Chapter 42: Instructor, I want to learn this!
"Huh?!"
At this moment, Zephyr, who was observing Loy's situation from afar within the transparent observation tube, had already noticed something amiss.
He saw that at this moment, Loy's body, which was originally slightly bent due to the pressure from the water, began to slowly stabilize.
Then,
Under Zephyr's astonished gaze, Loy's figure gradually straightened.
"Boom!" "Boom!"
And from within his bones, sounds like metallic explosions reverberated.
Then,
Zephyr saw Loy actually lightly raise his hand and wave at him.
And Zephyr naturally knew the strength required to perform such a simple action 5000 meters below the sea surface.
"Loy, kid, your body..."
Even this former Admiral, who had seen much and was widely knowledgeable, couldn't help but fix his gaze on Loy at this moment, his eyes flashing with brilliant light.
In his voice was a shock that was hard to conceal.
Recently, he had been studying Loy's training reports, believing he understood Loy's physical condition even better than Loy himself.
But without a doubt, Loy at this moment had once again shattered his understanding.
"Hmm."
And at this moment, Loy also nodded without hesitation: "I seem to have adapted, Instructor Zephyr."
This wasn't the first time.
The last time, he had already established the premise for Zephyr that 'Luo Yi Alas is a monster-level genius with a special talent'.
So now, he naturally didn't need to find any superfluous excuses—that would only make it more suspicious.
And indeed, that was the case.
"Adapted?"
At this moment, after hearing Loy's words, Zephyr's expression clearly became solemn.
But regarding Loy's words, he still had no doubts—Loy was currently in the sea, so he naturally wouldn't think Loy was an Ability User.
So...
"Such a physique is simply unheard of!"
Zephyr shook his head with emotion.
"Instructor Zephyr, I don't like hearing that."
Hearing this, Loy immediately retorted sternly.
"What do you mean 'physique'? My becoming stronger isn't entirely dependent on my physique, is it? It also includes my own diligent efforts, okay?!"
"Efforts..."
Zephyr gave Loy a side-eye after hearing his words.
Although he had been busy recently, he still knew Loy's situation in the base—lazily drinking cola every day, which had absolutely nothing to do with effort.
However, he didn't say much more, simply stating: "Are you sure you've adapted? Don't force yourself—you must tell me if there's any discomfort in your bones, muscles, or internal organs, no matter how slight."
He would rather slow down the training speed than let Loy, his only successor at the moment, get injured.
"Of course."
Loy nodded, smiling: "I'm sure, they're all very healthy."
And it was precisely as he said this.
If Zephyr could see through his body, he would surely discover...
Whether it was Loy's bones and internal organs, or his incredibly powerful muscles enhanced by the 'Wind God's Wings', 'Great Buddha Fruit', and 'Strong-Strong Fruit'.
At this moment, all of them carried a metallic luster like steel.
And in Loy's eyes, the screen clearly displayed the truth of everything at this moment.
[Devil Fruit Slot 4: Empty -> Quick Slash Devil Fruit LV3.]
[Quick Slash Devil Fruit]
[Devil Fruit Ability - Can turn any part of the body into a blade and harden it.]
[Effects at each Level]
[LV1: Gain weak Devil Fruit effects, slightly strengthen body defense and hardness.]
[LV2: Gain partial Devil Fruit effects, can turn body into a blade and strengthen defense, hardness strengthened to 'Coarse Iron', requires 6000W/2000W for permanent/temporary unlock.]
[LV3: Gain full Devil Fruit effects, can turn body into a blade and strengthen defense, hardness strengthened to 'Steel', requires 300 million/100 million Berries for permanent/temporary unlock.]
[LV4: Deep development of Devil Fruit, can make the blades formed by the body rotate and transform, body hardness strengthened to 'Refined Steel', greatly strengthening body hardness and sharpness, requires 1 billion/300 million Berries for permanent/temporary unlock.]
[LV5: Devil Fruit Awakening · Myriad Slashes, can control all surrounding environments to turn into blades to attack enemies, sharpness is enough to cut through high mountains, self-hardness increased to 'Alloy', requires 6 billion/2 billion Berries for permanent/temporary unlock.]
That's right.
At this moment, Loy had already loaded the 'Quick Slash Devil Fruit' into his fourth Devil Fruit Slot.
And the enhancement of this Devil Fruit was also something Loy had planned long ago.
"Although the Quick Slash Devil Fruit cannot be said to be an extremely powerful Paramecia Type Devil Fruit, and in terms of the versatility of the ability itself, it is even inferior to the 'Weapon-Weapon Fruit'."
"But its effect of strengthening body hardness is an extremely practical ability, and as long as I don't turn my body into a blade, it will almost not be discovered by others."
Loy was very clear about the advantages of this Devil Fruit—practical and cheap, it could be called 'good value for money'.
According to Loy's plan, his next clone would use this Devil Fruit.
It was just that Loy hadn't expected—his next clone hadn't even used this thing yet, but he himself had used it here first.
"Hmm."
And after confirming that Loy seemed to have completely adapted to the water pressure of the 5000-meter deep sea.
Zephyr sighed inwardly once more, then no longer hesitated.
"Since you've already adapted..."
Zephyr's body began to be enveloped in Armament Haki.
The pitch-black Haki completely wrapped around Zephyr's body, making him look as if he had merged with the pitch-black deep sea.
Then Zephyr leaped, directly passing through the transparent observation tube and entering the deep sea.
"Follow me."
Zephyr waved his hand, then led Loy deeper.
There was only silence in the deep sea.
Even after equipping the Quick Slash Devil Fruit, Loy's body's defense was enough to withstand the water pressure, but he still found it somewhat strenuous to swim in this pitch-black environment.
"So strong, indeed..."
Looking at Zephyr, who was covered in Armament Haki and seemed to swim effortlessly ahead, Loy couldn't help but sigh again.
But it was also at this moment,
"Huh?!"
Loy's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Because at this moment, he could clearly sense the changes around him.
"Has the resistance of the seawater increased?"
"No, no..."
He muttered in his heart, but quickly came to a correct conclusion.
"It's the seawater in front—it's not right!"
And at the same time he came to this conclusion, he also heard Zephyr's voice.
"Here it comes."
Here it comes?
What was coming?
Loy's heart instinctively felt puzzled.
But the next second, the scene before his eyes made his pupils suddenly shrink.
He saw that at this moment, within the already sufficiently dark and deep sea.
A series of even larger, pitch-black figures appeared.
The enormity of these figures almost spanned the entire deep sea.
They had long and slender bodies, seemingly like enormous, unimaginable 'giant pythons'.
Each one stretched endlessly, and even their thickness was the size of a mountain.
And on their 'scales', Loy could see patches of twinkling, scale-like lights.
It was precisely with these tiny lights that Loy saw what these 'giant pythons' were.
They were... ocean currents!
Those 'scales' were bioluminescent creatures and mineral fragments from the deep sea, while those enormous bodies were the traces of the ocean currents.
Thus, Loy knew what this thing was.
"Marineford Great Ring Current?!"
Just as mentioned before—Loy's current location was deep beneath the island of Marineford.
And it was well known that Marineford, Enies Lobby, and Impel Down formed a 'triangular structure' in the sea, protected by three Gates of Justice.
The three Gates of Justice were closed all year round, forming a place called the 'Sea of Justice'.
And within this unique sea area, there was the largest undersea ocean current known to the Grand Line.
Its name... was precisely the 'Marineford Great Ring Current'.
Its existence in this sea area made it impossible for almost all ships outside the World Government and the Marines to pass through this sea area, forcing them to turn back.
"That's right!"
At this moment, Zephyr said in a deep voice.
"It is the 'Black Python'—a part of the 'Marineford Great Ring Current' existing at the seabed of Marineford."
"Old man..."
Loy could barely speak at this moment.
"You're not going to tell me that the so-called 'official training' is just..."
"That's right—withstanding the water pressure of the deep sea is just the beginning. What you truly need to face are these 'Black Pythons', and then defeat them!"
Zephyr's words were clear and powerful.
Loy's evaluation of this was very simple.
"This old man is a lunatic!"
He just knew that none of these old Marines were simple characters.
Zephyr had the nerve to call Garp's training method of smashing mountains with his fists 'nonsense'—was enduring deep-sea ocean currents with his body not nonsense?!
No, rather, was something like this even possible?!
But at this moment, as if sensing Loy's suspicion.
"Loy, kid. Watch closely!"
Zephyr's aura also suddenly changed at this moment.
Loy could clearly see.
The pitch-black Armament Haki on Zephyr's body seemed to have taken on a tangible quality at this moment.
The thick and unparalleled Armament Haki flowed constantly at this moment, as if it were a living creature.
Loy naturally knew that was 'Ryuo'—the highest application of Armament Haki.
But at this moment, what Zephyr used was clearly not ordinary 'Ryuo'.
Loy could see that at this moment, Zephyr's feet, waist, legs, and even his bulging muscles.
Every part of his body's muscles and bones were constantly moving with the 'Ryuo'.
Not only his skin, but even the circulating body fluids and blue veins within him seemed to be dyed with the black color of Haki.
It was as if his entire body was madly cooperating with 'Ryuo' to transform, squeezing out his ultimate potential.
And looking at this scene, Loy's eyes widened.
"Tempering the whole body, activating potential."
"This is..."
Then, Zephyr's action confirmed Loy's guess.
There were no flashy moves, no superfluous actions.
Zephyr simply clenched his left fist and punched the 'Black Python' in front of him!
"Black Body Flow Secret Art · Mountain Collapse!"
"Boom—"
Thus, Loy actually saw.
The moment Zephyr threw his punch, a terrifying shockwave, never seen before, erupted.
The seawater in this deep sea was instantly split into two by that immense Haki.
And on the gigantic, seemingly unstoppable deep-sea ocean current 'Black Python', a colossal hole with a diameter of several hundred meters instantly appeared.
That's right.
That enormous deep-sea ocean current was actually cut off by Zephyr's single punch!
And Loy, at this moment, was almost dumbfounded.
Then, his mind naturally had only one thought.
"Instructor, I want to learn this!"
(end of chapter)