After the mysterious attack that night, the atmosphere on Mount Colubo grew noticeably tense.
Though Dadan still cursed and grumbled, she began restricting how far the four boys could venture, whether deliberately or otherwise. "Things haven't been peaceful out there lately," she muttered, a rare look of worry on her face. "Who knows where that bastard Bluejam found a bunch of tough hired thugs."
Allen knew those people definitely hadn't been Bluejam's men, but he said nothing, merely raising his guard in secret. Every night, he quietly patrolled the area around the hut, the night vision granted by the Torch Dragon allowing him to spot any suspicious movement with ease.
Their training grew even more grueling. That battle had made Ace and the others clearly recognize the gap between themselves and truly powerful fighters.
"Again!" Ace wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, climbed to his feet once more, and charged at Allen.
Allen easily parried his attack. With a flick of his wrist, his wooden stick struck Ace squarely in the chest. "Too impatient. Fighting isn't about who's more ruthless. It's about who stays calmer."
Luffy watched from the side, dumbfounded. "Allen's amazing! He hits Ace every time!"
Sabo leaned on his steel pipe, seeming to grasp something. "Allen can always see through our moves beforehand..."
Early one morning, Allen brought the three of them to a secluded forest clearing. Four cloth-covered cages sat in the middle, with what seemed to be living creatures stirring restlessly inside.
"Today's training is hide-and-seek." Allen lifted the cloths, revealing more than a dozen fierce Mount Colubo monkeys baring their teeth and screeching threateningly inside the cages.
"Huh? We're playing with monkeys?" Luffy stretched his neck curiously.
"The rules are simple." Allen opened the cages, and the monkeys instantly scattered into the forest. "Hide for an hour without letting them find you. If they find you..." He smiled slightly. "You'll get bitten pretty badly."
Ace snorted defiantly. "They're just a few monkeys..."
Before he finished, a monkey suddenly pounced from the canopy, its sharp claws aimed straight at his face! Ace hastily dodged, narrowly escaping, but a slash tore open his sleeve.
"These monkeys have received special training. They're very good at tracking and ambushes," Allen explained. "Now, let the game begin!"
The four boys immediately scattered, each seeking a hiding place. Allen chose a dense treetop, closed his eyes, and focused, extending his Observation Haki to its limit.
Within his perception, the entire forest seemed to become a three-dimensional map. He could "see" the monkeys' movements, "hear" the faint sounds of them darting through the forest, and even "feel" their intent as they searched for prey.
A monkey silently approached Luffy's hiding place. Allen concentrated, sending a faint thought of warning toward him-
Hiding in a hollow tree, Luffy suddenly felt his heart lurch and instinctively ducked his head. Almost simultaneously, a sharp claw swept through the spot where his head had just been!
"That was close!" Luffy broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly moved to another hiding place.
Elsewhere, Ace was struggling under an attack from three monkeys. Agile as he was, he couldn't handle attacks from different directions at the same time.
Allen frowned slightly. He tried sharing his perception with Ace-not specific information, but an intuitive warning of danger.
In the midst of his struggle, Ace suddenly felt a warning flash through his mind and instinctively ducked an ambush from behind. Another intuition immediately followed, making him turn sideways to avoid the claws on his left.
"What's this..." Ace was startled and bewildered, but the fight left him no time to think. With these strange warnings, he gradually turned the tide.
Sabo was in the worst situation. His injured leg severely hampered his movement, and the monkeys soon discovered and surrounded him.
Allen took a deep breath, quietly circulating the Power of Zhulong. He couldn't intervene directly, but he could indirectly influence the environment.
The light around Sabo began to change subtly. Interweaving light and shadow created a visually confusing effect. The monkeys visibly hesitated, their attacks repeatedly missing.
An hour later, training ended. All four had suffered some injuries, but their eyes shone.
"What was that just now?" Ace asked impatiently. "It felt like I could sense where the monkeys were going to attack from!"
Luffy waved his arms excitedly. "Me too! I suddenly knew I had to dodge!"
Sabo seemed to understand something. "The light around me seemed to help..."
Allen smiled slightly. "Those are the first stirrings of Observation Haki. Sensing danger and anticipating attacks are abilities every strong fighter must master."
"Haki?" the three brothers asked in unison, their faces full of curiosity.
Allen briefly explained the concept of Haki without going into depth. For them at this stage, theory mattered far less than practice.
In the training that followed, Allen began deliberately guiding them toward developing Observation Haki. He blindfolded them and attacked with wooden sticks from different directions, training them to dodge on instinct; he brought them beneath a waterfall and had them distinguish specific signals amid the deafening roar of the water.
The results were striking. Ace was the first to get a feel for it and could already occasionally anticipate Allen's attacks; although Luffy's senses were inconsistent, the properties of the Gum-Gum Fruit reduced the damage even when he made mistakes; Sabo took a different approach, beginning to try combining Observation Haki with his steel pipe techniques.
Late one night, Allen practiced alone in the forest. With the Power of Zhulong running at full strength, his perception extended to its limit, covering nearly half of Mount Colubo.
In this state, he sensed many details he normally overlooked: the heartbeats of nocturnal animals, the subtle differences in the wind blowing over different leaves, and even the vibrations of insects crawling underground.
What surprised him most was a strange flow of energy deep underground-it was definitely not a naturally formed pulse, but more like the energy fluctuations of some kind of... artificial object?
Something stirred in Allen's mind. He noted the location and decided to investigate another day.
Outside their other training, Allen also began teaching them the basics of Armament Haki. Though truly awakening Armament Haki at their age was difficult, laying the groundwork early was always worthwhile.
"Feel your power," Allen demonstrated. "Not the strength of your muscles, but the energy flowing inside you. Try gathering it at a single point."
He extended his hand. Where he focused his intent, the faintest metallic sheen appeared on his fingertips-this was the limit of what he could do, still far from hardening.
Ace was the most diligent student. He gave every practice session everything he had, often training to exhaustion. Allen could sense that the attack that night and Sabo's injury had given Ace an extraordinary thirst for power.
That thirst reached its peak one afternoon.
Allen was sparring with Ace when a block sent a numbing shock through Ace's arm, knocking the pipe from his hand.
"Enough!" Ace suddenly growled, a crimson light flashing in his eyes.
Without warning, searing flames erupted from his body! The surrounding temperature shot up, and the vegetation withered and burned at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Ace!" Luffy cried out and tried to rush over, only to be forced back by the heat wave.
Sabo's expression also changed drastically. "This is..."
Golden light flashed in Allen's eyes as he circulated the Power of Zhulong, resisting the scorching waves of air. He was shaken-Ace had actually awakened the Flame-Flame Fruit's ability ahead of time, right now!
The uncontrolled flames spread everywhere, threatening to ignite a forest fire. Allen no longer hesitated and drove the Power of Zhulong to its fullest!
A strange scene unfolded: light began to distort around Allen, forming an invisible force field. Within it, the flames seemed to be suppressed by some power, rapidly shrinking until only the fire around Ace remained.
Panting heavily, Ace stared in shock at his burning hands, then at the contained fire around him, before finally looking at Allen. "You... what did you do?"
Allen dispelled his ability and answered calmly, "A special ability, just like yours." He stepped forward and fearlessly pressed a hand against Ace's still-burning arm. With a slight circulation of the Power of Zhulong, the flames there quietly went out.
"This is..." Ace was dumbfounded.
"A Devil Fruit ability," Allen explained. "It looks like you ate the legendary Flame-Flame Fruit."
Luffy shouted excitedly, "Wow! Can Ace breathe fire now too? That's awesome!"
Sabo asked worriedly, "Are you all right? You scared us to death just now."
Ace looked at his hands, his gaze complicated. "So this is... power?"
That night, the four boys sat in a circle in their secret base, listening to Allen explain Devil Fruits.
"So Luffy's rubber body is also because he ate a Devil Fruit?" Ace said in realization.
Luffy proudly stretched his face. "That's right! I'm a Rubber Man!"
Allen warned them solemnly, "Remember, abilities are only tools. Truly strong fighters rely on their overall strength. And Devil Fruit Users are rejected by the sea. That's a price you have to pay."
He looked at Ace. "Especially you, Ace. Your fire ability is powerful, but if it gets out of control, it'll hurt the people around you. You have to learn to control it."
Over the following days, Ace began practicing controlling his flames. The process was far from smooth, and he nearly started fires several times, with Allen having to contain them in time using the Power of Zhulong.
Allen also began exploring his own abilities more deeply. As a mythical beast that commanded light and darkness, the Torch Dragon's potential went far beyond this.
Late one night, he tried merging the powers of light and darkness in the forest. The two opposing energies collided within his body, producing a peculiar chaotic effect.
Just then, his Observation Haki suddenly surged, expanding his range of perception severalfold! For an instant, he seemed to see fragments of the next few seconds: a night bird would fly past from the southeast, a leaf was about to fall...
Future Sight! Although it lasted only an instant, it was unmistakably an advanced application of Observation Haki!
Allen was ecstatic, but a powerful wave of dizziness immediately followed. This ability was far too draining for him as he was now.
"Still not strong enough..." he murmured, clenching his fists.
During training the next day, Allen brought the three brothers to a cliffside. Below, turbulent waves battered the reefs.
"Today's training is to keep your balance in the waves while dodging the pebbles I throw."
Luffy went pale. "I'm a Devil Fruit User! If I fall in, I'm done for!"
Allen smiled slightly. "That's why we need to train. Truly strong fighters don't let their weaknesses get exploited easily."
He was the first to leap onto a reef. Amid the surging waves, his body rose and fell naturally with the water, as though he had become one with the sea.
Ace gritted his teeth and jumped down after him. Sabo and Luffy exchanged a glance, then steeled themselves and followed.
Training began. Standing on the shore, Allen threw pebbles at them with precision. Dodging on the slippery reefs was already difficult, and they also had to withstand the crashing waves-the difficulty was easy to imagine.
Gradually, however, something wonderful happened. In their intensely focused state, the three brothers' Observation Haki perceptions grew increasingly clear. They began anticipating the rise and fall of the waves and sensing the pebbles' trajectories beforehand.
Ace was the first to find the rhythm. He moved nimbly between the reefs, flames occasionally erupting beneath his feet to help him change direction in an instant.
Luffy made full use of his rubber properties, grabbing the reefs in time even when he lost his balance.
Sabo was the most surprising. His injured leg prevented him from moving as nimbly as the others, so he took another approach-combining Observation Haki with his steel pipe techniques, he precisely deflected the incoming pebbles with his pipe!
When training ended, all four lay exhausted on the beach, but their eyes sparkled with excitement.
"I think... I can 'feel' things more clearly now," Luffy said, stretching his rubber arms.
Ace nodded. "The waves, the pebbles, even the movement of the wind... I can sense them all beforehand."
Leaning on his steel pipe, Sabo smiled. "Looks like being disabled isn't entirely bad. It helped me find a new way to fight."
Allen looked at his three younger brothers, filled with gratification. They were growing faster than expected, particularly in Observation Haki, where they were already far ahead of others their age.
Yet alongside his joy, a trace of unease lingered in his heart. The World Government's shadow had yet to fade, and the early awakening of Ace's ability might draw more attention.
After night fell, Allen went alone to the place where he had previously sensed the unusual energy fluctuations. It was a seemingly ordinary forest clearing, but deep underground, something was indeed emitting faint fluctuations of energy.
He tried investigating with the Power of Zhulong, but the energy seemed to be blocked by some kind of barrier.
"I need more power..." Allen murmured.
When he returned to the bandits' hut, he found Ace sitting alone on the roof, gazing absently at the stars.
"Still thinking about your ability?" Allen leaped onto the roof and sat beside him.
After a moment of silence, Ace asked softly, "Allen, having this kind of power... is it good or bad?"
"Power itself is neither good nor bad. What matters is how you use it." Allen looked into the distance. "Using it to protect what matters is good; using it to hurt the innocent is bad."
Ace lowered his head. "My father... he had the greatest power in the world, but he used it for conquest and destruction."
Allen knew he meant Roger. "But you're different, Ace. You're you, and your father is your father. You have the right to choose your own path."
The two silently gazed at the stars. The night wind swept through the forest, carrying scents from afar.
Allen's Observation Haki suddenly picked up something unusual-far away, several powerful presences were rapidly approaching Mount Colubo. Their auras were cold and orderly, exactly like those of the attackers that night.
"Go back inside and get some sleep, Ace," Allen said calmly. "We still have training tomorrow."
Once Ace went inside, Allen's gaze sharpened. He silently melted into the night, slipping toward the approaching presences.
The Power of Zhulong circulated within him, his golden slit pupils gleaming coldly in the darkness.
What was bound to come had finally arrived.