It's All Just Surface-Level

Miming covered his face, never expecting that even the usually serious Cairns could have such a hilarious moment.

"Dog-Leg Form!" Cairns spread his legs apart, and they suddenly twisted into bowlegs. His long feet burst out of his shoes, and with a whoosh, he leaped high into the air.

"A dog's jumping ability is incredibly strong. Its speed..." Cairns vanished with another whoosh.

Miming and the Boa Sisters were stunned. That was way too fast! By developing the dog legs to this extent, his speed was already comparable to the peak speed of the Navy's hard-trained "Soru." And he had achieved it without repeatedly shaking his legs, relying solely on the enhancement from the Devil Fruit's ability.

When Cairns reappeared, he had already returned to normal. The Boa Sisters excitedly rushed over to examine him. It was true—once they mastered their power, they could eliminate the beastly physical features and display them only when necessary!

"But all of this is just surface-level." Cairns folded his arms and said proudly, "What I'm about to show you is the ultimate power of the Beast-Beast Fruit!"

"There's more?" Miming and the three sisters were all surprised.

Cairns suddenly bent forward, his chest swelling up. Then a deep howl emerged from his throat. "Woo—!"

A horrifying feeling suddenly surged over them. Miming and the Boa Sisters turned and ran in fright, their hearts pounding wildly as they struggled to regain their composure.

"This ability is called—Bully the Weak and Fear the Strong!" Cairns let out a long howl. Everywhere covered by that bone-chilling sound was enveloped in fear. Even everything they saw with their eyes became distorted!

"What the hell!" Miming simply had no way to calm himself down. His accelerated heartbeat made his entire body panic, and he had trouble breathing. No matter what abilities he possessed, he could not use them. If this were a fight, I could already lie down and wait to die!

"Stop! Stop it—!" Hancock let out a cry of misery. Suddenly, a force erupted from within her. She spread her arms and stood in front of the others, forcibly restoring their sanity. Under the impact of that force, Cairns's howl was also briefly suppressed.

"Conqueror's Haki!" Cairns stopped using Bully the Weak and Fear the Strong. "As expected, it is Conqueror's Haki! Impressive!"

Miming felt a little sour inside. What is going on? Is Hancock's Conqueror's Haki better than mine? She has never even trained it. She managed to use it again simply through her powerful determination to protect her companions.

"No, it's this helmet," said Cairns. "This helmet seems to contain Seastone. It blocked most of my ability, so she was less affected than you were."

Miming was even more confused. She can still move around normally while wearing a Seastone helmet, and she can even unleash Conqueror's Haki? That's way too powerful! Ordinary Devil Fruit users would go limp and collapse the moment they touched Seastone!

Could it be that the prolonged torture, endurance, and struggle had given Boa Hancock a willpower far beyond that of ordinary people?

Sure enough, Cairns said in shock, "Impressive! You possess an incredible talent for combat!"

Miming nodded in complete conviction. The Empress is the Empress! My first wife really is amazing!

"In any case, you should understand what I wanted to show you." Cairns looked at Marigold and Sandersonia, who were still sprawled weakly on the ground. "A large body is useless. No matter how massive a beast's body is, that is only the lowest level of an ability. What truly matters is the Beast Soul. Every species has its own characteristics. You must grasp the greatest trait it relies on to survive and turn it into your own ability."

"For me, the greatest trait of the Dog-Dog Fruit is its sensitivity to the human mind. Dogs are skilled at reading human psychology. They can sense human hormones through their sense of smell, detect heartbeats and pulses through their hearing, and even perceive changes in body temperature. They can sense the heat of a human body even through a wall. These are all things human senses cannot accomplish."

"After enhancing the Doberman's personality traits, the ultimate technique I developed was Bully the Weak and Fear the Strong. A two-month-old Doberman can already let out a terrifying howl. If you become afraid, you won't be able to make it obey. Turning that trait into an ability and bringing it to its limit is my ultimate move! Do you understand?"

"We understand!"

The Boa Sisters were greatly inspired and shouted in unison.

After that, Miming and Cairns began the Boa Sisters' special training together.

Miming also secretly contributed some of the essence of the Six Styles of the Gods, but as expected, the others had no way of understanding much of it.

However, the Boa Sisters still absorbed many points from the Six Styles of the Gods after adapting them to their own understanding. Women's bodies were naturally more flexible, while the Snake-Snake Fruit had granted them powerful physiques. On top of that, the Amazon tribe had always been passionate about combat. The speed of their progress even surprised Cairns.

Two months passed, and it was once again time to report to the Gorosei.

Miming stood on the automatic walkway in the courtyard and tested it for a moment before saying, "Too slow!"

Then he vanished with a brush.

The agents had long since grown accustomed to this and would not wonder whether Saint Jalmack's Son had some special purpose. If other people have one, I should have one too. That was what Saint Jalmack's Son wanted.

"Saint Jalmack's Son is Saint Jalmack's Son." Many of the agents had even begun to feel proud.

In the Holy Land, if one asked which Celestial Dragon had the greatest reputation aside from the Gorosei, the answer was undoubtedly Saint Jalmack's Son! The Gorosei might not necessarily beat people, but Saint Jalmack's Son did. When Saint Jalmack's Son went crazy, he even beat his own father. Are you scared yet?

In the underground passage beneath the automatic walkway, the slaves breathed sighs of relief and shed tears of emotion. They no longer had to push themselves to the limit.

"This is Saint Jalmack's Son's residence!" Some people had already secretly memorized the location. Perhaps this lord was a good person like Saint Homing of the Donquixote Family!

On the plaza before the Twelve God Temple, the Gorosei and the Twelve Gods inspected Miming's cultivation progress.

Miming held a sword in his hand and drew a deep breath before shouting, "Vacuum!"

Black Haki wrapped around the blade. Air currents suddenly formed, lifting dust from the ground. Within the sword's radiance, an invisible vortex silently revolved.

"Mm, this is indeed Vacuum." Saint Ichi was very satisfied. He actually shrugged off his cloak, hugged his sword, and stepped into the arena. Standing before Miming, he said in a low voice, "Give it everything you've got."

Miming shouted, "Conqueror's Shadow Song!"

Cairns's technique had given him tremendous inspiration, allowing him to develop this sword technique.

In an instant, Haki surged and roared violently. Sword energy transformed into a Vacuum vortex that tore through all things, unleashing a thunderous boom like a great bell!

Saint Ichi had not intended to draw his sword, but his eyes suddenly widened. The sword in his arms flew into his hand of its own accord, trailing a series of sword images as it accurately struck the center of the Conqueror's Shadow Song vortex.

With a boom, the sword energy exploded like a flood sweeping across the land, making Saint Ichi's robe billow wildly.