Sky God Kingdom.
As Yake's plans progressed, the Sky God Kingdom developed in an orderly fashion. Judge's research team in particular achieved new results every day.
Today, Judge had called Yake over to see the latest results of their Sky Shell weapon technology.
Yake arrived at the shooting range with a strangely shaped weapon in his hands.
It resembled an ordinary rifle overall, but its stock was made from an Impact Dial, and different Shells could be fitted onto the front as needed.
Yake was currently using an Impact Dial combined with a Breath Dial. According to Judge, this was their most powerful sniper rifle. Even the barrel had been cast from specialized materials, or it would easily burst.
Yake pressed the stock against his shoulder and aimed at the Sky Sharks occasionally poking their heads out of the Sea of Clouds ahead.
He did not coat the shot with Armament Haki, only using Observation Haki to assist his aim. When he pulled the trigger, Yake could clearly feel the powerful recoil and the force of the wind from the Breath Dial.
A Sky Shark in the Sea of Clouds let out a wail. Yake's shot struck it in the eye, and the bullet's powerful impact churned its brain into mush. The enormous Sky Shark died and fell into the sea, where it was soon devoured by its own kind.
"Not bad, but the recoil is a little strong." There was no need to test it with Armament Haki. For a powerful fighter capable of coating bullets with Armament Haki, it raised the rifle's upper limit. What Yake needed was a weapon with a high lower limit.
That bullet had traveled several kilometers and still retained tremendous power. Pirate-world black technology truly lived up to its reputation.
"Strong recoil is unavoidable. Our soldiers can install an Impact Dial on their combat suits to absorb the weapon's impact. Once it is fully charged, it can also be used to replace the Impact Dial on the gun. Two birds with one stone," Judge explained.
"Not bad. Keep it up. How is the research on automatic weapons going?" What Yake valued more were automatic weapons. Those were the real killing machines.
"Of course there are results. Your idea was simply genius. This is the first-generation automatic rifle named after you, the ARK-1. Lord Yake, give it a try." Judge waved for one of his subordinates to bring over a rifle.
"I never thought I'd get to play with an AK in the pirate world too. Woohoo!" Yake grinned the moment he saw it. Judge had truly recreated it.
"This weapon not only has outstanding performance, but is also cheap to produce and highly adaptable. It can be called a perfect weapon." Judge was clearly very satisfied with it and went on at length about its advantages.
Yake fondled the rifle lovingly, then held down the trigger while aiming at a tree.
Rat-a-tat-tat~
This time, Yake also coated the bullets with Armament Haki, making them even more powerful. After a burst of gunfire, the large tree was shot clean through and snapped in half.
"Judge, your research results are impressive. Keep working hard. This rifle will be called the AK-47 from now on. It will be issued to every soldier." After satisfying his craving to fire it, Yake returned the gun to Judge, instructed him to develop electromagnetic weapons as soon as possible, then left.
When he arrived on Amazon Lily, Hancock was leading Robin and the others in training.
After Skypiea's development had gotten on track, Yake had told Robin and Reiju to each train people to replace them at work. Now, they only needed to occasionally inspect the progress.
So Yake gathered them all on Amazon Lily to train together. Hancock, who had mastered the Three Haki Colors, became both their teacher and close friend. Yake's plan was a great success.
"Hello, ladies. How's the training going?" Yake sat cross-legged on the grass and watched everyone train.
"You make it sound so easy. Why don't you come train?" Robin said irritably before earnestly throwing herself back into training. She wanted to become stronger too, so she could help Yake better.
"Darling, you're here!" Hancock greeted Yake affectionately, shamelessly showing off their love.
When she had first met Yake's crew a few days ago, she had even thought he had fallen for someone else. She had automatically imagined all sorts of cheap romance-drama scenarios, only relaxing when Yake asked her to train his crew. She had then eagerly accepted the task he entrusted to her.
"Keep training. I'm here to look at boobs—no, I mean, I'm here to watch you train." Yake nearly blurted out what he really thought, but their curves were simply too perfect. He was even more absorbed in watching than they were in training.
Taking advantage of this rare bit of free time, Yake decided to draw his rewards. He could not hold back any longer.
After collecting Skypiea's Poneglyphs, he had received five draws from the second-stage mission reward and ten from the main mission. Yake planned to do fifteen draws at once and see whether he could get anything good.
"Start the draw."
"Ding, congratulations on obtaining 1.5 billion Beli, Infinite KFC Family Bucket, indestructible underwear, indestructible beach shorts, indestructible T-shirt, never-wearing-out ronin robes, Marine Six Powers Mastery Card ×1, Armament Haki Enhancement Card ×1, endless cotton candy ×1, thank you for participating ×4."
Holy crap, Yake could only say holy crap. His luck today was absurdly good. He would never again have to worry about the awkwardness of changing from dragon form back into human form. Before, he had always used lightning to make clothes and ease the embarrassment, much like Caesar's gas coat. Now things were perfect. His mom would never have to worry about him exploding out of his clothes again.
"By the way, can the Marine Six Powers Mastery Card be used on someone else?" Yake asked. This thing was completely useless to him.
"Ding, skill and enhancement cards can be given to others, provided they have learned the corresponding skill."
Yake understood. If he wanted to use the Marine Six Powers Mastery Card on someone else, she first had to learn the Marine Six Powers. He had used one himself before, but had not paid much attention to it since he already knew the Marine Six Powers. Still, the technique he used most was Return of Life, for increasing his stamina with Hancock... ahem.
After thinking it over, Yake decided to give both the Haki Enhancement Card and the Marine Six Powers Mastery Card to Reiju. Reiju was already on the verge of awakening Armament Haki, so they would be just what she needed.
Among his crew, Reiju had the strongest physical constitution and was the fastest to awaken Armament Haki. However, she was also one of only two people without Devil Fruit abilities. With Armament Haki, she would become even stronger.
As for Anna, the other non-Devil Fruit user, she could just be the team's mascot. Yake would thank the heavens if she could learn Observation Haki and avoid danger in advance. Anna could fight using static electricity, but its current was only strong enough to scratch an itch. Though perhaps only Yake thought it was that weak.
"Everyone, stop for a moment. I have something to announce. Starting tomorrow, your captain will personally teach you the Marine Six Powers. Everyone must learn them. They will be very helpful for mastering the power of Haki," Yake said as he rose to his feet.
"Ah... Captain, no! My Negative Hollow is enough!" Perona pleaded pitifully.
"Rejected. Everyone must master them, or your captain will throw you straight off Skypiea and let you experience the thrill of falling from ten thousand meters up!" Yake put on a fierce expression and glared at Perona. This little rascal had become somewhat smug after relying on her Negative Hollow to dominate all of Skypiea.
Let's see how you cry once you meet Usopp!