Lone Wolf Ark

Upon hearing this, the mature beauty Mana immediately led her people away. "Yes! You lot, come with me!"

Meanwhile, within the thick fog a thousand meters southwest of Amazon Lily, a massive merchant ship lay anchored. Inside the cabin, a group of burly men drank and laughed boisterously. In the middle of them were eight delicate beauties, their hands and feet bound as they huddled together and trembled. The men's leering gazes and lewd behavior had clearly terrified them. "Are those... men? Men are so scary!"

Their pitiful appearance only further stirred the men's beastly desires.

At last, one bearded brute among them could no longer hold back. "Boss! We caught so many gorgeous beauties at once. Why not let the brothers have some fun first?"

The tall, powerfully built one-eyed boss elegantly raised his hand and slapped him. "Idiot! They're all money. Do you know how much a whole, untouched beauty like that can sell for? With that money, how many women could you find? And do you know who our buyers are? If you're going to follow me, stop thinking with your lower half. Otherwise, I'll chop that thing off and feed it to the dogs."

The bearded man immediately forced a sheepish smile. "Yes, yes, Boss is right. It's just that these women are too tempting. It's hard to restrain myself. Daughter Island really is a wonderful place! We actually abducted eight beauties like this in a single night. We're definitely making a fortune this time. Maybe just this one haul will earn us enough to buy a Devil Fruit."

The one-eyed man smiled as well. "We're only getting started! Tiny Daughter Island is merely our first stop. Those legendary mermaids are the ultimate target of this trip!"

He was the owner of this slave merchant ship, Ark, known as the Lone Wolf.

"Mermaids?" The lackeys' eyes lit up. "Boss! Do mermaids really exist in this world?"

Ark immediately snorted. "You've seen plenty of the world while following me, yet you still doubt something like that?"

"No, of course we believe you, Boss. It just feels like a dream."

Just then, one of the lackeys suddenly rushed in to report, "Boss, we've spotted a fishing boat a few hundred meters away. The women of Amazon Lily may have discovered us!"

Hearing this, the scrawny, sleazy-looking man who had remained silent at the side frowned and suddenly spoke. "Boss, Daughter Island's strength cannot be underestimated. I've heard that every one of their warriors can use Haki. We shouldn't clash with them head-on. We should leave immediately."

Ark was not angered. Instead, he casually waved a hand. "Being afraid before the battle even begins would damage the reputation of the Lone Wolf Trading Company~ With your ability, when have we ever been unable to retreat? Since they've discovered us, let's simply dock ashore. Once they gather their forces, we'll make a big move. Don't forget, this place is full of women! Powerful and beautiful women are the most valuable."

The sleazy man looked worried. "Wouldn't that be too risky?"

"Risky?" Ark smiled elegantly. "What danger could a bunch of women possibly pose? Even if they can use Haki, how strong could they be? Don't forget, I am Lone Wolf Ark!"

The sleazy man fell silent at once. Lone Wolf Ark had a powerful background. His bounty had once reached 120 million Berries, making him a genuine great pirate. Yet for some unknown reason, he had suddenly changed careers and become a slave merchant, and his bounty had been revoked overnight.

Moreover, despite being a notorious slave merchant, he had never been pursued by the Marines, because the buyers he supplied slaves to directly were the incomparably noble World Nobles.

Amazon Lily, outside the village, Lu Ge's residence.

As time passed, Lu Ge had long since exited the state of "revealing his future self." What astonished him, however, was that although he had left that state, the abilities it had left behind remained clear to him. Take Haki, for example. He had only learned some theory from Stobi and the others and had never been able to use it. Yet after entering that state, he had not only fully and proficiently learned Haki, but even after leaving it, he faintly felt as though he had begun to grasp it whenever he tried to use it. This made comprehending and training in Haki as natural as water flowing into a channel, unbelievably smooth.

In just over ten minutes, he had truly comprehended and awakened Observation Haki, successfully mastering how to use it.

What Lu Ge saw now was like a panoramic map, one with a full range of vision and no blind spots whatsoever. It was truly miraculous.

At that moment, Lu Ge was incomparably thrilled. I never expected using that state to leave behind benefits like this. This skill is freaking amazing! It lets me master the skill beforehand, then imitate it as I train. It's twice the result with half the effort—this is insanely awesome! With this ability, I don't even need to keep learning Haki from Stobi and the others. I can teach myself! I can even exploit a loophole like this? Amazing! So amazing! Then if my future self awakens a Fruit ability, wouldn't I be able to quickly master the power of awakening too?

At that thought, Lu Ge's heart suddenly began pounding violently. He knew very well what this represented. Becoming stronger seemed to have become so simple.

Another ten or so minutes later, the mature beauty Mana hurried back with her people. "Captain, we found something! A large merchant ship has been spotted in the thick fog southwest of Amazon Lily. Judging by the emblem on the ship, it belongs to the notorious Lone Wolf Trading Company."

Sangya's expression immediately turned ugly. "It's actually them. This is going to be troublesome."

Lu Ge gave up on continuing his contemplation, stood up, and asked curiously, "What is this trading company?"

He had never heard of such a trading company in either the anime or the manga.

Sangya said with an ugly expression, "I once heard Lady Empress mention them. They're the World Nobles' lapdogs, a trading company that specializes in supplying slaves to the World Nobles. Before the Empress passed away, she warned us not to provoke this trading company or have anything to do with them. Yet I never expected that they would target us instead."

"..." Lu Ge immediately fell into thought. He had not expected this trading company to have such a major background. Then it would not be strange if they truly had a Door-Door Fruit user, or someone with a similar ability, among them. After all, they were connected to the World Nobles.