Shave

The claim that the Six Powers transcend the limits of human physical ability is no empty boast; one only truly feels its weight when experiencing it firsthand.

Practitioners must possess a superhuman physique as a prerequisite. If one were to compare the Six Powers to water in a fish tank and the human body to a washbasin, pouring all the water from the tank into the basin at once would only result in a spill.

Only by constantly transforming and expanding one's own "container" until it can hold all the water can one finally have a chance at successful cultivation.

It was not that the notes and training methods recorded by Gray were incorrect, but that the body itself failed to meet these rigid standards.

Realizing this, Buggy immediately gathered Cabaji, Mohji, and Shuma to conduct endurance running training around the island, sprinting along the perimeter of this island—which had a circumference of about fifty or sixty kilometers and double the gravity.

Under the sunset, several shadows were gradually elongated, like a fleeting burst of youth, shedding sweat filled with passion and vitality...

Men... are boys until the day they die!

The pirates of the Buggy Pirates sat on the deck or stood on the lookout, most of them appearing lazy and drowsy.

Although they lacked the immediate thrill of plundering wealth, in return, the days of leisure over the past few days had provided unprecedented relaxation to their nerves, which had long been strained by years of being chased by the Navy like stray dogs or fearing death amidst terrifying waves.

Captain Buggy did not say much, or rather, he tacitly allowed their behavior. Even if they played cards on the deck every day, fished for sea fish with rods, or held banquets every few days, Captain Buggy would only smile it off. Of course, they still needed to do one simple thing: go to the nearest Ailu Island every three days to purchase a certain amount of fresh water and food supplies.

If one were to use Earth's standards, they were the kind of employees who were on vacation every day while still collecting a paycheck.

Most of the pirates on the ship were veterans who had followed Buggy for six or seven years. If they hadn't earned merit, they had at least put in the hard labor. They had suffered quite a bit following the ill-tempered Buggy in their early years, and as they aged and spent more time at sea, they began to fear and grow weary of this temperamental ocean.

Two drunken pirates on the ship looked at the island with hazy eyes, chatting without reservation.

"Luz, I've long forgotten why I became a pirate in the first place..."

"Yeah, so many years have passed in a blink. I used to yearn for a life of boiling passion, but in the end, I realized... nothing is more blissful than a comfortable sleep."

"I also thought I could make a name for myself on the sea with just a head full of passion, but after seeing so much killing and being killed, I realized my heart has slowly gone numb, and my meager strength isn't even enough to fill the gaps in someone else's teeth."

"Perhaps, being a pirate was just a dream from our youth..."

"You're right. Surviving that storm before was already a miracle. We're old... we shouldn't be serving as snacks for this ocean."

The two clinked their bottles together and laughed heartily.

As the days passed, Buggy's training finally yielded some results. Where he could previously take three steps in an instant, he could now take five. Furthermore, he taught the techniques of "Iron Body" to Mohji, "Paper Art" to Cabaji, and the techniques for "Shave" and "Moonwalk" to Shuma.

These were decisions Buggy made after careful consideration; rather than learning everything poorly, it was better to master a few things well.

Iron Body distributes the impact of a blow evenly across the body, preventing any single part from suffering a fatal strike and providing resistance against external force. For Mohji, a Store-Store Fruit user, this could reduce the damage he took and enhance his durability; combined with his ability, it should achieve excellent results.

Paper Art allows one to judge an opponent's attack path in advance by sensing the airflow and muscle changes during their movements, then using that to dodge. For Cabaji, who followed the path of trick-based swordsmanship, this could enhance his evasion and his insight into the way of the sword.

As for Shuma, as a sniper, the high-speed movement of "Shave" and the ability to traverse the air with "Moonwalk" were his best choices to avoid close-quarters strikes. Moreover, he was younger and learned things faster, which was his advantage over the other two officers.

The island-circling running training lasted for two months. Every day was spent drenched in sweat and exhausted. After eating the food cooked by Shuma, they couldn't even lift their eyelids before falling into a deep, heavy sleep. Consequently, the training plan for their Devil Fruit abilities was delayed.

Having adapted to two or three times the gravity, Buggy continued to practice "Shave." His feet stomped rapidly on the ground; unlike at the beginning, his stomping had now reached a point where his movements were invisible. Even though his feet had clearly struck the ground over a dozen times, it looked as if they had just been placed there.

"I felt it..."

In an instant, Buggy felt himself vaguely crossing the threshold of Shave.

"Again!"

Buggy's feet stomped on the ground a dozen times in an instant, and then he vanished... only to reappear on the beach a hundred meters away.

After sensing it, he finally understood the difference between Shave and fast running.

Resistance—it was air resistance!

After using Shave, the energy erupting from within the body and the external resistance canceled each other out, allowing the movement of his feet to reach a speed that the naked eye could not follow... And if he continued to train, the energy erupting from within would not only cancel out external resistance but eventually exceed it, increasing his speed without limit.

This was "Shave"!

However, the distance of "Shave" was very limited, roughly a hundred meters. It was a form of "explosive power." Once this distance limit was exceeded, one had to stomp the ground again to accumulate "explosive power" for the next "Shave," rather than using it without limit.

Indeed, the Six Powers were worthy of their name. They were not some Branch Six, East Blue Six, or West Blue Six, but a martial art bearing the name of the entire "Navy." It was truly a terrifying thing...

Over the next month, Buggy kept refining the state of "Shave," from initially being unable to control his direction to finally becoming familiar with the rhythm, using "Shave" with ease.

Meanwhile, Cabaji and the others, who persisted in the island-circling training with Buggy, also made progress bit by bit. Their physical strength and endurance improved significantly. The island that originally took a full day to run around now only took half a day. The remaining half was used for practicing the Six Powers and other technical and strength training.

In this atmosphere of "you're stronger than me, I don't accept it, I want to surpass you," none of the officers dared to slack off in their training, especially with the secret rivalry between Cabaji and Mohji, and Shuma, who would occasionally disrupt their training rhythm from the sidelines.

Having mastered "Shave," the next steps were Tempest Kick and Finger Pistol. Buggy actually didn't like using daggers as a means of attack; for one, the attack surface was too narrow, and for another, the quality of these daggers was unsatisfactory. If he truly encountered a powerful opponent, they would become useless baggage. Tempest Kick and Finger Pistol seemed to compensate for his current weakness in attack power.

(PS: The cultivation process must include my own settings, as this stuff isn't in the original work, so I must give the illusion that it "sounds like it makes sense"!)