Black Iron Rock

On the second morning, Werther bid farewell to the siblings. After resupplying on Tutu Island, he took the Eternal Pose pointing to Black Iron Rock Island and continued his voyage.

He had originally planned to follow the Log Pose, but after hearing about such an interesting island, of course Werther had to go take a look.

According to Ferdinand, an ordinary sailing ship would need a month to travel from Tutu Island to Black Iron Rock Island. If Werther sailed at full speed, it would take around ten days.

But Werther was in no great hurry, and sailing at full speed for too long would damage the machinery inside the ship. Reaching the island within twenty days would be enough.

Back on the ship, he had spent most of every day training his swordsmanship and physical abilities. Now that he had obtained methods for training the two types of Haki, Werther only did basic training and devoted most of his time to practicing Haki.

Time passed quickly as he studied Haki. Before he knew it, Black Iron Rock Island had appeared before his eyes.

Werther did not land immediately. He wanted to see what the island's artificial volcanic eruption was actually like, so he could take precautions in the future. Although magma over a hundred degrees would not burn him to death, it would definitely not be a pleasant experience.

After all, boiling water was around one hundred degrees, while the magma on the island was even hotter.

After waiting two days, Werther finally learned what happened after the artificial volcano erupted.

Werther had been studying Haki when he suddenly felt a faint tremor in his ship. When he went outside, he discovered that it was not the ship shaking—the entire sea was trembling.

The island before him rumbled loudly. The sound did not last long before the volcano at the island's center, shaped like a huge-bellied chimney, erupted.

Even Werther, who had seen plenty of grand scenes, nearly had his jaw drop.

What kind of volcano was this? It was practically a fountain.

Pale red magma shot more than ten meters into the air from the island. Then, vast amounts of magma flowed in every direction as if washing the island clean, leaving no corner untouched. The giant trees that had miraculously grown on the island now had only their upper halves exposed, and various animals could vaguely be seen crouching atop their branches in different poses.

An hour later, the volcano stopped erupting, and the entire island steamed with heat.

For the first time, Werther felt the malice of this island. If this volcano had truly been artificial, what had been the purpose?

Seeing that the island had mostly cooled down, Werther docked the ship by the shore and went ashore.

Before landing, Werther wisely took off his clothes. It was simply too hot.

From then on, he trained on the island during the day and returned to the ship at night to rest and recover. Thinking of his last time training on a deserted island, Werther sighed. Having a ship was wonderful. After locking up his beloved ship, he headed onto the island.

Walking across the uninhabited island, Werther began wandering around while considering how he should train his Haki here.

If he wanted to stimulate the awakening of Haki through combat, he should not use a sword. It would be best to fight directly with his body, because direct contact made it easier to guide the awakening of Armament Haki.

As for Observation Haki, honestly, Werther was somewhat resistant to the training method in the notes. It was too crude: blindfold himself, cover his ears, even plug his nose. That way, he could abandon his long-standing reliance on his senses and instead depend on feeling.

In any case, he would train Armament Haki first. He just needed to find a living creature to practice on.

He had not gone far when Werther heard a strange chewing sound nearby. As he approached, he saw a monster gnawing on a tree.

He called it a monster because Werther truly could not think of a better word to describe the creature.

Its entire body was tightly wrapped in pale red exoskeleton. There was some soft tissue around its joints, and judging by the color, it was probably made of the same material as the exoskeleton. Even its eyes were protected by a crystalline layer. It was completely a wild beast clad in biological armor. As for what kind of animal it was, it seemed he would only find out after breaking its exoskeleton.

Werther felt terrible, as if something had gone wrong with the way he opened this world. Was this really a creature that belonged in this world? Had this guy wandered onto the wrong set?

Unable to endure the creature's jarring presence and hideous appearance any longer, Werther charged forward, intending to take care of it.

He clenched his fist and threw a punch at the creature. Since he had never fought with his fists before, Werther's style probably fell into the category of wild flailing.

With a dull thud, the monster was caught completely off guard and sent flying.

When Werther struck it, he did not feel the hardness he had expected. Instead, it felt as though he had hit a pile of rubber—tough, yet somewhat elastic.

The monster that had been sent flying a long distance got up, shaking its head. It did not seem injured at all. It merely glanced at Werther before continuing to gnaw on the tree.

Werther was stunned as well. He had not expected this ugly monster to be unexpectedly gentle.

He walked over, picked up a stick, and poked the monster.

The monster turned its head and looked at Werther with vacant innocence. It actually broke off a piece of bark and handed it to him, as if offering him something to eat.

For some reason, Werther suddenly felt guilty about punching it earlier.

Taking the bark the monster offered him, Werther discovered that it was not bark at all. It was a honeycomb-like crystal on the inside, smooth and warm to the touch. This was apparently why the trees on the island could survive. It should be able to insulate against heat and resist corrosion, just like the monster's exoskeleton.

After observing the monster carefully, Werther finally understood why it was so gentle. The creature before him was probably a giant Rabbit, because the shape of the exoskeleton on its head gave away its identity too clearly.

He patted its head, apologized to it, and continued toward the center of the island.

But after taking only two steps, he discovered that one of his legs had been hugged. It was the Rabbit behind him.

The Rabbit desperately shook its head at Werther and pointed toward the center of the island, then continued shaking its head.

Werther understood. This creature was probably one of those exceptionally intelligent animals from the pirate world. Was it telling him that the island's center was dangerous?

After thanking the Rabbit, he said, "I'm very strong," then continued deeper into the island.

Seeing that it could not persuade Werther, the Rabbit did nothing else and went back to gnawing on "bark."

After walking for nearly an hour, Werther finally arrived beneath the volcano.

At first glance, it was obvious that this volcano had not formed naturally. Leaving aside the steel embedded in it, its shape was far too round.

As Werther was examining it with great interest, he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet tremble. The ground under him was rising.

He nimbly leaped onto an open patch of ground and discovered that he had been standing on another strange animal. It appeared that it had been asleep.

Not to mention its exoskeleton, the shape of this creature was unlike any animal he had ever seen.

It had a crocodile-like mouth, a bloated belly, four short legs, and two tails.

Werther had initially thought it was a crocodile, but those two tails did not fit.

Just as Werther was trying to identify what sort of animal it was,

the strange creature opened its huge mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and actually charged at him. Its attack power was unknown, but its speed was painfully pathetic.

This crocodile-like creature looked as though it was charging at full speed, but its four short legs were truly useless, while its exoskeleton was cumbersome and heavy.

Werther easily dodged and punched it. Sure enough, it had no effect.

Just as Werther felt it posed no threat, the crocodile-like creature bit down on a huge rock. It directly bit a chunk out of it, then chewed the broken-off piece into powder in two bites.

Werther's pupils contracted. This thing had terrifying attack power, and its entire body had defense without a single blind spot. Aside from its speed, it was practically the perfect combat creature.

After fighting it for a while longer, neither could do anything to the other. But Werther discovered that this creature was truly suitable for helping him awaken Armament Haki.

It was practically a naturally mobile punching bag, and it could also pose an enormous threat to Werther. If he was careless and got bitten once, the consequences would definitely be terrible.

So Werther continued fighting it.

He fought the creature from the morning he landed on the island until the sun was nearly setting before finally stopping.

After fighting all day, Werther was not particularly tired, but his hands hurt like hell. After all, he had always used a sword in battle before.

As for Armament Haki, he had gained a little as well.

Looking at the creature he had beaten up all day, Werther found it more and more pleasing to the eye. He gave it a funny name: Platypus. It did not look like one, but the name was rather amusing, wasn't it?

After returning to the ship, Werther first took a bath, then went to the dining room and ate something.

Though it had only been one day, Werther had already gained some understanding of Armament Haki. It was no longer limited to what he knew from books; it was now a feeling in his body. Werther believed that he could awaken Armament Haki in around two years.

Thinking of this made Werther very happy. After dinner, he returned to his bedroom to rest, planning to go find trouble with that Platypus again tomorrow.