Harvest

After entering, Werther followed the passage for only a short distance before reaching its end.

At the end was a sealed room. There was nothing else inside, only two large sections of text carved into the walls.

Werther looked up, his expression turning strange. This time, the writing was not ancient script, but the common language of the present era.

Werther looked at the first section, his face breaking into delighted joy.

The passage was not particularly long and was divided into three parts. The first described the awakening and training methods for Armament Haki. Werther continued reading, and after finishing it all, his first thought was to burn the notebook that recorded Armament Haki.

Compared with the training method on the wall, neither the efficiency of awakening nor the strength of Armament Haki after awakening could even be compared. Though the passage was simple, it was easy to understand and provided an exceptionally detailed explanation of methods beneficial to awakening Armament Haki.

After reading it once, Werther had basically memorized the contents and continued downward. Sure enough, below it were methods for awakening and training Observation Haki. This passage not only explained in detail how Observation Haki could be awakened more easily, but also clearly described its growth and the differences between individuals.

Unlike Armament Haki, some people were naturally gifted in Observation Haki, while others had only average talent. The text offered a fair piece of advice.

Those naturally gifted in Observation Haki could devote themselves fully to training it. Once their Observation Haki reached a certain level, it would undergo a qualitative transformation.

As for those without such talent, it was best not to force it. The energy and time would be far better spent on Armament Haki. The differences in talent between people could truly make one despair.

After reading about Observation Haki, Werther sighed with emotion. The predecessor who had written such insights had definitely been a powerhouse.

The third part was the shortest. Yes, the third part was an introduction to Conqueror's Haki.

This time, however, there were no methods for awakening or training it, only techniques for controlling Conqueror's Haki after awakening it.

After finishing the first section, Werther felt that he had truly struck it rich this time. He then turned his attention to the second section.

The moment he saw this passage, Werther froze.

Its value to him might have been greater than that of a Logia Devil Fruit.

This passage was very long and scattered, requiring considerable time to ponder and understand.

It was a great swordsman's understanding and insights from a lifetime of sword practice in some past era. No moves were recorded, but to Werther, a swordsman's understanding and insights into swordsmanship were impossible to put a price on. They were simply too important.

As for moves, Werther had never believed they could be learned. Every person's sword techniques were developed according to their own body and abilities; they were unique.

Werther read only a portion before stopping. He ran all the way back to the ship, grabbed pen and paper, then sprinted back toward the forbidden area.

He made the round trip at full speed in less than two minutes, showing just how urgent Werther was.

He carefully copied every word from the wall into an exquisite diary, without missing a single character.

After copying it, Werther did not rush to read it. Instead, he continued examining the room. After searching for a long time without finding any clues, he decided not to linger in this unknown forbidden area and returned to the surface with the Rabbit.

Werther's trip into the forbidden area had not been particularly dangerous, but his gains had been enormous. No wonder so many people loved searching for ancient ruins.

Most ruins and treasures were not as full of traps as Werther had imagined. If someone truly intended to leave something behind for future generations, why would they set traps? At most, they would hide it more carefully and leave it to fate.

But Werther had not relied on fate this time. He had entered the forbidden area through sheer brute-force demolition.

Though he had gained much, he had also been left with many questions. For instance, what exactly had been the advanced technology of this ancient nation? He vaguely guessed that it was related to volcanoes or something similar, but some things still did not make sense.

And why had the final two passages been written in the modern common language? Everything along the way before that had been ancient script. All of it hinted at something unusual.

Could ancient script not have been a language at all, but something more like a code? Werther had suspected this before, because ancient script was entirely different from modern writing. Ancient script had to be deciphered rather than understood directly, unless one was extremely proficient in it.

Modern writing, on the other hand, could be understood directly.

Werther truly could not make sense of it, so he stopped thinking about such unimportant matters and began studying the newly acquired method for awakening Armament Haki.

The newly acquired awakening method was far more reliable than the previous one.

Though it still required feeling it through battle, this training method explained what Armament Haki actually was.

Werther only needed to sit down and feel carefully. Once he found the feeling, he could then fight or put it into practice.

Werther returned to the ship, sat cross-legged on the deck, closed his eyes, and began searching for that feeling.

Though it was not easy, Werther discovered that it was not impossible. It would simply take some time.

Not long after Werther sat down, he felt something strange on his face, as though something were poking him.

Could this be the feeling? Werther was thrilled. He had expected the efficiency to be much higher, but he had not expected to sense something so quickly.

But before Werther could be happy for long, the sensation of being poked in the face vanished, leaving him frustrated.

Soon, the feeling of being poked in the face returned. Werther seized the opportunity and was just about to carefully study the connection between this strange sensation and awakening Armament Haki when he felt something kick him in the stomach.

When Werther opened his eyes, the sight before him nearly made him pass out from anger.

That poking sensation had nothing to do with Armament Haki. The Rabbit was hungry and wanted Werther to make something to eat, so it had tried to poke his face to wake him up. The Rabbit had always woken Werther that way in the mornings, but this time, after poking him for ages without getting a response, it had kicked him.

The Rabbit had grown tired of eating ingredients by themselves lately and wanted Werther to make it a vegetable and fruit salad.

Werther really wanted to beat the Rabbit up, but seeing its longing eyes, he remembered that it might be the person closest to him in this world, so he could not bring himself to do it.

He gave it the middle finger, then went to the dining room to make it a vegetable and fruit salad, while getting something to eat for himself as well.

Besides salads, Werther could make many other delicious dishes, but because the Rabbit was not used to eating meat and Werther was a carnivore, its menu had become much more limited.