The truth was, Topman Warcury wasn't the only one afraid.
In a meeting room, all the other four elders showed signs of concern and fear.
The feeling of having a rope around their necks about to choke them to death was agonizing.
Precisely because of that, they didn't dare to act rashly, and even put out a very high bounty on the bastard known as "The Traveler," hoping to catch him as soon as possible.
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Meanwhile, just above South Blue; in the Calm Belt, a ship was approaching an island that had carved on a stone mountain: Nine Serpents.
At the top of the mountain, there were indeed nine serpent heads looking in all directions.
As the ship approached, several women appeared on the edges of the island with bows and arrows.
Boa Hancock, Boa Marigold, and Boa Sandersonia, seeing this, were not alarmed. Instead, they hugged each other as they continued to approach.
Remembering something, Hancock, who stopped hugging her sisters, turned around and said: "Traveler, thank you for bringing us to..."
She didn't finish what she was going to say. That's because the man who had saved them and brought them back was no longer there.
"He left..." When Hancock murmured those words, without understanding why, she felt an indescribable pain.
"Sister!!" Seeing Hancock place the back of her hand on her forehead, nearly fainting, Sandersonia panicked and rushed to her aid.
"He's gone..." Hancock whispered softly.
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In the sea of South Blue, near the Calm Belt, there was a massive iceberg the size of a small island. On top of this iceberg, which looked more like a giant flat platform, stood Zaydas.
At that moment, what he was trying to do was related to Haki.
Zaydas had something similar to Conqueror's Haki, but his was Holy Haki. A level above the Demon Lord's Haki. Something he received when he became the God of Twilight.
However, the effects of Holy Haki are different from Conqueror's Haki. If he uses Holy Haki, it can have various effects, one of them being exerting spiritual pressure on the target, whether one or many, inflicting potentially lethal magical effects. It's even possible for the target to die immediately if they're too weak or lose their sanity.
'It will be interesting to learn to use all the different types of Haki,' Zaydas thought, remembering Garp.
Even though it was a brief moment, he interacted with Garp.
That small encounter was enough for him to replicate all of Garp's abilities.
Among his abilities, the hardest to replicate was Galaxy Impact. But before he could replicate that, he would need to learn Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki.
Only by obtaining all three would it be possible to replicate it with a greater margin of success. At the moment, Galaxy Impact had only a 15% success rate and cost 40,000 AP.
By the way, due to his intervention and everything he had done since arriving in One Piece, Zaydas had gained a total of 294,734 AP.
Currently, with 3,128,314 AP, he could attempt to replicate several different abilities.
In particular, he was interested in some Devil Fruit powers, one of them being Whitebeard's.
But that was far from the one that attracted him the most.
There were several Devil Fruits that caught his attention even more than Whitebeard's.
'In any case, let's start by learning Armament Haki and Observation Haki,' he thought.
The chance of replicating Armament Haki was 96%.
There was no reason not to try since it cost a mere 13,000 AP and had such a high success rate.
Although, if he spent a little more, he could not only replicate Armament Haki but also the entire understanding process related to Garp's Armament Haki… He didn't want that.
What fun would there be in doing something like that?
The development of Haki should be something personal. He didn't want to simply copy the abilities with all of Garp's knowledge, but rather, a kind of awakening. A shortcut, so to speak.
As for Observation Haki, it was even easier for him to acquire, costing only 5,000 AP, and he had a 100% chance of replicating it.
The reason for that was quite simple. With his senses, even with the [Thought Acceleration] ability, it would be strange if it required even more from him.
And the only reason Armament Haki wasn't 100% was because of his uniqueness.
First, he wanted to replicate Observation Haki.
[-5,000 AP]
A kind of loading bar began to increase from 1% until it reached 100%.
[Success!]
[You have successfully replicated the ability: [Observation Haki (Rank B+)]!]
[Master, do you wish to assimilate this ability now?]
'Yes.'
[Processing...]
In moments, the same loading bar appeared, but the process was even faster.
[Success!]
[You have acquired the Extra Ability: [Observation Haki (Rank B+)]!]
[+500 AP]
The feeling of receiving cashback, even in a small amount, was very satisfying.
By the way, when he went to replicate Armament Haki, he noticed that the success rate had increased to 97.6% and the cost had decreased to 12.1 thousand AP.
[-12,100 AP]
[Success!]
[You have successfully replicated the ability: [Armament Haki (Rank A-)]!]
[Master, do you wish to assimilate this ability now?]
'Yes.'
The same process repeated.
[+1.100 AP]
When it was over, he gained all the basic knowledge of Armament Haki.
With a simple thought, his hand took on a darker hue while his skin seemed to gain a new appearance in obsidian black with a blood-red glossy tone.
The red part looked like one of those skeletal gloves, while the darker part made his hand look like it was made of smooth, shiny ore.
With a thought, an ice shield was created in front of Zaydas.
Flexing his body, Zaydas threw a punch with all his strength.
"Boom!"
The resounding sound of his punch colliding with the ice shield was extremely loud.
Shockwaves exploded from the collision.
The worst part was that he had made a reinforced shield, so it didn't break even with such a powerful punch, but it did show signs of cracking.
Pulling his hand back, extending his fist close to his face, he opened and closed his hand.
'This is better than I expected...'
The fact that it had a similar effect to when he used [Kratos, God of War] and his hand became covered in dragon scales made him rethink how special this ability was, even though it was classified only as Rank A-.
Of course, that was the classification at its lowest level. He hadn't even developed the ability yet. This was a growth-type ability.
Who knows, maybe it could even reach Rank S without needing the ability to evolve?
Canceling the ice shield, he thought: 'Should I replicate Conqueror's Haki now?'
Besides Haki abilities, Garp also had all the Marine skills like Soru.
However, those abilities could wait until later.
Conqueror's Haki, initially classified as Rank A+. A complex ability that covers various aspects.
Although it cost 25,000 AP, the success rate was 100%.
The reason for that, he could only assume, was because from the beginning he had the right to possess Conqueror's Haki. Over time, while he remained in this dimension, he should naturally awaken it.
However, there was no need to wait. After all, 25,000 wasn't a price that made him bleed, especially with a 100% chance.
[-25,000 AP!]
This time, the loading meter took longer. It was as if he were downloading a larger file, and because of that, it took much more time. When it reached 100%, the success message appeared.
[You have successfully replicated the ability: [Conqueror's Haki (Rank A+)]!]
[Master, you wish to assimilate it now, correct?]
'Yes.'
The instant he agreed, something immeasurable happened!
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