Previously, when Black acquired Bullet's Ghost Qi, he had considered a question—
From Zoro's performance, Ghost Qi could also be infused into weapons, similar to Conqueror's Haki.
In his previous life, the debate about whether Zoro possessed Conqueror's Haki lasted for a long time.
The official release of a Life Card once showed that Zoro's abilities indeed included Conqueror's Haki.
But strangely, on the third day after the announcement, the officials recalled that batch of Life Cards.
This brought suspense back to a debate that had seemingly been settled.
It wasn't until Jabra fell into the underworld and met Zoro that he personally stated the fact that Zoro possessed Conqueror's Haki.
Zoro was very surprised at the time, even somewhat incredulous.
This indicated that even he himself was unaware of possessing Conqueror's Haki before then.
So, during the great battle on Onigashima, Zoro naturally infused Ghost Qi into his sword, thereby breaking through Kaido's defense.
From this, it can be inferred that Ghost Qi can be infused into attacks like Armament Haki and Haoshoku, greatly enhancing attack power.
The current Black simultaneously possesses Armament Haki, Haoshoku, and Ghost Qi.
If he could infuse all three into his attacks at the same time, to what extent would his attack power increase?
Thinking of this, Black was not prepared to try it immediately.
Conquerors Haki Infusion was already in hand, and integrating Armament Haki would be easy.
Since the principle of Ghost Qi was similar to Haoshoku, infusing it should not be difficult either.
Having just finished a life-and-death struggle, Black urgently needed to relax his mind.
"Hmm... work-life balance!"
... The sanctuary sailed unhurriedly on the vast sea, and Black's life returned to peace.
Every day, in addition to teasing the little Slaves, he would also study how to improve his strength.
After mastering Conquerors Haki Infusion, Black successively defeated the young Garp and the young Roger.
He respectively dropped a Conqueror's Haki card and a Swordsmanship ability card.
Black's Haoshoku and swordsmanship once again saw improvement, but no qualitative transformation occurred.
In Black's view, the so-called 'youth' represented by the card space did not refer to a very old age.
It might even be before the God Valley incident.
Both were still a long way from their peak.
In addition, the background pirates did contribute some interesting things.
Ability Cards: Animal-type · Bird-Bird Devil Fruit · Peregrine Falcon Form, Animal-type · Turtle-Turtle Devil Fruit · Giant Tortoise Form.
Black suspected that the card system was hinting that he should eat a Devil Fruit.
After all, looking at the top powerhouses throughout history, without exception, all were Devil Fruit users—
god of the sun, god of the earth, god of the forest, demon... these people, just by their nicknames, you know they are ability users.
But there was no rush; he would wait until he found a suitable Devil Fruit.
Black had already used the ability cards prepared for Mandy on her in the past few days.
In another year or two, Mandy would return to the Warburg Kondin Kingdom.
Black planned to train her well during this period, allowing her to adapt to her own strength.
There could be no more house-wrecking behavior like Koala's back then.
The deck, soaked in morning mist, gleamed, and Mandy's rapier tip picked up a wisp of cold light.
Her stance was like a javelin, her breathing synchronized with the waves.
Black was still lying on his golden lounge chair, and Stella was placing various refreshments on the table beside him.
It was still early, and the little Slaves had not yet woken up.
On the deck, there was only the sound of Mandy's longsword cutting through the air and the rustling of the sea breeze through the sails.
When Mandy stopped training, Black bit into a grape and complained, "Five hundred sword swings, but you only completed three hundred seventy-two. Do Slaves of the Celestial Dragons not need to learn math anymore?"
Mandy's steps did not stop; she walked directly to the tea table, picked up a teacup, and took a sip before saying, "You miscounted."
Her tone was cool, as if without any emotional fluctuations.
However, from her actions, it was clearly another matter.
Black was not annoyed by the retort; he just picked up a grape and threw it over.
"Still daring to talk back!"
The grape fell into the teacup, and Mandy easily dodged the splashing water.
Black felt a bit bored, turned his head, and instructed Stella, "Go wake up those sleepyheads; it's time to eat."
Then he glared at Mandy:
"Combat training this morning."
Mandy became less and less fun after gaining Observation Haki, so he decided not to prepare ability cards for Perona anymore.
Perona:???
Breakfast on the ship was somewhat simple compared to Mary Geoise, and Black began to miss his days in the Holy Land.
When everyone had eaten enough, Black tapped his spoon on the plate and turned to Stella:
"Stella, you take care of them more today."
"Mandy, you come with me to the training room."
The sanctuary was very large, so when it was designed, basically all conceivable functions were added.
Although the training room was not as luxurious as in the manor, it was equally well-equipped.
Black led Mandy into the training room.
Dark golden light filtered through the carved dome, leaving fragmented light spots on the Sea Stone floor.
Twelve crystal chandeliers swayed slightly, illuminating the dust suspended in the air like fine snow.
"Your strength, even against a Navy Vice Admiral, would not be at a disadvantage."
"But you, like Koala back then, cannot properly use this power."
"The difference is, Koala acted like a demolition crew, and you act like a thief."
"Now, I will make you adapt to your current strength."
Saying that, Black extended a hand and beckoned:
"Come, attack me."
Swish!
The sword light flashed, stabbing towards Black with lightning speed.
It was hard to say that there wasn't a bit of personal grudge in it.
Black took out a jewel-encrusted dagger and, with a gentle flick, deflected the sword tip.
"Continue!"
... Until nearing noon, blood had already seeped from Mandy's tiger's mouth.
She tried to condense Haki into armor, but the Black mist always dissipated before fully covering her arm.
Black leaned against the wall and reminded, "You need to perceive the flow, not brute force."
Mandy suddenly turned and lunged!
Her rapier pierced Black's afterimage, but he was already behind her, his arm wrapped around her waist.
His breath brushed her ear, and his fingers traced her nape:
"Observation Haki isn't a toy for you to chase and slash with."
Mandy froze in place.
Not just because of Black's actions.
She felt the surging Haki within her gradually becoming docile under Black's guidance.
Black, however, did not continue his actions; instead, after her Haki completely stabilized, he released her and threw her a bottle of ointment:
"That's enough for today; it's barely acceptable."
"Such beautiful hands, it would be a shame if they were scarred."
Mandy took the medicine bottle and asked in a low voice, "Why?"
The question was abrupt, but Black clearly understood Mandy's meaning.
A familiar wicked smile appeared on his face:
"Because you are also my wing."
With that, he turned and left the training room.
Mandy clutched the bottle, hearing Black and Robin bickering outside, and for the first time, felt the sound of the waves to be so noisy.