Whoosh!
After a collision, Sage moved even faster than before, maneuvering to the back of the Poneglyph. As soon as his foot hit the ground, he immediately released a surge of Haki, rapidly covering the expansive training ground.
"Five times!"
Bam!!!
He shifted his body sideways, and his shoulder slammed backward against the Poneglyph, forcefully knocking it into the air. It flew for a short distance before crashing heavily back to the ground.
"Phew!"
After the hit, Sage's mouth shaped like a drum as he exhaled arrow-like breaths, glancing at his slightly deformed knee and severely deformed shoulder. He frowned and grabbed his shoulder with one hand, snapping the bones back into place with a series of cracking sounds, while white smoke emitted from his body, healing the injured areas.
"Sage, you're pretty badly hurt this time. What did you do?"
Lily walked in as Sage's training came to an end, quietly watching him train, and only asked when he paused.
"Developing some abilities."
Sage shook his head, tossing away the sweat beads stuck to his white hair, and waved his hand.
Naturally, Lily took a bottle of wine from the cabinet near the wall at the door and handed it to him.
"No Haki protection, purely relying on the physical body, doing a comprehensive training under normal conditions."
Sage thumbed the cork off the bottle, downed half the bottle in one go, and shook his head, saying, "Need to speed up. It's still not enough."
Haki, physique, ability, Life Return,
These four can be synchronized.
Though Haki training doesn't grow as quickly as battling powerful enemies, regular training isn't without effect. After fighting William, he could feel his Haki intensifying, mastering and consolidating more should push him further.
As for Life Return, it's constantly maintained, nourishing the body through food.
And physique and ability are now simultaneously developed.
It's not just about acceleration. Under Hundred Times Speed, he needs Haki Hardening to protect his body, which is the extent of his single ability development, but with just his physique, he can't withstand Hundred Times Speed.
However, it's better than before.
And now... he's amplifying weight.
For the human body, weight means strength.
"Development in terms of volume isn't there yet, but it's not bad now; I can amplify weight onto the body."
Sage said, "In the last battle, I used 100% of the 100%, with a maximum limit of Hundred Times Speed and Ten Times Weight. Now, I want to train under normal conditions without Haki and see where the limit is."
Hundred Times Speed is very practical. After all, not everyone can keep their Observation focused for long periods; using Dual Haki challenges one's stamina and Haki amount even more. But Sage doesn't want prolonged fights with others.
Though strong ones are like blood cows, he's far from being stagnant; there'll be a day when he can explosively punch guys like William while being in a normal state.
"With the current physique quality, even three times wouldn't work; using thrice the weight and speed to amplify each other, if I unleash my full strength based on my basic qualities, bones and tissues would be destroyed first and couldn't instantly recover."
Sage looked at his hand, saying, "If I use Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique, I should withstand three times and speed up as well. Maintaining combat for a long time under normal conditions without Haki only allows amplification by one time, using Haki can withstand three times."
"For now, the first goal is to maintain the normal state at triple times."
Three times aside, just a single amplification is actually quite formidable.
Enhancing the weight of Sage under ability amplification by one time, and combining speed amplification with strength, the sheer attack power is already impressive.
This thing is akin to World King Fist, which has side effects but boosts combat power quickly. However, unlike World King Fist's major side effects, Sage merely needs to consider whether his body can hold up because this ability use doesn't greatly deplete his stamina.
Regarding volume...
It can be applied to objects, but he hasn't developed it himself yet, though it's not unimaginable.
"Hmph, when I met Byrnndi World, he could only use speed amplification on himself. This fruit couldn't fully serve him; only I could fully develop it. Hohohohoho!" Sage laughed loudly.
He has always been confident.
Even if unlucky, he questioned luck, but never doubted himself.
A hint of a smile appeared on Lily's mouth, "Sage, regarding yesterday's matter, someone is here, wants to see you."
"Oh?"
Sage finished off the remaining half-bottle of wine, handed the empty bottle to Lily, saying, "Then let's meet. Where is the person?"
"Waiting at the Royal Palace entrance." Lily said.
Sage nodded, "I'll take a shower and change clothes, let him wait."
Not long after, freshly showered and dressed in a casual shirt, Sage appeared in the great hall, seated on a stone throne, clicking his tongue, "Wasn't a throne change discussed? Why is it still this broken stone?"
"There wasn't enough time, Hawkins is still designing your bedroom. I've already informed him to prioritize the great hall as the second task."
Lily, who followed behind, spoke, then stood below the throne like a serving female Knight, calling out towards outside the hall, "Come in!"
Soon, a person ran in from the open Royal Palace gates, kneeling as soon as he reached the middle, "Master of Calamities, my name is Andre, a merchant. I've always wanted to serve you. I've decided to join your ranks!"
Lily remarked lightly, "He's the one who said about providing resources for free."
This merchant was interested in setting up industry before arriving, yet hadn't explored the environment. Upon hearing Sage's request, he immediately came over.
"Yes, it's me!"
Andre looked up, excitedly saying, "Master Sage, I know a place that can meet your requirements and isn't far from your territory."
"Meeting my requirements? Do you even know what I want?" Sage chuckled.
"Hehe, no matter who it is at sea, everyone needs to eat. The place I'm talking about can first solve eating problems. My hometown, Wakanogres!"
Andre said, "It's a volcanic island, due to its unique volcanic ash, all the soil on the island is fertile, yielding significant grain production, plus the special volcanic ash is an excellent fertility-enhancing material, better than Timadon's black soil!"
Timadon's black soil is also good, but the planting wasn't sufficient as nobles controlled it, and commoners couldn't privately exploit it. Sage conquered it, but there's no time for large-scale planting.
Now there's a viable substitute, even better, which is naturally beneficial.
Who would mind having excess grain!
Sage showed interest, "Your hometown? Heh, a guide, eh? Well, how long will it take?"
"One day is enough, I have an Eternal Pose." Andre said.
"I'm quite pleased. Tell me, what do you want?"
Sage grinned, "Money? Treasure? Or should I avenge you?"
"No, no, no, I have no enemies, just pure admiration for Master Sage. You're too good to us, allowing someone like me to set up industry, something unthinkable at sea. I'm doing this just to alleviate some of your troubles."
Andre said, "Regarding money, if you allow me to trade here, only charging 40% business tax and personal income tax, I'd already be satisfied. Of course, I heard you despise freebies. So... if you agree, after conquering my hometown, would you allow me to establish a factory there to produce grain for you?"
40%!
Personal tax rate only charges 20% on monthly income above three hundred thousand plus half on the excess.
This offer...
If realized, don't mention just divulging his hometown's location; he'd even dig his mother out to make way for Sage to plant crops!