Afternoon, training grounds on the beach of Katuna Island.
"Haah!!"
Isaac's roar mixed with the dull impacts of clashing fists as he launched himself at Marcus again and again.
The latter had not even unsheathed his sword. Merely relying on arms coated in Armament Haki, he effortlessly blocked Isaac's full-powered attacks.
"Too slow!"
Marcus frowned and used a burst of force to deflect Isaac, following up with a light palm strike to his shoulder that sent him stumbling backward.
"Haki isn't something you force out through brute effort! You need to feel it with your heart and focus your will!"
"I know… again!"
Panting heavily, Isaac wiped the sweat and sand from his face with a rough motion. His eyes burned with frustration and unwillingness as he took up his stance once more.
Not far away, Kahilo and Alberto had just emerged from the jungle dragging several giant feline beasts comparable in size to saber-toothed tigers when they happened to witness the scene.
Kahilo shook his head and tossed the carcasses to the approaching logistics crew.
"Isaac's getting too trapped in his own head…"
"Abba… abba-abba!"
Alberto pointed toward the training field and nodded vigorously while gesturing animatedly.
Among all the officers, Isaac was now the only one still stuck outside the threshold of awakening Haki.
The pressure from that disparity had clearly become immense, to the point where he was growing overly anxious.
"Leave the ingredients to you guys. Clean them properly."
After giving instructions to the cooks, Kahilo turned and saw Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami emerging from the opposite side of the forest.
The prey Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami dragged behind him was even more astonishing—
A thick-skinned mammoth standing nearly seven meters tall.
"Yo, Kahilo. Back pretty early," Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami greeted casually, glancing at the saber-toothed beasts. "Extra food today? Nice."
Kahilo twitched at the sight of the mammoth.
"Captain… you went and provoked another mammoth herd again?"
"Hahaha! It's got a lot of meat. The brothers have been training hard—they need nourishment."
Still laughing, Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami handed the mammoth over to the cooks. Then his eyes drifted toward the tireless figure in the center of the training field, and he sighed softly.
"Isaac's… still training?"
"Yeah. He's been sparring with Marcus all morning." Kahilo walked over beside Sami. "Looking at him, he's really getting desperate. But Haki…"
Kahilo watched Isaac get blasted backward once again, only to grit his teeth and charge back in immediately.
After a moment of silence, he asked quietly,
"Captain, how much longer do you think we should stay here?"
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami pondered briefly.
"Judging from the overall progress, most of the brothers who were supposed to break through already have. Continuing regular training won't improve much anymore."
"As for Isaac…"
"What he probably needs isn't more sparring."
"He needs genuine pressure at the edge of life and death."
"The kind of feeling where you're forced to erupt under absolute desperation."
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami paused and looked toward Kahilo.
"But among companions, it's difficult to recreate true killing intent and mortal danger."
"I'm worried that if we stay here any longer, he'll only sink deeper into this anxious bottleneck. Later on, it'll become even harder for him to advance."
Kahilo frowned slightly.
"You mean…"
"I'm thinking," Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami said as his gaze shifted toward the distant sea, "that the real opportunity may lie in the New World."
"When powerful enemies surround us, when danger lurks everywhere, when every moment could truly mean death…"
"The wall blocking his path might finally shatter beneath the instinct to survive and protect others."
"Head straight into the New World?" Kahilo hesitated. "Wouldn't that be too risky? Isaac still isn't ready, and our crew only just finished training…"
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami patted him on the shoulder.
"Kahilo, we're pirates."
"When has the sea ever given us the chance to be completely prepared?"
"Besides, I trust Isaac."
"And I trust everyone who endured these past three months of tempering."
"Don't you?"
Kahilo stared at Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami for a moment before finally smiling in relief.
"You're right, Captain."
"We're pirates. How can we fear danger?"
"Just give the order whenever you're ready to depart."
Just as the two were discussing things, bursts of laughter suddenly echoed from the harbor where the Flame Fang was anchored.
"Haha… hahaha! Success! I succeeded!!"
A man with hair and beard as messy as a bird's nest came sprinting wildly along the shoreline, jumping and laughing with manic excitement.
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Holy crap… what is this, the Monkey King emerging from the mountain?"
"…Looks like Hiriluk," Kahilo said with a stunned expression.
That's right.
This disheveled madman was none other than the crew's doctor, Hiriluk, who had disappeared from public view for nearly a month.
One month earlier, the doctor had declared that he intended to complete an important research project. Afterward, he locked himself inside the infirmary, barely stepping outside even to eat or sleep.
The crew had only made sure he neither starved himself to death nor accidentally blew himself up before leaving him alone.
"C-Captain! Success! My research… it's complete!!"
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami steadied him before he could trip over himself.
"Calm down, Hiriluk. What research succeeded? Explain slowly."
Hiriluk took several deep breaths and barely managed to suppress his excitement.
Then, with extreme care, he pulled out a tiny spherical object roughly the size of a thumbnail from a pouch and presented it before Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami like a priceless treasure.
"Look! This!"
"I call it the High-Effect Instant Anesthetic Bullet!"
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami took the tiny round pellet and examined it. Its surface was smooth and unremarkable.
"This is… an anesthetic bullet?"
"Exactly! But not an ordinary anesthetic bullet!"
Hiriluk's eyes shone as he rapidly explained.
"Traditional anesthetic guns and blow darts suffer from limitations in launch force, projectile shape, and drug diffusion speed. Their range is short, activation is slow, and targets can often detect or resist them!"
He pointed excitedly at the pellet.
"But my High-Effect Instant Anesthetic Bullet is different!"
"It fires faster, travels farther, and most importantly—"
"The moment the target feels the impact, their nervous system becomes paralyzed almost instantly, causing complete loss of mobility!"
"And the dosage is perfectly controlled. It absolutely won't be fatal!"
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami rolled the tiny bullet between his fingers, visibly interested now.
"So compared to existing weapons of the same type, it's faster, stealthier, and much harder to defend against?"
"Exactly correct!" Hiriluk nodded vigorously.
"Whether it's secretly subduing enemies, capturing prisoners, or creating a brief opening during combat, its applications are enormous!"
Riberra Riberra Riberra Sami handed the bullet back.
"Well done, Hiriluk."
"This thing… mm, it suits Feige very well."
"With his marksmanship combined with these specialized rounds, the results should be pretty impressive."
"Prepare more of them later. Make a list for Hans. Whatever materials you need, have him figure out how to obtain them."
He patted the research-obsessed doctor on the shoulder.
"And now, I strongly recommend you take a proper bath and get some sleep."
"You look like a wild man that just crawled out of the mountains."
Hiriluk immediately burst into another round of bizarre cackling laughter as he dashed away down the beach.
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