Armament Haki Training

The Celestial Dragons descended from the Twenty Kings who founded the World Government. Some, like Alabasta, had left along the way, so strictly speaking, there were only nineteen families in the Holy Land.

On top of that, their bloodlines were controlled: children born to commoners were not eligible to inherit Celestial Dragon status.

With his excellent mathematical skills, Lu Ye immediately worked it out in his head: everyone in this so-called Holy Land was a fucking relative within five generations!

Inbreeding was an old noble tradition.

By now, Lu Ye had dispatched several batches of useless relatives who refused to go to bed and rise early, and had tried to violently shut down the giant alarm clock, Longinus.

The "dis" came from punches filled with love.

The "patched" came with a funeral.

As everyone knew, that was another noble tradition.

Without a history of killing one's father and brothers, one's nobility was worth somewhat less.

"Lord Saint Longinus, your talent is even better than I imagined.

Your stamina, strength, precision, and muscle coordination are all excellent, but there's one obvious shortcoming..."

Hoffman, with his leopard-like head and round eyes, bent his knees slightly. A surging fighting spirit suddenly rose in his eyes, and he punched at the empty street.

Riiip-boom!

The air seemed to tear open in an instant. A savage behemoth roared out of his fist, and the fallen leaves within two or three hundred meters were ground to dust.

"Nice! Fucking awesome!"

Lu Ye sat cross-legged on the trailer, a golden feather cloak draped over his shoulders and a beast's leg clenched between his teeth, clapping like mad.

A high-martial world was just too great!

If I, a Double-flower Red Pole, had known this back then, even the queen of the Sunset Empire would have had to lick my boots.

"This is the power of Haki. Only by imbuing your fist with an indestructible will can your punches overcome everything in their path.

"Haki is the essence of the body's power. It can stand above all other powers!"

Hoffman bowed his head slightly.

"Lord Saint Longinus, in terms of fighting technique alone, you are the most gifted person I've ever seen. If I hadn't watched you grow up, I would truly think you were a martial artist who had immersed himself in the art for many years.

"But I would like to offer you a friendly reminder: against more powerful Haki, all physical techniques are nothing but flashy moves."

As he spoke, Hoffman removed his outer garment and rolled his right shirt sleeve up to his elbow, revealing a well-defined forearm.

He exerted a little force, and with a soft hum, pitch-black Armament Haki covered his arm.

Its color was close to that of Lu Ye's palms, but it was visibly denser, and its metallic sheen was brighter.

"This is Hardening. By covering the body with Armament Haki, you can make it harder than steel. It's useful for both offense and defense."

Hoffman raised one finger. The Armament Haki vanished from his arm and concentrated entirely on that finger.

"The energy contained in each person's body is limited. Skilled use of Armament Haki lets us send it where we want it to go, reducing the amount of Haki wasted.

"This is an extremely practical technique, and it's also the goal of your next stage of training, Lord Saint Longinus.

"Lord Saint Garling once said:

"'The Armament Haki you cannot turn off can help you understand Armament Haki in the early stages. But if you remain unable to control it, you may never join the ranks of the truly strong.'"

Lu Ye looked at his pitch-black palms, feeling a little uneasy.

His hands weren't simply covered in Armament Haki, but in the Dark-type energy brought by the [Hangry] Ability. To resolve the problem, he would probably have to remove the Ability from his body entirely.

As for how to remove it, Jinbao's answer was: it automatically unbinds upon reincarnation.

Reincarnate my ass! That's fucking evil!

The solution Lu Ye had come up with was to keep increasing his body's total energy, thereby increasing how long he could last and eliminating his fear of running out in standby mode.

As a baby, Lu Ye could last only fifteen minutes. Now, at three and a half years old and 1.5 meters tall, he could last thirty minutes.

Once he became a ten-meter-tall, muscular, peerless hunk, what would the constant drain from a pair of hands amount to?

Piece of cake!

"Next, I'll show you the directions in which you can further develop your Armament Haki, Lord Saint Longinus."

Hoffman picked up a dried stalk of grass. Pitch-black Armament Haki flowed over it like water, and with a wave of his arm, he sliced the silver tray of meat in Lu Ye's hands in two.

The Haki faded, leaving the delicate stalk of grass completely unharmed.

"This is Armament Haki Infusion. It allows you to imbue an object with your Haki, giving it properties such as toughness and sharpness and greatly improving its effectiveness in combat.

"Once proficient, you can even preserve those properties for a short time after the object leaves your body. Skilled fighters who use firearms or bows can imbue bullets and arrows with Haki.

"It's worth mentioning that prolonged exposure to Armament Haki may permanently imbue an object with Haki. That's the truth behind the forging of the legendary Black Blade."

Next, Hoffman covered his finger in Armament Haki and pointed at a boulder over a meter away. A surge of energy shot from his finger, and the boulder exploded with a boom.

"Flying Finger Pistol!"

Lu Ye was a little excited. He'd seen this before...

Ptooey, I'd been hit by this before. It hurt like hell!

"The principle is similar."

Hoffman explained:

"Flying Finger Pistol is an extension of Shigan, one of the Six Powers. It likewise compresses and releases one's physical energy, but compared with Haki, that power is far less pure.

"What I used was the outward flow of Armament Haki. Once you've mastered covering and infusing things with Armament Haki, you can go on to master its fluidity and use that to project Haki outward, creating a powerful impact.

"On the seas, this technique is also called Ryuo."

Finally, Hoffman touched his finger to a covered serving dish.

Bang!

There was a soft sound, and the lid remained intact.

When he lifted the lid, the chocolate crepe inside had been reduced to a puddle of hot chocolate milkshake.

"This is Armament Haki Internal Destruction. It's released on the surface, but causes damage inside.

"If you've mastered this technique, it will be especially useful against enemies with powerful defenses."

Lu Ye raised his hand and asked, "Then this Internal Destruction is the final form of Armament Haki, right?"

Hoffman shook his head. "Only Armament Haki fused with Conqueror's Haki deserves to be called its final form in the true sense.

"And only the very strongest on the seas are qualified to master that fusion technique. Of everyone I know, Lord Saint Garling is the only one."

With that, the corners of Hoffman's mouth trembled upward, giving Lu Ye an encouraging smile...

Uh, let's call it encouragement.

It was already hard enough for someone with a deadpan face to smile.

Lu Ye looked at his fists. As he ate, the pitch-black Armament Haki had receded to his wrists, making it look as if he were wearing a pair of sturdy gloves.

These hands had opened a window for Lu Ye, allowing him to glimpse the true face of immense power. But if he wanted to wield it with real proficiency, he could only practice again and again.

Only the truly strong could carry out their will on these seas.

Schemes and tricks were ultimately things that couldn't be brought into the open.

Lu Ye jumped down from the trailer. Sensing the Armament Haki surging over his palms, he punched a heavy iron ball.

In his previous life, he had fought his way to becoming a Double-flower Red Pole, and he could do the same in this life.

Besides, this time Officer Lu had come with a cheat...

[Hangry] allowed him to quickly recover from injuries and regain lost stamina by eating.

[Insomnia] gave Lu Ye twice as much time to be active as other people.

[Timidity] kept [Strongman]'s doubled strength active as its normal state.

A super Pallet Town person's bizarre physique was a rather terrifying gift in the world of the Pirate King too.

Jinbao had once held a phone and complained:

"Well, without any systematic physical training, at ten years old...

"He held a one-ton Nebula Pokémon in his bare hands without batting an eye...

"Tucked two sheep under his arms and made standing long jumps of dozens of meters between cliffs...

"Smashed the energy shield of the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo with one punch...

"Kept a six-kilogram Pikachu on his neck for ages without developing spinal problems...

"With a body tough enough to tear tigers and leopards apart, his dream was to become a Pokémon Master?

"How humble. How is that any different from using a guandao to slice a hasselback cucumber?"

At the time, Lu Ye had jolted to his feet and looked around. "A guandao? Where? Where's the guandao..."