A stupid ox with nothing but muscle!

Trying to bind a monster like him with ordinary rules would only backfire.

The best approach was to make him stronger, strong enough to bear that utterly arrogant sense of "justice" of his.

"I can't agree with your twisted logic, but I can't refute it either."

Only after a long while did Zephyr exhale, as though a weight had been lifted from him.

"But remember this, Lorne. Everything you said rests on one premise-absolute strength."

"'Protection' without strength is a coward's lament. 'Principles' without strength are a weakling's delirious dreams."

Zephyr stood up and looked down at Lorne.

"Tomorrow, I'll show you just how laughable that strength you're so proud of is before someone truly powerful!"

"I'll shatter that brute strength of yours, along with your bones and your dignity, then reshape them!"

"I hope you'll still be able to sit here and preach your grand principles to me then!"

With that, Zephyr turned and strode away, leaving only his cold, rigid back in view.

Lorne watched him leave, the smile on his face growing brighter.

He stretched, and every muscle in his body groaned in satisfaction.

"This really is... getting more and more interesting."

The next day.

Marine Headquarters, third basement level, special training ground number one.

There were no windows here. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made from a special alloy as black as ink, supposedly hard enough to withstand the shock waves of Admiral-level attacks.

Only Lorne and Zephyr stood at the very center of the training ground.

"Boy, are you ready for your baptism in hell?" Zephyr flexed his mechanical arm, the Crusher. Its clacking echoed through the empty chamber, sounding particularly unnerving.

"Teacher, I can hardly wait." Lorne grinned, clenching his fists with a series of cracks.

"Good." Zephyr nodded, his expression turning utterly serious.

"Before we begin, I'll tell you what Armament Haki is."

"That monstrous body of yours and the 'Iron Body' Garp taught you are both essentially external conditioning. They make your body harder than steel by training your muscles to their limits. That defense works against most physical attacks, but against truly powerful opponents, such as top swordsmen or people with special abilities, it's no different from paper."

As Zephyr spoke, he held out his intact left hand.

"Armament Haki, on the other hand, is energy born from 'will.' It's invisible armor, a shield harder than any substance, and at the same time, the sharpest spear!"

Hum!

The moment he finished speaking, a layer of pitch-black substance covered Zephyr's entire left arm. It was a deep, gleaming black, as though it could absorb all the light around it.

An indescribable oppressive force radiated from that arm.

"This is the most basic application of Armament Haki-hardening."

Watching Lorne's golden, beastlike eyes instantly light up, Zephyr explained in a low voice.

"You concentrate your own 'will,' giving it a highly material form and coating your body or weapon with it, greatly increasing your attack and defense. This is standard equipment for powerful fighters entering the New World."

"With it, your fists can strike the solid bodies of those conceited Logia users, and you can weaken or even negate certain Devil Fruit abilities."

"Although your 'Haymaker' can deal True Damage that ignores defense, you have to take damage first. Armament Haki lets every punch you throw under normal conditions carry an 'armor-piercing' effect!"

Zephyr slowly withdrew his Haki, and only then did that suffocating pressure disappear.

"There are no shortcuts to training Armament Haki. It tests your willpower, mental strength, and control over your body."

"For a monster with excess energy like you, the first step is learning to 'sense' and 'concentrate' your will."

Zephyr pointed to a waist-high wooden training post nearby. That post, too, was made from a specially crafted alloy.

"Now, close your eyes. Forget those overbearing muscles of yours. Forget your inexhaustible strength. Feel it with your heart. Imagine a power sleeping inside your body, a unique will belonging to the being known as 'Lorne.'"

"Then try to... awaken it, concentrate it in your fist, and punch."

At those words, Lorne drew a deep breath.

He slowly closed his eyes, his eyelids concealing those golden, beastlike pupils that were usually brimming with arrogance and fighting spirit.

The whole world seemed to fall silent.

Following Zephyr's instructions, he tried hard to empty his mind, not thinking about how his muscles exerted force or how his bones transmitted it.

He began searching inward.

Will... what is my will?

Protection? Battle? Or... that arrogance that refuses to bow to anyone, that insists on holding fate firmly in my own hands?

Images flashed through his mind.

There was his adoptive mother Masha's gentle smile, Garp's damned yet caring "Fist of Love," and those two idiot little brothers, Ace and Luffy...

There was also the Pirates captain's savage expression, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's questioning, and his own declaration that had rung out across the platform.

"My heart and deeds are as clear as a polished mirror. Everything I do is justice!"

That's it!

An inexplicable, burning emotion surged from deep within his heart!

It was a sense of self of the utmost purity! Absolute confidence!

Lorne's eyes snapped open, flames seeming to burn within his golden pupils!

He could feel it!

That power of will sleeping inside him, belonging to him alone!

"Haaah!"

Lorne roared, pouring all his mental strength and will into his right fist before driving it savagely into the Alloy Wooden Post ahead!

He could even feel an invisible energy surging out along his arm!

Now!

Yet...

The scene he had imagined, his fist turning black and the post exploding, never happened.

His fist remained the color of flesh and blood.

Bang!

Lorne's fist slammed squarely into the Alloy Wooden Post.

The result was...

"Aow!"

A piercing scream echoed throughout the underground training ground.

Clutching his right hand, Lorne hopped frantically in place, the pain nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

The Alloy Wooden Post, by contrast, was completely unscathed apart from a shallow fist mark where he had struck it.

Zephyr stood to one side, a huge, cross-shaped vein bulging on his forehead.

He watched Lorne clutching his hand and howling, remained silent for a full three seconds, then roared in exasperation at his hopeless pupil.

"I told you to strike with your 'will'! Not smash it with your fist!!"

"You stupid ox, growing nothing but muscle and no brains!!"

Zephyr's roar brimmed with irrepressible fury.

It seemed that for Lorne, a monster whose physical gifts were maxed out and whose talent for willpower was likewise off the charts, but whose mind worked differently from everyone else's, the road to mastering Armament Haki had only just begun.

And it was destined to be anything but smooth.