Meeting the Two Little Ones Again

"Hey! Lotta, are you home? We're here!"

"You idiot, Luffy, it's Lott! Lott!!"

Luffy's voice arrived before he did.

The moment Lott, who was doing his morning training, heard that voice, he knew the two little ones had come.

"We're here, Lott."

"Oh, Luffy, it's you guys."

"Lott, come see what we brought you."

With a thud, something enormous was dropped in the middle of the camp.

A closer look revealed a gigantic rhinoceros. Judging by its size alone, it weighed a full twenty tons.

Lott nodded at the two of them.

"Ace, Luffy, long time no see."

A month had passed since their last "less-than-pleasant meeting."

Over that month, Lott's strength had steadily increased.

His development of his fruit powers had also begun to hit its stride.

He was growing more proficient with Haki and the Six Powers, but the system had not issued any more missions.

"Did you two hunt this?"

"Yeah! Pretty impressive, right?" Luffy felt his right bicep, looking very proud.

Lott rubbed his chin as he looked at Luffy and teased, "Very impressive, but you probably didn't do much of the work, did you, Luffy?"

"You jerk, Lott! You're looking down on me, aren't you?" As he spoke, he moved to charge at Lott and fight him.

With his teeth bared, Luffy looked just like a honey badger.

Ace quickly held Luffy back at the sight and said with a smile, "Luffy, Lott isn't wrong."

"Damn it, even you're saying that, Ace! Wasn't it my Gum-Gum Pistol that sent it flying at the end?"

Luffy struggled in Ace's arms, roaring.

Ace punched Luffy on the head and said, "We brought it down together. Luffy helped too."

"Right! Exactly!" Luffy hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Ace let go of Luffy, and the two found spots to sit down.

"Hey! Lott, that roast meat last time was so good. Could you... roast some again?"

Before Luffy even finished speaking, his drool was already pooling on the ground. All he could think about now was the taste of roast meat.

Ace was also watching Lott with interest, his expression making it quite obvious.

"Ace, is that what you want too?"

Lott looked at Ace, a question in his eyes.

"I... it's just Luffy who... wants some." Blushing a little, Ace wiped the corner of his mouth.

"Oh? Playing hard to get?"

Lott teleported in front of Ace and poked his cheek.

"Shut up!" Ace turned his head away, refusing to admit it.

Lott teleported back and looked at Ace with a broad smile.

Ace flushed a little under his gaze and said very reluctantly, "I... I want to try your roast meat too."

"Ha ha ha!" Lott threw his head back and laughed.

Looking at the two of them, he felt a little wistful, unsure whether the people of this world were innocent or whether it was just these two.

He remembered how they had come to blows at their last meeting, yet now they acted like old friends who had not seen each other in ages.

"All right. Since you're begging me like this, I suppose I'll reluctantly show off my skills."

With that, Lott stood and strolled over to the giant rhino, habitually rolling up his sleeves.

But he was wearing the T-shirt Makino had given him. What sleeves were there to roll up?

He rubbed his nose in embarrassment, then reached out and pressed his hand against the giant rhino.

"Lott, don't you need to start a fire?" Luffy asked, a little puzzled.

Both Ace and Luffy were surprised by what Lott was doing.

Lott did not answer.

"Electromagnetism: Furnace."

Hearing Lott, Luffy asked in puzzlement, "A Devil Fruit power?"

"It's probably some kind of electric-type or fire-type Devil Fruit." Ace was also guessing at Lott's ability.

"Wow! Lott's amazing! Looks like we'll get to eat roast meat soon."

Luffy produced a knife and fork from somewhere.

His drool pooled on the ground, and even his eyes had turned into roast meat.

An electromagnetic wave flowed from Lott's right hand and acted on the giant rhino's carcass.

Before long, the aroma of roast meat gradually began to rise.

"Wow, that smells so good. Lott, is it done yet? C-can we eat?" Unable to hold back any longer, Luffy came over to the giant rhino.

His knife and fork clattered together.

Lott reached out, conjuring seasoning jars out of thin air one after another, and sprinkled the powders inside over the roast meat.

Once he finished, the seasoning jars vanished into thin air again. "All right, dig in."

"Oh, Lott, you're such a good guy."

With Lott's permission, Luffy could no longer restrain himself. He threw away his knife and fork and lunged at the roast meat.

He was amazed as soon as he tore off his first mouthful. "Hey! Lott, you're getting better and better at roasting meat! This tastes so much better than last time."

Lott pursed his lips. Sure enough, Luffy was never one for manners. Knives and forks are just tools that get in the way, huh?

Lott thoroughly enjoyed Luffy's unreserved praise and put on a rather smug expression. "Of course! Not only am I handsome, but my meat-roasting skills are unrivaled in the East Blue!"

Ace also pressed his palms together before his chest. "Thanks for the food."

"By the way, Lott, what's that Haki you mentioned before?"

Ace's voice was muffled by the piece of roast meat in his mouth.

Hearing the word "Haki," Luffy ran over to the two of them too.

But he held a huge piece of meat on the bone in one hand, with another piece of meat dangling from his mouth. He looked every bit like a starving ghost.

"Oh, Haki?" Lott lifted his head and thought for a moment. "Haki is a power hidden within everyone's body. The difference in strength between someone who has mastered Haki and someone who hasn't is like night and day."

"Is that the power you used last time that really hurt when you hit me?" Luffy rubbed his head with lingering fear.

Lott nodded, then silently said, Armament Haki Hardening.

Lott's right hand turned pitch-black, and he lightly struck a rock beside him.

He seemed to use no force, yet the boulder shattered at the blow.

Lott stood up, his voice calm. "This is Armament Haki."

At the sight, Ace's and Luffy's jaws nearly hit the ground.

Luffy even ran over to the rubble, picked up a few stones, and squeezed them in his hand.

"Th-this... Lott, are you a robot?"

"Well?" Lott withdrew his Armament Haki, and his right hand returned to normal.

"A-awesome!" Luffy was clearly stunned too.

"This is only the beginner level." Lott pursed his lips dismissively. After all, he only knew beginner-level Haki himself.

"Wh-what? This is only the beginner level?" Ace and Luffy found it hard to believe.

"Wait, you said this power is hidden inside everyone's body?" Ace sounded a little excited.

Lott dusted the stone powder off his T-shirt and casually sat on the ground. "Of course. Everyone has it. It's just that most people in the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line haven't developed it."

"Th-then what is Haki?" Luffy was getting a little tongue-tied. It was clear that he too had always wanted to grow stronger.

"Please enlighten us, Mr. Lott." Ace bowed.

"Then I'll explain it to you. Haki is divided into Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki. Armament Haki is...

"There are plenty of people in this world who don't have fruit powers, yet stand at the very top of the world through Haki alone."

Lott began patiently explaining his understanding of Haki.

After hearing Lott's explanation, Ace and Luffy had their horizons broadened. So Haki was this powerful. Confined to their little corner, they had not known just how vast this world was.

"Th-then can we develop this power?" Ace asked, hope on his face.