The Fearless's engine room ran at full power, its enormous paddle wheels slapping the sea and leaving a straight white wake across the vast ocean.
Lorne stood bare-chested in the middle of the deck, letting the salty, damp sea breeze brush over his muscular chest.
Beneath his feet, two shallow footprints marked the once-level deck.
"Rear Admiral, your load is already up to ten tons. Should we add more?"
Holding a notebook, Ethan looked at the enormous specially made alloy steel plate on Lorne's back and could not help swallowing.
"Keep adding. This much weight can't even make me sweat."
Lorne answered without raising his head, then planted both hands on the ground and began doing one-handed push-ups.
With every rise and fall, the muscles on his back writhed as though something alive were moving beneath them, while a golden aura of Grit flickered around the surface of his skin.
"Yes, sir!"
Ethan waved a hand, and several Marines worked together to lift another heavy steel plate, carefully stacking it on Lorne's back.
Boom!
The deck let out a dull groan, as though it might split apart at any moment.
Kuina sat on a nearby barrel, cradling Wado Ichimonji and staring fixedly at Lorne's movements.
"Rear Admiral Lorne, can this kind of purely physical training really strengthen Haki?"
Kuina could not help asking, her eyes full of a thirst for knowledge.
Lorne stopped, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, and turned his head slightly toward her.
"Haki is an extension of the will, and the body is the vessel that holds it."
Lorne stood up and casually flung the dozen-odd tons of steel plates from his back onto the deck, smashing a large hole into it.
"If your vessel isn't strong enough, how can it hold a will