The first signs of success

Kaya only half understood, but Powell's eyes lit up. He felt he had struck gold by working with Rubick. All he had contributed was some money, but what he had gained was nothing less than a surefire way to strengthen his family.

Should I try a little harder and turn my little brother into my son-in-law?

Leaving Powell to his wandering thoughts, Rubick asked Kaya, "Does the village have any hot springs or bathhouses?"

"Do you want to take a bath, mister?"

"No."

Rubick said, "Those children are still young. Training this hard puts a lot of strain on their bodies. Ideally, you should take them for a soak every day to relieve muscle fatigue. Their nutrition needs to keep up, too. Make sure they get plenty of meat, eggs, and milk."

Powell said, "That's easy. I'll have someone build a bathhouse just for them right away."

"But, big brother, I'm not particularly good at fighting myself. Once the children have built up their bodies enough, we should hire a few people specifically to teach them combat skills. For that, I think a few retired marines would be the safest bet."

They had to be careful about this. Hiring pirates or bounty hunters was out of the question, so retired marines were the best choice. Plenty of them returned to their hometowns to work as instructors or serve in the local militia anyway.

In short, anything money could solve was no problem at all.

Rubick added, "Oh, and big brother, you should set aside some time every evening to give the children lessons."

Powell pointed at himself. "Me? Teach the children? Teach them how to make money?"

"No!"

Rubick said, "You can tell them about the Anderson Family's history. That will give them a stronger sense of belonging. You can gradually influence them, help them become part of the Anderson Family, and treat them as members of your own family. That's how you secure their loyalty."

Powell swallowed again and asked, "Little brother, are you sure you never had some other profession?"

Rubick said self-deprecatingly, "What profession could I have had? I used to deliver takeout and run errands."

"Ah!"

Powell and the others sucked in a breath. If a mere errand runner was this impressive, what magnificent figures must the elites of Dragon Country be?

Rubick waved them off. "All right, off you go. I need to train. Oh, Merry, get me a bottle of red wine."

"Of course, Mr. Rubick."

Rubick always drank a bottle of red wine after a heavy training session. Everyone knew about this habit.

Kaya said, "I'll stay here and watch. I'm worried about those children."

Usopp felt that staying any longer would leave him too embarrassed to face anyone. He said, "I need to go back and improve a few ammunition formulas. I'll head home first."

Although Rubick had inspired him to get stronger too, he knew he was not cut out for building muscle. He would be better off spending that time developing a few more kinds of special ammunition.

Soon, only Rubick and Kaya remained in the backyard.

Watching the disciplined Rubick, Kaya said wistfully, "Mister, your country must be wonderful. I'd really like to see it."

Honestly, so would I! That was truly how Rubick felt.

His family and friends were still in that world. Of course he wanted to go back. He thought of his own ability, then of all the strange Devil Fruits in this world. Perhaps one day, he would find a way to return.

He understood his Spell Steal very well. Just like in the game, it was not limited to stealing a single ability. Once it became powerful enough, he could steal several fruit abilities at the same time.

Everyone else plays normal matches. I go straight for four plus two. Scared yet?

That was the real reason for Rubick's discipline. He wanted to combine several Devil Fruits and find a way to travel back to his world. These ideas were still half-baked and might never work at all, but as long as there was even a sliver of hope, he was willing to try.

For example, the Door-Door Fruit could open doors anywhere and on any object, so he could use it to open up space. Add the Time-Time Fruit, which allowed travel through time, to adjust the time—could he then control space-time and cross between worlds?

Rubick did not know whether it would work, but he had to try.

Rubick said to Kaya, "No matter how wonderful other countries are, your own home is still the most beautiful, isn't it?"

Kaya smiled at that. "You're right, mister. I think my village is the best village, too."

The children returned after completing a lap. Seeing Rubick diligently training, sweat pouring off him, strengthened their resolve again.

Rubick said quietly, "Kaya, you can go with them and cheer them on."

Kaya nodded, then joined the children, encouraging and comforting them like a big sister. With this alternating sternness and kindness, they grew increasingly grateful to the Anderson Family.

Three months passed. The children's training load gradually increased, and all ten of them were beginning to look like soldiers.

With the school now established, the children studied academic subjects there in the mornings and only trained in the afternoons. Their training consisted entirely of exercises to toughen their bodies.

Weight training was the simplest and most effective of these.

The villagers often saw the ten children wearing iron weighted vests and carrying large barbells as they frog-jumped through the village. At other times, they could be seen swinging heavy iron rods ten thousand times by the shore.

As for Rubick, aside from his physical training with steel ingots, he had spent this time working out how to train in the Six Powers. He remembered the manga from his previous life explaining specific training methods for the Six Powers, so he simply practiced according to those.

There was little else he could do. He had no one to teach him. Still, Sanji had managed to teach himself Geppo and Tempest Kick later on, so the principles probably were not that complicated.

First, though, he needed a powerful physique. Rubick even felt that if he mastered the Six Powers, he should be able to get a foot in the door with Haki.

After all, a powerful physique was a prerequisite for mastering Haki.

Iron Body was extremely easy for him to practice. He was currently using the Gum-Gum Fruit, so his whole body was rubber. Contracting his muscles to increase his defense was far too simple for him.

The principle behind Iron Body was to accelerate blood flow and thereby speed up muscle activity, which had much in common with Gear Second.

As for calling Iron Body the ultimate illusion technique, that was just a joke. Someone might use Iron Body and get knocked unconscious, but they survived. Without Iron Body, wouldn't they have been beaten to death outright?

Besides, Iron Body increased defense by tensing the muscles. It could easily be used alongside Armament Haki, taking that defense to another level.