Hunting Ability

Tashigi smiled gently and said modestly, "It is thanks to Major General's good teaching."

Noki shook his head. "Don't elevate me. Up until now, your progress is entirely the result of your own hard work. I haven't taught you anything yet."

"Major General, you are too modest. If not for your encouragement and support, I would never have undergone this kind of training," Tashigi said with a completely earnest look.

On the other side, Dezaya felt utterly ashamed. To think she had looked down on Tashigi just moments ago; not only had she lost, but she had also required Noki to step in and save her.

However, this also proved that Noki was not only strong, but also quite capable at teaching people.

After all, if he could teach Tashigi to be this formidable, he could certainly teach her as well.

Noki said to Tashigi, "Dezaya will be your roommate and comrade-in-arms from now on. When you have time, teach her more about the navy's rules and wear down that temper of hers."

"Understood."

Tashigi cast her gaze toward Dezaya, who was hiding behind Noki.

Dezaya noticed the other woman's look and quickly lowered her head, not daring to meet her eyes.

"Alright, go back to your practice. I'll take Dezaya to have a look at her quarters first."

"Yes, please take your time, Major General..."

Tashigi picked up Shigure, started swinging her sword again, and silently counted the repetitions in her mind.

2055!

2056!

2057...

Leaving the training grounds, Dezaya let out a long breath. She wrapped her arms around Noki's right arm and pleaded sincerely, "Master, hurry up and tell me the one-week training plan you mentioned earlier. I want to get stronger!"

"Are you ready?"

"I'm ready."

Noki rubbed his clean-shaven chin and thought for a moment. "You have no foundation in swordsmanship, your use of other weapons is an absolute mess, and your only slight advantage is brute strength. Obviously, physical conditioning suits you better."

Dezaya listened intently. "And then? And then?"

"Well..."

Based on Dezaya's physical condition, Noki quickly built a framework in his mind. "The navy has fixed daily drills. Aside from participating in all the drills with everyone else, you must additionally do five hundred push-ups, a ten-kilometer endurance run, a one-hour plank..." He listed nearly ten items.

After hearing everything Noki said, Dezaya felt her scalp tingle. "Master, you aren't joking with me, are you?"

"Of course not. Like I said, someone without sufficient talent and perseverance isn't worthy of being my disciple. If you accomplish this, I will acknowledge your status and teach you more advanced skills. If you can't do it, then you'd better look elsewhere."

"I—"

"Don't rush to give me an answer. I'll give you a day to think about it."

Dezaya bit her silver teeth. "There's no need to think. I agree to your training plan. As long as I persist for a week, you'll take me as your disciple, right?"

"That's right."

"I understand. This lady will definitely prove it to you!"

Noki brought Dezaya to the women's dormitory and raised a hand to knock on the door.

Tereina was resting in the dorm at this hour. She opened the door and saw, to her astonishment, that it was the dream-come-true Major General!

Tereina instantly grew shy, a lovely flush blooming across her cheeks. "Why are you here?"

Noki selectively ignored her expression, pulled Dezaya out from behind him, and said, "This is new Marine recruit Dezaya. I'd like her to stay in your room. Is that alright?"

"Yes, of course..."

The dormitory was originally meant for four people, but the reason only two people had been living in it was because there were only two females in the entire marine base.

"Then I'll trouble you to take care of her. Dezaya used to be a mountain bandit, and her personality is a bit wild. I hope you can tolerate it as much as possible. If she does anything out of line, I give you and Tashigi permission to appropriately punish her."

Dezaya muttered inwardly, He makes me sound like a child.

"Major General, I'll get along well with her." Tereina promised.

Having finished delegating, Noki stretched his back with a long yawn. After a tiring day, it was time to head back to his room and get a good night's sleep.

Dezaya sat nervously on the edge of the bed. Because of what happened with Tashigi, she no longer dared to underestimate anyone in the navy.

For all she knew, Tereina might also be an expert!

Tereina observed the other woman's appearance and asked cautiously, "Were you invited into the navy by the Major General?"

Dezaya nodded gently.

"What is your relationship with the Major General?"

"I—I'm his disciple, except he hasn't acknowledged me yet. I'll make him admit it soon enough!"

Another disciple!

Tereina hurriedly asked, "Did you meet today for the first time?"

"Yeah, I even fought him this morning and lost miserably. Hehehe."

Tereina instantly felt a sense of imbalance in her heart.

If someone like that could become the Major General's disciple, why couldn't she?

Noki returned to his room and took a short nap.

The Den Den Mushi rang out, Buru-buru-buru...

Noki thought it was Ain, but the voice coming from the Den Den Mushi was old and hearty.

"Hahahaha, Noki kid, how are you doing in Loguetown?"

"Vice Admiral Garp. I was just wondering when you'd contact me."

"Old man has been busy teaching two brats a lesson these past few days and hasn't had the time to look for you. Ace is still crying every day about setting out to sea to become a pirate. It looks like the old man can't stop him; I'll have to leave him to you, hahaha..."

"Any intel?"

"Ace's birthday is January first. Since he said he'd go to sea at seventeen, given his impatient personality, his departure date must be right around his birthday."

Noki looked at the calendar. There was a little over a month left until next year.

Garp continued, "We can't rule out the possibility of him setting sail a few days early."

"That means I'll have to keep my guard up this whole time and pay attention to news of him at any moment."

"Noki kid, the old man has high hopes for you. To tell you the truth, preparations for teaching fist techniques and Haki are all done, just waiting for you to finish your mission and return to headquarters. So, keep up the good work!"

Noki hung up the phone.

Ain called back not long after. "Noki, did someone contact you just now? I couldn't get through the whole time."

"Vice Admiral Garp was telling me about his grandson."

"Oh~"

Noki lay on the bed and shared the good news of successfully subduing Bartolomeo's crew today with Ain.

Ain's focus was clearly on the fact that he had taken on yet another female disciple.

Heh.

Noki didn't understand—how could Ain, being a woman herself, not know?

Opposite-gender master-disciple relationships were the easiest emotions to sour.

Thinking of this, Ain also developed suspicions toward Tashigi. In her view, they were probably both taking advantage of her own man's kindness and harbored no good intentions!

At this rate, there was no telling how many more women would latch onto Noki!

Ain lay on the large bed at Noki's home, tossing and turning, finding it harder and harder to sleep the more she thought about it.

The next day.

Ain arrived at Zephyr's office as usual to help the instructor-in-chief organize and analyze intel on the trainees.

Zephyr noticed that Ain didn't seem well-rested; she lacked energy, looked listless, and her work efficiency was far worse than before.

"Did something happen?"

Zephyr's wife and children had been killed by pirates many years ago, and he always cultivated his disciples as if they were his own flesh and blood. He cared even more about a disciple and subordinate like Ain who had followed him for many years.

Moreover, Ain was an orphan, and Zephyr had practically watched her grow up. The emotional bond between the two was no longer that of father and daughter, yet it surpassed it.

"Teacher, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night." Realizing her own abnormality, Ain hurriedly patted her cheeks, trying to wake herself up.

Zephyr had lived for more than half a lifetime; what kind of people and events hadn't he seen? He could guess the reason for Ain's insomnia without even thinking.

"Because of Noki?"

"Yeah..." Knowing she couldn't hide it from her teacher, Ain finally admitted it.

Zephyr took off his glasses and rubbed his weather-beaten brow. "The two of you have been inseparable since childhood. If an affectionate couple's relationship develops a rift because of this old man, how could I, a self-styled elder, possibly face it? This old man has done so many things he regrets in this lifetime, and I don't want to add another one in my old age."

"Teacher..." Ain's watery eyes flickered with tiny specks of light.

Zephyr smiled. "Fortunately, Noki is Kuzan's subordinate. If it were Borsalino, my words probably wouldn't be this useful."

On the other side.

Inside the Loguetown marine base.

Tashigi held a wooden saber in both hands, engaging nearly thirty marines in rapid succession.

After a week of training, the marines' combat power had vastly increased.

Watching from the sidelines, Dezaya was shocked to her core. It was hard to imagine that this group of people was formerly the marines of Loguetown.

Tashigi's expression was exceptionally calm. Facing the sea-of-people tactics of the marines, she chose to retreat to a corner to prevent herself from being caught in a pincer attack from the front and back.

Through a week of tempering, Tashigi's blade techniques looked ordinary on the surface and hadn't changed, but in reality, the power and accuracy of every single strike she made were far beyond what she was capable of before.

Even though there were many marines, Tashigi's position only allowed three people to attack simultaneously, so they could only adopt a wheel-battle approach, meeting her one after another.

Dezaya curled her lip. "A bunch of big men ganging up on a single woman—this sight really makes one's blood boil."

Noki said, "What of men? What of women? In my view, everyone is equal. Weak men can also become vases and good-for-nothings. Conversely, why can't strong women stand at the peak of the world?

You have lived in East Blue for a long time and have shallow horizons. On the Grand Line, there is no shortage of powerful women whose strength far surpasses men, such as Boa Hancock, known as the Pirate Empress, or Big Mom, who is one of the Four Emperors."

"Are they stronger than you?"

"I can still match blows with the former, but the latter is truly not an opponent."

Dezaya had thought Noki was already strong enough, and she found it hard to imagine what someone even stronger than him looked like.

"Major General!"

A marine intelligence officer ran in, panting heavily. "A Devil Fruit user is causing a ruckus in town and has already injured quite a few people! It looks like the Lion Galoka, with a bounty as high as 9 million Beli!"

"Oh?" This was the first time Noki had heard of a pirate causing trouble in the town.

Dezaya said eagerly, "Master, take me with you."

"It's too slow taking you along."

As he spoke, Noki stepped upward, stirring ripples in the air, and walked on nothingness, stepping higher and higher.

Dezaya stood there dumbfounded. Master, what kind of move is this? I want to learn it too!!

"Talk to me after you pass your one-week trial."

Noki looked down at the town below, found the location where the commotion originated, and sprinted toward it at high speed.

"Hahaha, this power feels so damn good! Hand over all your money, you bastards!"

A two-meter-tall half-man-half-beast with golden curly hair and a fierce, robust physique roared at the top of his lungs amid the town.

"Daddy, it looks so scary."

A blonde little girl hugged the arm of a brown-robed man, hiding behind him while a pair of lively eyes timidly watched the "lion" wreaking havoc on the town.

Dadi's expression remained calm as he reached into his jacket for his pistol. "Good daughter, don't be afraid. Watch Daddy take care of it."

The lion's blood-red eyes stared at Dadi as if looking at prey, baring its sharp teeth with a grin. "You're Dadi, the famous bounty hunter with a kid in Loguetown? If I kill you, my bounty is bound to go up again."

"Heh, if you've got the ability, come and try."

Dadi wore a carefree and relaxed expression, completely unfazed by this terrifying monster.

"Hmph, then go die!"

The lion raised its heavy paws with sharp claws, bent its knees, and lunged forward with its bloody maw wide open.

Just as Dadi was about to fire his gun, a golden flash of cold light suddenly swept past his eyes.

Immediately afterward, a thump echoed.

The lion's head hit the ground.

Fresh blood sprayed out.

Dadi hurriedly covered his daughter's eyes; the scene was far too bloody.

Noki landed, slowly put away his blade, and looked at the blood-soaked scene with a trace of vexation. "I think I used too much force."

"Big Brother, you came too." The little girl's eyes were still covered.

Noki released darkness, devouring Galoka the Lion's corpse and the bloodstains.

Only then did Dadi lower his hand.

The little girl skipped and bounded into Noki's arms. "Eh, where did the big monster go?"

Noki smiled. "Naturally, it was defeated by your daddy. That's another sizable bounty; it looks like little Sarah will have new clothes to wear."

Dadi smiled helplessly. "Are you indirectly reminding me that I should split the money with you?"

"If I had arrived a moment later, this nine million Beli wouldn't have anything to do with me anymore." Noki chuckled.

Listening to the two of them converse, the little girl tilted her head. "Daddy, what are you and Big Brother talking about?"

"Nothing."

Noki patted the little girl's head.

Dadi reached out and picked up his daughter. "I'll send Sarah home first, and I'll come find you later to collect the bounty."

Dadi never took his daughter out on jobs; this time had purely been an accidental encounter, leaving him no choice but to step in.

"Alright."

Noki nodded.

On the way back.

Passing by a fruit stall, Noki deliberately bought a bag of bright red apples.

When disposing of the pirate corpses, he clearly sensed that the darkness absorbed more than just blood and dead bodies.

It seemed to include some other things as well.

If Noki guessed correctly, it should be Devil Fruit abilities!

After eating the Dark-Dark Fruit.

An infinite space existed within Noki's body, and everything swallowed by the darkness was stored within this space.

Noki tested it out: he couldn't use the absorbed abilities himself, which showed that the infinite space and his physical body were not one and the same.

So...

Noki caught an apple in his palm and used Dark Liberation on it.

The apple visibly began to change. Strange patterns appeared on its skin, and its shape was no longer that of an apple, transforming into a pear.

Was this how Blackbeard hunted ability users?

What would happen if he liberated a Devil Fruit ability into his own body?

Noki shook his head and casually tossed the Devil Fruit he had obtained into a bag.

Everyone knew that eating two Devil Fruits meant death!

Noki had no intention of experimenting with his own life.

What if he recklessly liberated the ability into his body and it could not withstand it?

After all, he did not possess Blackbeard's freakish constitution that allowed him to go his entire life without sleep.

This Fruit's ability was not worth risking his life for.