One Piece: Lightning's Heir

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The massive steel arm, unlike the one formed by Kid's Magnet-Magnet Fruit, was seamless.

Arthur's steel arm was completely fused, every part—fist, wrist, elbow—identical to a normal arm.

The unified iron fist met Chinjao's Hasshoken Secret Move!!

"BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!"

Arthur's all-out strike slammed against Chinjao's—Drill-less Dragon; Drill-less Nail.

At that moment, the air in all directions was forced out. The space between the two seemed to briefly become a vacuum.

The cracks in the ground spread outwards. This small island began to split apart, and large amounts of seawater poured in through the fissures.

The expelled air currents swept up the tents where the Happō Navy was stationed. The ground, as if trampled by a bulldozer, was completely flattened.

"Aaaah!!"

Chinjao's face was monstrous. He began to roar. Immense power gradually increased, about to crush Arthur into pieces.

Arthur's face was flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead. He stubbornly resisted the Hasshoken Secret Move—"Drill-less Dragon; Drill-less Nail."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd—Chinjao's originally bald—rounded head was unexpectedly forced by the heavy pressure of the iron fist to extend into a towering, pointed cone.

His originally sunken drill head had been forced back out by Arthur's punch!

"...."

——

The two separated at a touch, each retreating over a hundred yards.

At this moment—

Chinjao's face was incredibly expressive. Various expressions of disbelief and joy were intertwined. He reached out with his massive arm to touch his pointed head, then laughed maniacally...

"Hiyahohohoho!"

"My drill head—it's back! Hiyahohoho!!"

He laughed and cried at the same time. His upturned, graying whiskers all drooped down, and he once again resembled his original, kind old man appearance.

"The Leader's drill head?"

"Father's drill head—it's back!!"

The thousands of Happō Navy observers suddenly opened their mouths wide, their eyes bulging, showing expressions of shock and joy.

"This punch of mine helped this guy out of a bad situation?" Arthur's steel arm fell to the ground, his expression stunned.

"Hiyahoho!!" Chinjao was completely insane, laughing for several minutes.

Suddenly, he wiped away his tears. He knelt on the ground, His pointed head directly pierced the ground. His tone was full of gratitude.

"Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, I am grateful to you... Please accept my gratitude!"

"Hmm?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, completely unprepared for this turn of events.

He had killed dozens, perhaps hundreds—of the Happō Navy soldiers. Logically, it should have been a situation of irreconcilable hatred. He never expected this.

"What gratitude?"

"Wuwuwu!" Chinjao's tears couldn't stop flowing. Don Cai helped him up. "Please accept my gratitude. You have allowed me to regain my drill head. I must repay this great kindness."

"You're still so young. In the future, you'll surely become one of the Yonkō."

"A Yonkō shouldn't lack followers. Please allow the Happō Navy to join your command, to follow you—"

He looked at Arthur with anticipation.

Chinjao directed all his hatred for Garp to gratitude for Arthur.

"Huh?..." Arthur was shocked. He hadn't expected this reversal.

Although he would definitely form a pirate crew in the future to enter the New World, he hadn't even finished building his own [Thor] yet.

He hadn't thought about recruiting subordinates...

"Joining my command can wait for now. I'll consider forming a pirate crew in the future!"

Arthur didn't explicitly refuse. In the future—to conquer the New World and occupy territory, manpower was essential.

He had even considered learning from Blackbeard and recruiting subordinates from Impel Down.

But then he thought that all the people in Impel Down were ambitious individuals. It would be difficult to make them truly submit.

"Good!" Seeing that Arthur hadn't explicitly refused, Chinjao didn't dwell on the topic. He turned his head and roared at the thousands of surviving Happō Navy members, "Men, return to the ship and have a banquet!!"

"Oohhh!!!!!" The Happō Navy shouted excitedly.

——

On the sea, dozens of Kano Country warships were lined up.

The people on them were singing and dancing, drinking wine in large bowls, and eating meat in large mouthfuls.

The atmosphere was lively.

Arthur held a large bowl, drinking heartily. At his table were Chinjao—Don Cai—and other Happō Navy leaders.

"Chinjao—this time I came at the request of the heir to the Vira Kingdom, Puros—to drive out the Happō Navy. If there are no problems, have the Kano Country give up chasing the New Vira Kingdom, okay?"

Arthur, as a man of his word—couldn't forget his original intention. After all, he had accepted payment and not delivering would damage his reputation.

"Hiyahohoho!" Chinjao held a wine glass in one hand and stroked his newly regained pointed head with the other, laughing.

"This is a small matter. As long as I say the word—the Kano Country will immediately revoke the order to hunt down the Vira Kingdom. Come, let's drink!"

"That's for the best!" Arthur nodded in satisfaction and began to compete with the others in drinking.

Glasses clinked, toasts were exchanged.

"KANPAI!"

"KANPAI!!"

——

A feast went from day to night. The Happō Navy fleet began to return to the Kano Country.

Seeing that the time was right, Arthur immediately asked Chinjao about the training method for [Armament Haki].

"Chinjao, I see that you, and Don Cai—all know Armament Haki. Can you teach me?" He asked brightly, his eyes shining.

Asking for help humbly wasn't a shameful thing. If he didn't open his mouth to ask, he would waste a lot of precious time.

"Hiyahohoho, no wonder you didn't use Armament Haki when fighting me. You haven't learned it yet!" Chinjao laughed. "Armament Haki is very simple. I'll demonstrate it for you now."

He stood up, swaying drunkenly, to demonstrate for Arthur.

Armament Haki—like [Observation Haki], was a power that could be developed and improved through training. In fact, the principle of release was very simple.

It was different from the innate or inherited [Conqueror's Haki]. Those with [Armament Haki] could greatly enhance their individual defense and attack power, acting like an invisible armor.

It could even enhance attack power and counter Devil Fruit users, even touching the bodies of "Logia" fruit users.

Besides covering the body, [Armament Haki] could even be wrapped around weapons to enhance their attack power.

The prerequisite for developing [Armament Haki] was physical strength.

A child whose body had not yet reached its peak could train it, but those who knew [Armament Haki] would never teach a child.

Forced training would not only injure the body, but it would also hinder future growth. It was not worth the loss.

Iron Fist Garp—one of the world's top Armament Haki users—a monster with top-tier strength, knew this—so he didn't teach Luffy and Ace from a young age, first letting the two grow.

This [Haki] training method was to accelerate the flow of one's blood, releasing energy from within, and wrapping it around one's body, causing the body to harden.

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