The going merry shot straight up into the sky along the Knock-Up Stream.
The powerful currents made it hard to breathe!
Everyone was swaying back and forth!
Only Luffy could stand upright, at the bow, calmly looking at the high sky!
In an instant, the going merry burst out of the clouds and landed smoothly on the sea of clouds, but the going merry had forever lost its 'chicken wings'!
...Below the Knock-Up Stream, Teach and his crew sat on a single log, drifting with the current!
"Zehahahahaha, what a pain, they got away!" Teach said, "But there's nothing to regret. After all, Straw Hat's strength already exceeded 300 million berries. This time, we just came to try our luck! After all, pirates with bounties over 100 million berries are hard to find on the Grand Line!"
"What are you saying, Captain? Shouldn't we be trying to catch up right now?" Burgess said, his head hot.
"Catch up, with this driftwood under our feet...?" Van Auger somewhat doubted Burgess's intelligence!
"Zehahahahaha, why are you in such a hurry? They haven't disappeared from this world! The Grand Line is so vast, we'll meet again someday!" Teach laughed!
"Zehahahahaha!!!"
...At this moment, above the clouds in the sky!
Nami lay in Luffy's arms, coughing uncontrollably!
"Luffy, I feel so uncomfortable!!"
"Don't worry! It's normal to have difficulty breathing when we fly this high so suddenly!" Luffy comforted her. At the same time, a gentle force was transmitted from Luffy's hand into Nami's body—it was Armament Haki!
That's right, in addition to differences in quality and quantity, the three levels of elementary, intermediate, and advanced also have other uses!
Elementary Armament Haki can only be used for covering and coating, increasing attack and defense! It's even difficult to grab Logia users if your Haki is below 10 points.
Intermediate Armament Haki can cover the entire body, making the whole body light gray! As long as it can cover the entire body, no matter how thin, it works! This level still has no flexibility, and similarly, few people choose to cover their entire body! Unless you are facing an AOE fighter like Akainu, and are afraid of losing limbs! Of course, if it's Akainu, covering or not covering actually makes no difference!
Advanced Haki, however, has some special properties. Internal destruction (commonly known as 'Ryuo' in Wano Country), and external release, both require Armament Haki to reach the advanced level! Advanced Armament Haki is like a ball of energy; it can remove any known negative effects in the world and is also a powerful means to deal with some bug-like Devil Fruits (depending on the Haki and Devil Fruit development of both parties).
In short, advanced Armament Haki possesses some attributes of 'true qi' from Wuxia novels!
As for the top tier above that, who knows?
Not only Nami, but everyone felt difficulty breathing!
"What's going on?!" Zoro, drenched in water, coughed, "Is everyone okay?"
Then he saw Nami, her face flushed and clearly back to normal, leaning into Luffy's arms! And Luffy obviously didn't care; an invisible Observation Haki enveloped tens of thousands of meters, though it was very blurry beyond a thousand meters. If it wasn't particularly, exceptionally obvious, it couldn't be perceived at all!
And under Luffy's perception, he saw Angel Island, and also saw the Sky Fish rushing towards them! But Luffy didn't care, because they... were too weak!
"Damn it, why are you guys completely fine?!" Zoro roared.
"Because you're too weak, if you're weak, practice more!" Nami playfully stuck out her tongue, mocking him!
"Damn it, I'm going to cut you down!" Zoro struggled to get up, the sword in his hand trembling!
"Zoro, don't move, just lie down!" Usopp lay on the deck like a corpse!
"Oh, right, where's the perverted cook?" Zoro looked back and only saw a man with a dark face, muttering, "Miss Nami, why? Why?"
"Tsk!" Zoro sneered!
"Alright, stop arguing, look outside!" Luffy interjected.
Outside was a vast expanse of white.
"So we're on the clouds!" Zoro suddenly realized.
"But why don't we fall down when we're on the clouds?" Nami gently released her grip on Luffy, asking curiously.
"Oh no, Usopp's not breathing!" Chopper shouted!
"Quick, Chopper, give him artificial respiration!" Luffy chuckled, not worried. Playing dead had become Usopp's passive ability; in games, playing dead is even a skill!
"Okay, I volunteer to give Miss Nami artificial respiration!" Sanji instantly revived with full health.
"Get lost!" And was instantly knocked to the ground again!
"So this is what they call the Sky Sea, right?" Nami said.
"Yes, we are currently about 7,000 meters from the sea, and Sky Island is 10,000 meters from the sea, so we still need to go up another 3,000 meters!" Luffy said.
"How do you know such things?" Zoro asked, puzzled.
"I saw it with Observation Haki! What, you can't see it?" Luffy asked, puzzled.
"Idiot! Of course I can't see it!" Zoro yelled.
"What? Can that so-called Observation Haki see that far?" Usopp asked anxiously.
"Of course, it's a must-have for snipers!" Luffy tempted him.
"Zoro, you still have the Haki notebook Luffy gave you, right? Give it to me quickly, I want to practice!" Usopp's face was filled with eagerness.
"I've already finished reading it!" Zoro took out the notebook. It was just a Vice Admiral's notebook, so it didn't contain any profound techniques. Zoro casually tossed it to Usopp!
But it was intercepted by Sanji in mid-air.
"Idiot, how is it your turn? I've been waiting for a long time. I've already fallen behind that Mosshead!" Sanji said.
"Yeah! A guy who doesn't even have a bounty!" Zoro scoffed!
"Tsk! It's only 60 million, what are you so proud of?" Sanji said disdainfully, it was clear he was a little sour inside.
"What a harmonious atmosphere! It's been a long time since I felt so free!" Robin smiled, looking at her companions. Yes, to her, they had long become companions!
..."Just a heads-up, something's coming!" Luffy smiled mysteriously.
The next second, a group of various Sky Sea creatures emerged from the clouds. The smallest of them were two or three times larger than the going merry, and the largest could even be 10 times bigger!
"Damn it!"
Zoro drew his sword!
Sanji raised his leg.
Usopp aimed his slingshot.
Robin crossed her arms.
And Luffy just lightly waved his hand.
"Get some rest, I'll handle them!" Luffy stood at the bow, looking at the many giant creatures rushing towards them!
"Okay, show us what you got!" Zoro and Sanji sat on the deck, looking exhausted, with no fighting stance.
"You can't..." Luffy's eyes changed, his aura becoming extremely terrifying. Dark red lightning bolts spontaneously generated from the void.
"Crackling!" "Just let you guys destroy our ship?!"
Countless dark red lightning waves shot out from Luffy, bypassing the going merry, and accurately surged towards the Sky Fish!
"Boom!"
The Sky Fish were utterly defenseless. These incredibly massive Sky Fish turned belly-up, fainting in the sea of clouds!
"This...!" Everyone was stunned, dumbfounded.
"Can Haki do something like this?" Zoro asked!
"Are you talking about stunning others with a single glare?" Luffy said.
"Exactly!" Zoro's expression was excited.
"No!" Luffy unhesitatingly poured cold water on him.
"Why?"
"Haven't I told you?" Luffy asked, puzzled.
"Besides throwing a notebook over, what else have you said?!" Zoro roared.
"Oh, alright! Haki is divided into three types: Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Haoshoku!
You know the first two, and the last one is the Haki of a King, said to be found in one out of a million people!
It's the Haki only those with the potential to become a King can possess!"
"So, Luffy, you have the potential to be a King!" Robin said in surprise.
"Yes, after all, I'm the man who's going to be the Pirate King!" Luffy chuckled.
"Then, does Hawkeye have Haoshoku?" Zoro asked heavily.
"Huh?"
"I'm such an idiot, how could a man like him not have Haoshoku!" Zoro exclaimed.
"Hey, Zoro?!"
"It's fine, don't try to persuade me! I can pull myself together. Although the distance between him and me is too vast, I will definitely approach him step by step, and finally defeat him!
Thank you, Luffy! For making me understand the gap between him and me! Haoshoku, huh? I will definitely catch up to you monsters!" Zoro said with determination.
"Hmm, Zoro, it's great that you're okay!" Luffy put many Sky Fish into the system space. Everyone had long since gotten used to it, as these monsters had already exceeded their understanding!
"I ask you, Luffy! Do you know how strong Hawkeye really is?" Zoro couldn't help but ask.
"Hmm?" Luffy tilted his head, "Very strong, I can't beat him!"
"I expected that, of course, I'm asking for specifics, you idiot!!"
PS: Advanced Haoshoku will produce dark red lightning. This is also the theoretical threshold for learning Haki coating, but so far, no one has been able to learn it at the advanced level.
And when Ghost Luffy learned Haki coating two years later, his Haoshoku was advanced, meaning a value of over seventy, because he's a cheat.
So, except for the freak Luffy, everyone who uses Haki coating is at the top tier, and thus not afraid of mindless immortality.
Top-tier Haoshoku can restrain, and even kill, the Gorosei.
Therefore, the Gorosei are set as elite Admirals, with added immortality, but not reaching the peak.
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