Haki? Devil Fruit?

Although Li Ziming vaguely sensed that Observation Haki, or something similar to it, existed within him, and he had experienced things akin to a sixth sense before, he had never understood why he could not cultivate Observation Haki. But the Sky Island priests' Mantra gave him a different feeling.

"Perhaps my thoughts are too cluttered?" Li Ziming tried to empty his mind and enter a state of nothingness.

Li Ziming walked quietly, looking almost dazed, yet his body unconsciously avoided the obstacles around him.

"Roar!" At that moment, a strange creature appeared before Li Ziming.

"Hm?" Li Ziming abruptly emerged from that wondrous state and hurriedly used Soru to evade its attack. "What is this thing?"

Li Ziming then examined the creature that had attacked him. It looked like a porcupine shaped like a balloon, its back covered in stiff, needle-like quills.

"This creature's design is really obvious at a glance." Li Ziming twitched his lips. "You could guess its attack method without even trying."

"Roar!" Sure enough, the porcupine curled itself into a ball, then spun like a sea urchin as it charged at Li Ziming.

Li Ziming rushed straight at it, coating his right foot in Haki and kicking the porcupine away.

"Roar!" The porcupine slammed into a large tree and stopped. It seemed thick-skinned enough to have suffered little damage, but it now looked at Li Ziming warily, as though it realized that neither its quills nor its strength had much effect on him.

"Roar!" Its sudden upward howl gave Li Ziming a bad feeling.

Sure enough, countless creatures came running over before long.

"Isn't it supposed to be that when the tiger is absent, the monkey becomes king? I'm honestly surprised a pig can rule a mountain." Li Ziming had a headache. He was not afraid of them, but he had come to see whether he could find a Shandia or priest who knew Mantra and have them teach him. He had not come here to fight wild beasts.

"Sorry, but I really don't have time to play with you." Li Ziming used Soru, trying to quickly leave the beasts' sight.

"Roar!" At the porcupine's command, every beast charged toward Li Ziming.

"Geppo!" Li Ziming leaped into the air, but several beasts behind him also jumped up, rapidly closing in on him.

"What a pain." Li Ziming frowned. "Expl—"

Before Li Ziming could use his ability, lightning flashed. The beasts that had leaped up were all turned to charcoal.

"You want to learn Mantra?" Enel suddenly appeared in front of Li Ziming.

"Enel!" Li Ziming did not pull away, because he knew perfectly well that against a lightning Logia, no matter how far away he got, Enel could cross that distance in the blink of an eye.

"Not bad." Enel offered him a word of praise. "You actually recognize the great god. I only came here to tell you that I have begun a survival game. Try to survive until the end. If you can win this game, I can teach you Mantra." With that, Enel turned into a flash of lightning and vanished.

"A Logia really is terrifying." Li Ziming landed. The animals that had been roaring moments ago had all become charcoal, fully displaying the power of a Logia.

Against Crocodile, Li Ziming could at least use water and escape if necessary. But against Enel, he was completely helpless.

"This feeling of powerlessness..." Li Ziming slammed his fist into the ground. "Power... This is the first time I've realized that I'm someone who craves power this badly."

"No, Enel should be heading to the Going Merry right now. Sanji and Usopp are in danger!" Li Ziming hurriedly tried to rush over, but a voice rang out at that moment.

"What use would it be for you to go? You can't beat Enel anyway. You'd only be adding another corpse."

"That's true. I can't beat him." Li Ziming was not frightened in the least. "But some things must be done even when they cannot be accomplished."

"That sounds nice, but this isn't bravery. It's escape. Abandoning the emotions that frighten you is not a solution. You're just giving up because you have nothing left to lose."

"Yes, but what other way do I have? Why don't you teach me?" Li Ziming shouted furiously at the space before him, yet strangely, there was no one there.

"Admit it. Your fear, your terror, your flaws—they are all part of you as well. When you cast them aside, you are casting aside part of yourself. That is why you have never been able to comprehend the Observation Haki that has always been buried deep within your heart. Come, accept your fear. Enjoy your terror. Fear and dread are wonderfully exquisite things."

In that instant, heaven and earth seemed different in Li Ziming's eyes. Everything around him seemed to possess its own voice. Every voice was saying something to him—some spoke of Enel's destination, while others spoke of the battles taking place at that very moment. Everything in the forest continuously flowed into Li Ziming's ears.

"What a strange feeling." Li Ziming could even sense the joy of his surroundings. "No, I need to return to the Going Merry immediately!"

"That's more like it." An incomparably bizarre scene appeared within Li Ziming's heart. On one side was something magnificent, like a fantasy realm; on the other was a wasteland like the end of the world, filled with cracked earth. The two scenes were sharply divided, as though severed by a single blade. At the very center stood something like a throne, half magnificent and half covered in cracks. A hand then stroked it. "What a beautiful thing." The one speaking looked exactly like Li Ziming, his eyes filled with obsession as he gazed at the throne.

"You've finally agreed to accept me. As long as you hate a little more, get a little angrier, and listen to me a little more, I'll be able to come out soon." His eyes filled with fanaticism. "Then I'll be Li Ziming! Ahahaha!" His triumphant laughter echoed throughout that world.

Li Ziming's Soru became faster as well, but by the time he returned to the Going Merry, Usopp and Sanji had already collapsed.

"Damn it, was I still too late?" Li Ziming frowned, but his powerful Observation Haki told him that both of them were still alive.

"Ming!" Nami trembled as she threw herself into Li Ziming's arms. "That guy... that guy is too terrifying."

"It's okay. Everything will be fine." Knowing Enel's strength, Li Ziming could only comfort her like this. Even though he had now gained the power of Observation Haki, he still did not dare guarantee that he could defeat Enel.

"Baa!" Suddenly, two goat-like figures appeared.

"Sorry, I'm in a very bad mood right now." Li Ziming did not give them any chance to speak. Using Soru, he appeared behind them almost instantly.

"So fast!"

"But it's useless!"

One of the goats aimed a hand at Li Ziming. "Impact Absorption!" The other goat raised his hand as well. "Flame Absorption!"

"Absorption?" Li Ziming said disdainfully. "Explosion!" Fierce flames and shockwaves erupted, but they were quickly absorbed by the Dials.

"We told you it was useless!" the two goats said smugly.

"Useless?" Li Ziming said indifferently. "Really?"

"Wha—"

"Boom!" The Dials in the two goats' hands suddenly exploded.

"How is that possible?!" one goat said in disbelief.

"The absorption saturated... He actually overloaded the Dials until they burst?" Gan Fall stared at Li Ziming in disbelief. He had not expected Li Ziming's Devil Fruit ability to be capable of such a thing.

"One explosion solves a thousand worries. If you can't take it, that only means the output wasn't high enough." Li Ziming looked coldly at the two goats. "Observation Haki may be useful, but my Devil Fruit ability is still my main strength." The latter half seemed unrelated, yet someone heard it.

"Damn it! Damn it! That guy didn't fall for it at all!" The figure within Li Ziming's heart roared angrily. "Next time... next time, I'll definitely succeed!"