Awakening and Change

The north wind howled, and heavy snow swirled through the air.

The drifting snowflakes danced through the sky in countless poses—flying, spiraling, chasing one another.

Reg walked slowly through the snow-covered landscape... yet the plum blossoms around the tower stubbornly bloomed at such a time.

This was a miraculous moment of life... Reg stared wide-eyed at the sight, forgetting the cold wind and falling snow. All he could see were those blooming pink flowers.

Was it breathing? Yes.

Reg bent down and closed his eyes... gently inhaling their faint fragrance.

The fresh scent filled his mouth and seeped into his heart, as though it had pierced deep into his soul... this was the fragrance exhaled by plum blossoms. This was their breath.

Everything in this world truly had a breath... it only depended on whether one could discover and comprehend it carefully.

What about the snow? Did it breathe too... flutter, flutter.

Reg raised his head and let the snow fall against his face, even opening his mouth... It was a little cold, a little sweet, with a lingering hint of plum blossom fragrance.

And the wind? Did it breathe as well—Reg spread his arms, sensing that chill burrowing into his bones.

"Teacher Joey, what is Reg doing?"

Eileen appeared at the classroom entrance, tilting her head as her fingers unconsciously twisted her ponytail... Reg, with his arms raised and head tilted upward, looked rather cute too!

"He's listening to nature's whispers... Alright, get ready for the test."

Joey gently closed the tower door... The kid was highly perceptive. It seemed he had already understood his words: one had to comprehend not only the inside of one's body, but the outside as well.

As long as he combined these two methods... he could draw out the Observation Haki hidden within his body. It sounded simple, but doing it was far from easy.

Reg, immersed in his realization, knew nothing of this... He was still foolishly "embracing" the air.

Time flowed by quietly. After a long while... Reg began to walk.

Even with his eyes closed, his body did not sway in the slightest... Instead, he walked in a perfectly straight line.

The path of the wind, the fall of the snow, the swaying plum blossoms, the weight of the earth, the snakes hibernating in their caves... these images appeared in his mind.

He could even "see" every step he took... This was Observation Haki! Invisible and intangible, yet it allowed one's body to hear the breath of everything around it!

His emotions stirred, and Reg quickly slipped out of that wondrous state... Then, the corners of his lips rose.

He had been in this world for nearly four years, and finally... he had comprehended an ability that could bring about a qualitative change in himself.

"I'm getting closer to the priests..."

Reg muttered as he headed toward the edge of the primeval forest... The third assessment was an hour-long test of assassination and stealth.

After all, P9 members primarily did one thing... erase the enemies of the World Government!

Enel, along with his four priests, all possessed Observation Haki... but the priests clearly did not wield it as deeply as Enel did. They needed to remain relatively calm in order to use it.

Reg was currently in a similar state... He needed to maintain absolute calm. Any emotional fluctuation would cause his Observation Haki to fail.

And its range was very short... he could only sense an area of less than a meter centered on himself.

Yet Reg was still overjoyed, the kind he could barely suppress... An awakening was an awakening.

From now on, he only needed to comprehend the outside world as he had just done while continuing to explore his own body... and his control over Observation Haki would steadily improve.

Once he truly reached the level of the priests, the "foresight" brought by Observation Haki would cause a qualitative change in his martial arts.

By then... even against Colin and Joey, he could contend with them in technique if their strength were equal.

Time... was always elusive.

Sometimes, it was like an old man... shuffling along unsteadily, swaying back and forth, so slow it was frustrating.

Sometimes, it was like a child... hopping about in high spirits, so fast it drove people mad.

A year passed in a flash... Sea Circle Calendar 149 arrived as expected.

There were more and more pirates across the Four Blues. The number of pirates flooding into Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line, was ten times greater than in previous years, because many things had happened.

Garp and Sengoku were still chasing Roger all over the seas... but after his family had been murdered over two years ago, Zephyr left the ranks of admirals and turned to training new recruits.

This matter not only caused an uproar within the Marines, but also affected Tower Forest Island, where they were stationed... Zephyr, who "did not kill," was used as an example to teach them once again: pirates were pirates. There was no need for any sympathy toward such people, nor for talk about justice always prevailing.

With Zephyr's retirement, Marine Headquarters had lost one of its highest-ranking combat powers and could no longer suppress the great pirates of the latter half of the Grand Line, the New World.

If not for the sudden rise of Akainu and Kizaru, two powerful Logia users who steadied the scales before they tipped... perhaps the Great Age of Pirates would have begun ahead of time.

Yet Golden Lion's grand fleet continued to grow ever larger... many pirates who had come in admiration flocked beneath his banner—mighty and unrestrained, their momentum astonishing.

Others joined Whitebeard... among them were no shortage of great pirates with bounties of 50 million, 100 million, or even several hundred million.

The Big Mom Pirates were the same, taking advantage of this opportunity to gather a large number of pirates seeking protection.

After all, the New World was known as the "graveyard of pirates"... wars broke out there nearly every minute, every second. Marines fought pirates, and pirates slaughtered pirates without end.

The world's balance had changed so drastically because of Zephyr alone... How could Reg not feel drawn to it?

Although the World Government did its utmost to conceal it... Reg could still tell that the Marines had begun to show signs of decline in their struggle for the New World.

That mysterious, unpredictable sea, with its bizarre magnetic fields and ever-changing weather... provided pirates with the most natural shield: if they couldn't win, they could just run.

Most crucially... the number of pirates was growing at a rate that doubled every year.

The once peaceful Four Blues were now filled with pirates setting sail... even the East Blue, known among pirates as the "weakest," had seen countless pirates emerge.

The World Government had already begun to panic... they understood the reasons well enough, but there was nothing they could do: tribute payments, pirate oppression, harsh national taxes, and the unease of the times.

For those oppressed until they had nothing left... rather than be exploited to death, they might as well take a chance and head out to sea.

Reg had never understood why the Shichibukai system had come into being... but now, he deeply agreed with it: it was a solution that could hardly be called a solution.

After all, the more pirates there were, the fewer people became Marines. Coupled with the unceasing conflicts at sea over the years... some had already begun to grow weary of war.

A minority of voices had already emerged within the World Government: recruit a group of pirates, grant them some authority, and let pirates deal with pirates.

Although signs of chaos had begun to appear in the world outside Tower Forest Island, life here remained unchanged... orphans were still sent to this island every year, where they faced either growth or death.

One of the few changes that had happened nearby... was that fourteen-year-old Ada, after mastering the Four Styles, had left the Ninth Tower, the cradle of P9.

The number of members in the tower had fallen to twelve... and for two whole years, not a single person had entered from any of the other eight towers.

Thinking about it now, Reg still felt a lingering chill... if not for Jabra, his chances of surviving back then would probably have been around 0%.

Reg's plan had also run into some trouble... it was now January 5th, and only half a year remained until the deadline he had set for himself.

Although he had awakened Observation Haki and put on a gravity suit and gravity pants... increasing the weight from 500 kilograms to 1,000 kilograms, his Doriki had only barely reached 400.

Reg's madness seemed utterly unreasonable to the others... even Joey had never seen anyone who, barring special circumstances, wore a full set of gravity gear at all times.