Report and Cultivation

Water Seven, Central Street Hotel.

Ding-ling... Accompanied by the crisp chime of a bell, Jabra appeared, dressed in a black training uniform.

"Welcome, sir, may I ask—"

"I have an appointment with that gentleman."

Jabra interrupted the waiter and looked toward the chair by the window... There, Colin was gulping down alcohol.

The not-so-large round table was piled high with countless bottles... Seeing this, Jabra sighed softly. "How long has this gentleman been here?"

"Almost two days... If you know him, sir, you should try to persuade him. That gentleman gave us a lot of money, but if he keeps drinking like this..." the bartender reminded him quietly.

Jabra waved a hand and headed toward Colin... hoping Colin would understand what he was about to say.

"Mm... Jabra... hic... You liar."

Colin looked up at Jabra, his expression filled with mockery and self-reproach... How had he agreed to Reg's request back then?!

"Teacher Colin... I already did everything I could. The enemy also had Devil Fruit abilities." As Jabra lowered his voice, he picked up a glass and poured Colin another drink.

"Everything you could... That wasn't what you said back then, liar." Colin snatched the glass away and poured it down his throat again.

Jabra fell silent and continued pouring... Without question, Colin was the one who had invested the most in Reg.

No one would doubt that... Ever since they had entered the Ninth Tower, the two had been practically inseparable for years.

"Teacher Colin, Reg asked me to tell you he was sorry... He hoped you could forget what he said before leaving the island." Jabra spoke with a guilty expression.

"Hic... What use is sorry now?! Get out, I don't want to see you. Why did it have to be Reg who died?!"

Bang... Colin's face flushed red after he burped, and he slammed the table hard.

Jabra's expression turned ugly, veins bulging on his forehead... as though he were struggling desperately to suppress his anger.

Colin had stopped just short of saying: Why wasn't it you who died?!

"Hm? What are you still looking at... Get out." Colin simply turned his head away, unwilling to look at Jabra again.

"..."

Suppressing his anger, Jabra bowed slightly before leaving without looking back... Ding-ling!

As the bell swayed, Colin suddenly shouted, "Bring me more alcohol!"

"Sir, please calm—"

Smack... Colin casually threw out a case at his side, stacks of Beli scattering across the floor. "I'm booking the place. Everyone else, get the hell out."

"Bastard... You think you're so great just because you have money—"

Whoosh... Before the bald brute could finish, Colin lifted him up with one hand. "Ten seconds. Don't let me see anyone besides the bartender."

"Urgh, urgh..."

The bald man's face turned bright red from suffocation, while his other two companions did not dare move at all: that killing intent was too terrifying.

Colin's move suppressed all the dissatisfaction in the bar... No one doubted whether this crazed man would actually kill someone.

Ding-ling, ding-ling... Amid the constant sound of the door opening, the people in the bar quickly cleared out.

Colin casually flung the bald brute aside. Only then did his two companions snap out of it, lifting him up and quickly leaving.

"Hic... Gulp, gulp..."

Returning to his seat by the window, Colin picked up the fresh bottle the bartender had brought and drank fiercely... Yet deep in his eyes was a trace of understanding.

Reg's words before leaving? How could he possibly forget them... The student he regarded as his own son had said three times in an utterly certain tone: he would not die; he would live well.

Others might not have known, but Colin did... Jabra had acknowledged Reg as his big brother.

If Reg had truly died... then not only would Jabra not have gotten angry just now, he would have felt deeply guilty.

You little bastard... What exactly are you thinking?! Do you think P9 is that easy to leave?

Colin fought back a smile... and drank as though he had given up on himself: as his teacher, he couldn't pull himself out of grief that quickly.

Forget it... As long as he's alive. As long as he's alive.

Bottle after bottle, Colin slowly slumped over the table... He had taken ten days off this time. For the rest of that time... he would probably have to keep pretending to be a drunkard.

Colin was now extremely glad... Fortunately, P9's former commander had joined P0 several years ago, while P9's current commander was Spandine, an incompetent fool who had climbed up through his family's influence: he only knew how to keep climbing higher, valuing personal strength over loyalty and details.

Otherwise, the fact that the corpse had been burned beyond recognition alone... would have been enough reason to suspect something was wrong.

But Colin did not know that Reg's plan had taken Spandine's personality into account as well.

Second floor of Shakky's Hotel.

Smack!

"Stand straight, feet together."

Smack!

"Press your palms together in front of your chest. Relax your entire body."

Smack!

"Finally, steady your breathing!"

In the center of the round room, Reg stood perfectly straight with his feet together... his hands pressed together in a prayer pose between his neck and chin, his head slightly raised, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

Beside him stood an old woman nearly the same height as him, holding a thin wooden stick... She had long white hair, a broad face, high cheekbones, and vividly colored lipstick on her lips.

She was Elder Nyon, one of Amazon Lily's three former empresses... not much different from how Reg remembered her.

The reason he was on the second floor was because, while cleaning the hotel... Reg had not neglected reading and physical training.

Elder Nyon had been moved by how diligently he worked... no, rather, everyone who had seen him train had been astonished.

After some time, Elder Nyon had actually taken the initiative to offer him some training methods from her homeland... and naturally, Shakky had helped make it happen.

Though Reg had paid a... rather embarrassing price for it.

"Don't put any strength into your body at all... Kid, a powerful warrior must be able to be both hard and soft. Being rigid all the time won't do."

Elder Nyon extended her wooden stick again and tapped Reg's left arm. "Your muscles are still a little tense. Relax more."

"Elder Nyon... if I don't use even this much strength, I won't even be able to keep my palms together, will I?" Reg said, the corner of his mouth twitching... Wasn't this asking the impossible?

"How would you know you can't do it without trying? Don't talk back... do as I say." Elder Nyon spoke with a stern expression.

Reg blinked and simply gave up thinking... He completely drained the strength from his arms, and his pressed palms began to separate.

The next second, Elder Nyon used her wooden stick to support Reg's hands. "Use the strength of a single strand of hair. It shouldn't be difficult for you."

"A strand of hair?"

Reg focused on a single strand of hair and immediately understood... Why hadn't she just said so from the start?

Elder Nyon slowly withdrew her hand and nodded slightly. "Practice this movement until you've mastered it. I'll come get you at lunchtime."

Without waiting for Reg's response, Elder Nyon turned and headed for the wooden door... Unable to let his attention wander, Reg could only remain where he was "trembling," closing his eyes in a prayer pose.

Though she had not even mentioned Amazon Lily by name, merely calling it a training method from her homeland.

Reg knew... the method he was practicing was one every child on Amazon Lily had to learn: training for bodily flexibility, despite him being male.

Aside from Paper Art of the Six Powers, Reg's training on Tower Forest Island had all focused on efficiency, toughness, and speed. They had never taught such a slow method.

To Reg, this kind of "softness" was more like yoga from his previous life... Elder Nyon believed that what he currently lacked was flexibility.

Once he got that right... combining the two would allow him to draw out the most basic Armament Haki.

Reg had no objections to that... after all, everyone on Amazon Lily knew at least a little Armament Haki, which showed that they had a mature training system there.

Though this Haki was only the most basic kind, colorless and transparent.

But Reg did not ask for much... as long as he could use even a little Haki, his attack power would rise considerably. And the Iron Body and Finger Pistol he had yet to choose for training would become much easier to learn.

Both of them demanded a high degree of control over the muscles throughout the body, and the training method Elder Nyon was teaching him now... happened to be a targeted form of training.