Armament Haki! Black armor

The black hardened coating wrapped tightly around Lin Ye's entire right arm like a layer of invisible armor. This was nothing like the weak hardening from before that lasted only a few seconds. This was true, high-density Armament Haki coating, with the texture of metal. Even the air seemed to freeze at that moment, while the surging aura shook the surrounding scraps of garbage until they floated slightly off the ground. The scar-faced man standing on Lin Ye's back instantly sensed something was wrong. The brat beneath his foot had been barely clinging to life, but now a savage, unyielding presence poured wildly out of him, making the man's scalp prickle. "Damn it, enough of your tricks!" The scar-faced man cursed, suppressed his unease, and swung the steel pipe at the back of Lin Ye's head with every ounce of his strength. He wanted to kill the brat with one blow and eliminate any future trouble. The pipe whistled through the air and reached the back of Lin Ye's head in an instant. But at that moment, Lin Ye moved. His Armament Haki-coated right arm shot backward, catching the incoming pipe with perfect precision. Clang! A piercing metallic crash rang out. The pipe struck Lin Ye's palm squarely, but the expected spray of brains never came. Lin Ye held the wrist-thick pipe firmly in his hand, preventing it from moving another inch. The scar-faced man's pupils contracted sharply, disbelief spreading across his face. He had put all his strength into that blow. He could have bent a steel plate with it, yet this ten-year-old brat had caught it with his bare hand? How was that possible? "You..." Before the scar-faced man could finish, Lin Ye exerted his strength. His right hand twisted the pipe viciously. Crack! He actually wrung the solid steel pipe into a spiral. A tremendous recoil traveled through it into the scar-faced man's hand, instantly fracturing his fingers. He let out an agonized scream and loosened his grip, allowing Lin Ye to wrench the pipe away. At the same time, Lin Ye seized the opening, flipped over, and kicked the scar-faced man in the chest. He poured all his strength and his newly awakened Armament Haki into that kick, driving it straight into the man's heart. Thud! The scar-faced man's two-meter-tall body flew backward as though he had been struck by a truck. He crashed into a garbage heap more than ten meters away and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, utterly unable to fight. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. The tall, skinny man nearby was completely stunned. He stared at Lin Ye with terror in his eyes, as though he had seen a ghost. How had a dying brat, helpless at their mercy just moments ago, suddenly unleashed such terrifying power? Lin Ye slowly rose to his feet. Blood covered his body, and the wounds on his back and chest still throbbed with agony, but his gaze was as cold as a blade. His right arm, covered in black Armament Haki, gleamed with a cold metallic sheen beneath the gray daylight. He turned toward the tall, skinny man holding a machete. The man shuddered all over and instinctively stepped back, his sword hand trembling uncontrollably. He was afraid. He had spent more than a decade surviving in Meteor City, killed countless people, and seen countless ruthless fighters, but he had never encountered eyes or a presence like Lin Ye's. That unyielding dominance promised absolute, crushing superiority, filling him with a bone-deep fear he could not resist. Run... run! That was the only thought left in the skinny man's mind. He turned and bolted like a rabbit, abandoning both the scar-faced man and the fat man on the ground. All he wanted was to get as far away from this terrifying brat as possible. But he had barely taken two steps when Lin Ye moved. "Shave!" A rapid series of footfalls rang out. Lin Ye vanished from where he stood, and when he reappeared, he was already blocking the skinny man's path. Scared out of his wits, the man swung his machete at Lin Ye's chest without a second thought, putting every ounce of strength into the desperate slash to carve himself an escape. Lin Ye watched the approaching blade without dodging. He raised his Armament Haki-coated right arm and met it head-on. Clang! The machete slammed into his arm with a piercing clash of metal. Several chips broke off the blade, while Lin Ye's arm remained completely unscathed. The skinny man sank into utter despair. If even a blade couldn't cut him, how was he supposed to fight? Lin Ye gave him no chance to react. He clenched his left hand into a fist and drove it hard into the man's stomach. Armament Haki erupted in an instant, and the force of the punch passed straight through the skinny man's body, shattering his internal organs. His eyes flew wide, and he spewed a huge mouthful of blood before collapsing limply, no longer breathing. After finishing off the skinny man, Lin Ye slowly turned toward the scar-faced man lying in the garbage heap. The man was still alive. Watching Lin Ye approach step by step, his eyes filled with terror and despair. He kept shrinking backward and pleading, "Don't... don't kill me... I was wrong... I'll bow to you... you can have all the Black Snake Gang's territory... please spare me..." Lin Ye stopped in front of him. The black Armament Haki on his right arm had yet to fade. "You said you were going to chop me up and feed me to the dogs, didn't you?" His voice was quiet, but it carried a bone-chilling coldness. The scar-faced man trembled, unable to utter a word. He could only keep bowing, banging his forehead against the rubble until blood streamed down his face. Lin Ye watched without the slightest flicker of emotion. In Meteor City, mercy toward an enemy was cruelty toward oneself. If he spared this man today, tomorrow he would return with more men and more weapons to kill him. To eliminate a threat, he had to tear it out by the roots. Lin Ye raised his foot and stamped his Armament Haki-coated sole down hard on the scar-faced man's chest. Crack! The man's breastbone shattered instantly, and the shock ruptured his heart. His eyes remained wide open as he breathed his last. After dealing with all three men, Lin Ye could no longer hold on. His legs buckled, and he dropped heavily to the ground. The black Armament Haki on his right arm faded at once. His aura was completely depleted, and excruciating pain tore through every wound on his body. Leaning against a discarded car tire behind him, he gasped for breath as cold sweat streamed down his cheeks like water. That brief eruption had drained nearly all his aura and exhausted every last bit of his stamina. If his Armament Haki had not fully awakened in that desperate situation, he really would have died here today. Lin Ye raised his right hand and looked at where the Armament Haki had covered it, his eyes brimming with excitement. He had done it. He had finally, truly awakened Armament Haki. He would never forget the sensation of compressing his aura to its utmost limit, solidifying it, and forming that black armor. That impenetrable defense and unstoppable strength were the true power of Armament Haki. At the same time, he realized more clearly than ever that Haki and Nen really did share the same origin. In that desperate moment, his will had broken through its limits. The life energy within him-his aura-had surged explosively, then compressed and solidified according to his will, forming Armament Haki. It was exactly the same as the way Nen users in the Hunter world manipulated aura through willpower. In fact, the Armament Haki he had just awakened was, in essence, the ultimate application of Enhancement Type Nen. Of the six Nen types, enhancement was the best at increasing one's own offense and defense, making it a perfect match for Armament Haki. Everything suddenly became clear to Lin Ye. His natural Nen Ability type was enhancement. That meant his training in Armament Haki and physical techniques that strengthened his body, such as Iron Body and Finger Pistol, would be maximally efficient, entirely in keeping with the Hunter world's rule of "100% efficiency in one's own type." It was a match made in heaven. Lin Ye rested against the tire for a full hour before recovering even a little strength. Searching the three men yielded a rich haul: a brand-new dagger, a shotgun with five rounds left, a backpack stuffed with canned food and bread, two large bottles of clean water, and even a small packet of anti-inflammatory medicine and bandages. In Meteor City, these supplies were worth a fortune. Lin Ye gathered everything, dragged his exhausted body through the task of disposing of the three corpses, then returned to his air-raid shelter. Back in his safe hiding place, his taut nerves finally relaxed completely. He carefully treated his wounds with the medicine, bandaged them, then ate a little food and drank some water. At last, warmth returned to his body. Lying on his bed, Lin Ye did not fall asleep right away. He reviewed the day's battle. Half his victory had come from the Armament Haki awakened in desperation, and half from luck. If the fat man's shotgun aim had been a little better, or if the scar-faced man had not underestimated him and all three had attacked together from the start, he would never have had a chance to turn things around. He was still far too weak. His Armament Haki had awakened, but it could only cover one arm, lasted very little time, and consumed a tremendous amount of energy. It could not sustain a prolonged fight at all. Shave still lacked both speed and range. Against a true expert, it would be nowhere near enough. His aura control was also far too crude. For now, he could only rely on instinct to guide its eruption and solidification. He could not precisely control its flow or stabilize its output the way a Nen user could. Just now, for instance, the moment he used Armament Haki, his aura had drained away like floodwater bursting through an opened dam, completely beyond his control. To solve that problem, he had to systematically learn Nen's Four Major Principles. Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. Ten in particular kept aura covering the body's surface without allowing it to escape. It was the key to stabilizing Haki consumption. Ren increased the total amount of aura within the body, forming the foundation of every ability. But right now, he had no one to teach him Nen. Lin Ye frowned, sinking into thought. He remembered that in the original story, besides having a Nen user forcibly open one's Aura Nodes with Hatsu, there was another way to awaken Nen on one's own. It required an extreme eruption of emotion and absolute faith in one's own will. Like Kurapika, who awakened a Specialization Type Nen Ability through the overwhelming hatred of his clan's massacre; like Gon, who forced himself to grow through rage and obsession, pushing his Nen Ability to its limit. Just now, on the verge of death, Lin Ye had awakened Armament Haki through his overwhelming will to survive. In effect, he had also forcibly opened his own Aura Nodes. In other words, he was already a Nen user. He simply did not yet know how to control his Nen systematically or correctly use the Four Major Principles. Lin Ye's eyes suddenly lit up. He might not have a teacher, but he knew the theory behind the Four Major Principles and the core mechanism of each technique. He could explore and train on his own, building his foundation in Nen bit by bit. At that thought, all his sleepiness vanished. He sat up, closed his eyes, and followed the Ten training method he remembered. Focusing all his attention, he tried to keep his aura steadily covering his body's surface without letting it escape. This time, he could clearly feel the aura flowing inside him. His Aura Nodes were open, and aura flowed slowly through his meridians. Little by little, he guided it out of his body and over his skin, wrapping his whole body tightly like a thin film. At first, the aura was unstable, dispersing as soon as it emerged. But he refused to give up, trying again and again. As dawn approached, Lin Ye finally succeeded. A faint layer of aura, almost invisible to the naked eye, steadily covered his entire body without leaking away. He had mastered Ten. Lin Ye opened his eyes, their depths shining. At last, he had stepped into the world of Nen. His Gale Path had finally, truly begun.