Chapter 65

The night wind gently stirred over the sea, accompanied by the flow of water, rendering the scene especially serene.

Zefa broke the silence first.

"In the main base of Marineford, Vice Admiral Mole's swordsmanship has reached the level of a swordsage. I've already spoken to him—he'll help you out of respect for me. When you return to Marineford, seek him out for sparring; it will greatly aid your sword skills."

"You've already mastered Shave, Moon Step, and Tempest Kick. I have nothing more to teach you. I'll only say this: all these are taijutsu developed upon a foundation of physical strength. Strengthening your physical base is the most crucial step to improving these techniques."

Zefa drank as he spoke, as if intending to pour out all the words pent up inside him while under the influence.

"You haven't eaten a Devil Fruit—in my view, that's a good thing. Too many fruit users on the sea rely too heavily on their abilities and neglect their foundation. No matter how strong they become, they will inevitably have weaknesses."

"I can sense that your Observation Haki has awakened. Unlike Armament Haki, to enhance Observation Haki, you must push yourself into life-or-death situations more often—only then will your body's instincts activate and elevate your Observation Haki to greater heights."

………

Drunk on alcohol, Zefa poured out all his insights on cultivation and strength, along with his advice for Luo En.

He spoke for nearly an hour.

Throughout, Luo En merely drank and listened, his eyes occasionally flickering with thought.

When the wine was finished.

Zefa had said all he meant to say.

He staggered to his feet from the ground.

"Don't go to the Marine Academy anymore—it's just a waste of time for you now. If you want to grow stronger, fight more powerful opponents, absorb their battlefield experience."

Zefa turned away, his back to Luo En.

His tall, muscular frame, now missing one right arm, carried the air of a hero past his prime.

Before leaving, he added one final remark.

"As long as your current sense of justice remains unchanged, whether you join the Marines or choose not to, I have no objection."

56, The World Government's Intent (4/5)

The next morning.

A flash of yellow light appeared on the sea's surface, then vanished in an instant onto the warship, coalescing into a tall, slender figure clad in a Justice coat.

It was Vice Admiral Huang Yuan, Borsalino.

"Heh, you really took away one of Zefa's arms, didn't you? That Tien Yexia, Doflamingo—what a terrifying power."

Huang Yuan had his hands in his pockets, gazing at Zefa ahead.

His tone was as irritating as ever.

It made A Yin and the other surviving Marine recruits clench their teeth and fists, glaring at him in fury.

"What are you doing here, Huang Yuan?"

Zefa asked, looking at Huang Yuan.

"The Fleet Admiral sent me to escort you and Zefa back safely."

Huang Yuan glanced at his right hand and teased Zefa in his usual slow, irritating tone:

"For a Marine Admiral to be attacked by a pirate is already a disgrace. If something else happens to our non-lethal Admiral, the Marines' prestige will vanish entirely."

Hearing this, A Yin could no longer hold back and shouted at him:

"What do you know?! Teacher Zefa did this for us—"

"A Yin."

Zefa spoke to stop her.

"But Teacher—"

"Say no more."

Zefa looked at Huang Yuan: "Borsalino, you too."

"Yes, yes, yes, Teacher Zefa."

Huang Yuan walked past him, glancing around under the watchful eyes of the Marine recruits.

"By the way, this battle was truly brutal."

"Oh? The special recruit intern is still alive? Seems things are better than I thought."

He spotted Luo En standing in the corner, clutching Lei Qie.

Luo En stared at Huang Yuan before him.

The Logia Shiki Shiki no Mi user.

One of the future Three Admirals!

A top-tier combatant of the sea!

Though he's still a Vice Admiral now, his strength is certainly superior to Zefa's.

Luo En still has a long road ahead to become such a powerhouse.

Huang Yuan, sensing Luo En's gaze, slightly narrowed his eyes beneath his sunglasses.

Yare yare.

What an extraordinary little brat…

………………

………………

Under Huang Yuan's escort, the warship returned safely to Marineford.

Zefa and A Yin and the others were summoned.

As a special recruit intern, Luo En had nothing to do—he returned alone to his quarters.

Lying on the bed.

Luo En closed his eyes, sinking his spirit into the system space to organize the gains from this trip.

Besides gaining quite a bit of Stamina.

He had fully mastered Soru, Geppo, and Rankyaku.

The biggest gain was that during his clash with Doflamingo, he sensed and awakened his Observation Haki.

Although the process was unexpectedly perilous.

But for Luo En, the result was still not bad.

"Zephyr's pointers on my training can also be considered a great gain."

Luo En opened his eyes, thinking to himself.

"The direction for the next phase of training can basically be set now, no need to take any unnecessary detours."

After this encounter with a powerful enemy like Doflamingo, Luo En once again felt his own shortcomings, and his longing to become stronger became intensely urgent once more.

After all.

No enemy will wait for you to grow.

Accidents and dangers always come suddenly.

"Basic physique is still the most important of the important. If there's a chance, I should follow the warship out more often — signing in at various islands for Stamina can greatly accelerate my pace of getting stronger."

"As for swordsmanship, I'm still at the early stage of the Realm of Intent. I need to put more effort into it… I'll go find that Mole later."

"Sun Breathing is also the foundation of my getting stronger. Relying on the permanent buff True Meaning of Tempering, my mastery of Sun Breathing has already reached 89%. The next goal is to push mastery to 100% within three months."

Luo En had a premonition.

Once Sun Breathing mastery hit 100%, he would very likely awaken another ability.

Transparent World!

………………

While Luo En was planning his route to get stronger.

Zephyr was also applying to Sengoku to lead troops against Doflamingo, to avenge those fallen Marine rookies.

Sengoku's reply to him at this time was:

"Assaulting a Marine Admiral, massacring Marine rookies — even if he is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I, Sengoku, as Fleet Admiral, will absolutely not tolerate such a crime."

"However, this matter is of great importance and still requires reporting to the World Government. Zephyr, go back and rest well for now. After I report to the World Government, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."

Zephyr then went back.

After he, along with Ain and the others, finished holding funerals for those Marine rookies and handling all the compensation, and comforting their families.

Five days had already passed.

There was still no word at all from Sengoku's side.

Zephyr really couldn't sit still any longer, so he once again came to Marine Headquarters and found Sengoku.