Observation Haki

Moonlight was speechless.

Nami was equally speechless.

Then he pointed at the Buggy Pirates' ship and said,

"Until we have a ship of our own, we'll use this one."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! That's a great idea!"

Luffy clapped his hands, wholeheartedly agreeing.

"I checked just now. There aren't many supplies left on board. We need to restock as soon as possible. Otherwise, with your appetite, we won't even last a day."

Moonlight sighed. After going aboard and inspecting the interior, he said,

"This island is obviously out of the question. Let's set sail."

Nami nodded. She glanced at the hostile villagers across the crack in the ground, as well as the battered, devastated town blasted apart by Buggy Balls, and sighed.

"Mm."

Luffy nodded, having no objections.

Moonlight hoisted Zoro onto his shoulder, pulled up the anchor, and set sail!

"Hey, wait for me!"

Seeing that, Luffy stretched out his arm, grabbed the side of the ship, and flew aboard.

Nami gave a soft chuckle, flashing a bright smile as the group left Orange Town behind.

"They left? Those people?"

"Looks like they aren't bad people!"

"They took the Buggy Pirates' ship. Could they be Pirates too?"

"Out at sea, if you're not the Navy, you're a Pirate!"

Watching the four of them sail farther and farther away, all the villagers of Orange Town stood frozen, whispering among themselves.

"Whether they're Pirates or something else, to this town and to us, they are heroes. If it weren't for them, we would still be under attack from those Pirates. And it would have been extremely difficult for us to reclaim our town. No matter what, we have to thank them!"

The village chief muttered.

"That's right. No matter what, they're our benefactors!"

"They're leaving just like that? We haven't thanked them yet!"

"Quick, call out to them! No matter what, we need to show our gratitude!"

Only then did the crowd snap out of it.

Watching the four sail farther away, they all began shouting!

"Hey! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Benefactors, please let us thank you!"

"Benefactors... we can never repay such kindness!"

"..."

Wave after wave of voices carried over from the island.

"Huh? What are they saying?"

Luffy sat at the bow, looking at Orange Town with confusion.

"Who knows? They're probably thanking us."

Nami shrugged. After checking the currents and the clouds overhead, she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Alright, the currents and clouds both show that our route is safe. We can relax now!"

"Oh, Moonlight, what are you doing?"

Luffy nodded and looked toward Moonlight.

After Nami said everything was fine, Moonlight suddenly walked up to Luffy, leaving him puzzled.

"Attack me. Help me train."

Moonlight said calmly.

He wanted to train his Observation Haki!

Now that they had set sail, the enemies they encountered would only grow stronger. His swordsmanship was enough to dominate the East Blue, but if he encountered someone with a Devil Fruit ability again, defeating them would be easy enough—actually hurting them would be much harder.

So he needed to train harder!

Observation Haki was an ability that improved through constant evasion!

With the system, he could train on his own, but nothing suited it better than fighting someone.

"Help you train?"

Luffy's eyes lit up.

"That's right. Just attack. The denser your attacks, the better. I'll only dodge."

Moonlight nodded, then closed his eyes.

"You're going to fight him without opening your eyes?"

Nami asked in confusion.

"No. If I kept my eyes open, what kind of training would that be?"

Moonlight smiled and crooked a finger at Luffy.

"Come on. The more attacks, the better!"

"Alright, interesting! In that case, Moonlight, take this!"

Luffy laughed, rubbing his palms together before attacking Moonlight!

"Gum-Gum... Pistol!"

Bang!

A powerful fist shot toward him at incredible speed!

Whoosh!

Yet Moonlight flickered aside and easily dodged it!

Though his eyes were closed, his level 1 Observation Haki allowed him to sense the presence around him.

Just as he dodged, the system's voice rang out!

"Ding! You used Observation Haki once and gained 1*100 experience points!"

"Ding! Observation Haki 100/10000!"

Sure enough, this works—and it lets me adapt to battle the fastest!

"That's amazing! In that case, Moonlight, I won't hold back!"

Luffy was startled at first, then overjoyed.

"Good. Don't hold back. Come at me!"

Moonlight nodded and took a defensive stance.

"Gum-Gum... Gatling!"

Luffy shouted. Both fists launched forward, swinging violently as they unleashed a storm of attacks!

In an instant, dozens of fists appeared at once and flew toward Moonlight!

They poured down like a raging storm!

"Good!"

Feeling the attacks approach, Moonlight nodded. His Observation Haki activated as he began dodging!

"Ding! You used Observation Haki and gained 1*100 experience points!"

"Ding! You used Observation Haki and gained 1*100 experience points!"

"..."

"Ding! Observation Haki has leveled up!"

"Observation Haki lv2 1/100000!"

Each use granted 100 experience points. Luffy's attacks came down like a storm, and after a hundred punches, Moonlight's Observation Haki leveled up!

It had reached level 2!

At level 1, Luffy could still hit him a few times. But after reaching level 2, Moonlight could effortlessly sense the movements, presences, and wind from the punches around him, making his dodges even smoother.

Luffy could no longer land a single punch!

"He's incredible! What kind of monster is this guy? Luffy's attacks are like a storm, unbelievably dense, yet he can dodge them casually with his eyes closed. Especially now—Luffy can't land even one punch! He's completely at ease!"

Nami was stunned by the sight!

"Huh? What's going on?"

At that moment, Zoro woke up and sat up from the deck.

He had not woken naturally. Luffy's Gum-Gum Gatling had accidentally hit him, jolting him awake at once!

"What... is this?!"

Then Zoro saw Luffy and Moonlight facing off!

At first, he was shocked and thought the two were fighting. But after seeing the situation clearly, he realized it was nothing like what he had imagined.

Luffy was attacking while Moonlight dodged—with his eyes closed!

What shocked him even more was that even so, Luffy could not hit him even once!

Moonlight dodged with effortless ease, without the slightest strain!

Meanwhile, Luffy had already begun panting!

His stamina was running out!

In the end, he stopped!

"I've got no strength left. I'm so hungry!" Luffy stuck out his tongue, looking utterly famished!