The warship cut through the waves on the sea, leaving a long white wake trailing from the stern.
Dragon's desertion had been forcibly suppressed by Garp, allowing Tatsuki's racing heart to finally settle back into his chest.
He huddled in the shadows of the junk piled on the deck, appearing to be in a daze, while in reality, a series of heart-pounding numbers were popping up on his retina.
[Violation Points: 100,200]
One hundred thousand! A full one hundred thousand and two hundred points!
This was the hard-earned money exchanged for tricking the future leader of the Revolutionary Army into a corner.
'Dragon, you have to do your best.' Tatsuki prayed silently in his heart, a kind smile appearing on his face.
'The more trouble you cause, the more dividends I'll get. When you finally pull the Celestial Dragons off their high horse, I'll definitely set up a statue for you.'
With this huge sum of money, Tatsuki finally had the confidence to examine the road ahead.
Further ahead was the New World. That was a paradise for monsters. Without Haki, one didn't even have the qualification to speak with the strong. Although the Storm-Storm Fruit was powerful, in front of truly top-tier experts, they would still beat the crap out of you.
'System, open the skill exchange list.'
The blue light screen flickered slightly as the list expanded.
[Skill Learning Module Open...]
[Armament Haki (Beginner): Master the basics of coating Haki onto the body or weapon surfaces for offense and defense.
Requirement: 100,000 Violation Points]
[Observation Haki (Beginner): Master the basics of perceiving others' presence, emotions, and attack intentions.
Requirement: 100,000 Violation Points]
[Conqueror's Haki (Beginner): The symbol of the chosen king that intimidates the weak, the ultimate weapon for direct attacks by top-tier experts.
Requirement: 1,000,000 Violation Points (Can be awakened with extremely low probability through special events, extreme emotional stimulation, or lottery)]
Looking at those two eye-catching "one hundred thousand" marks, Tatsuki's smile froze on his face.
Although he was mentally prepared, when it actually came time to pay, the heartache of a miser still arose spontaneously.
He had worked so hard to save for so long, contradicting superiors and extorting Germa, finally scraping together a hundred thousand. If he exchanged it, he'd immediately return to poverty overnight, with only two hundred left in his pocket?
'No, absolutely not.'
Tatsuki's heart was in a frantic struggle, and two little people in his head were fighting fiercely.
A little gold person waved banknotes and shouted, "Spend it! Saving your life is what matters! What's the use of points if your life is gone? Only after learning Haki can you earn more points in the future!"
The other little black person held onto a money bag tightly, lamenting, "You can't spend it. This is all hard-earned money. Isn't Garp a living Haki teaching machine? Let him beat you a few times, and maybe you'll learn it. Why spend money when you can get it for free? Save it for the lottery. Turn a bicycle into a motorcycle."
After a bout of mental struggle, the little black person kicked the little gold person away.
'Right! Why not use what's free?'
Since Garp said "as long as you don't die from training, train to the death," wasn't that a clear sign he was going to personally teach him?
Hand-to-hand hellish teaching from the Marine Hero—you couldn't buy this kind of treatment with money.
Tatsuki took a deep breath, tidied his uniform, and strode to the center of the deck, his footsteps thumping loudly.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
This shout came from his core, startling Garp, who was picking his nose.
"Hmm?"
Garp still had his pinky in his nostril as he squinted over, his tone unfriendly. "Brat? Instead of running laps, you come here to scare me? Do you want to swim back to Marineford?"
"No! Vice Admiral Garp!"
Tatsuki stood tall, a determined light flashing in his eyes. "You said I am a core combatant on the ship. But I know deep down I'm not qualified enough. I want to learn Haki. Please teach me."
Garp was stunned for a moment, then grinned, revealing a row of stark white teeth. "Kyahahahaha! Want to learn Haki? Good!"
He casually ripped off his jacket, revealing a shirt underneath that was nearly bursting from his muscles.
"I was just worrying about having nowhere to vent this chest full of anger. Since you've come to my door voluntarily, don't blame me for being impolite."
Garp cracked his knuckles, making a popping sound. Black Armament Haki instantly covered his fists, emitting a suffocating pressure.
"Tatsuki, take this! Fist of Love!"
Bang!!!
With a dull thud, Tatsuki felt his vision go dark as a massive fist enlarged infinitely on his retina. He subconsciously elementalized, his body turning into a gale in an attempt to disperse.
"Too naive! Elementalization is a joke in front of Haki!"
That pitch-black fist slammed into the center of the storm without any regard for logic, accurately capturing Tatsuki's physical form.
"Pwah—"
Tatsuki flew backward, smashing against the mast.
"Oww!"
Tatsuki slid to the ground, feeling like his breakfast was about to come up.
"What? Down already?" Garp walked over and looked down at him, a dangerous light flashing in his eyes.
"Where's that momentum from just now? If you're only at this level, you'll die in the New World."
"Cough, cough... Vice Admiral... can we talk about scientific training methods?" Tatsuki tried to negotiate while grimacing.
"Scientific?" Garp clenched his fist again, the pitch-black Armament Haki like flowing ink, radiating a desperate hardness.
"On my ship, there is only one training method."
"And that is getting beaten."
"Only by feeling pain will the body remember how to defend! Only when on the brink of death will Haki awaken!"
"Come on! Brat!"
Since he couldn't escape, he could only fight back.