Chapter 39: Preparation
The seven-day clothing-making test that Sister La set for Aoxi and Obei was actually not intended to be deliberately difficult.
In her cognition, weaving clothes with her own divine power was just a casual little thing, like an ordinary handicraft work.
Even if Aoxi and the others’ control over power was not as good as hers, the full seven days was completely enough time for them to complete this assignment. As for the so-called punishment of making them ‘bare-assed’, it was simply to make them take this matter to heart.
After all, even if she really removed the clothes from their bodies, they could completely wear ordinary clothes.
It was not the time on the desert island now; in the town alone, there were several shops specializing in women’s clothes.
……
In the following days, Sister La accompanied them to practice Haki in the mornings and let them move freely in the afternoons.
Emphasizing a balance of work and rest, with proper tension and relaxation.
Of course, the Haki training was also conducted in a practical combat style as Sister La had said before.
However, unlike what Aoxi and Obei had imagined—being directly hammered with fists wrapped in Armament Haki until their heads were full of bumps—Sister La’s teaching method was both gentle and fun.
“Hah! Thunderclap Fist!”
A fist carrying explosive momentum went straight toward Sister La’s back, but she easily dodged it without looking back.
At the same time, a gang wind carrying destructive power also missed after her casual sidestep, instead striking Aoxi whose fist momentum could not stop.
“Qua! That hurts!”
Caught off guard by the fist wind striking her face, the red-haired girl couldn’t help but let out a cry of pain.
“Sister La, didn’t you say we were training our Haki? Why haven’t Obei and I touched you once all morning?”
“Did you use Haki?” the blonde girl countered.
“Uh…”
“Attacks without Haki won’t hit me~”
This was the training method Sister La came up with: every time the two used their authority or attacked with pure brute force, Sister La would lightly dodge, not giving them any chance to touch her.
Only when their attacks began to be coated with Haki would Sister La give some positive feedback, like blocking a punch and pretending to retreat a few steps, or making an appropriate counterattack.
In short, Sister La was deliberately making Aoxi and the others treat her as a BOSS that could only be hit with Haki, using this feedback to make coating Haki into a subconscious habit for them.
Under this training similar to ‘disabling the normal attack key’, Aoxi and Obei became more and more proficient and adept at applying Haki in actual combat.
…………
Peaceful days always pass particularly quickly.
In the blink of an eye, five days later, the three who went out—Kaido and his group—returned to the island.
“Is that Boss Kaido? Boss Kaido is back!”
After seeing Kaido’s massive figure descending from the sky from afar, the crew members gathered one after another.
Some had already begun to guess if there was going to be some action recently.
After all, although Kaido often disappeared for several days in the past, he would generally leave executives like Ember to ensure the stronghold’s combat power.
But this time, he unusually took two executives away at the same time, leaving only Sister La who had just joined, so there must be something about to happen behind this unusual move.
And as they expected, as soon as Kaido landed, he directly announced the alliance with the Golden Lion and BIG MOM.
“Uro-ro-ro-ro~ Listen up, lads! I’m announcing something—” Kaido raised his wolf fang club high, freely stirring up the emotions of the pirates below.
“From now on, the Beasts Pirates will form a pirate alliance with the Flying Pirates and BIG MOM’s pirate crew to attack Hachinosu Island together and seize Rocks’ treasure!”
!!!
“Oh oh oh oh!” * n
The Beasts Pirates were stunned for a moment upon hearing Kaido’s words, then erupted in cheers like a tsunami.
“Haha! Finally going to deal with those bastards on Hachinosu Island!”
“Good! I’ve been furious lately from being provoked by those bastards!”
“Flying Pirates, is that the pirate crew of Golden Lion Shiki?”
“And BIG MOM’s pirate crew, all famous major factions in the New World! Now Rocks’ treasure is within easy reach, right?”
“Hehe, I wonder what’s in the treasure of the former sea overlord—maybe famous swords and powerful Devil Fruits~”
……
“Alright, now go prepare supplies and resupply, check the ships and cannons; we set off three days from now in the morning to rendezvous with those two guys in the Totland Sea Area!”
Once the cheers died down a bit, Kaido began instructing his subordinate pirates to prepare the supplies.
“Burufaruto, go contact the people stationed on the other two islands and tell them to mobilize all the ships and people over.
Ember, go call those three brats.
After giving the orders, Kaido did not return to his residence but headed to the Beasts Pirates’ weapon workshop on the island.
Before leaving, he had thrown his wolf fang club, which had a section melted off by Sister La, there for repairs, and the one he was carrying now was just a spare.
……
“How is it, is my weapon fixed?” Arriving at the workshop entrance, Kaido directly asked about his wolf fang club.
“Oh? It’s Boss Kaido.”
The master craftsman in charge of forging in the workshop was exchanging something with his apprentices at the time; seeing it was Kaido, he got up and greeted two tall and burly apprentices to carry a pitch-black wolf fang club in front of him.
“Your wolf fang club has been repaired. This time we added some special ore to make it even more sturdy than before.”
The master craftsman puffed on his dried tobacco and said confidently.
Kaido picked up the wolf fang club in front of him with one hand and weighed it; it was a few pounds heavier than before, but the feel and balance were even more comfortable than previously.
“Uro-ro-ro! You did well, I’m very satisfied. Go to Deke later and collect a reward.” With that, he directly shouldered the club and left.
The pirates in the workshop watched Kaido leave satisfied and all breathed a sigh of relief. They then gathered around the master craftsman to praise him.
“Master, your technique is divine; where did you learn it?”
“Yeah, I saw you casually add a few stones and carbon ash, and the wolf fang club was like it leveled up, becoming blacker and shinier.”
“Boss Kaido looks very satisfied!”
“Quick, tell us what kind of stone that was!”
Looking at the curious eyes of his apprentice juniors, the workshop’s master craftsman tapped his pipe before slowly speaking.
“This brings me back to my younger days. Back then, I’d only been at sea for a few years when one day I encountered a group of lost people at sea; they claimed to be from Wano Country, and I learned this craft from them.
The stone powder I added is actually a kind of ore called wine iron; this ore seems to be a specialty of that Wano Country. Adding a bit to weapons can greatly improve their quality and also has the effect of paralyzing enemies.
They gave me some when they left, but after all these years of use, not much is left.”
There was a hint of regret in the master craftsman’s tone; as a blacksmith who had forged weapons his whole life, he still yearned for the ‘craftsman country’ those people had spoken of.
The apprentice pirates looked at each other in bewilderment.
“Wano Country? Never heard of it…”
“Yeah, is there such a country in the New World?”
“Master?”
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know either. Those people were secretive about Wano Country’s location; they said they had secretly escaped.
If I could see it in my lifetime, that would be good; I really want to know what kind of weapons those Wano Country artisans can forge. Sigh~”
……
