Kami-e

Since Rokushiki was called the Navy's Six Powers, two pieces of information could easily be drawn from its name. First, it belonged to the Navy. This system of techniques had been invented by the Navy; exactly who had done so was impossible to verify, but countless people's efforts had certainly gone into developing and perfecting it. That was why the instructor had reacted so strongly when Louis said he had comprehended Life Return without anyone guiding him. Even for the simplest Soru, without someone specifically teaching you how to exert force and control the rhythm, you could train your legs until they were ruined and still fail to use it. Of course, monster-level geniuses like Monkey D. Luffy were exceptions.

The second piece of information was naturally the Six Powers: Soru, Finger Pistol, Rankyaku, Geppo, Kami-e, and Tekkai. They could attack or defend, fight or retreat. Whoever had originally created these techniques had definitely been a genius.

"Although you'll be taught the complete set of Six Powers directly, don't think you can learn them all at once, meow. Otherwise, you definitely won't pass the assessment in a month. Even among the former CP9 Training Camp trainees, not everyone has truly mastered even one of the Six Powers, meow. As far as I know, the only person in the camp who has mastered more than two is Stuart, meow."

On the way to Training Ground Five, Xiluo chattered endlessly behind Louis. "Hehe, of course, a genius like Brother Louis is definitely an exception, meow."

The assessment after one month was something Xiluo had told Louis about. The CP9 Training Camp held an assessment every month, divided into a written test and practical examination. The written test covered all kinds of abilities spies had to master, while the practical examination was naturally combat. Each accounted for half the score. Xiluo's proposed cooperation with Louis meant that if the two of them faced each other, they would hold back and not give the others an opportunity.

There was an assessment every month, and those ranked at the bottom would be eliminated. This training period lasted one year, which meant that of the nineteen people currently in the camp, only seven would ultimately be able to take part in the graduation assessment. That did not even include the usual losses outside of assessments. The instructors did not have very good tempers.

Those eliminated trainees who were relatively strong might have a chance to be transferred to another department. The weak ones could naturally only return to the sea. The only problem was that the strong were not so easily eliminated.

Training Ground Five was not far away. The group of six arrived in only a few minutes, but in those few minutes, they had split into five camps. Yerika walked at the front, with Louis and Xiluo behind her. The remaining three deadweights kept their distance from the leader and followed one after another.

Their lack of unity was perfectly normal. After all, everyone was everyone else's opponent.

An instructor had already been waiting there. Once all six had arrived, he did not waste any words and immediately began teaching the Six Powers.

Everyone here knew at least one of the Six Powers. Louis said at least because he strongly suspected that Xiluo knew more than just one technique. That fat man had connections.

Although everyone knew one or another technique, what they knew differed. The instructor had clearly seen this situation many times before. He broke down the techniques one by one, explained the specific training methods in detail, and then that was it. The entire lesson took six hours, averaging one hour per technique. After that, they could train on their own.

Louis understood why, even with the opportunity to learn the complete Six Powers, not everyone had mastered them. The helplessness those who had stayed in the CP9 Training Camp faced before was exactly what the six of them now faced. The instructor's explanations were thorough, but he never said more than necessary. They were only sufficient, and rather broad. It was possible to learn all the Six Powers from his explanations alone, but only if one was an extraordinary genius.

For ordinary people to learn them, they needed to constantly experiment on their own, repeatedly seek guidance from the instructor, and compare it with their training. But the troublesome part was that starting tomorrow, Louis and the others would join the regular training program. Their time was extremely tight.

So while the other trainees were still somewhat dazed, Louis proactively approached the instructor, intending to clarify every point he did not fully understand at once.

The instructor answered each question, then revealed a slightly surprised smile. "You're Louis?"

"Yes."

Louis was not surprised at all. The South Sea Training Camp instructor had already said that CP9 would handle him, so the news must have been sent up long ago. Since he could still participate in training normally, that meant there was no problem.

"So it's true. You really are a genius, kid."

The instructor sighed. Louis had not asked many questions, but every one of them struck at the heart of the matter. Each was a crucial issue that could easily cause problems in training. They were all pinpoint accurate.

By the time training ended and they went to the cafeteria for dinner, the sky had already gone completely dark. Yet the training on the other side had not ended. As Louis passed the previous training ground, he could still hear the neat chants.

In the enormous cafeteria, only the six of them were eating, scattered across various corners.

"Brother Louis, which technique are you planning to train first, meow?"

During a pause in the meal, Xiluo asked.

Louis was immersed in eating and did not answer. He now had a rough estimate of his appetite: he could easily finish food meant for twenty people. So as not to delay his meal, he could only speed up his eating. CP9's cooks had seen plenty, so they were not astonished by Louis's appetite. After all, this world was full of towering giants six or seven meters tall.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, meow. I was just curious, meow."

Xiluo scratched his head, looking genuinely apologetic. "Don't misunderstand, Brother Louis, meow. I don't mean to pry into your secrets, meow."

Whether he meant it or not, only he knew.

"What about you, Mr. Xiluo?"

Louis bit into a chicken leg and asked in return, "Which technique are you planning to start with?"

"Well, I'm rather stupid,"

Xiluo said with a simple-minded grin. "So I'll train them all together, meow. I heard the Six Powers are interconnected and can help promote each other's training, meow."

Louis clearly remembered that this very man had previously said training several techniques at once was absolutely inadvisable.

He did not bother wondering what sort of logic made being stupid a reason to choose the most difficult and least efficient approach. It was one hundred percent a lie. Louis continued burying his head in his food. As entertainment while he ate, Xiluo began telling Louis all sorts of secret gossip from within the CP series: the grudges and entanglements between departments, the old feuds between CP9 and CP0. Whenever he got excited, the fat man would even stand up and sing a couple of lines.

He really was quite a talent.

Long before arriving at the training camp, Louis had already decided what the second Six Powers technique he would learn first would be. It was neither the offensive Rankyaku or Finger Pistol, nor the movement techniques Geppo or Soru, but Kami-e, which occupied the same role as Tekkai. Tekkai was for defense, while Kami-e was for evasion. Louis had always believed that staying alive came first.