The Benefits of More Than Half a Year of Fighting and Getting Beaten Up

Zeff's praise drew everyone's eyes to Vergo and Ye Chen. Many of them couldn't understand it, because neither Vergo nor Ye Chen had done anything particularly outstanding.

If anyone deserved praise, it should have been Sakazuki, Borsalino, and the others. After all, the gap between the two sides was obvious at a glance.

Although Sakazuki and the others had broader horizons than Smoker's group and wouldn't care much—or perhaps had disdained Ye Chen's group from the beginning—they still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Zeff had no other intentions. As a master of physical combat, he knew very well that the body was the foundation of everything. Even a Devil Fruit required a powerful body to unleash its abilities.

More importantly, Logia users were not invincible. Armament Haki was enough to seize their true bodies, and Armament Haki came from the body.

Therefore, Zeff always emphasized physical conditioning during his lessons. However, the immense power and elemental transformation of Logia fruits were enough to make Sakazuki and the others slack off.

Perhaps Sakazuki also practiced physical combat, but he was nowhere near as dedicated or concerned about it as Ye Chen, Vergo, and the others.

At their age, they were naturally somewhat rebellious. Sometimes adults told you things for your own good, but you couldn't understand it yourself and might even develop a rebellious mindset. Only after suffering losses later would you understand how precious those reminders had been.

That was the advantage Ye Chen had as a transmigrator. Possessing knowledge this world struggled to understand and an unconstrained imagination, he was destined to know what he needed to do.

So in his usual training, Ye Chen spent far more time practicing physical combat and strengthening his body than developing the Bomb-Bomb Fruit.

Zeff merely offered a word of praise before continuing, "Today is your first day, so there will be no other training. Make your own preparations. Tomorrow, I'll explain the Six Powers."

Those words were clearly directed at Ye Chen and the others. Sakazuki's group had already encountered the Six Powers, and some had even mastered one or two techniques.

The same was true of Haki. Perhaps among everyone present, only Ye Chen's group of six had yet to be taught the Six Powers and Haki by Zeff. But after more than half a year of training, they were qualified to learn these essential skills.

"Report." At that moment, Sakazuki stepped forward, saluted Zeff, and said, "Admiral Sengoku will be heading to the New World tomorrow. Borsalino, Kuzan, and I have applied to accompany him, and Admiral Sengoku has approved."

Zeff frowned slightly, but did not think too much about it. "More real combat experience will greatly benefit you. Since that is the case, be careful."

"Yes."

Sakazuki looked excited. Rather than training here, he would rather be out in the field.

Kuzan, meanwhile, wore a bitter expression. He had been dragged into this against his will. He had only returned with old man Garp not long ago and had planned to get some proper rest, but then...

Kuzan sighed, completely devoid of energy.

As for Borsalino, he was utterly indifferent.

"Dismissed. Go make your preparations!" With that, Zeff ended the gathering and disappeared from everyone's sight.

As Zeff left, the place immediately became livelier. Yet the atmosphere remained somewhat strange, because neither side paid any attention to the other. They merely exchanged glances and left.

There was no provocation and no threat. In Sakazuki's group's eyes, Ye Chen and the others were not qualified to be provoked, aside from that smoke brat.

Of course, Gion and Hina were excluded from that. The two girls were like close sisters now, chatting and giggling from time to time.

"Gion, marry me!"

As expected, Chaton, who confessed to Gion every day, held a bouquet of flowers and dropped to one knee before her. Gazing at her affectionately, he proposed once again.

"Rejected."

Without the slightest hesitation, Gion answered firmly without even turning her head as she spoke with Hina.

After rejecting Chaton, Gion took Hina's hand and planned to go shopping.

Chaton showed no disappointment after being rejected. Instead, he calmly stood up, brushed the dust from his knee, and said gently to Gion's retreating back, "I won't give up."

Night fell, and a faint breeze swept past, carrying a slight chill.

Tonight's sky was bright and star-filled, without a single cloud. Pure white moonlight shone over the Elite Class training ground, revealing several long shadows.

"Everyone, sorry. I'm late."

Panting lightly, Hina wore a blue princess dress. A ribbon tied her pale pink hair, making her look like a delicate little fairy.

After spending so much time together, they seemed to have rarely seen Hina wear a dress, much less dress up a little.

"Finished shopping with Gion?"

The others were only briefly stunned by her beauty, because none of them had expected Hina to be so pretty.

"Hehe, do you think I'm pretty?"

She spun around, her blue skirt fluttering in the breeze. Hina blushed slightly, her smiling eyes curving into crescents as she looked at them.

"Pretty." Shu and Very Good had hearts in their eyes.

"Yeah, I never expected you to look so pretty in a dress, Hina. I'm only just remembering that you're actually a girl."

Smoker, unfortunately, had no sense of romance. It was impossible to tell whether he was praising Hina's beauty or saying she lacked the temperament a girl should have.

On the spot, Hina puffed out her cheeks and glared viciously at Smoker.

What did he mean, she was actually a girl? She had always been a girl, all right?

"Hmph. Brother Vergo, Brother Ye Chen, do you think I'm pretty?" Skipping over Smoker directly, Hina eagerly moved in front of the expressionless Ye Chen and Vergo.

"Pretty." Vergo was sparing with words, but a faint smile appeared on his face. The few of them had always been accommodating and protective toward this girl.

"Thank you, Brother Vergo. Brother Ye Chen, what do you think?"

Ye Chen was even calmer. There was not the slightest ripple in his dark eyes as he simply nodded.

He was far too composed, which made Hina a little unhappy.

"Hina, you haven't changed clothes. Just rest today," Smoker interjected.

"Fine. I'll watch from the side." Hina seemed listless, unable to muster any enthusiasm for some reason.

"Begin."

Their relentless sparring resumed. In only moments, the five of them had clashed together, relying purely on physical combat.

It was clear that Ye Chen and the others no longer fought as chaotically as they had in the beginning. Now, every punch and kick was tricky, and their speed was extremely fast, like a crude imitation of Soru.

They were no longer children fighting. Every strike carried the aura of battle, as though they had gone through countless fights. They had grown from ignorant children into experts who knew when to attack and when not to.

They had taken a tremendous step forward.

No one had taught them any of this. They had discovered it entirely through sparring with one another. It might have been vastly different from true life-and-death combat, but such experience was exceedingly rare.

As before, Shu and Very Good were the first to leave the fight. Their faces were bruised and swollen as they lay on the ground, unable to get up for a while.

This battle was every man for himself. Each person had to face attacks from the other four, precisely training their neural reactions, because they never knew when a fist would come flying at them.

Next came the melee between Ye Chen, Vergo, and Smoker.

A careful observer would notice that the three of them sometimes seemed to possess a third eye. They could anticipate attacks and instinctively dodge them.

The three believed it was merely instinctive reaction, but they did not know that this was the prelude to the awakening of Observation Haki among the Three-Color Haki.

After more than half a year, none of them knew how many times they had fought or how many beatings they had taken. Their bodies had naturally remembered that feeling, and changes had gradually begun to occur.

Combined with the solid physical foundation they had built, Observation Haki and Armament Haki might have been separated from them by only a thin layer of window paper. All it would take was one finger to pierce it easily.

Yet for some people, that layer of window paper was something they could never pierce in their entire lives.

The changes in all six of them were enormous, especially in their appearances. That was right—having bruised and swollen faces every day, how was that any different from plastic surgery? And this plastic surgery was not gentle in the slightest. As a result, they had changed greatly, both in strength and appearance, diverging from the original story.

Take Ye Chen, for example. He now had long hair that reached past his shoulders and down his back. Before long, it might reach his waist. Years of getting beaten up had also left his features stiff and hardened, completely changing his image.

Without a doubt, this kind of plastic surgery was far more advanced than the methods from his previous life in South Korea. It was just that severe cases could kill people.

A special reminder: attempt this kind of plastic surgery according to your own abilities. The farmer tried it once and ended up lying in the hospital for a month with ease!