Marine Headquarters
Fleet Admiral "Steel Bones" Kong slammed the newly delivered newspaper onto the table, his face turning ashen.
He was fully aware of the arrangements made by the Sengoku and had always supported them. However, now that news of Roy and his group's deeds had spread, and the newspapers were deliberately exaggerating Zephyr's injuries, he was furious.
"Asshole!!"
Kong's large, clenched hand suddenly, crumpling the entire newspaper into a ball.
Turning to look at the staff officer, Crane,
"There must be spies from other factions within the ' Tsuru ' navy. Investigate immediately! If I find them, I'll make them pay."
Staff Officer Tsuru put down his newspaper and looked at the furious Fleet Admiral. He knew that there must be spies from other forces within the navy, but given the size of the navy, it was impossible to eliminate them all.
"I understand what you mean, but the news has already spread."
"Our priority is to mitigate the impact of this incident."
"Such a big thing has happened, the Navy must clarify the situation regarding Zephyr! First, they need to reassure the public."
"As for the spies in the navy, that's a matter to be dealt with last."
As the backbone of maintaining order at sea, the navy is vulnerable to a devastating blow if rumors of Admiral's "disastrous defeat" spread, which would shake public trust and severely damage future recruitment and prestige.
This is detrimental to the future development of the navy.
After listening to Staff Officer Tsuru's analysis, Kong understood the priorities of the matter. After a moment's thought, he gave the order.
"Immediately arrange for the intelligence department to send a message to mitigate the impact and clarify the exaggerated claims about Zephyr's injuries in the reports."
"Notify Morgans ' Big News Morgans ' to immediately cease publication in the newspaper, or the Navy will severely punish him!"
"Also, you'll be in charge of arranging the spies, ' Tsuru '."
"Yes!"
After receiving the orders, the naval personnel got to work.
On the vast blue sea, the White Dove is sailing towards its designated destination.
After a night's rest, and with the life energy from the Pea and the nourishing food, Roy, Bullet, and Hawk Eyes looked much better.
However, the damage caused by internal injuries cannot be fully recovered in a short period of time.
"This time... we went a bit too far."
Roy leaned against the gunwale, feeling the weakness coursing through his body, and said with a wry smile.
"Hmph! That guy's got some nerve!"
Bullet moved his still somewhat sore arms, the movement aggravating his wounds.
He grimaced and bared his teeth, but he still seemed a bit defiant.
"Next time we meet, I'm going to smash that guy's ' Black Arm ' to pieces!"
"Tch, you really dare to say that!"
"What do you mean!?"
Seeing Bullet's glare, Roy waved his hands repeatedly.
Oh, don't worry about it!
" Zephyr is indeed strong, especially in terms of Armament Haki. Although it's unrealistic to expect him to shatter Black Arm next time we meet, it's not without its lessons."
This battle allowed Roy to successfully learn the secret of Zephyr's Armament Haki.
Unlike techniques of internal destruction,
Internal destruction simply allows Armament Haki to flow across the surface of the body it's attached to, thus invading the body and causing damage.
It does not enhance the quality and hardness of one's own Armament Haki.
According to Roy's prior knowledge, Armament Haki can only be strengthened and improved through repeated clashes with them.
But now, with Zephyr's Armament Haki training method, one can train on their own and continuously strengthen their Armament Haki.
This made Roy feel that it was all worthwhile.
"Oh? What did you find?" Bullet asked curiously.
Roy didn't answer directly; instead, he beckoned the others on the ship over.
Once everyone had gathered, Roy raised his palm and concentrated his Armament Haki.
"You all know that Armament Haki needs to be improved through battle and training, right?"
Roy looked at everyone,
"But Zephyr's Armament Haki is far stronger than that of other experts of the same level,"
"So what! Give me time and I can do it too."
Bullet crossed his arms and spoke with a firm tone, but his eyes became more serious.
The problem is that he found a 'shortcut' to cultivating Haki.
It's no longer just about being beaten and fighting, but about tempering oneself internally, directly increasing the strength of Armament Haki.
" Internal Forging?"
Hawk Eyes keenly grasped the key words, a glint of interest flashing in his eyes.
"That's right."
Roy nodded.
"While you were fighting Zephyr, I was constantly observing him with my mental energy, watching the changes in his Armament Haki."
"Based on my deduction, Zephyr's Armament Haki is not static within his body during his regular training."
Instead, it functions like a second circulatory system, constantly surging, colliding, compressing, and condensing within the spaces between blood vessels, muscles, and bones as the blood accelerates its flow!
Roy raised a finger, and Armament Haki slowly wrapped around it.
"Ordinary Armament Haki application simply involves extracting 'ki' and covering it on the body or weapons."
Zephyr's technique involves allowing the 'qi' to undergo a round of 'forging' within the body.
Savi scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.
"That sounds impressive, but how exactly do you do it?"
"The key lies in the Life Return, and I suspect that even mastering the Life Return is only the beginning."
Roy looked around at his friends,
"This technique requires an extreme level of control over the body to guide the energy of Armament Haki through the bloodstream, completing this internal forging."
Hearing this, everyone was disappointed. Among them, only Roy, Savi, and Tesoro had the power to Life Return.
Others only learned a few of the six types of the Six Powers, unlike Savi and Tesoro.
Savi focused on training since joining the crew because his Devil Fruit ability was perfectly suited to the Six Powers fighting style.
Tesoro could only rely on physical skills to survive before eating the Devil Fruit, so he diligently practiced the Six Powers to build a foundation.
Roy, on the other hand, did so purely because of his powerful mental strength.
As for Roy, he simply relied on his powerful mental strength and natural ability to have a high degree of control over his body, making the Life Return technique almost instantly accessible to him.
"It seems we underestimated the Six Powers," Bullet remarked.
"Who says otherwise!"
Roy deeply agreed.
"When we first got the Six Powers Training Manual, we all just considered it a combat technique."
"It now appears that this training system is far more sophisticated than we imagined."
Hawk Eyes pondered, " Life Return, as the ultimate secret of the Six Powers, indeed contains infinite possibilities. It's just that most people can't even master the basic Six Powers, let alone reach this level."
"Alright,"
Roy clapped his hands.
"From today onward, everyone must re-emphasize the cultivation of the Six Powers, especially the Life Return, which may be the key to a higher realm."
After everyone dispersed with their own thoughts, Roy sat down cross-legged on the deck again, his body steaming with heat.
With eyes closed, powerful mental energy acts like the most sophisticated scanner.
I began to meticulously perceive the flow of every bit of energy within my body.