn't lessen his force.

Sweat dripped from his chin, soaking his clothes, but he was oblivious, driving his fists on with sheer will, punch after punch, hammering repeatedly.

The stone tablet stood silent, bearing the weight of history.

Spanning a thousand years, it became Seven's best training ground for attempting to awaken Armament Haki.

Each impact was an extreme squeeze on his body. Seven forged his will into his fists, trying to break through the shackles of his flesh, knocking on the door of Armament Haki awakening with every collision.

He had a cheat, so why was he still suffering the hard way?

Simply because he was broke.

Since Warhammer Bro, only four shells had been sold on the Trading Platform, while posts begging to buy shells at low prices kept piling up.

Three months had passed, and even the Iron Balloon physique was fully merged, but Seven had only saved up 4,300 points.

He suspected that other world users might have guessed he'd taken over Sky Island from his purchase of Dream One Heart with 88,888 tons of gold and his listing of Sky Island shells.

That was why they were ruthlessly driving down prices.

Luckily, Sky Island shells were exclusive to the Pirate World, and as the God of Sky Island, Seven held the pricing power.

Besides, Seven needed points, but not so desperately that he had to lower prices.

He'd rather not sell than cut prices.

Having a cheat was great, but outsmarting other world users on the Trading Platform was even more addictive.

In theory, each world had unique items for sale, so the pricing power naturally belonged to the user from that world.

But that wasn't the case.

Because it came down to urgency.

Take Seven—he wasn't in a hurry. If he couldn't buy Armament Haki, he could train it himself.

And if he couldn't awaken Armament Haki, it didn't matter; he still had the Thoughtless Sword training experience to fully merge with.

Since he wasn't in a rush, he could take it or leave it, so the pricing power stayed in his hands.

If Seven were desperate for points, he'd have to accept the prices set by those lowball posts.

And he'd lose the pricing power.

Only a rich guy like Warhammer Bro didn't care about price, buying whatever he liked.

The only thing that could limit Warhammer Bro was the platform's rules.

Seeing other users lowballing, Seven followed suit and started posting to buy Flying Capes and physical combat techniques at low prices.

His motto was: my stuff doesn't drop in price, but I'll still buy your stuff cheap.

Pfft~

Before the stone tablet, a crisp sound rang out.

Seven's chest heaved as his clenched fists turned black, as if coated in a layer of black enamel.

"Phew~"

"Finally awakened."

Though Seven had already mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion, making basic Armament Haki seem somewhat low-tier.

Still, something was better than nothing.

The 5,000 points saved could be used to strengthen other abilities or buy a Flying Cape.

Armament Haki—

Its core function was to enhance offense and defense, and it allowed one to touch the solid bodies of Logia Type Devil Fruit users.

It manifested in three forms: Hardening, Emission, and Internal Destruction.

Hardening was the most common and basic usage, coating the body or weapons in Armament Haki to greatly boost defense and attack power.

Emission involved flowing Armament Haki around the hands or weapons to release shockwaves.

Internal Destruction was a form of Emission, pushing Armament Haki outward and through an object's surface to directly destroy it from within.

Due to their flowing nature, Emission and Internal Destruction were called Ryou in Wano Country.

In the New World, where Armament Haki was standard, Seven's failure to awaken it until now showed just how poor his physique had been.

But now.

With Big Eater, Innate Divine Strength, and Iron Balloon backing him, Seven had traded a peashooter for a star destroyer, practically a humanoid giant—no longer the same person.

Successfully awakening Armament Haki put Seven in a great mood. He drew his Paired Saber, Dream One Heart, and slashed upward at the top of the Poneglyph stone tablet.

Crack~

As a smooth, clean cut appeared on the tablet's top, a corner of the Poneglyph was neatly sliced off by Dream One Heart.

"Still gotta hand it to you, living up to the name of a Divine Artifact."

The Poneglyph—whatever stone it was made of—had taken three months of Seven's pounding without a single scratch.

He'd almost thought he'd stumbled upon a rare treasure.

And this was it?

Sheathing his saber, Seven transformed into Thunder, flashing to the Thunder God Palace in a single breath.

A young woman, about twenty, in a beige miniskirt with golden hair, long legs, a chest like crashing waves, and small wings on her back, quickly bowed.

"Lord Thunder God."

Just the act of bowing made it seem like the fiercest waves on the sea were on display.

Seven quickly averted his eyes: I'm no thunder god, Shani—you're the real one!

As the god of Sky Island, Seven naturally had pretty attendants around. Gan Fall had even tried to send his granddaughter over.

His intentions were practically written on his face.

But Seven, used to a frugal life, wasn't comfortable being waited on. He'd only kept the sisters Shani and Shalou at the Thunder God Palace for rotating shifts.

"My lord." Shani kept her head down.

"It's... because you're back earlier than usual today, so the kitchen hasn't prepared dinner yet. Would you like..."

Seven waved a hand. "I'll take a bath. Serve dinner at the usual time."

"And from now on, lift your head when you speak."

"I'm not going to eat you."

Shani pursed her lips: Whether you'll eat me or not is debatable—you've snuck a few glances at me already.