The Dispersed Armament Haki

On the abandoned backstreet.

Lynn blew the white mist off his fist.

"Huh? What did you say? You talked too much—I didn't catch it."

Vergo's right hand, which had just thrown a punch, was still trembling. He looked at Lynn's fist, still emitting white frost, and said in shock, "Armament Haki?"

But then Vergo shook his head and answered his own question. "No. Its nature is similar, but there are differences too. Could it be a Devil Fruit ability?"

Lynn rolled his wrist and turned his gaze toward Vergo.

"Vergo, you were actually right about two things."

"First, my four years as a gladiator gave me exceptional combat ability, but they also became a bottleneck in my understanding of Haki."

Lynn had realized that point while meditating alone on the grasslands during his training with Garp on the Uninhabited Island.

Garp had a big heart and knew nothing about the rules of Sabaody Arena. Otherwise, he would not have trained Lynn in such an ordinary way.

Just as Vergo had said, Sabaody Arena's warped method of cultivation gave Lynn exceptional combat ability while leaving him a complete beginner when it came to Haki.

One leg was long and the other short. That had become a fatal flaw on Lynn's path of training. He could clearly see the threshold of Haki, yet he could never reach it.

To make up for that flaw, he could only rely on time—on long, intensive training to correct those "ruined four years"—

But that was the solution for ordinary people.

As for Lynn, he had found a path better suited to himself.

Just like those four years in Sabaody Arena—

Fight, and nothing else!

He would accumulate experience through endless battles, seek answers, and use them to break through the bottleneck created by his own shortcomings.

The accumulation of combat experience and awareness had given Lynn neural reaction speed comparable to Observation Haki.

The beasts of the Uninhabited Island and Garp had allowed Lynn to develop his Devil Fruit ability to a level comparable to Armament Haki.

Battle after battle had brought Lynn ever closer to true "Haki."

Until this moment—on the backstreets of Loguetown.

Under Vergo's fierce assault, with his entire body hardened by Armament Haki, Lynn's understanding of Armament Haki rose another level!

He had grasped that faint "feeling," then combined it with his Devil Fruit ability, ultimately creating an extraordinarily special phenomenon.

Normally, Armament Haki adhered to the body or a weapon. It enhanced one's defense like invisible armor and could also be transformed into offensive power against enemies.

Yet the "variant Armament Haki" Lynn used in conjunction with his Devil Fruit ability now resembled smoke, dispersing around him and continuously surging with his breath.

This was absolutely not Armament Haki emission. Those traces of Armament Haki had been scattered through the air from the very beginning!

Vergo stared at Lynn. His figure had become slightly blurred due to the dispersing Armament Haki.

After a brief moment of shock, Vergo suddenly burst into laughter.

"Your aura is unstable, your Haki is unfocused, and you can't even make it adhere to your body. Your Armament Haki isn't complete at all!"

Vergo furrowed his brow and growled, "Lynn Barek, are you trying to make me laugh?"

But Lynn shook his head, spread his arms, and let the wildly unstable Armament Haki rage around him. Grinning, he said:

"Vergo, don't you want to hear the second thing you got right?"

At those words, veins bulged on Vergo's forehead. He suddenly stepped forward and charged, raising his fist to end the battle.

Bang! Bang!

Two consecutive punches struck Lynn's body. Just as Vergo had expected, the impact on his fists felt—

The Armament Haki raging around Lynn was immature, with almost no defensive capability whatsoever!

Yet Lynn merely rolled his neck, stared straight at Vergo, and exclaimed in amazement:

"Oh, oh! So this is Armament Haki! Getting hit doesn't hurt at all!"

Vergo wanted nothing more than to roar:

If it could not even adhere to the surface of his body and had no defensive function whatsoever, then it could not be called Armament Haki at all!

But immediately afterward, Vergo noticed something strange.

The Armament Haki that had originally been dispersed around Lynn, drifting about chaotically along with the surrounding icy frost, was now gradually gathering toward Lynn's body!

Under Vergo's somewhat shocked gaze, Lynn grinned broadly.

"The second thing you got right—I really am a genius!"

The frost formed by Icebound Domain rapidly contracted. The Icebound Domain that had originally spread for more than ten meters now shrank to a distance of roughly one meter around Lynn.

Denser frost mixed with the dispersed Armament Haki, forming a raging storm around Lynn!

Using Icebound Domain to forcibly compress the immature Armament Haki, completely abandoning Armament Haki's defensive properties in exchange for greatly enhanced speed and strength.

White frost and black Armament Haki intermingled. Standing within them, Lynn resembled a rampaging humanoid storm!

The fusion of Devil Fruit ability and Armament Haki had brought Lynn's technique into an entirely new form—

Hero Skill: Icebound Domain—Armament Form!

Lynn could not help laughing in exhilaration.

"Let's start the second round, Vergo!"

"Call me Mr. Vergo!"

Vergo frowned deeply. He had already had enough of the arrogant man before him.

But more importantly, he could actually sense a deadly danger from that storm of frost and Armament Haki!

Raising his blackened fist, Vergo punched Lynn in the face.

Bang!

Lynn did not dodge. Instead, he took the blow head-on with his forehead, then swung his own fist in counterattack!

Hero Skill: Might of the Hero!

Bang! Bang!

Two heavy punches, one from the left and one from the right, slammed into Vergo's body. As Vergo gritted his teeth against the pain, he could not help sneering.

Lynn was indeed dangerous now, but that danger was still only in its infancy.

More accurately, Lynn had only just developed this move. It had not been fully completed yet!

"What a pity, truly a pity!"

Vergo laughed. "You think your immature new technique can break through my Armament Haki?!"

Lynn grinned as well. Half-crouching, he assumed his punching stance once more and roared, "Why not?"

"I'll turn you into minced meat!"

Vergo swung another heavy punch, striking Lynn directly in the face.

A dull bang rang out!

When Vergo pulled back his fist, he found that Lynn was still standing there, without having retreated even half a step.

Lynn pressed a finger against his nose and blew the clotted blood from it with a breath, then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Whew, looks like this move still needs time to be perfected."

Grinning, he burst into laughter.

"So then, Vergo..."

"Will you turn me into minced meat first, or will I knock you down first?"

Their fists collided, and then—

"Come on, give it a try!"

The battle resumed!