Chapter 16: Three-Colored Haki

"Here it comes!"

Gao Wen's eyes lit up.

The sheer power of the Slash Death skill needed no elaboration, especially since he possessed neural reaction speeds fast enough to keep up with Slash Death's hyper-speed.

Once he mastered this ability, Gao Wen's combat power would truly undergo a qualitative transformation.

Originally, his rating was at the limit of Iron; breaking through again would allow him to step into Bronze.

And a Bronze-level figure could count as someone of note in the first half of the Grand Line; placed in the East Blue, that would be absolute slaughter.

However.

Currently, this skill's level was only 0, meaning it had just awakened, was not yet mastered, and could not be applied to actual combat.

Gao Wen was not in a rush for this moment.

After all, Xiang Keluo was already at the level of a grinding king; now that he had found his goal, it was even more so.

It was true he longed for a peaceful and comfortable life, but to achieve his own goals, he was not only ruthless to others but even more ruthless to himself.

Just looking at the bruises all over Xiang Keluo's body after his daily training ended made Gao Wen feel a chill of shock, yet also feel increasingly gratified.

Leeks should just throw themselves into desperate cultivation like this; unlike the ones doing the cutting, who had so many more things to consider.

Gao Wen smiled knowingly, then stood up and walked toward the training room on the warship.

At this moment.

It was already deep into the night.

Chills of cold wind blew in from outside the window from time to time.

On the warship, apart from the pirates responsible for night watch and navigation, almost everyone else had entered the cabins to rest.

Only in the training room could the sound of violent collisions be heard from time to time; clearly, Xiang Keluo was still training.

The potential of the Bronze level meant not only that his ceiling was higher, but also that his body possessed endurance far surpassing that of ordinary people.

Due to the uncontrollability of the Slash Death skill, this place had almost become Xiang Keluo's personal training ground.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

In the high-speed state of Slash Death, Xiang Keluo constantly collided with the walls; even with protective pads, it was unavoidable that he would leave streaks of bruises on his body.

But he showed no sign of stopping at all; instead, he squeezed his body's potential even more intensely.

His speed grew faster and faster, but accompanying it was the fact that this move became increasingly difficult to control; his neural reaction speed greatly limited his improvement.

At the same time, he grew increasingly curious about how Gao Wen had seen through the speed of Slash Death.

Thoughts surged in his mind as Xiang Keluo's figure gradually slowed down; he placed both hands on his knees, gasping for air, his whole body drenched in sweat as if pulled out of water.

"Captain?!"

Only then did Xiang Keluo notice that the door to the training room had been opened long ago, and Gao Wen was standing at the doorway, looking at him indifferently.

Without a shred of hesitation.

Xiang Keluo directly voiced the doubt in his heart:

"How exactly did you do it?"

"To even see through the speed of Slash Death!"

As long as the problem of Slash Death's uncontrollability was solved, Xiang Keluo's combat power would skyrocket; even facing the current Gao Wen, he would not lack the ability to fight.

By then, who would be whose subordinate would be hard to say; moreover, after entering the Grand Line, the one to take on the title of Warlord might not be anyone else but me!

Xiang Keluo thought thus in his heart, but his face showed not a shred of it; he merely wore the appearance of someone sincerely seeking instruction.

Gao Wen did not see through Xiang Keluo's little schemes; even if he did, he would not care.

After all, for every one point of progress you make, I can make ten; in such a situation, if I still fail, then you should be the captain.

In fact, if toppling himself as captain could make his subordinates grind harder, Gao Wen would have loved to paste his own photo on the target used for training.

Gao Wen looked at Xiang Keluo and spoke:

"It's innate, but if you want to improve the controllability of Slash Death, there is a way."

"Physical modification to increase neural reaction speed, or special Devil Fruits, can all achieve immediate results."

Xiang Keluo shook his head, his expression somewhat disappointed:

"I have thought of all these methods."

"The failure rate of physical modification is high, and I have not heard of any place capable of modifying nerves, while Devil Fruits are rare to begin with; those capable of increasing neural reaction speed are even rarer."

"Is there absolutely no possibility of completing this move?"

"That is not necessarily the case."

Seeing the timing was about right, Gao Wen stopped teasing Xiang Keluo's appetite:

"Inside everyone's body lurks a power named Haki."

"Armament Haki, attached to the body or weapons, directly enhancing offensive and defensive capabilities; Conqueror's Haki, the kingly quality found in one in a million, capable of intimidating opponents spiritually; and..."

"Observation Haki, a sixth sense beyond the five senses, capable of seeing enemies behind or outside one's field of vision, and reading the opponent's actions beforehand."

"And Observation Haki can perfectly solve the problem of Slash Death!"

"Haki?"

Xiang Keluo's eyes lit up:

"Captain, you mastered this power only then..."

"No, I simply have extremely fast neural reflexes."

Saying this, Gao Wen helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

Xiang Keluo's mouth twitched; his heart grew even more determined to overturn the man before him and reclaim his position as captain.

Gao Wen continued:

"In the Grand Line, especially in the seas of the New World in the latter half of the Grand Line, masters of Haki are everywhere. One could even say that without Haki, survival in such a world is impossible."

"You can try to see if you can awaken Observation Haki."

"Close your five senses and try to rely on intuition to clearly perceive the opponents around you."

"Intuition, huh..."

Xiang Keluo wore a thoughtful expression.

After pondering for a moment,

he found a strip of cloth to bind around his eyes and began trying to rely on that vague intuition to perceive the surrounding environment.

Boom!

Xiang Keluo activated the Skill, and his entire body immediately lost control, crashing into the wall. He nearly smashed the protective padding to pieces, followed immediately by a series of dense thuds.

"Sss~!"

Gao Wen sucked in a sharp breath; the scene looked painful just to watch.

He simply turned and left.

Time flew, and it was already deep into the night. The commotion in the training room gradually subsided. Xiang Keluo, having removed the cloth strip, gritted his teeth in pain and burst into curses:

"Are you messing with me?!"

"What sixth sense beyond the five senses? Are you fooling a ghost?!"

Gao Wen, already asleep, rolled over and turned his head, sleeping even more soundly.

The next day.

Xiang Keluo did not train as usual.

Gao Wen had intended to go and ask the reason.

But when he saw Xiang Keluo covered in bandages and wearing an expression as if he wanted to eat people, he could only awkwardly offer a polite smile:

"You know, such things cannot be rushed."

"Get lost!"

Xiang Keluo turned red with anger; if not for his injuries and the fact that he truly couldn't defeat the other, he would have really attacked.

However, he did not give up on this account.

Though resentment filled his heart, he understood even more clearly that Gao Wen would not lie to him about such matters.

First, he would soon follow Gao Wen to the Grand Line; if it were a lie, it would be exposed immediately.

Second, given Gao Wen's character, he would not lie about something like this.

Thus, on the mere third day, Xiang Keluo, whose injuries had barely recovered, began trying to cultivate Observation Haki again, and, as expected, ended up in the medical room once more.

Both hands fractured, with multiple soft tissue contusions.

Even with his physique, he could not hope to enter the training room again for half a month.

Gao Wen, looking at the system panel where the Skill had just reached LV-1, could not stop smiling.

(End of Chapter)