Development X Body X Training

When Jiang Ye pushed open the container's iron door, Iron Wall was pacing back and forth by the entrance.

Gray Beak leaned against an iron rack nearby, while Shattered Eye squatted on the steps. The moment the three saw Jiang Ye come in, their shoulders relaxed almost at once.

Iron Wall went to meet him, but swallowed the words on his lips.

He first looked Jiang Ye up and down to make sure he had no new wounds before speaking.

"Grey Elder..."

"We're done talking."

Jiang Ye walked over to the table and sat down. He picked up the cup of water, now completely cold, and took a sip, then briefly recounted Grey Elder's terms and their negotiations.

"He said we could act freely in District 13, but he reserved the right to give the final orders."

Jiang Ye put the cup back on the table and looked over the three of them.

"Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"The territory is ours, the businesses are ours, and all he has to do is nod from above."

Iron Wall said nothing.

"But you should understand, too."

Jiang Ye leaned back in his chair.

"Grey Elder needs time to secure his position as an elder."

"We need time to develop, too."

"This period of peace won't last long."

Gray Beak took half a step forward and asked hesitantly,

"Then should we... do something while we can?"

Jiang Ye glanced at him, the corner of his mouth curving up.

"Do what you've been doing all along."

"Iron Wall manages the people, Gray Beak handles the businesses, and Shattered Eye watches the intelligence."

"The Rust Remains Alliance has the framework of a hundred and fifty men now, but its foundation is scattered."

"Whip those newly surrendered men into shape, integrate the three groups' businesses into a single operation, and spread the intelligence network to every corner of District 13."

Jiang Ye paused, narrowing his eyes slightly before continuing.

"Grey Elder is betting we won't manage to develop."

"Then let's make him lose that bet."

Iron Wall unclenched his fists.

He exchanged looks with Gray Beak and Shattered Eye, and all three dropped to one knee at the same time.

"Yes."

When Iron Wall stood up, his shoulders were a little straighter than when he had come in.

He turned and strode out the door, Gray Beak following behind him. Shattered Eye sprang up from the steps, and the three headed off in different directions.

Jiang Ye sat behind the table, listening to their footsteps gradually fade away.

After the door closed, the room fell quiet.

He sat alone behind the old wooden table and looked down at his hands.

His fingers were slender, with prominent knuckles, and his palms still bore old scars from the rubble that had cut him when he tamed Toad.

He turned his hands over, then back again, weighing in his mind how much they could hold.

Then he stood and walked to the window, looking out at the gray daylight, a multitude of thoughts running through his mind.

The Rust Remains Alliance was running in an orderly manner.

Iron Wall would keep the surrendered men in line, Gray Beak would sort out the accounts, and Shattered Eye would spread his eyes throughout District 13.

They could do everything they were capable of doing.

But within this structure, he couldn't be merely a figurehead presiding over it.

Jiang Ye stood against the windowsill for a while.

He slowly gathered the scattered thoughts in his mind.

He didn't have many trump cards he could use in a fight.

Divine Dog: Totality, Rabbit Escape, and Toad-three Shikigami.

They were already enough against ordinary people and low-level Nen users, but if his opponent was an Enhancement Nen user on Nubia's level, or a trump card Grey Elder might have hidden away, he wouldn't last long.

His battle with Tie Liao had already exposed a problem.

His Aura reserves were growing and his Shikigami were increasing in number, but his body couldn't keep up.

When he kept Divine Dog: Totality and Rabbit Escape out at the same time, the Aura consumption would rapidly drain his stamina.

After the fight with Tie Liao, he had distinctly felt himself struggling to keep going.

If Tie Liao had still had another move up his sleeve, there was no telling who would have won.

Nen was life energy, and the body was its vessel.

If the vessel was too thin, no matter how much water it held, it would only overflow.

He thought of Gon and Killua from the original story.

Before they learned Nen, they had already pushed open the Testing Gate and tempered their bodies to a certain level.

Their bodies had been honed before they learned Nen.

The same was true of Chrollo.

The environment in Meteor City was itself an asura battlefield. A vagrant who survived to adulthood couldn't have a poor physical foundation.

But he had transmigrated here.

This twelve-year-old body had spent more than a decade in Meteor City's outer district picking through garbage, going hungry, and sleeping in corrugated-metal shacks.

Malnutrition, muscle atrophy, stunted skeletal development.

These weren't problems a Nen Ability could solve.

He took a deep breath and pushed the window open a crack.

Cold air poured in, carrying the smell of rust and dust.

"I need to train."

Jiang Ye had long since made a plan for how to train.

First, strength training.

Netero's punching practice, Killua pushing the gate, Gon smashing rocks-in the end, they were all about pushing the body's limits further.

Meteor City had no shortage of scrap iron and rocks, so he could use them to add weight.

Second, endurance and stamina.

Aura consumption and physical exertion were tied together.

When his stamina ran out, his Aura would be like water with no source.

He needed the foundation to keep his body going. Running, jumping, carrying weights, maintaining Ten for long periods-he had to train in all of them.

Third, resistance to blows.

Toad could block an explosion, but couldn't shield him from the shock.

Ten could only cushion the impact; he had to rely on his own body to withstand the shockwaves.

He couldn't count on someone taking a blade for him every time.

Once an enemy's Nen attack landed, the shock would travel into his body.

If his body was weak, his internal organs could rupture even if he looked fine on the outside.

Fourth, combat skills.

No matter how strong the Shikigami were, if their user couldn't even throw a punch accurately, it was as good as handing over the remote control.

He remembered what Biscuit had said in the original story.

No matter how powerful a Nen Ability was, if its user's combat fundamentals were too poor, someone with solid fundamentals would still crush them.

Fifth, sensory and bodily awareness training.

Gyo used Aura to amplify the senses, but if his own eyes and ears were too dull, there was a limit to how much amplification could do.

He needed to be able to notice signs of danger even without using Gyo.

Sixth, recovery.

This was the easiest to overlook.

The body didn't grow stronger just from training; it grew stronger only after getting enough rest afterward.

Endless overexertion would only leave hidden injuries.

Six areas sounded like a lot, but in practice, it really came down to just a few things.

Run, jump, lift, take hits, dodge, eat, sleep.

Standing by the window, Jiang Ye finished the last mouthful of cold water in his cup. Then he turned and walked to the table, picked up the old-fashioned telephone Gray Beak had dug out of the Shattered Iron Group's warehouse, and dialed the number Iron Wall had just left him.

Static crackled in the receiver a few times, then Iron Wall's voice came through.

"Boss?"

"Come over here."