Training at Foosha Village

While Kuro was secretly plotting his insane plan...

Granny Siya's merchant ship had already sailed for another two days, arriving at their destination—

Foosha Village.

A small village like a paradise.

Though it was territory of the Kingdom of Goa, it was essentially cut off from the kingdom, far from the messy politics and nobles, and the villagers lived peaceful, happy lives.

Foosha Village, port.

Lynn helped Granny Siya off the ship, then helped move some of the cargo from the hold to the dock.

While resting, a group of villagers came from the village to help carry the wine.

Leading them was a young woman with dark green hair, wearing a headscarf.

"Good morning! Makino!"

Granny Siya smiled as she greeted the young woman, then introduced her to Lynn: "She's the buyer for this batch of wine, and the owner of the Foosha Village tavern, Makino."

Of course Lynn knew her.

This girl had been running the tavern in Foosha Village since she was young.

In the future, when Shanks the Red-Haired stayed in Foosha Village, he often drank at Makino's tavern, and it was there that Luffy ate the Devil Fruit.

Later, when Luffy, Ace, and Sabo lived together as brothers at the mountain bandit Dadan's place, she was the one who often brought them new clothes and food, and occasionally taught them some manners.

So in a sense, Makino could be called the older sister of Luffy, Ace, and Sabo.

At this time, Makino was only about twenty years old, in the prime of her youth and vitality.

She brought Granny Siya some hot tea, and also brought the sailors some chilled beer.

But when Makino tried to hand a beer to Lynn, the entire crew desperately stopped her.

They had, of course, heard from the residents of Fishermen's Town about that "drunken rampage" incident.

"Makino, do whatever you want, but you absolutely must not give him alcohol!"

Granny Siya warned: "Absolutely not, not even a single drop!"

Makino was completely baffled at this point, but she could tell from the expressions of the sailors and Granny Siya that this was definitely a serious matter.

So, in the end, Lynn ended up drinking hot tea, just like Granny Siya.

After everyone had moved all the wine crates into Foosha Village, Granny Siya said her goodbyes to Makino.

Lynn waved from the side as well, but he showed no sign of leaving.

Makino looked at this man in front of her, about her age, looking strong but a bit fierce, and asked curiously:

"Aren't you one of Granny Siya's crew?"

Lynn shook his head. "I'm just a traveler, hitching a ride."

"Are you staying in Foosha Village? Or going to the Kingdom of Goa?" Makino continued.

"I'm staying here, waiting for someone." Lynn replied with a smile. "And hopefully, I can find a job. I don't want to go hungry."

"With Granny Siya's recommendation, that's no problem at all!"

Makino thought for a moment and said, "My tavern occasionally needs help moving goods, and other villagers sometimes need help with work too."

"That works." Lynn nodded.

He was going to train his Haki here.

At the same time, to find a teacher for Haki, Lynn was waiting for either Garp or Shanks to arrive.

Based on Lynn's speculation, the one he was most likely to encounter was Shanks the Red-Haired.

After all, Garp's whereabouts were unpredictable; he was mostly busy with his Marine work and his Spartan-style education of Luffy.

Meanwhile, Shanks had stayed in Foosha Village for quite a long time.

That [Red-Haired] of the New World, one of the Pirate King's crew members.

Lynn was looking forward to it.

Even before meeting Luffy, Shanks already possessed strength that could rival the world's greatest swordsman, [Hawk Eyes] Mihawk!

To see the Red-Haired before he lost his arm—what an exciting prospect that would be!

And so, with Makino's introduction, Lynn temporarily became a member of Foosha Village.

Although Woop Slap—that village chief with the striped hat and a stubborn temper—was suspicious of Lynn's background, since he had Granny Siya's recommendation, he could only grumble and curse while welcoming Lynn's arrival.

A classic tsundere.

In the days that followed, Lynn settled in at Makino's tavern.

He usually helped Makino move goods, and occasionally helped the villagers with work that required strength.

If Lynn's arrival brought any change to Foosha Village, it was that the village's parties became more frequent.

Because of his Devil Fruit ability, Lynn's appetite was dozens of times that of a normal person, and he felt too embarrassed to eat through all of Foosha Village's food stores every day—it reminded him of a certain gluttonous disciple-type character from a famous novel.

So Lynn went hunting in the deep forest every day or two, and those massive, ferocious beasts became his primary source of food.

Whenever Lynn returned laden with prey, Foosha Village would throw a grand barbecue feast, and the villagers would enjoy the food together.

But one thing disappointed Lynn: he never once ran into Ace, who lived with the Dadan Family, or Luffy, who was undergoing Garp's Spartan training.

Two weeks had passed since Lynn arrived in Foosha Village.

Deep in the forest next to Foosha Village.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, shining down on Lynn.

He held his hands half-clenched, one forward and one back, assuming a combat stance.

His upper body was bare, covered in countless scars from battle—far too many to count!

And in front of Lynn stood a Giant Wild Boar, about three meters tall and over ten meters long, its sharp tusks radiating a dangerous aura.

"So you're the 'King' that's been attacking passersby in this forest?"

Lynn adjusted his breathing, his muscles gradually warming up with each breath, a thin layer of sweat forming on his skin.

Suddenly, the Giant Wild Boar kicked off its hind legs and charged at Lynn like a war machine crushing everything in its path!

Lynn took a deep breath, and his Energy Value began to deplete.

[Energy Value]: 1450/1500.

Fifty points of Energy Value poured into Lynn's body, his muscles instantly tensing up, and then he crouched low and dashed forward.

Bam! Bam!

Subdue with Might!

Two extremely fast heavy punches landed on the Giant Wild Boar's head.

Lynn's fists went numb immediately.

This monster's skull was way too hard!

But it did slow the Giant Wild Boar down a little.

In the instant before a head-on collision, Lynn spread his arms and grabbed both of the boar's tusks.

"'King,' let's see who's stronger!"

Lynn grinned, steam seeping through his teeth, a dark golden light flickering fiercely in his pupils.

Hero Skill: Showstopper!

Four hundred and fifty points of Energy Value were consumed instantly.

The massive energy expenditure pushed Lynn's physical capabilities to a terrifying level!

Bam!

Lynn grabbed the boar's tusks with both hands and stepped forward.

The ground cracked into a large crater beneath his foot!

Then a second step, a third step...

The Giant Wild Boar was forced backward by Lynn, its four hooves leaving deep gouges in the earth!

It couldn't understand how this tiny human could have such immense strength!

Lynn pushed the boar dozens of meters, then suddenly twisted his waist and core, lifting the tens-of-tons monster off the ground!

At the same time, Lynn leaped up and roared:

"Smash!"

Boom!

The Giant Wild Boar was slammed directly into the ground, its eyes rolling back as it completely lost its life.

Lynn landed, leaning against the Giant Wild Boar's corpse, panting heavily.

"Huff... huff..."

Not enough.

Lynn's brow furrowed.

Compared to the intense, high-stakes battles in the arena, Foosha Village was far too peaceful to help Lynn improve his strength.

He kept fighting the monsters in this forest, trying to grasp the threshold of Haki as quickly as possible. To do that, he forced himself to expend large amounts of Energy Value during combat, simulating the conditions of a desperate struggle. But two weeks had passed, and Lynn had made little progress.

What exactly is the essence of Haki?

Lynn sighed helplessly, but looking at the Giant Wild Boar beside him, his mood lifted.

Tonight, there would be pork chops to eat.

After resting a while, Lynn put on his shirt and dragged the Giant Wild Boar back to Foosha Village.

The villagers knew at a glance that a banquet was going to be held tonight!

After handing the Giant Wild Boar over to the Uncle who sold meat in the village, Lynn returned to Makino's bar and ordered a glass of orange juice with ice.

He downed it in one gulp, feeling all the fatigue wash away from his body.

Just then, the bar's door was pushed open.

A man walked in and sat down at the counter.

"Hahaha, Makino, give me a glass of iced beer!"

"Coming!"

Makino's voice came from the direction of the back kitchen.

But while waiting, the man pulled a Bounty Poster from the pocket of his Marine uniform.

"[BOSS] Lynn Barek, is it?"

He turned his head to look at Lynn beside him, grinning as he showed his teeth.

"A bounty of 100 Million Beli, the Great Criminal who dared to declare war on the Celestial Dragons—what business do you have in the East Blue?"